Charles A. Mullins

All pepper cultivars produced nice fruit. Plant type and pod appearance was very similar for all cultivars. ‘Paladin’, ‘ACX 209', ‘Boynton Bell’, ‘Enterprise’, ‘Lexington’, ‘RPP 6089', ‘SPP 6112', ‘Summer Sweet 830', and ‘XP 12292' were among cultivars that produced the highest yield of blocky fruit. ‘Emerald Isle’ produced the highest yield of long fruit. Fruit weight of blocky and long fruit was not different due to cultivar.

Bell peppers for fresh market are grown across Tennessee, but not in large acreages. Processing pepper is not produced in the state at present. Bell pepper cultivars have improved considerably in recent years. Cultivars with larger four lobed fruit and with resistance to diseases have been developed. The potential for increased bell pepper production in Tennessee appears to be favorable. An experiment was conducted at the Plateau Experiment Station at Crossville, TN in 2000 to evaluate performance of 20 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 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 9. A bedder- plastic layer was used to apply methyl bromide, made beds, lay 4 ft wide black plastic mulch and lay drip irrigation tape on May 11. Beds were on 6 ft centers. Clomazone (Command) at 0.5 lb ai/A was applied to the untreated row middles for weed control on May 30. Greenhouse grown seedlings were field transplanted on June 5. Plot size was a double on the bed with rows and plants spaced 18 inches apart. Each row contained 10 plants. Experimental plot design was a randomized complete block with four replications. Acephate (Orthene) at 1.0 lb ai/A was applied on June 26 for insect control. Irrigation was applied by drip tape as needed.

Harvests were made on a 10 to 14 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.

‘Paladin’ produced a higher yield of blocky fruit than all cultivars except ‘ACX 209', ‘Boynton Bell’, ‘Enterprise’, ‘Lexington’, ‘RPP 6089', ‘SPP 6112', ‘Summer Sweet (SS) 830', and ‘XP 12292' (Table 1). Yields were lower than expected for the pepper cultivars. Some very cool nights occurred in the early summer, which probably resulted in the relatively low yields. ‘Emerald Isle’ produced more long fruit than any other cultivar. ‘SPP 7118' produced more cull fruit than any other cultivar. The average fruit size was large for both blocky and long fruit, and there were no significant differences among cultivars.

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; average fruit weight of blocky and long fruit; and seed sources of pepper cultivars at The University of Tennessee Plateau Experiment Station at Crossville, 2000.