Morphology of 'Crioula' guava seedlings under irrigation with increasing salinity water and nitrogen/potassium fertilization.

ABSTRACT

Several studies have been conducted evaluating the management of fertilizers as strategies to mitigate the deleterious effects of salt stress, so the objective of this work was to evaluate the quality of 'Crioula' guava seedlings under irrigation with water of different salinity levels and fertilized with combinations of nitrogen and potassium. The experiment was performed in a protected (screened) environment using a randomized block design and analyzed in a 5 × 4 factorial scheme, with four replicates, with the plot formed by two plants. The treatments were formed from the combination of the factor electrical conductivity of irrigation water (ECw 0.3, 1.1, 1.9, 2.7 and 3.5 dS m-1), with the factor combinations (C) of nitrogen (N) and potassium (K2O) doses, being C1 = 70% N + 50% K2O, C2 = 100% N + 75% K2O, C3= 130% N + 100% K2O and C4= 160% N + 125% K2O. The recommended dose of 100% N and K, respectively, was 541.1 mg N dm-3 soil and 798.6 mg K dm-3 soil. The combinations of N and K fertilization corresponding to 70% N + 50% K2O and 100% N + 75% K2O of the recommended doses promoted greater growth of 'Crioula' guava seedlings. Water with ECw of 2.1 dS m-1 promotes the formation of quality 'Crioula' guava seedlings.