Cultivo do melão cantaloupe em ambiente protegido submetido às frequências de irrigação e volumes de substrato

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of irrigation frequencies and substrate volumes on the vegetative development, fruit mass, fruit quality and water use efficiency of cantaloupe melon cultivation in a protected environment. The study was conducted in an agricultural greenhouse at the Federal University of Rondonopolis, MT, from February to August 2021. A randomized block design was used in a 3 x 4 factorial scheme, with four repetitions. As the melon plant was grown in pots, the first factor included the treatments corresponding to the three volumes of substrate, being 5, 10 and 15 dm3 . In the second factor, the treatments corresponding to the frequencies with which irrigation was performed were allocated, being once every two days, once a day, twice a day and three times a day. The growth variables evaluated were: stem diameter, number of leaves, leaf area and dry mass of aerial part. For the fruit quality variables, fruit mass, equatorial fruit circumference, fruit circumference index, equatorial lobule circumference, fruit shape, mucilage, pulp thickness, pulp firmness, total titratable acidity, total soluble solids, ratio, 1000 seed mass and seed number were evaluated. Besides these variables, water use efficiency was also evaluated. For the statistical analysis of the collected data the software R-Studio (V.2022.07.2) was used, applying to the data the normality test, variance analysis, mean comparison test and correlations. For the variables stem diameter, number of leaves, leaf area and dry mass of aerial part, the treatments corresponding to the frequencies of irrigation did not show any difference among themselves, while for the treatments corresponding to the volumes of substrate, 10 and 15 dm³ showed the highest performances for all these growth variables. As for the variables of fruit quality, the treatments corresponding to the frequencies of irrigation showed a difference for fruit mass, equatorial circumference of the fruit and pulp thickness, with the frequencies of once and three times a day obtaining the best performance. Among the treatments corresponding to the substrate volumes, there were differences for the variables fruit mass, equatorial circumference of the fruit, equatorial circumference of the lobule, pulp thickness and total soluble solids. For all these variables, the volumes of 10 and 15 dm³ presented the best performance. The treatments concerning the frequency of daily irrigation and the substrate volumes of 10 and 15 dm³ showed the best performance for water use efficiency by melon.