Behavior of three lettuce cultivars in a hydroponic system

Abstract

The cultivation of lettuce in a hydroponic system is an alternative to optimize the production. Lettuce is an important food, being one of the most consumed vegetables in Brazil. The objective of this study was to evaluate the agronomic behavior of commercial cultivars of lettuce under a single nutritive solution in a hydroponic system. The experiment was carried out under greenhouse conditions. The experimental design was completely randomized, with five replicates. The treatments were composed of commercial lettuce cultivars (Americana Great Lakes, Rafaela-Americana, and Simpson Black Seed). At the time of harvest, the following parameters were evaluated: number of leaves, length of leaves and roots, fresh mass of shoot and root, and stem diameter. The collected data were submitted to an ANOVA. The cv. Rafaela-Americana presented higher leaf length. The evaluated cultivars did not present significant differences in the number of leaves, aerial green mass, green root mass, root length, and stem diameter. The cultivars showed similar variations in the number of leaves, aerial green mass, green root mass, root length, and stem diameter. The cultivar Rafaela-Americana presented a superior performance in the development of leaf length regarding the other cultivars.