This study was accomplished form March, 1999 up to march 2000, in Cangas, Poconé, Mato Grosso, Brazil. It aimed studying the initial development of hybrid coconut palms (Dwarf x Tall), by evaluating the characteristics: girth circunference (CC); live number of leaves (NFV); emitted leaves number of (NFE); number of leaflets at leaf 3 (NFoF3); leaflets length at leaf 3 (NFoF3); leaf 3 length (CF3) and petiole length at leaf 3 (CPF3). The experimental design used was casual blocks with four repetitions and five treatments, each plot had 16 useful plants. The statistical analysis results showed a significant difference for all characteristics. The AVG x GBrPF hybrid showed the best "hybrid vigor" with greater CC, NFoF3, CFoF3 and CF3. On the other hand, the AVeJ x GBrRN hybrid showed the smallest values for these characteristics, although it has expressed best result for NFE and NFV at final evaluations.
Hybrid; coconut palm; breeding
