The Effect of Tilapia Excreta on the Growth of Jumbo Sweet Pepper Plants

Abstract

This research was carried out using fish excreta as a fertilizer treatment for sweet pepper plants. The fish excreta solution was obtained from a tank containing a specie of tilapia Oreochromis mossambicus. Sweet pepper plants (Capsicum annuum var. annuum (Grossum Group) ‘Jumbo Sweet F1’) were grown in three (3) different beds, while each bed was treated with a different fertilizer treatment; fish excreta, cow manure and N.P.K 6.25.25. The difference in vegetative growth, reproductive yield and effect of the fertilizers on the soils pH was observed and recorded. The differences in vegetative growth recorded for the plants treated with fish excreta compared to cow manure and N.P.K treatments were not statistically significant. The total weight of fruit harvested on plants treated with fish excreta was significantly higher than the weight of fruit yielded from the plants treated with N.P.K and cow manure. The soil pH of the cow manure and the fish excreta treatment stabilized at a range which was suitable for the sweet pepper plants between pH 5.5 and pH 7.5, whilst soil pH of the N.P.K treatment expressed a drastic decrease to a more acidic pH range below the tolerance level of the plants.