Introduction
Pepper (Capsicum annuum; Family Solanaceae) is a warm-season crop requiring 3-4 months of frost-free growing days. They are started from transplants. Bell peppers are the most commonly grown and are usually harvested green. Fruits left to mature on the plant turn red, orange, or yellow, and sugar content increases markedly. Other types of sweet and chili (hot or pungent) peppers are usually elongated and tapered. Varieties grown for green peppers take 55-60 days from transplanting to begin producing fruit; colored fruit takes approximately another 20 days to develop. Hot peppers generally become more pungent as they mature or if grown under stress. Check variety descriptions carefully to obtain the proper peppers for your markets.
Types and Varieties
Type | Varieties |
---|---|
Field Sweet Bell - Green to Red |
Aristotle - BLS(1,2,3), P, TM Captain - BLS(0-10), P Intruder - BLS(1,2,3), P, TEV, TMV King Arthur - BLS(2), PVY, ToMV Mercer - BLS(0,1,2,3) New Ace - TMV Nitro S-10 - BLS(0-10), TMV, P, TSWV Olympus - BLS(1,2,3) Paladin - BLS(1,2,3), P, TMV, TEV Revolution - BLS(1,2,3,5), CMV, P X3R Red Knight - BLS(1,2,3), PVY Sailfish - BLS123, TMV, P Shogun S-10 - BLS(0-10), TMV, TSMV Tarpon - BLS(0-10), P, TMV Turnpike - BLS(0-5,7-9), P, TMV |
Field Sweet Bell - Specialty Colors |
Delirio (orange) - TMV, TSWV Early Susation (yellow) - BLS(0-3,7,8) Flavorburst (yellow) Islander (purple to red) - TMV |
Greenhouse Sweet Bell |
Abay (yellow) - BLS(1-5) Yellow/Hot Wax Brocanto (yellow) - TMV, TSWV Milena (orange) - PVY, TMV, TSWV, TEV Sprinter (red) - TMV |
Sweet Frying Type |
Aruba (light green) - P Biscayne (light yellow) Carmen (green-red) Escamillo (orange) Key West (light green/red) - BLS(1,2,3) |
Hot - Ancho/Poblano |
Bastan - TMV Baron - BLS(1,2,3) Trident - TMV |
Hot - Anaheim |
Charger - TSWV Numex Joe E. Parker |
Hot - Jalapeño |
Compadre El Jefe - BLS(0-3,7,8) PVY, TEV Evermand - BLS(1,2,3) Jalafuego - BLS(1,2,3,7,8), PVY Jedi - BLS(1,2,3) Orizaba - BLS(1,2,3) Rayo (processing) - BLS(1,2,3) |
Non-hot Jalapeño |
Felicity Pace 105 |
Specialty Hot |
Habanada (mild orange habanero) Hungarian Yellow/Hot Wax Inferno Numex Suave Orange (mild orange habanero) |
Banana Pepper |
Doblon - TMV, TSWV Pageant - BLS(1,2,3) Sopron - BLS(1,2,3) Sweet Savannah |
Resistant or tolerant to: BLS: bacterial leaf spot (races indicated); CMV: Cucumber mosaic virus, P: Phytophthora crown rot, PVY: potato virus Y, TEV: tobacco etch virus, TMV: tobacco mosaic virus, ToMV: tomato mosaic virus. |
Soil Fertility
Apply lime according to soil test results to maintain soil pH at 6.0-6.8. Sidedressed nitrogen can also be applied through a drip irrigation system over the course of the remainder of the season. This is particularly advantageous in soils prone to leaching. See Fertigation for more information. Excess nitrogen has been shown to cause excessive vegetative growth and reduce yields. A pre-sidedress nitrate test (PSNT) can advise on the need for sidedress nitrogen. High P starter fertilizer can be used at transplanting, especially with cool soil conditions.
Less nitrogen fertilizer will be needed if legume sod was plowed down or if manure was applied (see Table 1 and Table 7).
Plant Nutrient Recommendations According to Soil Test Results for Pepper
SOIL TEST RESULTS | NITROGEN (N) - LBS PER ACRE | PHOSPHORUS (P) - LBS P2O5 PER ACRE |
POTASSIUM (K) - LBS K2O PER ACRE |
||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
VERY LOW | LOW | OPTIMUM | ABOVE OPTIMUM | VERY LOW | LOW | OPTIMUM | ABOVE OPTIMUM | ||
Broadcast/Planter |
50
|
150
|
100
|
25-50
|
0
|
200
|
150
|
50
|
0
|
Sidedress 2-3 weeks after planting |
50
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Sidedress after first fruit set |
40
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
TOTAL RECOMMENDED | 140 | 150 | 100 | 25-50 | 0 | 200 | 150 | 50 | 0 |
Planting
Check with your seed company if the seed is hot water treated. Purchase hot water treated seed if possible or request hot water seed treatment. Growers should produce their own transplants or contract with a reputable local supplier to minimize the potential of importing severe disease and insect problems that are common in other regions. Sow seeds 8 weeks before field transplanting. Peppers are a slow-growing crop and need protection from soil-borne diseases, especially damping-off organisms. Use seed treated with a suitable fungicide or use a biofungicide soil drench (See Table 24, Microbial Disase Control Products). Avoid over-watering. Avoid contamination from the greenhouse floor by lining it with plastic, growing plants on benches, and hanging watering devices when not in use. Do not permit moisture to remain on seedlings for more than 2-3 hours after watering. This may require adjusting watering rates on cloudy days.
