Efecto de micorriza vesiculo-arbuscular en café Coffea arabica L. variedad Colombia en almacigo

A greenhouse experiment was carried out in order to monitor the infection, VAM fungi sporulation and the influence of micorrhiza inoculation on Colombia coffe cultivar. The following treatments were set up: natural soil, + inoculum; desinfested soil + Glomus manihotis; desinfested soil + Entrophospora colombiana; desinfested soil + Acaulospora myriocarpa and desinfested soil. Coffee seedlings were grown on sterilized sand for two months, transplanted to plastic bags filled with soil and inoculated. The experimental design was complete randomized. Three plants from each treatment were harvested every two weeks during five months. Plant weight, dry matter, leaf area, root infection, spore counting and foliar analysis for N, P, K, Ca and Mg were recorded for each harvest. In the natural soil we found species of the genus Glomus, Entrophospora and Acaulospora. Eight days after transplanting we registered root infection by VAM. There were big differences among species. The greatest sporulation was found hundred days after transplanting G. manihotis was the best species as for as growth enhacement and nutrient uptake besides its influence on root development which was three fold compared with those on natural soil and desinfested soil treatments.