Influences of plant density and nitrogen fertilizer on growth, yield and fruit quality of paprika pepper (Capsicum annuum L.)

The present research was carried out to evaluate the response of paprika pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) to plant density and nitrogen fertilizer under field conditions. Plant density at four levels (20x50, 30x50, 20x100 and 30x100 cm) and nitrogen treatments at four levels (0, 50, 100 and 150 kg ha-1) were applied. The results indicated that vegetative growth characteristics (plant height, lateral stem length, and leaf number) and reproductive parameters (fruit weight and plant yield) decreased with increasing plant density, but total yield increased with increasing plant density. The highest and lowest yields per hectare were obtained by plant density 20x50 and 30x100 cm, respectively. Nitrogen rate increasing affected significantly plant height and leaf chlorophyll content. It was observed that fertilization with 50 kg N ha-1 resulted in the best fruit volume and plant yield. There were significant differences between some characteristics (fruit weight and plant yield) by interaction plant density and nitrogen treatments.