scholarly journals Yield in Nonpungent Jalapeño Pepper Established at Different In-row Spacings

HortScience ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 43 (7) ◽  
pp. 2018-2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent M. Russo

It is not known how plant spacing affects fresh yield in transplanted nonpungent jalapeño peppers (Capsicum annuum L.). Transplants of a nonpungent jalapeño, cv. Pace 105, were established at 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, and 48 cm between plants in mid-April of 2006 and 2007 and in early July in 2007. Fruit were harvested once when 5% of marketable-sized pods in rows were red. Distance to first flower and yield characteristics were determined. Fruit were culled based on pod size and presence of blemishes. Height on the stem to the first flower averaged 15.8 cm over all treatments. Plants in the Spring 2006 season had the highest marketable and cull yields. Numbers of marketable fruit/ha were higher at the 8-cm spacing than at the 40- or 48-cm in-row spacings. There was little difference in marketable yield as a result of in-row spacing. The greatest number of cull fruit per plant was on plants spaced 48 cm apart. Plant spacing had no effect on number of cull fruit or cull yield/ha. Culls accounted for ≈22% of total yield. Individual cull fruit weights were ≈50% less than for marketable fruit. Spacings tested did not appear to greatly affect development or yield of this pepper. This will allow producers to have the option of either using fewer plants on the same amount of land or more plants on less land without much reduction of quantity or quality of yield.

HortScience ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 759A-759
Author(s):  
Martin P.N. Gent*

Shading a greenhouse increased the fraction of tomatoes that were marketable, and the marketable yield, in a comparison of greenhouse tomato yields across years, in some of which the greenhouses were shaded. In 2003, the yield and quality of greenhouse tomatoes were compared directly when grown in spring and summer in Connecticut in identical greenhouses that differed only in the degree of shade. Each half of four greenhouses was either unshaded or shaded using reflective aluminized shade cloth rated to reduced light transmission by 15%, 30%, or 50%. Each shade treatment was repeated in two houses. Tomatoes were germinated in February and transplanted in March The houses were shaded when fruit began to ripen in early June. Picking continued through August. The effect of shade on total yield developed gradually. Yields in June were unaffected by shade, but in August yield under no shade was about 30% higher than under 50% shade. In contrast, there was an immediate effect of shade on fruit size. Fruit picked in June from plants under 50% shade was 16% smaller than from plants grown under no shade. This difference declined later in the season, to 6 and 9%, in July and August respectively. The highest yield of marketable fruit in 2003 was picked from houses under no shade, but this was only 10% more than picked from the houses under 50% shade. Shade increased the fraction of marketable fruit, from 54% under no shade to 63% under 50% shade. Certain defects were decreased by shade. For instance the fraction of fruit with cracked skin was decreased from 33% to 25%. In general, effects on fruit quality varied linearly with the degree of applied shade.


2008 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxwell Handiseni ◽  
Julia Sibiya ◽  
Vincent Ogunlela ◽  
Irene Koomen

Comparative Study of the Effect of Different Weed Management Strategies on Disease Severity and Marketable Yield of Paprika (Capsicum AnnuumL.) in the Smallholder Farming Sector of ZimbabweOn-farm trials were conducted in the Chinyika Resettlement Area of Zimbabwe under dryland conditions to investigate the effects of different weed management methods on disease incidence, severity and paprika (Capsicum annuum) pod yield. The weed control treatments included hand weeding at 2 and 6 weeks after transplanting (WAT); ridge re-moulding at 3,6 and 9 WAT; application 4l/ha Lasso (alachlor) immediately after transplanting, and Ronstar (oxidiazinon) at 2l/ha tank mixed with Lasso at 2l/ha one day before transplanting. The herbicide-water solution was applied at the rate of 200l/ha using a knapsack sprayer. Major diseases identified were bacterial leaf spot (Xanthomonas campestrispv.vesicatoria), cercospora leaf spot (Cercospora unamunoi), grey leaf spot (Stemphylium solani) and powdery mildew (Leveillula taurica) in both seasons. For the 2000/2001 season hand weeding at 2 and 6 WAT and ridge re-moulding at 3, 6 and 9 WAT had the greatest reduction effect on the area under disease progress curve (AUDPC) and the highest marketable fruit yield. In the 2001/2002 season, both herbicide treatments had the same effect as hand weeding and ridge re-moulding on AUDPC and marketable fruit yield. The least weed density was obtained by ridge re-moulding at 3, 6, and 9 WAT in the 2000/2001 season. Weed density was statistically the same across all treatments except the check treatment in 2001/2002 season. Hand weeding operations were significantly (p < 0.05) effective and consequently gave the highest added profits mainly because of their effect on major weeds such asDatura stramonium.


