GREEN-PEPPER FERTIGATION IN SOILLESS CULTURE

Green peppers, Capsicum annuum, were cultivated in perlite for two consecutive years in an unheated greenhouse on the coast of Granada (Spain). Both crops were begun in spring, the traditional season for green peppers in the zone. The first year, four different K levels in the nutrient solution were maintained constant throughout the growing cycle. Only the treatment with 1.5mmol/l of K⁺ gave less yield than the rest, although the treatment with 3 mmol/l of K⁺ had developmental problems in the early growth phases before recuperating and providing statistically the same yield as the other two treatments (6 and 4.5 mmol/l of K⁺). The second year, two treatments were applied. For the first, 5 mmol/l of K⁺ were applied over the entire growth cycle, an intermediate quantity with respect to the two treatments that proved best the first year. In the second treatment, the same solution was used until before the first harvest, when the amount was reduced to 2.75 mmol/l of K⁺ until the end of the season. In this second year, no differences were found in yield between the two treatments.