LOPES, Maria Angela Casimiro.
Abstract:
The melon ( Cucumis meio L) is a crop species of great socioeconomic imporá
for the Northeast, however, the cultivation in this region requires the use of irrigation,
however the water available for irrigation in this region has a high concentration of
dissolved salts affecting plant growth. With that aimed to study the production of
melon seedlings for different substrates irrigated with saline water. The experiment
was realized in a greenhouse at the Center of Science and Technology Agrifood -
CCTA. of the Federal University of Campina Grande, UFCG, Pombas, PB, Brazil. We
adopted a completely randomized design in a factorial 4 x 3 x 2 consists of four
leveis of irrigation water salinity ( 0.3 , 1 .5, 3.0 and 4.5 dS m-l ) and three substrates
[ S = ground] S + CO : soil + organic compound (2: 1)l and S + E : soir + manure (
2: 1) ] , and two varieties of melon (VI : Gaúcho Casca de Carvalho ; V2 = Hales
Best Jumbo ) , totaling 24 treatments with four replications and three planta per
repetition. The variables analyzed were plant height, stem diameter, number of
leaves, leaf área, shoot dry weight, root dry mass and total dry mass. Growth and dry
matter accumulation of both varieties were reduced with increasing irrigation water
salinity. The variety Gaúcho Casca de Carvalho is the most sensitive to salinity leveis
studied. The substrate made of soir with organic compost was what provided the
greatest growth and biomass accumulation, independent of salinity leveis studied,
the most suitable for production of melon seedlings.
