Desempenho de mudas de melancia em diferentes substratos.

Abstract

Watermelon is a cucurbit originating from the African continent, it is a herbaceous plant with an annual vegetative cycle. This crop can be propagated through direct sowing in the soil or through seedlings produced in containers, which are transplanted to the final location. Thus, this work aimed to evaluate the influence of different substrates on the Germination Speed Index and evaluate the initial growth of Citrullus lanatus on different substrates. The experiment was conducted in plastic multicell trays in the greenhouse of the Education and Health Center at the Federal University of Campina Grande. The variables analyzed were Germination Speed Index, Germination Percentage, Number of Definitive Leaves, Aerial Part Length, Root Length, Stem Diameter, Green Aerial Fitomass, Green Root Fitomass, Dry Aerial Fitomass, Dry Root Fitomass, Quality Index by Dickson. The experimental design used was randomized blocks in a 4 x 2 factorial scheme, with eight treatments, three replications, 96 cells from the four blocks used, 96 watermelon seeds (48 seeds of the Colt variety and 48 seeds of the Magnum variety). The data obtained were analyzed using the Tukey test at 5% probability in the Sisvar computer program. It was observed that there was no interaction between the substrates and the seeds of the varieties used.