Effect of Different Storage Methods and Temperature on the Quality of Pepper Plug Seedling

The growth and physiological changes of pepper seedlings by different storage methods and temperatures in the darkness were studied.Seedlings were stored vertically and horizontally.For vertical storage,seedlings were not removed from the plug.For horizontally storage,seedlings were removed from the plug and placed horizontally.The pepper plug seedlings were treated of 25℃(control),15℃ and 6℃,respectively.The results showed that dry mass/fresh mass,root/shoot ratio,root activity,chlorophyll content decreased significantly,and the minimum decline was observed at 7℃.From the results of the some of the modality and physiological indexes,we can conclude that the quality of seedlings stored horizontally was higher than that of vertical seedlings.After a long storage(9 d)period,the seedlings appeared browning in the top.When transplanted to the field,the growth of seedlings treated under 7℃ were faster than those of other treatments.The current study indicated that the optimal storage temperature for the pepper seedlings was 7℃.