Pengaruh Ketersediaan Air terhadap Pertumbuhan Tiga Varietas Cabai Rawit (Capsicum frutescens)

Abstract

Research on "Effect of Water Availability on Growth of Three Varieties of Chili Pepper (Capsicum frutescens)" has been done at Plant Physiology Laboratory Faculty of Science USU Medan. The objective of this research was compare the effect of water availability on three chili pepper varieties and tolerance level of Local varieties, Genie, and Bhaskara, and to know the interaction of water avaibility and varieties. The factorial completely randomized design with three chili pepper varieties and five levels of water availability (control, 75%, 50%, 25% and 10%) is used. The results showed varieties of chili pepper and the water availability showed significant effect on plant height, root diameter, Relative Water Content (RWC), shoot dry weight, root dry weight, root shoot ratio, Water Use Efficiency (WUE), chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll, leaf thickness, stomatal density of adaxial and abaxial, but no significant effect on stem diameter and chlorophyll a. Varieties of Local, Genie and Bhaskara showed different levels of tolerance to the decline in water availability. The interaction of water avaibility and chili pepper varieties showed significant effect on root dry weight, water use efficiency (WUE), chlorophyll a, and stomatal density of abaxial.