Effect of potting mixture on growth and yield of chilli varieties (capsicum spp) and microbial activity

Abstract

The study was carried out as pot experiments using a Green Chilli variety, MI 2, and a Curry Chilli variety, Hungarian Yellow Wax (HYW) at the research field, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna. The basal soil mixture was prepared using coir dust, sand, soil and cow-dong (1:1:1 control). Four different potting mixtures were prepared by adding tea waste, compost and inorganic fertilizer. The experiment was carried out according to complete randomized block design with four replicates at the rate of 8 plants per replicate. Plant height (cm), number of pods/plant, weight of pods per plant (g), pod length (cm) and pod appearance were recorded. Carbon-dioxide (CO2) evolution method was applied to observe soil microbial activity in different soil mixtures. Potting mixture combined with tea waste showed significantly highest plant height for both chilli varieties HYW (42 cm) and MI-2 (55 cm) while minimum plant growth in both varieties was recorded in control (P<0.05) basal soil mixture. The highest no of pods (35.5/ plant) was recorded in MI-2 grown under inorganic mixture, while the lowest (10.5/ plant) was recorded in the control treatment. There was no considerable difference in pod production in HYW for tested potting mixtures. In addition, the highest mean microbial activity was observed in potting mixture filled with tea waste whereas the lowest microbial activity was observed in potting mixture with inorganic fertilizer. However, there was no any variation in pod length and pod appearance of both varieties grown under different soil mixtures.