Effect of planting density and training on plant health and seed quality of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) under protected conditions

Abstract

A study was conducted at the Department of Seed Science and Technology, Dr. Y. S. Parmar University of Horti-culture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan (H.P.), India during Kharif 2012 to evaluate the effects of the different planting densities and training systems on plant health (powdery mildew severity) and seed quality of bell pepper cv. Solan Bharpur under pro-tected conditions (polyhouse). Experiment was laid out in naturally ventilated polyhouse using three different planting densi-ties (S1 - 45×15 cm, S2 - 45×30 cm and S3 - 45×45 cm) and four training levels (T1 - single shoot, T2 - two shoots, T3 - three shoots and T4 - four shoots)with three replicates. The combination S2T2 (plants spaced at 45x30 cm and trained to two shoots) was found superior over all other treatments in terms of seed yields i.e. per plant and per hectare (18.00 g and 959.87 kg, respectively) and was at par with important quality characters. The treatment combination S3T1 (plant spaced at 45×45 cm and trained to single shoot) resulted in least powdery mildew severity (21.21 %) and performed best for seed qual-ity characters viz. 1000 seed weight, germination percentage, seedling length, seedling dry weight, seedling vigour index-I & II (6.32 g, 95.75%, 10.86 cm, 3.26 mg, 1039.77 and 312.34, respectively) but it gave lower seed yield and thus it is uneconomic. Therefore, planting density 45×30 cm in combination with two shoot training system can be recom-mended for commercial seed production of bell pepper under protected conditions.