Silicon dioxide as a stimulant of the quality index of nursery-grown pequin pepper (Capsicum annuum L. var. glabriusculum) plants

Abstract

Since the last century silicon dioxide has become notorious not only for its role in electronic components but also for its beneficial effects on some crops such as rice or strawberry. The work was carried out in the Facultad de Ciencias Forestales of the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (UANL) in the nursery area. It was carried out in the January-May season of 2016. Four replications of 10 plants each were carried out for each of three fertilizers —silicon dioxide, earth worm compost, and a mixture of earth worm compost and silicon dioxide— and a control. Two results of the experiment were obtained: firstly, a temporary growth was registered throughout the experiment for each treatment, the earthworm compost being the one that obtained the greatest average increase in the height of the plant, to 14 cm, followed by the silicon dioxide, with an average increase to 12.28 cm; the control, with 11.25 cm, and, finally, the mixture of silicon dioxide and earth worm compost, with 11 cm. The second result was the plant quality, measured with Dickson’s quality index, for which the silicon dioxide obtained the highest value, followed by the earthworm compost; the fertilizer mixture yielded a low average but exhibited a high variability, and the lowest value was for the control.