SUBSTRATE VOLUMES AND APPLICATION OF PACLOBUTRAZOL FOR ORNAMENTAL PEPPER PRODUCTION

Naine Parladore,Abimael Gomes da Silva,Edilson Costa,Flávio Ferreira da Silva Binotti,Laura Araújo Silva,Andreia Froes Galuci Oliveiva de Souza,Gustavo Haralampidou da Costa Vieira

doi:10.32404/rean.v6i3.3342

Abstract

The objective was to evaluate the quality of ornamental pepper seedlings, cultivar Pyramid, in different substrate volumes, with foliar application of paclobutrazol (PBZ).The experiment was carried out at the Mato Grosso do Sul State University - UEMS, in Cassilândia - MS. The experimental design was completely randomized, in a 2 x 2 factorial scheme (growth container x foliar application of PBZ) with four replicates of 36 seedlings each. Plastic trays (cells with a volume of 50 mL) and polystyrene trays (Isopor®, 100 mL cells) were used as containers. The treatments were: polystyrene tray with PBZ application; polystyrene tray without PBZ application; plastic tray with PBZ application and plastic tray without the application of PBZ. Plant height, root length, stem diameter, shoot dry mass, root dry mass, total dry mass, height/stem diameter ratio (H/D), shoot/root ratio (S/R) and Dickson quality index were evaluated. Foliar application of paclobutrazol resulted in robust pepper seedlings with reduced size, suitable and desirable characteristics for ornamental purposes. The polystyrene trays with higher volume cells (100 mL) contributed to the higher quality of ornamental pepper seedlings.

Highlights

The genus Capsicum is important in agribusiness because it contains species that can be used in cooking (Pinto et al, 2013) and in the decoration of environments
Shoot dry mass (SDM), and root dry mass (RDM) were measured with the aid of an analytical balance and the results presented in grams (g)
The seedlings produced in polystyrene trays showed higher shoot height (SH), stem diameter (SD) and root length (RL) (Table 2), and the larger volume of the cells influenced these results

Summary

Introduction

The genus Capsicum is important in agribusiness because it contains species that can be used in cooking (Pinto et al, 2013) and in the decoration of environments. Many species are appreciated for their ornamental role, possessing rich variation of fruit colors and small seedling size, guaranteeing space in the ornamental plant market (Carvalho et al, 2006; Melo et al, 2014). Some studies with ornamental pepper cultivars have shown that the use of protected environments favored the fruiting of the pepper plant (Costa et al, 2017). The cultivar Pyramid of Capsicum frutescens has colorful fruits that arouse interest and acceptance by the consumers of ornamental plants. In the seedling formation, this cultivar presented more vigorous plants when compared to the cultivar Etna (Costa et al, 2015). For Tupã Bode Vermelha pepper seedlings, Prado et al (2016) report that the quality of the seedlings increases with the percentage of humus in the substrate used

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