<![CDATA[Di Indonesia, penelitian tentang pengaruh jumlah cabang per tanaman sangat terbatas dan baru dilakukan pada satu varietas paprika, yaitu cv. Ferrari. Dalam rangka meningkatkan pilihan petani terhadap varietas yang dibudidayakan, penelitian tentang pengaruh jumlah cabang per tanaman pada pertumbuhan dan hasil tiga varietas paprika perlu dilakukan. Penelitian dilaksanakan di Rumah Plastik kayu-metal, Kebun Percobaan Balai Penelitian Tanaman Sayuran, Lembang (1.250 m dpl.), Jawa Barat dari bulan Juni 2007 sampai dengan Februari 2008. Penelitian menguji dua faktor perlakuan, yaitu (1) jumlah cabang per tanaman dengan dua taraf, yaitu dua dan tiga cabang per tanaman serta (2) varietas dengan tiga taraf yaitu varietas Spider, Chang, dan Athena. Percobaan menggunakan rancangan acak kelompok dengan tiga ulangan. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa jumlah cabang per tanaman berpengaruh nyata terhadap pertumbuhan dan hasil paprika. Tanaman paprika dengan sistem tiga cabang menunjukkan pertumbuhan yang lebih tinggi dan berbeda nyata dibandingkan dengan sistem dua cabang terutama pada umur 11 minggu setelah tanam. Tanaman paprika dengan sistem tiga cabang memberikan hasil total dan hasil kelas buah >200 g berturut-turut lebih tinggi yaitu sebesar 9,3 dan 9,1% daripada tanaman paprika dengan dua cabang. Total hasil varietas Athena dan Spider lebih tinggi dan berbeda nyata dibandingkan dengan varietas Chang, tetapi varietas Chang menghasilkan jumlah buah yang lebih banyak dibandingkan dengan dua varietas lainnya. Hasil penelitian ini dapat digunakan sebagai rekomendasi untuk pemilihan varietas dan teknik budidaya paprika dalam kondisi rumah plastik di Indonesia.In Indonesia, research on the effect of stem number per plant is very limited and it was conducted only in one sweet pepper variety namely Ferrari. In order to increase the possibility of farmers to choose good cultivated varieties, an experiment needs to be conducted to determine the effect of stem number per plant on the growth and yields of three sweet pepper varieties. This experiment was carried out in the wood-metal plastichouse at the experimental field of the Indonesian Vegetable Research Institute (IVEGRI), Lembang (1,250 m asl.), West Java from June 2007 to February 2008. Two factor treatments tested were (1) number of stem per plant with two levels i.e. two stems and three stems per plant and (2) varieties of sweet pepper i.e. Spider, Chang, and Athena. The treatment combinations were arranged in a completely randomized block design with three replications. The results indicated that number of stem per plant significantly affected the growth and yield of sweet pepper. The plant height of sweet pepper plants grown with three stems were significantly higher than those with two stems, especially after 11 weeks after planting. The plants grown with three stems per plant gave higher total yield and yield of class >200 g up to 9.3 and 9.1%, respectively than the ones grown with two stems per plant. The total yield and yield of class > 200 g of Athena and Spider were significantly higher than those of Chang. However, Chang yielded more number of fruits compared to Athena and Spider. The results can be used as a recommendation in variety selection and cultivation of sweet pepper grown under plastichouse conditions in Indonesia.]]>
