Initial growth of yellow passion fruit under diferente types and levels of irrigation water salinity

Abstract Knowing the damages caused by salinity of irrigation water on the structure and physiology of plants, this work was conducted in a greenhouse with the objective of evaluating the effects of 4 types of salts (sodium chloride, calcium chloride, sodium nitrate and calcium nitrate) in irrigation water and 5 levels of electrical conductivity (ECw: 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 dS m-1), on the initial growth of the passion fruit. The experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design and 5 x 4 factorial scheme, with 4 replications. The appraised variables were plant height, number of leaves and length of the root at 21 and 27 days after sowing. There was interactive effect of the factors in all the variables. The waters composed of sodium nitrate caused larger decrease in all the analyzed variables. The íons of nitrate were more harmful in the initial growth of the crop.