Abstract

The acerola tree is one of the most promising fruit trees of the Brazilian fruit sector, demanding the development of studies that indicate the proper conditions to improve its production under adverse conditions. Consequently, our purpose was to evaluate the growth of Malpighia emaginata D.C in several substrates and under ascending levels of irrigation water salinity. The experiment was conducted in a 4 × 5 factorial scheme randomized block design, which comprised four substrates (S1 = soil; S2 = soil with a 10% addition of cattle manure; S3 = soil with a 10% addition of organic compounds; and S4 - soil with a 5% addition of cattle manure and a 5% addition of organic compounds) and five CEa salt levels (0.3, 1.0, 1.7, 2.7, and 3.5 dS m^-1). The plant height and stem diameter variables were not affected by the studied factors. The interaction between salinity and the substrates affected the root growth and the build-up of the plants’ fresh and dry biomass, resulting in the increase of the values obtained by the substrates containing manure and organic compounds. The seedlings’ quality, represented by the height/stem diameter and aerial part/root dry mass ratios, and by the Dickson quality index, indicated that the plants produced in the substrates 2 and 3 were more vigorous.

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