Effect of growth medium composition on early growth and development of three varieties of pepper seedlings

Organic pepper production seems to be a solution in most urban and peri-urban areas in Nigeria. Production of health transplant is the major operation in pepper production. However, due to farmers’ shallow knowledge of the preparation and/or the use of organic substrates, this activity is still at low patronage. Three pepper varieties (NHA1 – Sombo, NHB1 - Bawa and Rodo) and five substrates formulation [100% soil; 100% tithonia compost (TC); 75% soil + 25% TC; 50% Soil + 50% TC; 25% Soil + 75% TC by weight] were tested in an experiment laid out in completely randomized design with six replicates. The chemical properties of the substrates, seeding growth parameters and nutrient uptake of the tissue were evaluated during the experiment to identify which among the growth media and pepper varieties is the best. The results showed that, irrespective of the variety, 100% TC substrate produced the best growth, highest dry matter yield and highest nutrient uptake seedling. The results obtained with this growth medium were consistently similar to those observed with the use of 25% Soil + 75% TC growth medium. The economic analysis equally showed that farmers return is higher with the use of 25% Soil + 75% TC. The study concluded that combination of 25% Soil + 75% TC seemed to be optimum for production of health seedlings of pepper and that incorporation of organic fertilizer into sowing media ensured nutrient availability during the growth period.