The effect of pruning type on old seedling of chili pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) plants to the growth and yield

Abstract This research aimed to determine the effect of the pruning type to old seedling of chili plants to the growth and yield. The research was conducted from April until August 2019 at Syiah Kuala District, Banda Aceh. The research was designed as a non-factorial randomized block design with four levels of treatment and six replications. There were 72 units of polybags of research. Pruning types consist of four levels, namely control (no pruning), shoot pruning, root pruning, and combination of shoot and root pruning. The result indicates that pruning type had a very significant effect on plant height, stem diameter, number of fruit per plant, each fruit weight, weight of fruit per plant, and plant productivity, it also indicates a significant effect on the length of fruit. Better growth and yield of chili pepper are found in root pruned plant and control. The high fruit length and each fruit weight are found in shoot pruned and the combination of shoot and root pruned plant. The highest number of productive branches and diameter of fruit are found in combination of shoot and root pruned plant. The lowest percentage of virus symptomatic plants and early flowering is found in the control.