An experiment was carried out at the Universidade Federal de Lavras, MG, aiming to study the behavior of chrysanthemum cultivated in a greenhouse under three different fertigation interruption time, and to evaluate the effects of different levels of water deficits on the plant and the final product quality. A completely randomized experimental design in a factorial outline, with four water consumed replacement levels (100, 80, 60 and, 40%) and three fertigation interruption time (20, 40 and 60% of open inflorescences) with six replications was wed. The analyzed parameters were: stem length and diameter, leaves number, inflorescence number, inflorescence diameter, dry and wet roots matter, and quality classes. The best results were obtained with a 100% of water replacement, exception for stem length where the best results were obtained with a 100 and 80% of water replacement. Fertigation interruption time just influenced inflorescence diameter. The largest inflorescence diameter was obtained when fertigation was interrupted after 60% of inflorescence opening. Dry and wet root matter showed no significant response to the applied treatments.
Chrysanthemum; water deficit; fertilization
