EFFECT OF NITROGEN FERTILIZATION ASSOCIATED WITHWATER-RETAINING GEL ON LETTUCE SEED QUALITY ATDIFFERENT MOISTURE LEVELSLARISSA MEDEIROS SOARES, ANDREIA MÁRCIA SANTOS DE SOUZA DAVID, CAIK MARQUES BATISTA, CLEISSON DENER DA SILVA, ELIENE ALMEIDA PARAIZO,JOÃO RAFAEL PRUDÊNCIO DOS SANTOS, LUANADE JESUS SILVA, HUGO TIAGO RIBEIROAMARO, GEVALDO BARBOSA DE OLIVEIRA, JANAINA BEAbstract The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of nitrogen fertilization associated withwater-retaining as to the quality of lettuce seeds at different moisture levels. The experimental design usedwas composed of randomized blocks, in a 2 x 5 + 1 factorial scheme, with two moisture levels (50 and 75%field capacity) and five doses of nitrogen (0, 25, 50, 100 and 200 kg ha-1, with the addition of water-retaininggel, besides an additional treatment, without gel addition, with moisture at a level of 100% field capacityand standard nitrogen fertilization (100 kg ha-1), which will consist of the control treatment, with fivereplications. The analyzed variables were: water content, germination, germination speed index, electricalconductivity, and accelerated aging. The evaluated factors showed no significant interaction, for most of theanalyzed variables, with the exception of the germination speed index. For germination, there wassignificant effect for the âlevels of moisture in the substrateâ factor. Comparing the means of the treatmentswith the control, for electrical conductivity, all treatments had lower EC values, which indicate better vigor.It is concluded that using water-retaining gel associated with nitrogen fertilization allows the use of lowerlevels of moisture in the substrate (50%), without affecting the quality of the produced seeds. N doses from50 to 100 kg ha-1 with the use of water-retaining gel favors the production of seeds with greater vigor. |