The determination of the water consumption is fundamental for the correct management of irrigated crops. The development of two lettuce cultivars (AF 1743 and OGR 326) was determined, when cultivated in a protected environment under two irrigation management methods: water consumption determined by the tensiometry (M1) and water consumption determined by evaporation of water in the reduced pan (M2), which were installed inside the protected environment. There was significant interaction among the imposed treatment and the cultivars of lettuce studied, for the fresh weight of the roots of the plants. The use of tensiometry promoted superior performance for the analyzed production variables as observed in the fresh weight of the aboveground part, with an overall average of 145.0 g, whereas for the management M2 the overall average was 59.4 g. For this variable, among the cultivars a superior result was obtained for the cultivar OGR 326 in comparison to AF1743.
Lactuca sativa; horticulture; water management; evapotranspiration
