Initial growth of sweet pepper in different substrates and light environments

Abstract

The aim of this work was to evaluate the initial growth of sweet pepper in different substrates and light environ­ments. The experiment was conducted at the Federal University of Reconcavo da Bahia, in themunicipalityofCruzdasAlmas, BA. The sowing was performed directly in 12 x20 cmpolyethylene bags and the design was completely randomized, in a 4x4 factorial scheme, with 4 replications. The substrates were: CC (commercial compound), SCC (soil (50%) + commercial compound (50%)), SV (soil (50%) + vermiculite (50%)) and SVH (soil (50%) + vermiculite (25%) + earthworm humus (25%)); and light environments: red ChromatiNet®, thermo-reflec­tive screen (Aluminet®) and black screen (all with 50% shading) and full sun. The red screen provided higher values of height, stem dry mass, number of leaves, leaf area ratio, specific leaf area of sweet pepper seedlings; the black screen, in turn, provided higher values of root volume, leaf dry mass, stem diameter, total dry mass, root dry mass, Dickson quality index and leaf area. The quality of the seedlings produced on substrates CC and SCC was superior than that of seedlings grown on substrates SV and SVH. The treatments with screens and sub­strates CC and SCC favored the growth of sweet pepper seedlings.