Responses of bell peppers (Capsicum annuum L.) to inoculation with the vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (VAMF) Glomus aggregatum (Schenck and Smith emend Koske) were examined under greenhouse and field conditions. Inoculation did not affect tissue P concentrations, growth, or yields in "high"-P soil (0.30 mg P/liter of soil solution) in either the greenhouse or field. In "low"-P soil (0.03 mg P/liter), inoculation increased tissue P concentrations, plant weights, and fruit yields relative to noninoculated plants. Tissue P concentrations increased more rapidly after transplanting when seedlings were inoculated at seeding than when inoculation was delayed until transplanting. In the field, total fruit yields and final shoot fresh weights also were higher when transplants were inoculated before transplanting. Water stress reduced fruit yields of plants growing in P-deficient soil less if they were inoculated than if they were not inoculated. [AS]
