GROWTH AND YIELD PERFORMANCE OF HOT PEPPER (Capsicum frutescens) FERTILIZED WITH FERMENTED PLANT MATERIALS.

A field experiment was conducted to determine the growth and yield performance of two hot pepper varieties using fermented plant materials as foliar fertilizers. A 2x6 factorial split plot design in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replications was employed. Factors included two hot pepper varieties (A1 = Pinatubo and A2 = Red Hot) and five different plant sources for fermented plant juices (B2 = banana pseudostem + santing (Calopogonium muconoides) leaves, B3 = banana pseudostem + wedelia (Wedelia trilobata L.) leaves, B4 = banana pseudostem + acacia (Acacia seyal L.) leaves, B5 = banana pseudostem + madre de cacao (Gliricidia sepium Jacq.) leaves, and B6 = combination of all fermented plant juice materials. No fermented plant juice was applied on the control plants (B1). Data indicated an interaction effect in terms of number of fruits per plant, weight of fruits per plant, and computed yield per hectare compared to the rest of the parameters which indicated no interaction effect. Red Hot variety obtained better performance in terms of number of days from transplanting to flowering and number of fruits per plant while Pinatubo variety performed better in terms of stem diameter per plant, length of fruits, weight of fruits and computed yield per hectare. Plants fertilized with banana pseudostem + wedelia (Wedelia trilobata) leaves as fermented plant juice gave the highest performance in terms of stem diameter and with interaction of variety and fertilizer in terms of weight of fruits per plant, computed yield per hectare. Pinatubo variety had the higher yield per hectare compared to Red Hot variety. Among the fermented plant materials evaluated, banana pseudostem + wedelia leaves has the best potential as nutrient source for organic hot pepper production.