Agriculture & Food, Volume 8, 2020

Abstract: Pepper plants (Capsicum annuum L.) variety Dariana Bac, patented by Vegetable Research and Development Station Bacău, were grown on peat substrate soil contaminated with different concentrations of Copper (20, 100, 250, 500 mg/kg soil) and Cadmium (1, 3, 5, 10 mg/kg soil). After approximately nine weeks the dynamic of plant growth and development was measured. The total length of a plant (cm), stem length (cm) and root lenght (cm), number of leaves per plant, fresh and dry weight of a plant (g) and dry matter (%). The variety of bell pepper Dariana Bac responded differently to different concentrations of the studied heavy metals. The maximum average of plant and root length was registered on control (30,43 cm respectively 10 cm). The average number of leaves per plant did not differ significantly in any of the variants studied. However, the average fresh weight of a plant decreases with increasing the concentration of heavy metals in the soil, especially in case of the soil treated with Cd in comparison with control. As for the average dry weight of a plant it does not vary depending on the concentration of heavy metals like in case of fresh weight. V9 (0,122 g) variant treated with 10 mg Cd / kg soil has the lowest dry weight value compared with all tested variants.