ABSTRACT In vegetables, especially the leafy ones, nitrogen (N) and water are essential in its growth, being N the second most absorbed and identified nutrient in the arugula leaf tissue. Water is essential for horticultural crops, so its use must be rational in order to achieve high yield. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of nitrogen levels and irrigation depths on the productive characteristics, the total leaf chlorophyll index (ICF) and nitrogen contents in the arugula culture. The experiment was arranged in a randomized block design subdivided in plots, with two factors: A) nitrogen levels applied in coverage (25, 50, 100, 125 and 150 mg dm-3) and B) irrigation depths [(50 and 100% of the available water capacity (AWC)]. At harvest, 37 days after transplantation (DAT), we observed a significant effect of the treatments when individually analyzed, and also a significant interaction between factors of the analyzed variables. The nitrogen content in the plant showed no effect for irrigation depths. However, the highest content was found in the level of 129 mg dm-3 (27.8 g kg-1), corresponding to an increase of 26% in relation to the lowest level (25 mg dm-3; 22.07 g kg-1). In conclusion, the supply of 150 mg dm-3 nitrogen and full irrigation management (100% of AWC) provided substantial increase in height, leaf area and fresh mass of aerial part of the plant.