Sources and levels of salinity of water on seedlings of papaya tree cv. sunrise solo

Abstract

From January to March of 2005 one experiment was developed in a screen house to evaluate the effect of sources and levels of water salinity on emergence and initial development of papaya seedlings cv. Sunrise Solo. A completely randomized experimental design was used and treatments were distributed in a factorial arrangement 3×5, corresponding to three sources (dam water, water salinized with sodium and water salinized with sodium sulfate) and five water saline levels (0.4; 2.0; 4.0; 6.0 e 8.0 dS.m^-1) and five replications. At 60 days after seedling emergence the following variables were evaluated: soil electrical conductivity, seedling emergence, plant height, stem diameter and dry mass of shoots and roots. The soil electrical conductivity increased independently of salt source, with more expressiveness for dam water, and all evaluated variables of plant growth were inhibited with water salinity increase.