Caracterização de plantas de pimenta na fase reprodutiva em diferentes condições hídricas

The high water demand in vegetable production and the scarcity of this resource lead to the search for ways to reduce water consumption without, however, affecting production rates. For Solanaceae, belonging to the genus Capsicum, this demand is more critical during flowering and fruiting, as the lack of water can result in the fall of flowers and fruits, in addition to favoring the occurrence of anomalies such as apical rot. These vegetables are widely consumed worldwide, having great socioeconomic importance, especially when considering their production from family farming. Therefore, the objective of this work was to characterize the behavior of two pepper species submitted to different water conditions. The test was implemented in a greenhouse, under three water conditions (watering shift), with Malagueta and Dedo-de-Moça peppers. The suppression of irrigation took place from the irrigation shifts 0, 4 and 8 days, for two cycles in the reproductive phase. From the vegetative phase, the pots were irrigated following the irrigation shifts. At the beginning of each cycle, the pots were placed at field capacity, starting the watering suppression treatment, counting from the next day. For the second cycle, the same procedure was performed. Relative water content (WRC) and biometric data (height and dry mass of shoots) were evaluated. The results obtained in both species for the biometric data, Dedo-de-Moça (Capsicum baccatum) and Malagueta (Capsicum frutescens), in the reproductive phase, did not present significant variations in relation to the biometric data. Considering the relative water content (RHC) for Malagueta pepper, it was found that there was a significant difference between the watering shifts, and the averages of the 4-day watering shift did not differ from the CRA of the plants maintained at field capacity . For plants from the 8-day watering shift, there was a significant difference for both the control and the 4-day watering shift. For the Dedo-de-Moça plants, there were no significant differences in the CRA for any of the observed watering shifts.