Scarcity of good water quality in semiarid region causes producers to use brackish water to prepare the nutrient solution. In order to investigate the use of brackish water in irrigation of greenhouse-melon (Cucumis melo L., cv. AF 015) grown in coconut fiber substrate, plants were irrigated with saltine nutrient solutions of electrical conductivities (ECs) of 1.1 (control), 2.5, 4.0 and 5.5 dS m-1, applied during the phases of vegetative growth (10-30 days after transplanting, DAT), flowering (31-50 DAT) and fruiting and ripening (51-70 DAT). The design was completely randomized, with 12 treatments arranged in a 4x3 factorial design (salinity levels x exposure time of the salts), with three replications. There was a correlation in the reduction relative to each increased de ECs of the growth and yield variables of melon in function of ECs for each phase of exposure. The nutrient solutions prepared with brackish water can be used to grow melons in coconut fiber substrate with minimal reduction relative of mean fruit weight with increasing ECs applied during flowering.
Cucumis melo L. Nutrient Solution; Hydroponics
