Determination of evapotranspiration, yield and some quality parameters of pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) under different salt and leaching fractions in soilless culture

In this study, the effects of different salinity levels and leaching fractions on plant growth, yield, quality and water consumption of pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) grown by soilless culture were carried out to determine. The experiment was realized as four growing periods during the years of 2010 and 2012. The experimental design was a randomised split plot with three replicates. Pepper plants were grown in perlite and cocopeat, by using open system and four salinity levels were tested in this study. Plants were fed with a complete nutrient solution and its EC level was accepted as control treatment (T1). The electrical conductivities of the solution in other three treatments were increased 2 (T2), 4 (T3) and 6 (T4) dS/m above the control by adding NaCl. Two different leaching fractions were tried to adjusted by weekly measurements as 15 - 20 % (YO1) or 35 – 40 % (YO2) were applied in each salinity levels. According to the results, there was no significant difference between leaching fractions in respect to yield in all four growing seasons, but yield decreased with the increase of salinity.