Abstract

The study investigated the exogenous application of Naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) on the vegetative traits of two varieties of pepper (Capsicum annuum L. and Capsicum frutescens L.) the treatment were 0, 1, 5, 10 and 20 ppm NAA. NAA at 1ppm concentration increased plant height, leaf area and number of leaves in both varieties. Shoot height of 23.17 ± 1.45 cm was recorded in C. annuum at 1 ppm treatment as against 18.90 ± 3.12 cm in control treatment at ten (10) weeks after planting. The growth promoting effect of NAA at 1 ppm on leaf area was observed to in both species. C. annuum had leaf area of 29.7 ± 0.18 cm2 as against 8.67 ± 0.731 cm2 in control treatment. Same treatment in C. frutescence recorded leaf area of 18.57 ± 0.87 cm2 as against 17.63 ± 2.05 cm2 in control treatment at ten (10) weeks after planting. In terms of number of leaves, NAA at I ppm concentration gave the highest number of leaves with 44.33 ± 2.33 in C. annuum and 32.33 ± 1.20 in C. frutescence