An experiment was carried out at Universidade Vale do Rio Verde, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, to evaluate the effect of bed coverages on the agronomic characteristics of lettuce cultivars. The experimental design was of randomized complete blocks in a 5 x 2 factorial scheme with five types of mulch (black plastic; dry braquiaria grass; rice husk; coffee husk and nude soil), two leaf lettuce cultivars (Regina and Elisa) and three replications. Plants were harvested 42 days after the transplanting date. The total and commercial yield, average fresh plant plant weight, head average diameter, stem average diameter, leave average number and the root fresh weight were evaluated. Only for the root average weight was observed significant interaction between coverage types and cultivars. The cv. Elisa presented the highest root average weight when the coffee or rice husk were used. The coffee husk proportioned the best results. This coverage exceeded all others in all the evaluated characteristics. The cv Regina was superior to Elisa in almost all studied characteristics, except in stem average diameter where no significant difference was detected between cultivars. 'Elisa' presented higher root weight than 'Regina'.
Lactuca sativa L.; soil coverages; yield
