Pepper response to leachate recycling in a greenhouse in Israel

Pepper response to leachate recycling in greenhouses has not been studied so far in Israel. The objective of this study was to determine effects of threshold EC values for solution disposal on fruit yield and quality, solution chemistry and quantities of water and nitrogen removed from the system. Results indicate that pepper yield response to time-averaged EC in recycled solutions was milder than the published response to steady salinity in the same EC range. Pumice was a better filter of suspended particles and microflora than rockwool. This may partly explain the fact that a higher fruit yield was obtained in pumice than in rockwool. The total amounts of water and N that were added in treatments with EC threshold values of 7 and 2.5 dS m(-1) were 300 L m(-2) and 36 g N m(-2), and 770.1 m(-2) and 110 g N m(-2), respectively. The marketable fruit yield and incidence of bER in fruits in those treatments were 5.9 and 6.7 kg m(-2) and 16 and 13%, respectively.