Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Optimal size and shape of experimental plots of Eucalyptus saligna smith

1997; UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DE SANTA MARIA; Volume: 27; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1590/s0103-84781997000300028

1678-4596

Magda Léa Bolzan Zanon,

Agricultural and Food Sciences

Three experiments were conducted to determine the optimum experimental plot size and shape of Eucalyptus saligna Smith. The experiments were established in Barda Negra Garden Market, in Barra do Ribeiro - RS. Plants were distributed in a 3x2m arrangement. Plants were evaluated with three different ages: 5.5 years, 15 months and during the nursing stage. Seven different analysis methods were used to evaluate the optimum experimental plot size and shape based only on data collected from experiments with 5.5 years old and 15 months old. The nursery experiments were used to determine the sample frequency for minimum statistical difference of 5, 10 and 20%. It was observed statistical difference among the sevem methods used for comparisons. The optimum plot size ranged from 2 to 26 basic units for plants with 5.5 years old and, from one to 16 basic units for plants with 15 months old. Results also indicated that the optimum plot size could be 16 and 8 basic units for plants with 5.5 years old and 15 months old, respectively. Reducing the plot size and increasing the repetition number were more adequate to analyze this type of experiments. Nursery experiments should be conducted in a completely randomized block design using at least 26 seedling for each treatment.