Variability of production and the planning of experiments in snapbeans

ABSTRACT This work aimed at studying the variability of production of snapbeans grown in plastic greenhouses and the effectiveness of experimental borders and plot size in reducing such variability. Data from a uniformity experiment carried out in a plastic greenhouse were used. The analyzes were performed over spatial arrangements that considered the plants first arranged in planting rows parallel to the lateral openings of the greenhouse and then arranged in columns, perpendicular to these openings. Different scenarios were produced by excluding rows and columns. The homogeneity of variances between the remaining rows and columns was tested in each scenario, and the variance and the coefficient of variation were calculated as well. There was heterogeneity of variance between rows in the experiment. Borders were not effective in reducing the coefficient of variation or the frequency of cases of heterogeneity of variances between rows. Plots with two or more plants provided homogeneity of variances between rows and columns, creating room for the possibility of using the completely randomized design in experiments with snapbeans in plastic greenhouses.