Study on Substrate Ratio Optimization for Soilless Pepper Cultivation

Dawa Puchi; Wang Guangsheng; Ciwang

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1004-3403.2025.09.002

Abstract：To address the constraints on pepper production in Shigatse,Xizang,such as poor soil structure,shallow soil layers,weak biological and chemical activities,low humus content and continuous cropping obstacles,this study explored a low-cost soilless cultivation mode suitable for localized production.Using"Gaoyuan Zhixing"pep-pers as the experimental material and field soil as the basic substrate,four materials—vermiculite,fermented saw-dust,fermented sheep manure and yellow sand were selected as substrate components.An L16(45)orthogonal test de-sign was adopted to systematically investigate the effects of different ratio on pepper growth indicators(plant height,stem diameter and yield).The results showed that the optimal substrate ratio was Treatment 12(30％field soil+30％vermiculite+20％fermented sheep manure+10％fermented sawdust+0％yellow sand).Under this ratio,the substrate reached a bulk density of 0.28 g/cm³,total porosity of 85％,EC value of 1.6 mS/cm and pH value of 7.66,with all physico-chemical properties meeting the substrate requirements for pepper growth.Compared to Treatment 1,the pepper plant height increased by 38.2％,the stem diameter increased by 88.9％,and the yield-per-plant signif-icantly increased by 45.0％under Treatment 12 ratio,showing prominent comprehensive benefits.This formula,with local field soil as the main component,has effectively reduced cost.Moreover,with its excellent physico-chem-ical properties,it has created an ideal growth environment for pepper roots,comprehensively improving its biologi-cal yield.The research results provide a direct and feasible substrate optimization configuration scheme for the pro-motion and application of low-cost and high-efficiency soilless pepper cultivation mode in Shigatse region.