Charles A. Mullins, Dennis Onks, and Roy Thompson

All pepper cultivars produced nice fruit. Plant type and pod appearance was very similar for all cultivars. Cultivars that produced highest yields of blocky fruit were ‘Crusader’, ‘Lexington’, ‘Summer Sweet 840’, ‘Boynton Bell’, ‘Colossal’, ‘Paladin’, ‘Sentry', and ‘Summer Sweet 890'.

Bell pepper cultivars with improved characteristics have been developed in recent years. Cultivars with large four lobed fruit and with resistance to diseases have been developed. Although peppers for fresh market are grown across Tennessee, the total acreage is relatively small. Processing pepper is not produced in the state at present. The potential for increased bell pepper production in Tennessee appears to be favorable. An experiment was conducted at the Middle Tennessee Experiment Station at Spring Hill, TN in 2000 to evaluate performance of 13 bell pepper cultivars. Many of the cultivars are reported to have resistance to bacterial leaf spot or to phytophthora. Both of these diseases can be devastating to pepper production in Tennessee. The Spring Hill location has relatively warm summer temperatures, and performance under these temperatures was compared for the cultivars.

The site was prepared for planting by conventional tillage methods. Fertilizer was broadcast at 500 lb/A of 15-15-15, and incorporated with a disk on May 8. Napropamide (Devrinol) at 2.5 lb ai/A and trifluralin (Treflan) at 0.50 lb ai/A were applied and soil incorporated for weed control on May 8. Greenhouse grown seedlings were field transplanted on May 8. Plot size was one row, 18 ft long and 6 ft apart with 9 plants spaced 24 inches apart. Experimental plot design was a randomized complete block with four replications. Esfenvalerate (Asana) at 0.05 lb ai/A and chlorothalonil (Bravo) 1.6 lb ai/A were applied 12 times for insect and disease control.

Harvests were made on a 7 to 10 day frequency as the pepper matured. Pepper fruit were graded into blocky, long, or cull grade. Number and weight of fruit in each grade were recorded. All data were analyzed by analysis of variance methods, and means were separated by Duncan’s multiple range tests at the 0.05 level of probability.

‘Crusader’, ‘Lexington’, and ‘Summer Sweet (SS) 840' produced a higher yield of blocky fruit than all cultivars except ‘Boynton Bell’, ‘Colossal’, ‘Paladin’, ‘Sentry', and, ‘Summer Sweet (SS) 890' (Table 1). ‘Gusto’ produced more long fruit than all cultivars except ‘Karma’, ‘Paladin’, and ‘Summer Sweet 830'. Yields of blocky and long fruit were satisfactory for most of the pepper cultivars at this relatively warm location in Tennessee. ‘Crusader' produced more cull fruit than all cultivars except ‘Boynton Bell’, ‘Emerald Isle’, ‘Summer Sweet 830' and ‘Summer Sweet 890'. ‘Sentry’ and ‘Colossal’ were among cultivars with the largest fruit weight of blocky fruit. Weight of cull fruit was not significantly different due to cultivar.

Measurements were not taken, but the plant type of all cultivars was very similar. Likewise, fruit appearance was similar for all cultivars.

Table 1. Yields in tons per acre of blocky, long, and cull fruit and average fruit weight of blocky and long fruit of pepper cultivars tested at The University of Tennessee Middle Tennessee Experiment Station at Spring Hill, 2000.