Abstract
We evaluated the initial development of watermelon cv. Crimson Sweet seedlings grown in different organic substrates and electrical conductivity of irrigation water. The experiment was carried out in a greenhouse between January and March of 2017. The experimental design was in randomized blocks with factorial arrangement 3 x 5. The treatments were combinations of three substrates: soil + bovine manure (SBM) (1:1); soil + sheep manure (SSM) (1:1) and commercial substrate Basaplant® (CS), and five electrical conductivity of irrigation water (ECiw): C1 – 0.3 dS m-1; C2 – 1.5 dS m-1; C3 – 2.7 dS m-1; C4 – 3.9 dS m-1 and C5 – 5.1 dS m-1. Plant height, number of leaves, stem diameter, root fresh mass, stem fresh mass, leaf fresh mass, root dry mass, stem dry mass, and leaf dry mass were evaluated at 37 days after sowing (DAS). The interaction between substrate x ECiw significantly affected the variables plant height, number of leaves, stem fresh mass and leaf fresh mass; all the analyzed variables were affected by substrate factor, while plant height, number of leaves, root dry mass, stem dry mass, and leaf dry mass were affected by ECiw. It is possible to produce watermelon cv. Crimson Sweet seedlings using water with electrical conductivity up to 2.86 dS m-1 associated with commercial substrate and up to 2.67 dS m-1 associated with sheep manure. It can be inferred that the use of commercial substrate is more suitable for the production of watermelon cv. Crimson Sweet seedlings.
Highlights
The watermelon [Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai] has great socioeconomic importance in Brazil, which is the fourth largest producer in the world with 2,314,700 tons produced in an area of 105,491 hectares [1]
Interaction between substrate x electrical conductivity of irrigation water was observed for plant height (PH), number of leaves (NL), stem fresh mass (SFM) and foliar fresh mass (FFM); all the analyzed variables were significantly influenced by substrate factor
For PH (Figure 1), when we evaluated the electrical conductivity of irrigation water - ECiw within each substrate, it was observed that there was adjustment to the quadratic regression model only for the plants grown in the commercial substrate (CS), while in the soil substrate (p = 0.07) and the soil substrate + sheep manure (SSM), there were no adjustment of the values to the models evaluated (p linear = 0.66, p quadratic = 0.07)
Summary
The watermelon [Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai] has great socioeconomic importance in Brazil, which is the fourth largest producer in the world with 2,314,700 tons produced in an area of 105,491 hectares [1]. In the watermelon production system, one of the main determining steps for a good stand establishment is the initial stage of seedlings development, which requires substrates capable of providing good aeration and maintenance for the plant root system, nutrient availability, and supply of water [3]. Low rainfall and high annual evapotranspiration are some of the limitations for agricultural production [6] Under these conditions, the use of low-quality water for irrigation is common, even with high salt content [7], which negatively affects plant physiological processes by reduction of cellular osmotic potential, excessive accumulation of toxic ions and nutritional unbalance [8]. A positive effect of organic matter of substrate on the reduction of saline stress for the production of pineapple (Annona squamosa L.) seedlings was observed [9]. Crimson Sweet grown in different organic substrates and electrical conductivity of irrigation water
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