The present study was undertaken at Agriculture Research Station, Anakkayam from February- April, 2019 with objectives to study the influence of various environmental conditions on growth of brinjal (Solanum melongena) under protected and open cultivation and to analyze the impact of variations in temperature, humidity and soil moisture on plant biometric characters. The abiotic factors like temperature, humidity and soil moisture showed significant variation under different growing conditions (open field and polyhouse). Mean daily temperature (⁰ c) and relative humidity (66%) were higher under polyhouse as compared to open field values of ⁰ c and respectively. The biometric characters such as plant height, number of leaves, leaf area index, fruit length, girth and weight were also recorded. Plants grown in polyhouse had higher plant height ( cm) and leaf area index () as compared to open field. The mean fruit weight was observed to be under polyhouse open field (). The study showed that high temperature combined with optimum relative humidity was favourable for the growth of brinjal plants under protected condition and that had a positive correlation on plant biometric and yield parameters. High moisture per cent along with microbial diversity of soil under protected condition also had a significant role in improving soil fertility, which in turn favoured growth and productivity of the crop. | Assessment of environmental factors on growth of Brinjal under open and protected conditions
