Produtividade e qualidade da Melancia submetida a diferentes números de frutos e espaçamento de plantio.

Abstract

The melancholy (Citrulluus lanatus) belongs to the family of Cucurbitaceae of great economic and social expression, being cultivated by small producers and stands out in the northeast region. The experiment was carried out at the Experimental Farm of the Center of Sciences and Technology Agroalimentaria (CCTA) located in the municipality of São Domingos - PB, with the objective of evaluating the productivity and quality of fruits of the melancholia as a function of the number of fruits per plant and the spacing of planting. The experimental design was a randomized block with four replicates and the treatments were allocated in subdivided plots of type 2 x 4. The plot consisted of the number of fruits per plant (1 and 2 fruits) and in the subplot with the planting spacing (3, 0 x 0.4 m), (3.0 x 0.8 m), (3.0 x 1.2 m) and (3.0 x 1.6 m). The cultivation of melancholy at the denser spacing of 3.0 x 0.4 m associated with the conduction of plants with two fruits stood out significantly in the accumulation of total dry mass in the plant. The denser spacing associated with conduction of the plant with only one fruit increased the length, diameter and average mass of the fruit of the melancholy. The yield of the plant with two fruits and the spacings of 3.0 x 0.4 m registered the highest yield of the crop. The planting spacings used and the conduction of the plant with different numbers of fruits did not significantly alter the soluble solids content and the total acidity of the watermelon fruit pulp.