EVALUATION OF MELON CULTIVARS UNDER SALT STRESS

This work aimed to evaluate melon cultivars under salt stress conditions. The work was carried out in green house of the Tecnology and Social Sciences Department ( DTCS) of the University of the Stete of Bahia (UNEB), at Juazeiro - BA. The experimental design was totally randomized, with four replications in a factorial squeme 3 X 4 (cultivars and salt solutions) and the averages were compared by Tukey test at 5% probability. Melon seeds of the cultivars AF682, Gaucho e Sancho were sowed in 15 L vases with previously salinizied soils with the conductivities 0,17; 2,23; 4,95 e 6,10 dS.m(-1). The emergence percentage and emergence speed rate (IVE) were evaluated. Once the plants have reached blossoming, the were harvested and the fresh matter weight was obtained. After that the plants were dried at 75 degrees C for 72 hours, for dry matter obtention. Were also messuered shoots length and number of leaves per plant. The relative chlorophyll index was obtained after 13, 20, 26 and 40 days after sowing, in three leaves per plant, with a portable chlorophyllmeter Minolta. The leaves of all plants were fotocopied and identified for leaf area (cm(2)) evaluation. The salt stress induced by the 6,10 dS.m(-1) condictivity brought up the information that AF682 cultivar, is less tolerant to soil salinity than Gaucho and Sancho cultivars.