Gowing JW

Sabli HMZ

Wilcockson SJ

Effects of fertigation with different pre-mixed fertilizers on growth, yield, leaf chlorophyll content and photosynthesis of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) cultivar \u27California Wonder\u27 plants grown hydroponically in stonewool were investigated. Three different pre-mixed fertilizer formulations (Scotts Peters Professional water soluble fertilizer) were used: 20-20-20; 20-10-20; and 21-07-21 to provide NPK concentrations of (F1) 126-55-106; (F2) 256-55-214; and (F3) 385-55-321 mg/L respectively. P concentration (55 mg/L) and the ratio of N:K concentrations (1.2:1.0) were kept constant whilst N and K concentration trebled from F1 to F3. Fertigation regimes were applied according to plant physiological stage: (S1) vegetative stage, (S2) flowering stage, and (S3) fruiting stage. The experiment comprised of seven treatments replicated three times in a completely randomised design. Water and fertilizer solution was supplied automatically to the roots with five irrigation schedules per day (8:00; 10:00; 12:00; 14:00 and 16:00 h) and given similar volumes of nutrient solutions per irrigation event in each stage (6 min (S1), 8 min (S2) and 10 min (S3) daily. This study showed that fertigation with N and K gradually increasing from 126-106 to 265-214 and finally 385-321 mg/L (treatment 1) increased fruit yield of bell pepper significantly by 8% over the control. Higher yield in treatment 1 was associated with the higher leaf area, total dry matter production, number of fruits per plant and higher fertilizer-use efficiency

Newcastle University E-Prints

Effects of Different Nutrient Formulations Supplied at Different Crop Growth Stages on Yield in Bell Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) Plants Grown in Stonewool

Effects of Different Nutrient Formulations Supplied at Different Crop Growth Stages on Yield in Bell Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) Plants Grown in Stonewool

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Newcastle University E-Prints