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Pepper Transplant Response to Root Volume and Nutrition in the Nursery
Author(s) -
BarTal A.,
BarYosef B.,
Kafkafi U.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj1990.00021962008200050030x
Subject(s) - transplanting , pepper , seedling , vermiculite , dry matter , agronomy , irrigation , dry weight , nutrient , phosphorus , horticulture , root system , chemistry , biology , organic chemistry
The use of pepper ( Capsicum annuum L.) seedlings for transplanting in the field is common. However, very little is known about the effects of root volume and nutrition in the nursery on transplant performance in the field. The objective of this work was to study the effects of N and P supply to various root volumes on pepper seedling development and growth in the nursery, and fruit yield and harvest earliness in the field. Seedlings were grown in trays packed with a peat/vermiculite mixture, 1:1 (v/v). The plants were irrigated by soaking the trays in the studied nutrient solutions. Phosphorus and N concentrations in the test solutions were 0.1, 0.5 and 1.0 m M P and 1, 5, 10 and 15 m M N (NH 4 /NO 3 = 1:1). Root volumes ( V ) were 5, 15, 35, 65 and 700 cm 3 plant −1 . Following transplanting, all plants in the field received identical, optimal irrigation and fertilization. Seedling weight increased with increasing root volume and nutrient concentrations in the irrigation water. The optimal solution for pepper seedlings in the studied growth medium was 5 m M N and 0.5 m M P. Nitrogen, P and K contents in tops of optimal seedlings (V = 700 cm 3 ) were 39, 5.5 and 67 g kg −1 dry matter, respectively. Seedling development was retarded when top's content was <25 mg N kg −1 and <3.1 mg P kg −1 . Four weeks after transplanting plant weight in the field increased and fruit ripening was hastened when the top's dry weight at planting time increased from 63 to 285 mg plant −1 . Plant relative growth rate and total fruit yield were unaffected by nursery treatments.