The use of water of marginal quality is one of the main causes of failure of production of seedlings and the especially of those crops without any previous study of salinity tolerance, as is the case of West Indian cherry. Considering the importance of this specie among irrigated fruits in northeast Brazil, the present study was conducted with the objective to evaluate the effects of 6 level of electrical conductivity of irrigation water (ECw) varying from 0.5 to 5.5 dS m-1 on germination and formation of rootstocks of West Indian cherry (clone BV1). The irrigation water of desired ECw was prepared maintaining equivalente proportion of 7:2:1, among Na:Ca:Mg, respectively. All the variables studied were affected by salinity during germination and phase of rootstock formation. The percentage of plants emerged was found to be affected less than the emergency speed and seedlings showed less susceptibility to salinity with time. The clone BV1 of West Indian cherry may be classified as 'moderately sensitive' during the grafting phase.
Malpighia emaginata D.C; eletrical condutivity; saline stress
