International Journal of Horticulture, 2017, Vol.7, No. 29, 262-274
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condition in term of growth parameter. 2-May planting date had the maximum plant height (68.64 cm) not
significant to 12-April planting date but significantly different to 2-April planting date.
Number of leaves varied significantly due to different sowing dates and cropping time. It was recorded that 2-May
planting date produced the maximum (120.5) number of leaves which was statistically different from other
planting dates whereas the least number was recorded in 2-April planting date. The same pattern of result was
noted for rainfed 23-Oct. planting date produced the highest number of leaves for the period of evaluation (12
weeks) and statistically different to other planting dates.
The maximum average number of branches 13.34 and 21.62 was obtained at 12WAT (2-May & 23-Oct.) and was
statistically similar to those of 12-April &11-Oct. planting dates. Minimum number of branches (11.94 and 18.05)
per plant was found at 8-Feb. & 12-May planting dates and was statistically similar to the 12-April & 11-Oct.
planting dates.
The Interactive Effects on the Growth Parameters Across the Season of Planting
The analysis of variance (Table 2; Table 3; Table 4) indicates that the main interactive effect (planting date and
fertilizer) had a significant influence on the leaf number, Plant height and branch number of the crop. The
significant effects were more pronounced on the interaction of varieties and fertilizer for both planting seasons
except at 2WAT. The interaction of the varieties and the planting dates were also significant (P < 0.05).
Application of different fertilizer at different planting date significantly influences the performance of the green
pepper cultivars. The finding confirms the observation of Edossa Etisa et al. (2013) on the influence of N and P
fertilizer and difference planting dates. Spacing and fertilizer applications had been observed as some of the
factors that affect growth development of a crop.
Hamman et al. (2012) and Islam et al. (2010b) reported that optimum sowing dates and fertilizer application to
crop ensure proper growth, development and maximize crop yield. Fertilizer and planting date interaction as well
as the variety versus fertilizer and planting date were not significant (P < 0.05) under irrigation except at 10WAT
while rainfed cropping had a significant effect. This can be related to the influence of climate condition under
irrigation. Interactive effects of varieties and fertilizer; fertilizer and planting date were significant (P < 0.05)
except at 4WAT, fertilizer and planting date were significant with the exception of 2, 4 and 10 WAT.
Interaction treatment effect were noted to be significant for branched number under rainfed, variety and fertilizer
varieties and planting date were significant (P < 0.05) while fertilizer and planting date; Variety x Fertilizer x
planting date were not significant.
Effects of Planting Date and Fertilizer Application on the Yield and Yield Component of Green Pepper
Varieties
The effects of planting date and fertilizer application on green pepper Yield and Yield Component (Table 5) were
not significant with respect to the number of days to flowering, numerically, the highest numbers of days to first
flowering (48.92 and 48.78 days) were recorded with California Wonder and Tattasai Dan-Garko respectively.
Significant differences (P < 0.05) were noted among fertilizer types applied on days to 50% flowering, ORF took
the longest days to 50% flowering (50.07 days), while it was shortest at control (48.73 days), this may be due to
more availability of nitrogen that are released slowly and encouraged production of more biomass than at the time
of flowering. A similar result was obtained from tomato cited in Sheresh Ghimere et al. (2013). Days to 50%
flowering was found to be significant in irrigation production though with a similar statistical values while it was
not significant for rainfed production, however, the 22-April planting date recorded the shortest day to flowering.
The days to flowering were numerically similar because it is majorly determined by the genetic composition of
the green pepper cultivars which could only be influenced by the environmental factors (Sagar Koner et al.,
2015).The interactive effects of varieties and fertilizer were significant while other treatment factors were not
significant.
