Nutritional Behavior of Heliconia Grown Under Different Levels of Lime

Production and commercialization of tropical flowers and plants has grown in recent years, mainly due to the increasing value of these products in temperate climate countries, such as heliconia, one of the most cultivated tropical ornamental plants in Brazil. This study was developed to determine the effect of lime applications on the nutrients in heliconia plants (Heliconia psittacorum L. × Heliconia sparthocircinata Arist. [cv. Golden Torch]) cultivated in yellow latosol in a greenhouse. The macronutrient levels in the leaves, pseudostem and roots of the heliconia plants were determined after cultivating the plants in containers with a medium texture, yellow latosol, collected from the 0 to 20 cm layer and submitted to doses of 0, 0.9, 2.6, 4.2 and 5.9 t of lime ha-1. Nitrogen and phosphorous performed better in the absence of the correction and in the 0.9 t ha-1 dose for the vegetative parts of the heliconia plants. The application of dolomitic lime promoted greater absorption of potassium, calcium and magnesium, and sulfur performed better for the doses 2.6 and 5.9 t of lime ha-1, for the pseudostem and roots, respectively.