SUMMARY
The aim of work wasto verify the effect of different shading levels in escarole crop, duringsummer in the northwest of Rio Grande do Sul. The experiment was conducted atthe Federal University of Santa Maria, Frederico Westphalen RS Campus, in2015 with Escarola Lisa escarole cultivar. The experimental design was arandomized complete block design with three shading levels (0%, 30%, 50%), withsix replications. Growth evaluation were performed in destructive manner everyseven days, from transplant to harvest point. From the information obtained, traitswere determined: leaf area, leaf area index, leaf area ratio, specific leafarea, leaf weight ratio, biological productivity, absolute growth rate,relative growth rate, net assimilation rate. The data obtained were analyzed bythe statistical program Genes, the Tukey test at 5% of error probability. Theshading level 30% provided greater leaf area, higher biological productivityand absolute growth rate. However, the leaf area ratio was higher when shadinglevel 50% was tested. However, it can be said that the shading levels favorgrowth of escarole crop.