EFFECT OF PACLOBUTRAZOL ON PEPPERS OF THE SPECIES Capsicum annuum FOR USE IN ORNAMENTATION

• Grant number: 23/11298-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2024
• End date: February 28, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Floriculture, Parks and Gardens
• Principal Investigator: Christiane de Fátima Martins França
• Grantee: Beatriz Romanini Morales
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Agrárias (CCA). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). Araras , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The market of flowers and ornamental plants is in continuous expansion in Brazil and in the world, and peppers have great relevance in the potted ornamental market due to their attractive characteristics, like fruit color and variegated foliage. However, the market has just few varieties, since most species are tall and do not adapt to cultivation in small pots. The genetic improvement program for peppers and sweet peppers carried out at UFSCar has a germplasm bank with medium to large accessions, which have fruit and foliage characteristics desired for ornamentation. In this sense, Paclobutrazol (PBZ), a gibberellin inhibitor, has been used with the purpose of reducing the height of several plant species. This work aims to evaluate the effect of PBZ on the characteristics of peppers of the accessions F8 10070 and F8 10047 (Capsicum annuum), for use as an ornamental plant. PBZ will be applied in three different protocols in the concentrations of 0; 5, 10, 15 and 20 mg/L of the commercial product (CULTAR® 250 SC): immersion, for 10 seconds, of the root + substrate system in the solutions at transplanting ; application by drenching of 250 mL of PBZ solutions directly into the substrate, at transplanting and 30 days after transplanting. When the plants reach commercial maturity, the following parameters will be evaluated: plant height, crown compactness, leaf colors using SPAD index and Minolta Chroma, number, length and width of leaves, number, length and diameter of fruits and fresh weight of the plant. The results will be submitted to analysis of variance and the averages will be contrasted by the Tukey test (pd0.05), in order to determine the concentration, method and time of application that provides better ornamental characteristics to the plants.