Vegetative Development and Productivity of the Watermelon under Different Irrigation Depths in the Northwest Region of Espírito Santo

Abstract

Brazil is one of the main producers of watermelon crops (Citrullus lanatus), which present great water requirement and offer in their irrigated cultivation, when well managed, the possibility of productive gains and fruit quality. The objective of this study was to evaluate the productivity and the vegetative development of the plant and the watermelon fruits of the ‘Top Gun’ cultivar submitted to different irrigation depths in the Northwestern region of Espírito Santo. The experiment was carried out in the horticulture sector of the Federal Institute of Espírito Santo-Campus Itapina, from September 30, 2017 to December 15, 2017. A completely randomized design was used consisting of six treatments corresponding to 50%, 75%, 100%, 125%, 150% and 175% of the reference evapotranspiration (ETo) calculated daily, with four repetitions of each treatment. The length of the branches of all the selected plants and the longitudinal and transverse lengths of their fruits were evaluated weekly. In the last analysis, the fruit weight was also collected and the productivity was estimated. Development and differentiated production responses were verified with the different depths applied. Water replacements corresponding to the 125% ETo leaf gave the best vegetative and productive development of the watermelon ‘Top Gun’ cultivar, cultivated in the northwestern region of Espírito Santo.