Effects of vermicompost and plant growth enhancers on the exo-morphological features of Capsicum annum (Linn.) Hepper

Purpose Vermicomposting is an environmentally and economically friendly process to decompose organic waste. India's agro-industrial sector contributes huge resources of plant materials in the form of compost. In this study, 50% of vermicompost was compared with plant growth enhancers on the exo-morphological features of C. annum. A significant plant growth was recorded in plants treated with Vermicompost. The present study aims to promote soil health and its plant growth providing effects further substantiating the use of organic amendments instead of fertilizers. Vermicompost contains a combination of macro- and micro-nutrients and the uptake of the nutrients has a positive effect on plant nutrition, growth, photosynthesis and chlorophyll content of the leaves. Methods Pot studies were carried out in ten replicates and four soil amendment treatments: (1) Control, 100 ml distilled water (2) 50% Vermicompost of soil (3) 10 ml of Gibberellic Acid + 90 ml deionised water (GA + 100 mu g/ml)-10 ml Indole Acetic Acid + 90 ml deionised water. Pots were planted with C. annum and the measurements of studied traits (length of shoot, length of internode, leaves number and number of branches were determined. Results The effect of plant growth enhancers like GA, IAA was compared with 50% vermicompost applications. Significant improvement in all the parameters, like length of shoot, length of inter node, number of leaves and number of branches was observed in plants at the end of 3rd, 4th and 5th weeks of treatment. Conclusion Plants treated with 50% vermicompost showed significant growth than Gibberellic acid (GA)- and Indole acetic acid (IAA)- treated plants. These results clearly indicate that vermicompost can be exploited as a potent biofertilizer.