EFFECT OF POT COLOUR ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF DIFFERENT COLOURS CAPSICUM (Capsicum annuum L.)

Heat stress is the main impediment for capsicum production in pot condition in Bangladesh. The present study was carried out at Professor Dr. Purnendu Gain Field Laboratory, Khulna University to find out suitable pot colour and capsicum colour for production of capsicum in pot condition. Double factor experiment was laid out in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications was used where factor A was three capsicum colours (purple, yellow, red) and factor B was four pot colour (red, black, white and green). The results showed that purple capsicum showed maximum plant height (40.2 cm), leaf number (42.6), leaf area (48.8 cm2), chlorophyll content index (SPAD value) (52.2) and canopy area (376.75 cm2) at 12 WAT. Also, the highest fruit yield (21.1 t ha-1) was recorded in purple capsicum which maintain the lowest canopy temperature (28.10C, 26.70C, 26.30C, 27.10C, 26.30C & 26.90C respectively) at weekly interval starting from 5 weeks after transplanting to 10 weeks after transplanting. Besides, pot colours have significant effect on growth parameters of capsicum. At 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 weeks after transplanting, the highest plant height (27.6, 29.5, 33.5, 38.0 and 41.6 cm, respectively), maximum leaf area (31.7, 34.2, 39.2, 42.9 and 48.6 cm2, respectively) and maximum number of leaves plant-1 (23.6, 29.8, 33.3, 41.3 and 44.7) were found from the plants grown in white pot. Yield of the plants grown in white pot also showed the highest chlorophyll content index (SPAD value) (54.3) and highest yield (23.2 t ha-1) with lowest canopy temperature (28.80C) at 12 WAT. But no significant difference in the interaction of capsicum colours and pot colours was observed. Therefore, the purple colour capsicum with white colour pot may be one of the possible options for capsicum production in a pot condition.

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