China Green Pepper Trial: 147% Yield Increase Without Fertilizer Using Multi-Strain Trichoderma

Results at a glance

Metric	Untreated control	Multi-Tricho treated
Yield per plant	63 g	156 g (+147%)
Fertilizer used	None	None
Root mass	Reduced	Significantly greater
Foliage and growth	Thin, slow	Thicker, stronger

The problem

A green pepper trial in China was conducted under deliberately poor soil conditions with no fertilizer applied, creating a challenging stress test for root development, vegetative growth, and yield. The trial soil had limited microbial activity and weak nutrient cycling typical of marginal or degraded production land, and the objective was to evaluate whether soil biology alone could deliver meaningful yield improvement without supplemental fertility inputs. The trial evaluated whether Multi-Tricho, a high-CFU OMRI Listed multi-strain Trichoderma inoculant of beneficial soil fungi, could improve commercial green pepper plant performance compared to untreated controls grown under the same low-fertility, low-microbial-activity conditions, isolating the Trichoderma inoculant as the only differentiating input.

Before, during, and after

Before
Untreated control plants grown under the same poor-soil, no-fertilizer conditions showed slower growth, thinner foliage, reduced root mass, and limited yield development across the trial period. Poor soil biology restricted early establishment and overall plant vigor, and the absence of supplemental fertilizer left the control plants entirely dependent on the existing soil to drive growth, resulting in markedly lower productivity at harvest as expected under marginal soil conditions.

After
Green pepper plants treated with Multi-Tricho multi-strain Trichoderma soil inoculant demonstrated visibly stronger growth, thicker leaves, and significantly greater root mass compared to the untreated control. At harvest, treated plants produced 156 grams of peppers per plant versus 63 grams in the control, a 147% yield increase achieved without any fertilizer input. The results show how multi-strain Trichoderma colonization can enhance root development, support soil biological activity, and improve crop performance even under challenging low-fertility conditions where conventional fertilizer programs would normally be required to drive yield. For commercial pepper growers, organic vegetable producers, and growers working marginal or low-input soils, this trial demonstrates what an OMRI Listed multi-strain Trichoderma inoculant can deliver as a stand-alone biological input, especially valuable for organic certifications, fertilizer cost reduction, and soil restoration projects.

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Product used in this trial

Multi-Tricho (MT)

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