Effect of calcium foliar spraying and seedling age on the chemical components of leaves and fruits of Capsicum annuum L., grown in unheated greenhouses

Abstract

        The experiment was carried out during the winter agricultural season 2021-2022 AD in one of the unheated plastic houses affiliated with the Agricultural Research Station - College of Agriculture - Basrah University in Karma Ali in order to study the effect of foliar spraying with calcium and the age of the seedling and the interaction between them on the growth and yield of the sweet pepper plant,The experiment included 15 factorial treatments consisting of possible combinations of the effect of spraying with four concentrations of chelated calcium (0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0) ml L^-1 in addition to the comparison treatment of spraying with distilled water and three ages of seedlings (35, 45, 55) days as a one-time split-plot design, according to the randomized complete block design (R.C.B.D.) and with three replications, the results were analyzed Statistically, according to the applied design, and the arithmetic means were compared according to the L.S.D. test at a significant level of 0.05. The results showed that spraying with chelated calcium at a concentration of 2.0 ml L^-1 was significantly superior in the chemical components of leaves and fruits, except for the percentage of total dissolved solids. The spraying had no significant effect on this trait. The age of 35 days showed a significant superiority in the chemical components of the leaves and fruits, except for the content of the leaves calcium, where the age of 55 days showed a significant superiority in this trait, while the age of 45 days showed significant superiority in the percentage of total dissolved solids, and the results showed that the secondary interventions had a significant effect, as the plants sprayed with chelated calcium at a concentration of 2.0 ml L^-1 and the plants grown at the age of 35 days gave the highest percentage in the leaves’ nitrogen content of 3.95 %, while the plants grown at the age of 55 days gave the highest percentage of calcium content in the leaves, amounting to 1.45%.