It was evaluated the relationship between initial population density of Meloidogyne mayaguensis in guava 'Paluma' seedling, their growth, and the first harvest in a microplot at the Department of Plant Sanity UNESP/ FCAV, Campus of Jaboticabal, State of São Paulo. The treatments consisted of five levels of inoculums (0; 10; 100; 1,000 and 10,000 eggs and juveniles of the second stage - J2) per root system of guava. Periodically, were evaluated the follows parameters: diameter of the trunk, length of the branches, fresh and dry matter of shoots removed in pruning and aerial part of the plant. All plants inoculated with 1,000 eggs and J2 died 10 months after inoculation. There were fruit production only in the levels 0 (zero) and 10 eggs and J2 of the nematode. There was no significant difference between treatments on the weight of fruit, but the length, width and the fruit number per plant were higher in the non inoculated plants.
root-knot nematode; inoculums levels; pathogenicity