1998 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 195
Author(s):  
T. Botwright ◽  
N. Mendham ◽  
B. Chung

Summary. The effect of plant density on growth, development, yield and quality of kabocha (buttercup squash) (Cucurbita maxima) was examined during 1992–93, at a field site in Cambridge, Tasmania. Plant densities ranged between 0.5 and 4.7 plants/m2. Marketable and total yields were fitted to a yield–density model. Total yield followed an asymptotic trend, approaching 33 t/ha at 4.7 plants/m2, while marketable yield had a parabolic relationship with density. Marketable yield increased to a maximum of 18 t/ha at 1.1 plants/m2, while declining at higher densities because of increased numbers of undersized fruit. Yield of vine marked and callused fruit did not vary with density, but represented a significant proportion of the total yield at all densities. High plant density reduced vegetative growth per plant due to competition for limited resources; as shown by decreased leaf area, number and length of vines, and plant dry weight. Yield tended to decline at high densities because of fewer female flowers and increased fruit abortion per plant. Plants at low densities had more vegetative growth but decreased yields, as increased abortion of fruit relative to the higher plant densities left only 1–2 large fruit per plant. Economic returns varied with plant density. At high densities, variable costs increased (particularly due to high seed cost) while gross income declined reflecting the relationship between marketable yield and plant density. The gross margin therefore declined at high densities.


2006 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 146-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Alberto Brasiliano Campos ◽  
Pedro Dantas Fernandes ◽  
Hans Raj Gheyi ◽  
Flávio Favaro Blanco ◽  
Cira Belém Gonçalves ◽  
...  

Industrial tomato is the most important vegetable crop of the Brazilian agribusiness. Few researches have evaluated the tolerance of this crop to saline stress. In this study, the effects of five levels of salinity of the irrigation water (1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 dS m-1) and two equivalent proportions of Na:Ca:Mg (1:1:0.5 and 7:1:0.5) were tested on yield and quality of fruits of industrial tomato, cultivar IPA 6. Seedlings were transplanted in rhizotrons and grown under plastic covering until fruit ripening. Volume of water for daily irrigations was determined by the difference between the applied and drained volume in the previous irrigation. Unitary increase of water salinity above 1 dS m-1 reduced the commercial and total yield by 11.9 and 11.0%, respectively, and increased the concentration of soluble solids and the titratable acidity of the fruits by 13.9 and 9.4%, respectively. The increase of the proportion of sodium reduced the total and marketable yield, the number of marketable fruits and pulp yield. Water of moderate salinity, with low concentration of sodium, can be used in the irrigation of the industrial tomato, without significant yield losses.


HortScience ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 509f-509
Author(s):  
Otho S. Wells

Tomato production in high tunnels is very intensive, although relatively low-input. However, optimal use of every square foot of growing space is critical to maximizing returns. Utilizing the basket-weave trellis system, `Ultrasweet' tomatoes were grown in 4 (replicated), 14-foot-wide high tunnels in 4 rows per tunnel at 3.5 ft between rows. In-row spacing of 12, 18, and 24 inches was combined with removal of sideshoots below the first flower cluster: one or three shoots at 18 and 24-inch spacing and none or one at 12-inch spacing. The highest marketable yield per plant was 22 lbs at 24 inches and three sideshoots, while the lowest yield per plant was 13.9 lbs at 12 inches and no sideshoots. The highest yield per sq ft was 4.2 lbs at 12 inches and no sideshoots, while the lowest yield per sq ft was 2.5 lbs at 24 inches and one sideshoot. The yield response to spacing and side-shoot removal was inverse for lbs per plant and lbs per sq ft. There was no difference in fruit size among any of the treatments. In a comparable experiment under field conditions, the highest yield per plant was 12.6 lbs at 24 inches and one sideshoot; and the highest yield per sq ft was 2 lbs at 12 inches and one sideshoot. The percentage of marketable fruit in the tunnels and in the field was 93.0 and 85.1, respectively.


