The Impact of Bitt ern and Gliricidia on the Growth of Chili Plants in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Due to its unique spiciness, Capsicum annuum, Chili is an economically valuable crop in high demand in global and local markets. It belongs to the Solanaceae family. This study investi gated the eff ect of Bitt ern and Gliricidia sepium, Gliricidia plant leaf extract pulp as a complete organic multi -nutrient low-cost ferti lizer. Vermi wash and Albert’s Soluti on were used as inorganic and organic treatments to analyze the eff ect on Chili plant growth and development. This experiment observed suitable ferti lizer treatment for the bitt ern soluti on to complete nitrogen defi ciency and generate complete organic ferti lizer. This study employed a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with 13 Treatment groups and 1 controlled group. Treatments were carried out for 10 weeks. Chili plant growth was analyzed using data for vegetati ve growth parameters, height, stem width, leaf count, and leaf area. Bitt ern 25% complex with Gliricidia sepium leaf extract pulp treated plants were the fi rst initi ati ng branching, second tallest plants (25.5 cm) with secondary branching was observed. Bitt ern 25%, Gliricidia sepium leaf extract pulp with Albert’s soluti on also signifi cantly showed the highest results on growth, tallest plants (28.5cm), the highest number of leaves, Branching & secondary branching. Analyzing results identi fi ed suitable bitt ern concentrati on with organic complex for opti mal plant growth. Pot plant treatments should increase with growth stages to prevent nutrient defi ciencies and opti mize growth and development. Stati sti cal analysis used One-way ANOVA and Microsoft Excel.