Abstract
The production of okra using seedlings is a practice increasingly used by farmers. However, this system still lacks further research involving substrates, tray types, cell volume, pest control and disease. For this it is important to determine the optimum size of the plots, in order to reduce the experimental errors and the expenses with the experiment. The objective of this work was to determine the optimum plot size for experiments involving okra seedlings produced in Styrofoam trays of 128 cells using different methods. The methods were the maximum curvature, the maximum curvature with bootstrap simulation and the maximum curvature of the coefficient of variation. The evaluated characteristics were aerial part height, stem diameter, aerial dry matter, root dry matter, total dry matter and quality of seedlings as measured by Dickson quality index. The results showed that the optimum plot size is different between the evaluated characteristics and for characteristics there is no significant difference in the optimum plot size between the three different methods. The optimum size for evaluating okra seedlings produced in Styrofoam trays of 128 cells is 10 seedlings per plot and is indicated the use of the maximum curvature method using a bootstrap simulation.
Highlights
The okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) is a vegetable adapted to tropical and subtropical weather conditions being widely cultivated in Brazil, especially by small farmers and one of the most cultivated cultivar is the ‘Santa Cruz’ (Purquerio, Lago, & Passos, 2010)
No work was found in the literature about determining the optimum plot size in seedling production. In this way the objective of this work is to determine and compare the optimum plot size for experiments involving okra seedlings produced in trays using the methods by Meier and Lessman (1971), Paranaíba et al (2009) and Meier and Lessman (1971) using bootstrap simulation, according to Celanti et al (2016a)
The okra seedlings showed good development, with average height of 12 cm and stem diameter close to 2 mm (Table 1), whose values are equivalent to observed for other researchers (Benício et al, 2011; Silva et al, 2013) in experimentation involving okra seedlings
Summary
The okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L.) is a vegetable adapted to tropical and subtropical weather conditions being widely cultivated in Brazil, especially by small farmers and one of the most cultivated cultivar is the ‘Santa Cruz’ (Purquerio, Lago, & Passos, 2010). According to Paula Júnior and Venzon (2007) the favorable temperature range for okra planting varies from 18 °C to 35 °C, and temperatures below 18 °C compromise the development, delay the beginning of production and cause fruit abortion. The planting of this crop can be done in the form of direct sowing in the plant beds (Meena, Dubey, Jain, Tiwari, & Negi, 2017) or seedlings previously produced in bags (Agwu & Ezigbo, 2005) or trays (Modolo, Tessarioli Neto, & Ortigozza, 2001; Benício, Reis, & Rodrigues, 2011). It is verified that there is no consensus among researchers regarding the number of plants to be used in each experimental plot, and, in okra experiments conducted in trays the number of plants per plot has been variable, from eight (Modolo & Tessarioli Neto, 1999) up to 36 (Silva et al, 2013)
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