An experiment was carried out to verify the effect of three levels of a potassium fertilizer on the yield of nine genotypes of passion fruit (Passiflora edulis Sims and P. edulis Sims. f. flavicarpa, Deg.). The experiment was installed at Fazenda Água Limpa, the experiment station of the Universidade de Brasília, from December 1999 to May, 2001. The design was randomized blocks, 27 treatments in a factorial scheme 9x3: nine genotypes of passion fruit and three levels of the potassic fertilizer with four replications and nine plants per plot. The genotypes tested were: Híbrido EC-2-0, Marília Seleção Cerrado, F1 (Roxo Fiji x Marília), Porto Rico, Vermelhão (RC1), F1 (Marília x Roxo Australiano), Redondão, IAC-273 and Itaquiraí. The potassic fertilizer levels were 0; 640 and 1,280 kg K2O ha-1. The source of potassium was the potassium chloride. The parameters checked were: fruit production (kg ha-1), number of fruits per plant and average fruit weight. After five months of regular harvesting the genotypes Híbrido EC-2-0 and Marília Seleção Cerrado showed the highest production (21,675 and 21,577 kg ha-1) and the highest number of fruits per plant (155,28 and 149,24) respectively. The average weight of fruits varied from 88g (Itaquiraí) to 103,42g F1 (Marília x Roxo Australiano). The potassium fertilizer levels influenced the following parameters: production of marketable fruits/ha (type 1), average weight of marketable fruits (type 1) and average weight of more marketable fruits (type 1A). The interaction of genotypes versus potassium fertilization showed statistical significance to the number of marketable fruits (type 1) per plant, concerning the second level, 640 kg ha-1, of potassium chloride.
Passiflora edulis; P. edulis f. flavicarpa; potassium fertilization
