The effects of different levels of water deficit, applied in two fenological phases of eggplant crop, were measured in an experiment conducted in a green house of the Department of Engineering - UFLA, in Lavras - MG, Brazil. A complete randomized experimental design was used in a factorial array of 2 x 4, being two phenological phases (after-transplanting/opening of the floral bud and fruits formation/harvest) and four levels of water deficit (100; 80; 60, and 40% of the evapotranspiration), in eight treatments with six replications. The stem diameter, height of the plants and number of leaves were evaluated in different times, production and number of fruits. The results showed that the production and the number of fruits were more affected by the water deficit when it occurred during the phase of formation of the fruits, and that, the quality of the fruit was more affected than the total production. The increase of the water deficit resulted in smaller values of the height of the plant, diameter of the stem and number of leaves, independently of the application time.
handling of water; irrigation; water stress
