Produtividade de frutos e teores de nutrientes no solo durante um cultivo de meloeiro - DOI:10.5039/agraria.v7i1a1141

In two commercial areas of fertirrigated ‘Iracema' melon, in Barauna, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, the dynamics of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, and the variation of their soil contents, was monitored during one crop vegetative cycle, in order to correlate the soil nutrient variation with melon fruit yield, and identify nutrient deficit or excess. To accomplish this task, sampling followed a grid with forty plots, where the soil samplings occurred 10, 26, 38, 51 and 64 days after sowing, in order to determine the soil contents of total N, P and K, and of the yields of the export types, domestic and commercial market. Fruit yield variables, as well as the soil contents of total nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, on the five sampling times, were analyzed through the descriptive statistics and correlation analysis. Application in excess was indicated by the nutrient content variation in relation to the crop growth stage. Negative correlations with the export type fruits, and positive correlations with the domestic market fruits, were obtained on the time where total N contents were higher. In times where P contents were higher in the beginning to the middle cycle, negative correlations were obtained with the domestic market type fruits and positive with the export type fruits. High initial K contents had negative influence on the domestic and commercial market type production.