HortScience ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 514-520 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin P.N. Gent

Some amount of shade may be optimal to produce high-quality tomatoes in a greenhouse during summer months in the northeast United States. Simultaneous comparisons were made among greenhouse sections that were either not shaded or covered with reflective aluminized shadecloth that attenuated 15%, 30%, or 50% of direct sunlight. The shadecloth was applied at the start of warm weather in June. The houses were shaded for the rest of the summer, and fruit was picked until late August. Total yield decreased linearly with increasing shade, but there was no significant difference among shade treatments in marketable yield. The fraction of fruit that was marketable was greatest for plants grown under 50% shade. This fraction was 9% greater than in a greenhouse with no shade in 2003 and 7% greater in 2004 and 2005. Cracked skin was the defect most affected by shade. Among sensitive cultivars, up to 35% of the fruit produced in greenhouses with no shade had cracked skin, whereas in greenhouses covered with 50% shade, only 24% to 26% of the tomatoes had cracked skin. There was no consistent trend for shade density in the fraction of fruit with green shoulder, blossom end rot, or irregular shape. The effect of shade increased with duration of shading. There was no effect of 50% shade compared with no shade on total yield within 20 days, but yield decreased by 20% in the interval from 25 to 45 days after shading and by 30% after 50 or more days of shading in 2005. Marketable yield only decreased after more than 45 days of shading for cultivars that were not sensitive to cracked skin or uneven ripening. Shade decreased fruit size over the entire season only in 2003. In general, shading increased the fraction of marketable tomato fruit without affecting fruit size.


2006 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.G. Taber

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) response to potassium (K) fertilization on a well-drained, central Iowa loam soil testing low in exchangeable K was evaluated over a 3-year period. Each year the experimental design was a factorial, split-plot randomized complete block with K rate as the whole unit (0 to 332 lb/acre). The subunit was cultivar, either `Mountain Spring' (determinate growth habit) or `Jet Star' (indeterminate growth habit). Fruit harvest began the first week of August and continued weekly for 5 to 8 weeks. For all years there was a significant K rate and cultivar effect for all parameters, but no interaction except for marketable fruit size and unmarketable fruit produced. Increasing the K rate to 103 lb/acre increased fruit size of both cultivars to a maximum of 8.9 oz, but year accounted for greater fruit size difference than the choice of cultivar. Maximum marketable yield for both cultivars occurred at 220 lb/acre K with `Jet Star' producing 13% more fruit than `Mountain Spring', 359 vs. 319 cwt/acre, respectively. Cullage was high, mostly as a result of blotchy ripening disorders, with `Jet Star' consistently producing more culls than `Mountain Spring'. Increasing K rate did not reduce the percentage of culls, which remained constant at about 29% of total yield. Whole-leaf K and leaf petiole sap K levels linearly increased with additional K rate for the two sample periods at flowering and mid-harvest. The whole-leaf K sufficiency level for both cultivars at the flowering stage of growth was determined to be 3.15% and dropped to 1.30% K by mid-harvest. Critical petiole leaf sap K values (using a dilution of 1:1 sap to water) could not be determined at flowering, but at mid-harvest the critical value was about 2200 to 2800 ppm K.


