1. Red Bell Pepper Cultivar Evaluations for the Fall Market
Wesley L. Kline¹ and C. Andrew Wyenandt²
¹County Agricultural Agent, Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Cumberland County, 291 Morton Avenue, Millville, NJ 08332
²Specialist in Vegetable Pathology, Rutgers Agricultural Research & Extension Center, 121 Northville Rd., Bridgeton, NJ 08302
ABSTRACT Fruit Cracking
• Night time relative humidity near saturation
Red bell peppers have a premium in the market • Fruit takes up more fluid than the skin is able to
place, but are difficult to grow under New Jersey conditions. accommodate
The objective was to evaluate cultivars for acceptable fruit
• Poor fruit cover exacerbates disorder
quality and yield. Eighteen cultivars were transplanted on
July 1 into raised plastic covered beds with one drip line
placed between double rows. Rows were 12 inches apart
with 18 inches between plants and 5 ft. between beds in a
randomized complete block design with 4 replications.
Fruits were hand harvested and graded into size by weight.
Cultivars with significantly higher yields included Hunter
(1181 boxes/A), Socrates (1096 boxes/A), King Arthur
(1049 boxes/A), Patriot (1041 boxes/A), Paladin (1028
boxes/A), Red Knight (995 boxes/A), XPP 6001 (978
boxes/A), Aristotle (976 boxes/A), Alliance (950 boxes/A),
Classic (915 boxes/A), and 1819 (858 boxes/A).
Pepper Stip
Some Cultivars exhibited a physiological disorder
called ‘stip’ (black spot or color spot). Stip appears when • Round dark spots 1/16 – 1/4 inch and slightly sunken
temperatures just above freezing occur for several nights at • Black spot – exposure of fruit to temperatures just above
harvest. The cultivars which exhibited spip were Paladin, freezing for several nights around harvest
Classic, Red Bull, Revolution, Camelot (worst), Aristotle, • Green pitting – associated with higher than normal calcium
Patriot and Vanguard. The other problem observed in the content of the fruit in the pitted area. Possible interaction
fall study was fruit cracking. This results from nighttime among calcium, nitrogen and potassium
relative humidity near saturation, thus the fruit cannot
expand rapidly and the fruit cracks. The cultivars observed
with cracks were Paladin, Socrates, Aristotle and Hunter.
These disorders would make the fruit unsalable for the
market.
Cultivars which were recommended to growers for
their testing included Red Knight, King Arthur, Alliance, XPP
6001 and 1819.
Fruit Quality Table
Variety Fruit Recess Number Fruit Firmness Gloss L/D Wall thickness
Color Shoulder Lobes Smooth ratio (mm)
1819 4 8 4 5 7 6 1.05 6.54
Materials and Methods Recommended Cultivars
Alliance 7 9 4 6 6 7 1.09 6.65
Aristotle 3 7 3 5 7 5 1.18 6.65
• Plants were staked and tied placing a string on each Camelot 4 4 4 6 7 6 1.26 6.18
side of the plant for the first tie and box system for the Classic 9 1 4 8 8 6 1.08 7.42
second tie Crusader 4 3 4 6 6 6 1.05 6.13
• Fertilizer was applied preplant (30 lbs/A nitrogen) as Festos 8 5 2 4 5 8 2.04 5.20
the beds were being constructed and additional Hunter 5 3 4 7 7 6 1.06 6.87
fertilizer was applied through the drip weekly (5-0-10) King Arthur 5 2 3 6 6 6 1.14 5.66
for a total of 158 lbs/A nitrogen Alliance King Arthur
Paladin 3 5 4 5 6 8 1.07 6.17 Harris Moran Seminis
• Weekly fungicide applications were carried out to Patriot 5 4 4 6 6 6 1.14 6.47
reduce the chance for Anthracnose development as
Red Bull 5 3 4 5 6 4 1.11 6.35
fruit was forming. Insects were managed with
insecticide injected through the drip line. Red Knight 4 6 4 6 7 7 1.01 6.22
Revolution 5 6 3 4 6 6 1.16 6.15
• Peppers were harvested weekly for a total of eight
times: September 2 through October 28 Sir Galahad 5 6 4 5 7 6 1.11 7.04
Socrates 4 8 4 5 6 6 1.03 5.88
• Fruit were graded by weight:
Vanguard 3 8 4 7 7 6 1.03 6.81
-Extra Large – 0.5 lbs Red Knight
XPP 6001 4 3 4 6 6 6 1.09 6.13 Seminis
-Large – 0.33-0.49 lbs.
-Medium – 0.25-0.32 lbs.
-Commercial – Misshapen
Fruit Quality Scale
-Culls - <0.25 lbs, insect damage and diseased
• Yield data reported in 28 lbs/Box Fruit Color: 1=orange 5=red 9=dark red
Recess Shoulder : 1=slight 5=medium 9=deep
• At the 5th harvest, five extra large and large fruit were Fruit Smooth: 1=very rough 5=medium 9=smooth
randomly selected from each replication for fruit Firmness: 1=soft 5=medium 9=very firm 1819 XPP 6001
quality assessments. Seminis Sakata
Fruit Gloss: 1=dull 5=medium 9=shiny