Effect of Transplanting Age on the Growth and Yield of Green Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) in Abakaliki Southeastern Agro-Ecological Zone of Nigeria

A field experiment was conducted at the research farm of the Department of Crop Production and Landscape Mangement of the Faculty of Agriculture, Ebonyi State University, Abakiliki, in Southeasthern Agro-ecological zone of Nigeria for a period of 8 weeks to study the effect of transplanting age on growth and yield of green pepper, laid out in a randomized complete block design in four replicates. The agronomical characteristics that were measured were as follows: Plant height, number of leaves per plants, days to 50% flowering, number of fruit per plot, and weight of fruit per plot (kg/plot). The result of the field trial showed that transplanting age had a significant effect only on plant height at 8 weeks of age of transplanting. The other vegetative parameters such as number of branches, number of leaves, and 50% flowering and field component such as number and weight of fruits were not affected by the transplanting age. Therefore, the best age to transplant green pepper is from 1 to 7 weeks, for optimum performance.