Effect of different organic materials on potted sweet pepper

The results of the chemical characterization of the organic materials used during the first trial showed that chicken manure contained 2.81% N, 7.63% P, 6.67% Ca, 2.64% Mg, and other micronutrients. These values were highest compared with those measured in other organic materials tested. The other organic materials contained 0.53-0.75% N, 0.07-0.61% P, 0.1-0.46% K, 0.13% Ca, 0.26-0.35% Mg, and other micronutrients. The chemical content of the organic materials used during the second trial varied, although those in chicken manure were again higher. Crop responses to the organic materials were measured in terms of yield and plant height. Plants in two consecutive cropping periods showed impressive growth and height with the application of chicken manure in ultisol soil growing medium. During the first trial at 79 days after transplanting, plants grown in pots with chicken manure were more than 60-cm tall while those applied with other organic matters did not reach more than 40 cm height. The same trend was observed during the second trial although plants were generally taller except in the control, and plants applied with chicken manure attained height of 90 cm. Yield response to the organic materials was measured by harvesting all sweet pepper fruits. The plant yield during the first cropping did not differ significantly. However, during the second trial, the plant yield in pots with chicken manure and commercial fertilizer significantly differed from the rest. Plants grown in pots with chicken manure had the highest yield (261 g/plant), followed by plants treated with commercial fertilizer (142 g/plant). The production of plants in the control, compost, and vermicompost treatments were 6 g/plant, 49 g/plant, and 74 g/plant, respectively. Partial budget analysis was done to determine the profitability of the different treatments. Treatment of chicken manure had the highest computed margin of P15.45 followed by commercial organic fertilizer with P7.47.