Growth Promotion in Red Pepper and Tomato Seedlings by Fermented Liquid Fertilizers and Elution of Mineral Nutrients by Extraction Methods

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine which fermented liquid fertilizer and application method yields the greatest amount of growth in red pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum MILL.) plants. Additionally, we investigated which extraction methods produce the most effective fertilizer with the highest levels of mineral nutrients. The liquid fertilizers used in this study were made from fish, bone and fish meal, red pepper leaves, and oil cake, and were extracted using fermentation or water and boiled water. In tomato plants, foliar-application of fermented fertilizer is known to promote more growth than application by drenching, regardless of the number of treatments (once or twice). In our studies, however, drenching with fertilizer promoted growth more effectively than foliar-application in red pepper plants. Studies in both tomato and red pepper have shown that the number of treatments does not significantly alter growth. Liquid fertilizers produced by a fermentation-extraction method promoted greater levels of growth in tomato compared to red pepper, and growth was greater when fertilizers were applied 20 (rather than 40) days post-sowing. Red pepper and tomato shoot fresh weight were affected more by fermented fertilizers than plant height 20 days post-sowing. In red pepper, we observed increased shoot fresh weight when using fermented liquid fertilizers with concentrations of 0.1% or greater. Tomato shoot fresh weight increased similarly in response to fermented fertilizer treatments at the same concentration levels, except those derived from fish. Fermented fish liquid fertilizer was only effective in increasing tomato shoot fresh weight in concentrations exceeding 1%. Red pepper and tomato shoot fresh weight also increased more than plant height in our studies using fermentation liquid fertilizers at 40 days after sowing. Red pepper fresh weight increased with application of bone + fish meal, red pepper leaf, and oil cake fertilizers at concentrations of 0.1%, but not with fish liquid fertilizer in concentrations under 0.5%. Shoot fresh weight in tomato increased with all liquid fertilizers. Growth in red pepper and tomato may be influenced by different kinds of fertilizers due to combinations of macroand micro-nutrients, or specific macro-nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potassium. The mineral nutrients found in fish, bone and fish meal, red pepper leaves, and oil cake were not easily extracted by fermentation; thus, liquid fertilizers made using water and boiled water methods more effectively promoted growth in red pepper and tomato due to the larger amounts of macronutrients eluted.