Impact of heat stress on germination and seedling growth of chili pepper (Capsicum annuum L.)

Abstract Temperature plays an important role in plant growth and development. The increased temperature suddenly may cause severe consequences. This study aimed to observe the impact of temperature, exposure of duration, and the interaction between temperature and exposure duration at the germination phase and seedling growth of chili pepper. The research design used Factorial Completely Randomized Design. The first factor was the temperature consisted of five-level of temperature i.e: 35°C, 37°C, 39°C, and 41°C. The second factor was the exposure duration consisted of four hours, eight hours, and twelve hours. The Parameters observed were the percentage of seed germination, shoot length, root length, number of roots, seedling height, number of leaves, fresh weight of seedling, dry weight of seedling, and chlorophyll content. The results of this study showed that there is an interaction between temperature and duration of exposure, the rise in the temperature and duration of exposure decrease shoot length 35.15%, root length (23.23%), number of roots (29.82)%, fresh weight of seedling (40%), number of leaves (30%), chlorophyll content. As a result, the growth of Chili seedling showed a drastic reduction in shoot development, root development, and physiological parameters tested, the germination stage is very susceptible to raise the temperatures.