Yield performance of okra under potassium fertilization and number of plants per hole.

The low-scale cultivation of okra in Brazil is related to the lack of technical-scientific information about its nutritional requirements and planting density. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of K2O doses and the number of plants/hole on the yield and quality of okra cv. Santa Cruz. A complete randomized block design was used, with four replications, in a 6 x 2 factorial scheme, corresponding to six K2O doses (0, 50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 kg ha-1) and two planting densities (one and two plants/hole). The fruit mass, number of fruits/plant, fruit yield, total and commercial yield, and leaf potassium content were evaluated. The mean fruit mass and total yield did not adjust to any linear model but had higher values when two plants/hole were planted. The number of fruits/plant, fruit and commercial yield increased according to the K2O doses increase and planting with two plants/hole. The potassium leaf content did not differ according to the different planting densities but increased significantly with the potassium doses. Plating with two plants/hole increased the K2O requirement and provided a positive response in all analyzed traits. The application of K2O doses between 115 and 185.5 t ha-1 using two plants/hole is recommended and promotes better yield and quality of okra cv Santa Cruz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]