Garden & Greenhouse November 2017 | Page 14

of benefi cial bacteria which will establish and colonize in and around the plant’s root zone, keeping the roots happy and healthy. Test Results for Each Group The Control Group The control group received no fertilizer through- out the entire test. This was rather diffi cult for me to stick with as I could see the plants were suffering because they were not receiving proper nutrition. One of the cayenne pepper plants yellowed out and never properly developed, while the other was able to produce a few peppers, although small in size. One of the anaheim pepper plants in this group died dur- ing a wind storm when it was literally ripped right out of the planting container. It is interesting to note that the plants receiving the fertilizer with benefi cial bacteria were less affected by the wind storm than the control group. It could be that the added benefi cial microorganisms strengthened the roots and, therefore, the overall strength of the plants and their resistance to environmental stresses. All in all, it was quite obvi- ous that the control group was lacking something. Although some peppers did develop in the control group, none were as big or as prolifi c as in the other groups. The Light Application Group The light application group received one teaspoon of the Easy Bloom + fertilizer per gallon of water twice a week. Unfortunately, the region where I live had a very rainy summer and the containers never dried out properly between waterings. However, the light ap- plication group developed well and both the cayenne pepper and anaheim pepper plants developed nice peppers. The anaheim pepper plants had to be staked due to the weight of the peppers. Both the cayenne pepper and anaheim pepper plants continue to ripen. My conclusion from observing this group is that using a light application of the Easy Grow + and Easy Bloom + defi nitely works well for growing pepper plants. The Standard Application Group The standard application group received two teaspoons of the Easy Bloom + fertilizer per gallon of water twice a week. As with the other groups, the planting containers never got a chance to properly dry out. Despite all the rain, the standard application group takes home fi rst prize for pepper production. By far this group had the most and the largest peppers for both the cayenne pepper plants and the anaheim pepper plants. In fact, the cayenne peppers were so closely bunched, they appeared as just a big clump of peppers. Like the light application group, these plants had to be staked to help support the weight of the developing peppers. The results of the standard appli- cation plants show me that the folks at Future Harvest Development were right on the money with their fer- tilizer application recommendations. When applied at 14 www.GardenandGreenhouse.net November 2017