Effects of age at transplanting on morphological and yield attributes of three genotypes of scarlet eggplant

Abstract

Three genotypes of scarlet eggplant obtained from National Agency for Conservation of Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (NACGRAB), Ibadan, Nigeria, were evaluated for the effects of transplanting ages on morphological and yield attributes at the Department of Plant Biology experimental field, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria. The experiment was set up using a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four replicates. Standard procedures were followed when transplanting young seedlings of the various scarlet eggplant genotypes at week 3, 4, 5 and 6 after planting. The morphological parameters measured were plant height at transplanting, at maturity and at harvest, as well as number of branches and leaves at maturity. The yield parameters measured were number of fruits per plant, weight of fruits per plant, number of seeds per fruit and weight of 100 seeds per fruit for each of the week at transplanting for the selected eggplant genotypes. It was observed from the result that plants transplanted at week 3 had the highest plant height at maturity while plants transplanted at week 6 had the highest plant height in NHGB/09/128. However, plants transplanted at week 4 had significantly highest yield parameters (p≤0.05), i.e. Weight of fruit (2.44 g), Number of seeds/fruit (115.60), and Weight of 100 seeds (0.28 g). In NHGB/09/138, plants transplanted at week 4 had significantly highest plant height at maturity, plant height at harvest, number of branches per plant at maturity and number of leaves per plant at maturity (30.35 cm, 43.00 cm, 18.00 and 36.50 respectively). Similar trend was observed in weight of fruit (2.22 g) and number of seeds/fruit (98.20). In NHGB/09/132, plants transplanted at week 3 was significantly highest for all the yield parameters such as weight of fruit (1.15 g), number of seeds/fruit (89.80), and weight of 100 seeds (0.48 g). Thus, in all the three genotypes, plants transplanted at various weeks performed better than those not transplanted (control). It is therefore recommended that these ages at transplant be considered to be the best time for transplanting of these eggplant genotypes.