2009 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 538-545
Author(s):  
Richard L. Hassell ◽  
Jonathan R. Schultheis ◽  
Wilfred R. Jester ◽  
Stephen M. Olson ◽  
Gilbert A. Miller

The goals of these studies were to determine how miniwatermelon (Citrullus lanatus) cultivars differed and responded to plant in-row spacing in terms of percentage of marketable fruit and yields, and if plant spacing impacted internal fruit quality. Three genetically diverse triploid miniwatermelon cultivars (Mohican, Petite Perfection, and Xite) were selected. These cultivars were evaluated in field locations at northern Florida (Quincy), central South Carolina (Blackville), coastal South Carolina (Charleston), and eastern North Carolina (Kinston) at five within-row distances. Within-row distance included 9, 12, 15, 18, and 21 inches. All plots were15 ft long with row middles 9 ft apart. Fruit were categorized as marketable if they weighed between 3.1 and 9.0 lb per fruit. Within this range further categories were divided as follows: ≤3.0 lb (cull), 3.1 to 5.0 lb (small), 5.1 to 7.0 lb (average), 7.1 to 9.0 lb (large), and ≥9.1 lb (cull). There was a cultivar by location interaction, suggesting that the three cultivars responded differently at each of the four locations. ‘Petite Perfection’ was among the highest yielding at all locations except Quincy, where it was the lowest yielding cultivar. As with total yields, the percentage of marketable fruit was similar for some cultivars across locations. Cultivar Petite Perfection produced the highest percentage of marketable fruit at three of the four locations. The exception was the Quincy site where ‘Xite’ had the highest percentage of marketable fruit. Within-row plant distances and populations affected total marketable yield, both for fruit weight and number per plant, regardless of cultivar and location. As the plant population increased from eight plants per plot (21-inch in-row spacing) to 12 plants per plot (15-inch in-row spacing), total marketable miniwatermelon fruit yields increased in total fruit number as well as total weight. There was a cultivar by location interaction for the percentage of soluble solids and the rind thickness measurements, suggesting that some cultivars responded differently at each of the four locations. Quality effects were more apparent with ‘Mohican’ and ‘Xite’, as they were more responsive to location than ‘Petite Perfection’.


1999 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.P. Papadopoulos ◽  
S. Pararajasingham ◽  
X. Hao

Experiments were carried out to evaluate two salts, K2SO4 and NaCl, as materials to supplement the electrical conductivity (EC) of the basic nutrient solution in nutrient film technique (NFT). The effects of these materials on the growth, yield and fruit quality of greenhouse tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) grown by NFT were quantified. These effects were tested by increasing the recirculating solution EC from a base value of 1500 μS·cm-1 to that suitable for the crop growth stage with normal feed (macronutrients), 0.38 m (0.53 lb/gal) K2SO4 or 1.14 m (0.55 lb/gal) NaCl, at a common pH of 6.2. In 1995 and 1996, there were no significant effects of the treatments on crop growth. In 1995, the early marketable yield was significantly lower when K2SO4 was used but the yield at the end of the season did not differ among the treatments. Furthermore, with K2SO4, the proportion of grade #1 fruit in early total yield was lower than in the control, while, fruit biomass content was higher than in the NaCl treatment. In 1996, the cumulative marketable fruit weight was unaffected by the treatments. A trend toward high number of large grade fruit occurred with the NaCl treatment. The pH and EC of the fruit homogenate were favorably affected by the NaCl treatment. Adding K2SO4 or NaCl in partial substitution of macronutrients in the recirculating solution may have a role in NFT systems in not only reducing environmental pollution (from nitrates and phosphates) and fertilizer costs, but also in improving fruit quality and, therefore, profit margins.


1996 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-137
Author(s):  
John Speese

Abstract Peppers were transplanted on 31 Jul at the Eastern Shore Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Painter, VA. Each plot consisted of two 25ft long rows with 3ft between row spacing and 1ft between plant spacing. Each plot was bordered on each side by an untreated guard row and replicated 4 times in a RCB design. Treatments were applied on the dates indicated in the table with a backpack sprayer using 3 hollow cone nozzles/row and delivering 60 gal water/acre at 40 psi. Evaluation criteria consisted of hand-harvest of marketable fruit on 10 healthy, uniform-sized plants/row (.00062 acre) and GPA counts on 5 randomly picked leaves/plot on 06 Oct. Harvesting was done in this manner due to uneven stands in some plots due to the drought.


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