Page 70 - Book of Abstracts

5 International Scientific Online Conference DOI: https://doi.org/10.15414/2021.9788055224015

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EFFECT OF SILICEOUS MINERALS AND CHLORELLA VULGARIS BEIJER. ON PEPPER
(CAPSICUM ANNUUM L.)
Bogdana Ivanytska, Natalia Didyk, Nadiia Rositska, Natalia Zaimenko
M.M. Gryshko National Botanical Garden of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine,
Kyiv, Ukraine; E-mail.: ivanytskabo@ukr.net
The pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) is a high-yielding vegetable plant grown in many
countries in the world for culinary and medicine.
Recently, the use of natural growth stimulants, which activate resistance of plants in
unfavorable weather conditions, to increase the yield of vegetable crops is relevant. Our
research was focused on the effect of natural silicon mineral analcite mixed with peat, and the
culture medium of Chlorella vulgaris Beijer. on growth processes and photosynthetic activity of
sweet pepper plants Capsicum annuum, cv. Bilozerka. This cultivar has broad environmental
tolerances to weather conditions and phytopathogens but is very sensitive to soil drought. This
cultivar is also good for long storage and suitable for canning and cooking.
Experimental work was carried out in the Department of Allelopathy M.M. Gryshko
National Botanical Garden of NAS of Ukraine in 2020-2021. The pepper plants were grown in
0.7 L plastic pots filled with soil substrate under laboratory conditions (temperature – 23–29
°C, humidity – 65–80 %, natural sunlight, soil humidity – 50–80 % of field capacity). We tested
the effect of the application of (1) culture medium of Chlorella vulgaris Beijer. (10 ml); (2)
mixture of analcite (500 mg) with peat (1.5 g); (3) mixture of the culture medium of Chlorella
vulgaris with analcite (500 mg) and peat (1.5 g) on the growth and photosynthesis of the pepper
test plants. The control treatment was without any amendments. The duration of the
experiment was 6 months. Each treatment has 6 replicates. The length of pepper plants (shoot
and root) treated with Chlorella was 1.2-fold as much as the one in test plants in control. The
leaf area of the former was also 1.7-fold as large as that in the control treatment. The test plants
treated with the mixture of peat and analcite have 1.4-fold higher root and shoot growth
characteristics than the test plants grown in control The highest growth parameters were
observed in plants exposed to the combined application of Chlorella culture medium, analcite,
and peat: root length was 1.7-fold as high as in control and 1.5-fold as high as in the treatment
with culture medium of Chlorella alone. There was a noticeable increase in plant stem thickness
(1.6-fold), the number of leaves, flowers, and fruits per plant. The photosynthetic pigments
content (in particular the content of chlorophyll a) in the leaves was the highest after the
combined application of the microalgae with the siliceous mixture. This indicates the intensity
of growth processes.
Thus, the combined application of Chlorella vulgaris, analcite, and peat is promising as an
effective biostimulant of pepper plants' growth and productivity.

Keywords: pepper, Capsicum annuum, Chlorella vulgaris, siliceous minerals, analcite, peat.
Acknowledgments
This project was performed with the support of priority for the state scientific research and scientific
and technical (experimental) developments Department of General Biology of the National Academy of
Sciences of Ukraine.

5 International Scientific Conference Agrobiodiversity for Improving the Nutrition, Health, Quality of Life and |69
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Spiritual Human Development
November 3 2021
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