The effect of olive pomace and seaweed extract on the growth of pepper seedling

In recent years, environmental pollution problems have increased due to organic wastes. The use of organic wastes as fertilizer plays an important role in reducing environmental pollution and improving the physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil. This study was carried out to determine the effect of unprocessed olive pomace (OP) which is a by-product of olive oil industry and seaweed (SW) on the growth of pepper seedlings. In the study, 4 different pomace ratios (5% OP + 95% peat, 10% OP + 90% peat, 15% OP + 85% peat and 20% OP + 80% peat V:V) and 4 different SW extract doses ( 0% 0.5%, 1% and 2% ) were used. In the study, parameters such as plant height, stem diameter, leaf area, plant fresh and dry weights, and chlorophyll index were investigated. According to the results of the study, OP applications significantly decreased the stem diameter, leaf area, leaf number, leaf dry weight, stem dry weight, root dry weight, chlorophyll content, stem-root ratio and total plant dry weight, while root length increased. On the other hand, SW applications had no an important effect on plant growth but partially imporoved in the zero OP application.