Growth and Photosynthetic Response of <i>Capsicum annuum</i> L. in Biochar Amended Soil

Abstract

The present study investigated the growth of Capsicum annuum L. (pepper) in an outdoor pot experiment. Changes in the plants’ aboveground and root biomass, leaf area, plant height, stem thickness, and yield, as a response to different doses of biochar amendments were observed. During the 12.5-week-long study, four treatments with biochar amounts of 0, 0.5%, 2.5%, and 5.0% (by weight) were added to silt loam soil. Photochemical responses of plants, the plants photochemical reflectance index (PRI) modified by the different doses of biochar were continuously monitored. Plant height and fruit yield were initially the highest for BC5.0; however, by the end of the experiment, both parameters showed higher values for BC2.5, e.g., 15.9 and 9.1% higher plant height and 32.5 and 22.6% higher fruit yield for BC2.5 and BC5.0 compared to control, respectively. By the end of the experiment the BC2.5 treatments had significantly higher stem thickness (p p < 0.001), showing less plant sensitivity to environmental changes when biochar was applied to the soil. While biochar amendment could greatly enhance plant growth and development, there is an optimal amount of biochar after which additional amount might not result in substantial differences, or even can result in lower fruit yield as found in the present study.

Keywords

• pepper
• biomass
• fAPAR
• PRI
• LAI
• biochar