Macronutrients in watermelon plants grown in soil with levels of cattle manure

Abstract

The supply of organic matter in soils cultivated with vegetables is essential for satisfactory performance and economically viable, including the watermelon. This experiment aimed to evaluate the contents of N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S in watermelon plants grown in soil subjected to different levels of cattle manure. A complete randomized block design was adopted with four repetitions and 21 plants per parcel, using factorial arrangement 5 + 1 referring to five cattle manure levels (0.0, 11.5, 34.5, 57.5 and 80.5 g dm-3) in soil fertilized with nitrogen, in the form of urea, and one additional treatment (without N fertilizer and manure). To assess the nutritional status watermelon plants in the early fruiting, 25 leave (5 th leaf from the branch tip, excluding the apical tuft) per parcel to form a composite sample. Were evaluated: nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and sulfur in dry matter leaf. The supply of cattle manure increases the N, P, K e Ca absorption in watermelon plants. The highest levels of N, P and K were accumulated with providing cattle manure levels between 40 and 50 g dm-3.