Eficiência do hidrogel na mitigação do déficit hídrico e no crescimento de mudas de Eugenia myrcianthes Nied

Abstract

The water deficit can affect the growth and development of plants, especially in the initial phase. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether the hydrogel contributes to the mitigation of water deficit in Eugenia myrcianthes Nied seedlings. The experiment was developed at the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences (FCA), Federal University of Grande Dourados (UFGD), Dourados-MS. The experimental design was completely randomized in sub-divided plots, with three water regimes: control = daily irrigation; 2) water deficit = suspension of irrigation until the photosynthetic rate is close to zero (F0); 3) water deficit + hydrogel. The evaluations were carried out in three evaluation periods: T0 - period before starting the water suspension of the corresponding treatments; 1st F0 - period in which the seedlings of at least one of the treatments reached F0, being monitored every two days; moment when all seedlings were re- irrigated maintaining the same condition of continuous irrigation; 1st REC - moment after re-irrigation, when the seedlings recover in the water deficit. The characteristics analyzed were height, root length, neck diameter, chlorophyll index, fresh and dry mass of aerial part and root, leaf area, relative water content and Dickson's quality index. It was observed through the results that the effect of the hydrogel provided a beneficial response in the morphophysiological characteristics evaluated and favored the recovery of the water deficit seedlings. Therefore, the addition of hydrogel to the soil is a promising practice to mitigate the water deficit in the initial growth and in the quality of Eugenia myrcianthes Nied. seedlings.