PACLOBUTRAZOL AND ROOT AND SHOOT GROWTH IN BELL PEPPER AND EGGPLANT SEEDLINGS

Abstract

In this research we determined paclobutrazol (PBZ) effects on root and shoot growth of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) var. ‘California Wonder’ and eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) var. ‘Dalia’. Bell pepper seeds were sowed directly in glass cubes (1.1 x 0.1 x 0.1 m) filled with peat moss as substrate. Eggplant seeds were sowed in polystyrene trays with 200 cavities filled with the same substrate. e Plants were irrigated every 24 h and fertilized with 1.15 g of N L^-1 of water. Treatments were: 0 (control), 100, 150, 200, 250, 300 and 350 mg L^-1 of PBZ. Each dosage was applied only once, spraying the canopies seven times with a manual atomizer. Root length and fresh or dry matter of root and shoot were determined 64 d after sowing. PBZ increased biomass production of root and shoot in both plants species, compared to the control; 150 mg L^-1 was the best dosage for bell pepper because it increased 1.1 times the length, 3.7 times the fresh matter and 13 times the dry matter of roots, and it increased 1.5 and 6.7 times the fresh and dry matter of shoots, respectively. In eggplant roots PBZ caused a gain of 1.3 times in fresh matter and 71 % in dry matter, and in shoots it increased 81 % the fresh matter and 89 % the dry matter.