Variabilidade espacial do ponto de colheita e do crescimento de frutos de pimentão em estufa plástica

Abstract

To know the variability of experimental area is the initial requirement to lead experiments of quality. Whit the aim to characterize the spatial variability of length, diameter and harvesting maturity of sweet pepper fruit in plastic greenhouse, two experiments was carried out, in the spring/summer of 2005 and autumn/winter of 2006, in the area of Crop Science Department in the Federal University of Santa Maria. The greenhouse was composed for eight lines, whit 52 plants each one, divided in four quadrants and utilized for this study the northeast and southwestern quadrants. For the fruit harvesting maturity, were used all the plants for each quadrant, and evaluated the percentage the harvested fruit in each line, in each harvest. It was applied the Cox & Stuart test, in order to determine the tendencies increasing or decreasing among the culture line. For the fruit growth, where utilized 15 plants in the external and internal lateral line of northeast and southwestern quadrants. It was marked two fruits for plant and measured length and diameter, to each three days, for the adjustment of growth sigmoidal equations, being the sigmoidal logistic model the better adjustment. It was applied the test for parameter equality in nonlinear regression models among the equations of each culture lines. The tendencies between the culture lines for the harvesting maturity were significant and the northeast quadrant showed harvesting maturity anticipated, when compared whit southwestern quadrant. For the spring/summer station of 2005, the three harvests showed tendencies significant. For the autumn/winter of 2006, only the second and third harvests showed tendencies significant. The fruit growth curve is sigmoidal, and the growth standard did not differ between the culture lines in the spring/summer of 2005 and showed differences significant between the lines in the autumn/winter of 2006, for both the variables.