One ounce of seed will produce 3,000-5,000 plants. About 8,000-14,500 plants are required per acre, depending on your choice of spacing in the field. Seeds may be sown thickly in flats and later transferred to 72-cell trays. Peppers thrive under warm conditions; seeds germinate best at 85-90ºF, and seedlings develop well at 75ºF during the day and 65ºF at night. Peppers are susceptible to transplant shock. Reduce temperature and water and increase air movement around the plants to condition them for transplanting. A precaution: overly-hardened plants are slow to recover and yields may be reduced. Plants should be set in the field after the danger of frost is over, and the soil temperature is at least 60ºF. Poor fruit set and blossom drop can be expected when night temperatures drop below 60ºF or day temperatures rise above 85ºF.
Field Culture
Peppers are commonly grown on black plastic mulch with drip irrigation in the Northeast. Planting into raised beds, especially in heavy or poorly drained soils, can also help prevent root rot diseases. When transplanting into black plastic mulch, center the transplants in holes to avoid burning stems and damaging or killing seedlings as plastic heats up. For best results, 4-8" tall plants should be transplanted on a cloudy, calm day, preferably in the late afternoon.
Space transplants 12-18" apart within rows (67-100 plants per 100 feet of row) and 3' between rows. With double rows on plastic, space each row 15" or as far apart as the plastic permits, but remember that plants can tip outward (lodge), bringing fruits in contact with bare soil. This spacing requires 8,300-14,500 plants per acre.
Some smaller pepper varieties produce spindly seedlings and plants that are not as sturdy as bell peppers and can lodge much more readily. Transplanting the seedling so that the cotyledons are at the soil surface (the root ball will be approximately 2" deep) will significantly decrease lodging without adversely affecting yield.
Peppers may require staking to minimize lodging and sunscald. In each row of plants, drive half a tomato stake (18-24" long), 6" into the soil between every 4-10 plants. Tie polyethylene strings at 8-16" heights as plants grow. Run string from stake to stake; first down one side of the plants, looping and tightening it around each stake, and then back on the opposite side of the plants. Leave a 3-4' gap in the trellis system every 50-100' to facilitate harvesting. In windy locations, it may be helpful to erect temporary windbreaks such as snow fence. Some growers have found improved production with such windbreaks in place.
Research in the Northeast has shown that pruning peppers is not profitable.
High Tunnel Production
The production of peppers in high tunnels has gained popularity in recent years. High tunnel peppers can produce higher yields than field peppers, but they generally deliver less revenue than tomatoes. Quality of colored bell peppers is often higher in high tunnels than in field production. Similarly to field peppers, high tunnel peppers are grown on black plastic with drip irrigation and are planted in single or double rows, 12-18" apart. Some varieties are marketed as being for high tunnel production, but may only reach their full yield potentials with pruning, supplemental heat, and long seasons; field varieties have performed as well or better than high tunnel varieties in high tunnels in university trials. Trellising is a common practice in high tunnel peppers—in this protected environment, one string can be run along each side of a double-row bed, with stakes on either side of the bed (as opposed to running one string along both sides of each row as is common in tomatoes).
Harvest and Storage
Green bell peppers normally are harvested in the green (immature) stage after the fruits have reached full size and the walls are firm and have thickened. Colored bell peppers take several additional weeks to turn color. Harvest the crop twice a week to achieve maximum yields, or every 7-10 days for maximum size. Peppers are picked by a twisting, pulling motion with part of the stem adhering to the fruit. Branches can break easily during harvest. Teaching workers the proper harvest technique can help avoid plant breakage and lodging, and extensive losses due to sunscald.
Peppers can be brushed or washed before packing. If peppers are washed, wash water temperature should be as warm or slightly warmer than that of the peppers. Wash water more than 10ºF cooler than the pepper creates a partial vacuum inside the pepper, which draws some of the wash water (and any bacteria that may be in the water) into the fruit. There are commercial sanitizers registered for use in wash water to help prevent bacterial contamination through infiltration and control postharvest rots.
Containers used are wire-bound crates, cardboard boxes, and bushel baskets. Twenty-four pounds per container is an average weight. The wholesale market prefers large peppers (75 or less in a 1 1/9 bu. box).
Optimal storage conditions are 50-54°F and 85-95% relative humidity. Chilling injury will occur below 45°F, but may not become apparent until the fruit have been brought back to room temperature. Dried hot peppers are stored at 32-38ºF.