Table beet baby leaf production and postharvest in trays with different cell volumes

Baby leaf has the increasing potential to stimulate vegetable consumption by the Brazilian population. It can be grown in soil and soilless, inside or outside greenhouses. In Brazil, there are few studies focusing on baby leaf production systems, though growing this vegetable in trays at greenhouses is a possibility. Therefore, the aim of this work was to evaluate table beet cultivar 'Tall Top Early Wonder', production and postharvest viability in trays with different cell volumes. Two attempts (March 19 to May 12 and September 30 to November 10, 2009) were carried out at the Agronomic Institute (IAC), in Campinas, Sao Paulo State, Brazil. Aside from them, two others were carried out to evaluate the postharvest storability of table beet baby leaf. The experimental design used for the first two experiments was randomized blocks in split-plot with five replicates. The main treatment was seven tray cell volumes (15, 24, 27, 31, 55, 70, and 100 cm(3)), and the secondary treatment evaluation times (14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49 and 56 days after seeding in the first essay, and 21, 28, 35, and 42 in the second). For the postharvest experiments, the experimental design used was split-plot with five replicates. In each evaluated temperature (10±1 and 25±2°C), the main treatment was the same as in the tray cell volumes and the secondary storage days. Considering the results, the cell volumes of 24, 27, and 31 cm(3) were the most conducive to significant table beet baby leaf production. In comparison with 25°C, the temperature of 10°C allowed higher quality of baby leaf, resulting in one extra day added to the first assay and three days to the second.