Agronomic performance of lettuce produced in trays with different cell number and field spacings

Abstract

The cultivation of lettuce is notable in the field of olericulture due to its worldwide economic and food importance. This study aimed to evaluate the agronomic performance of mimosa lettuce cv. Lavínia produced in a polystyrene tray system with different cell number and field spacings. Seedlings were produced in trays of 128, 200 and 288 cells and cultivated in a protected environment. Twenty-five days post-sowing, the seedlings were transplanted to beds with spacings of 30 × 40; 35 × 40; 40 × 40; and 45 × 40 cm. The experiment followed a split-plot randomized block design with four replicates. Harvesting was performed at 45 days after transplanting. Phytometric characteristics of the plants were evaluated after the crop cycle: number of leaves, plant height, stem length and diameter and fresh and dry weight of the shoot. Data were subjected to analysis of variance, and means were compared by Tukey's test at p<0.05. The agronomic performance of mimosa lettuce cv. Lavínia is favored when plants are produced in trays with 200 cells and is not influenced by field spacings.

Different tray cell volumes for lettuce grown in conventional and hydroponic system

“…When used as a parameter comparative, the volume of 10 cm³ in the field presented an average of 127 g plant -1 , different from the volume of 50 cm³ that obtained the greatest highest in the field with 227.56 g plant -1 (79.18% more) (Figure 1 C). This influence of volume on the fresh mass was also reported in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) (RODRIGUES et al, 2010), basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) (MAGGIONI et al, 2014) and lettuce (ORTIZ et al, 2015). In addition to this, the cultivation system also influenced the weight gain, because while the soil cultivation had showed a maximum of 227.56 g plant -1 , in hydroponics the maximum weight obtained was 375.25 g plant -1 (64.90 % more) ( Figure 1C The volumes of 40 and 50 cm³ presented similar values (26 mm) in the field for characteristic stem diameter, being thicker at 5.63 mm than 10 cm³ ( Figure D), also in the field too.…”