Effect of Ground Application and Foliar Nutrition with Yeast on Vegetative Growth Characteristics of Hot Pepper Plants Capsicum annuum L.

Abstract

Abstract The pots experiment was carried out for the 2023 spring season in the wooden canopy of the Centre of Desert Studies at the University of Anbar, in soil with an alluvial mixture texture. To study the effect of adding baking yeast to the soil and spraying it on the vegetative total of the plant, at three concentrations (0, 2, and 4 gm L-1) on the vegetative growth characteristics of the hot pepper plant Capsicum annuum L. A factorial experiment was carried out with a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD), and three replications, the first factor being the concentrations of the ground yeast addition and the second factor being the concentrations of the yeast spraying. The results were summarized as follows: (1) The ground addition of yeast had a significant effect on all vegetative growth characteristics, the Y1 level gave the highest average number of internodes (15.33 internodes plant-1), and stem diameter (0.577 cm plant-1), while the Y2 concentration gave the highest average plant height (59.1 cm), the chlorophyll percentage in the leaves (53.24 spads), the branches number (20.6 branches plant-1) and the average dry weight of the plant (47.8 gm plant-1). (2) Foliar feeding with yeast led to a significant increase in the average of most of the studied characteristics, the S1 level achieved the highest average for these characteristics, including plant height (62.8 cm plant-1), the chlorophyll percentage in the leaves (53.51 spades), the internodes number (15.22 internodes plant-1) and stem diameter (0.577 cm plant-1), while concentration S2 gave the highest average number of branches (21.2 branches plant-1) and dry weight of the plant (48.6 g plant-1). (3) The interaction between the levels of ground addition of yeast and spraying on the vegetative total of the plant had a significant effect on all the characteristics studied, as the addition at the Y2 level with foliar feeding at the S1 level gave the highest average plant height (65.6 cm) and stem diameter (0.633 cm plant-1). In contrast, the interaction between the levels gave the Y1 with spraying at the S1 level was superior in terms of leaf chlorophyll index (53.99 spads) and the number of internodes (16.33 internodes) in the interaction record between the two levels. Y1S2 was superior in pod length (6.26 cm pod-1) and dry weight of the plant (57.6 gm plant-1).