During the period of June to November of 1999, the study was carried out in a greenhouse of the DSER/CCA/UFPB, in the municipality of Areia in the State of Paraiba, Brazil, with the objective of verifying the effects of salts in the irrigation water on some development characteristics of tomato crop (Lycopersicum esculentum sp), cultivar Santa Rosa. The water used was from Jacaré reservoir located in the Remígio city, with electrical conductivity of 24.5 dS m-1. The treatments consisted of: rainfall water (T1 - 0.01 dS m-1) and dilutions of the reservoir water with rainfall water, in the proportions of 1:4 (T2 - 5.7 dS m-1), 1:3 (T3 - 6.8 dS m-1), 1:2 (T4 - 8.3 dS m-1), 1:1 (T5 - 12.7 dS m-1) and 1:0 (T6 - 24.5 dS m-1). The experimental design consisted of randomized blocks with 3 repetitions, the experimental unit being recipient with capacity for 20 L, containing 15 kg of air dried soil. The irrigation events varied from one to two days. The height of plants, leaf area, production of the dry matter, production of fruits and evapotranspiration of the crop were evaluated. The levels of salts in the irrigation water reduced significantly (p < 0.01) the values of the variables analyzed, with a linear effect on height and dry matter production and quadratic effect on leaf area, production of fruits and evapotranspiration. The latter was correlated positively to leaf area.
Lycopersicum esculentum sp.; salinity; tolerance; development; evapotranspiration
