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Growing Bell Peppers in Soilless Culture under Open Shade Structures1
Robert C. Hochmuth, Danielle D. Treadwell, Eric H. Simonne, Linda B. Landrum, Wanda L. Laughlin, and Lei Lani Davis2Introduction
Florida produces nearly 20,000 acres of green bell peppers in the field each year, making green bell pepper a very valuable commodity, second only to tomato. Bell peppers are also grown in Florida for their mature colored fruit in protected greenhouse culture. Colored bell pepper is one of the top greenhouse vegetable crops grown in Florida along with cucumber and tomato. Field-grown Florida bell peppers are in the market nearly year round from October to July. Florida bell peppers are not available in large supply during the late summer and early fall (July- September) due to high temperature, high humidity and frequent rainfall during that time. The marketplace prefers that growers consistently supply high quality product for as long as possible. This entices large wholesale growers to produce in multiple locations to extend their season. Small, direct-market farmers also seek ways to extend the season; however, multiple locations are not generally practical. Therefore, small growers often find the adoption of season-extending cultural practices more viable. Small growers have traditionally utilized season extension practices such as transplants, multiple varieties, row covers, plastic mulch, low tunnels, high walk-in tunnels and greenhouses. Most of these practices lengthen the season into the cooler part of the year. Yet few practices are used to extend the season into the hottest part of the year.Materials and Methods
Recent trials at the North Florida Research and Educational Center - Suwannee Valley near Live Oak, Florida, have evaluated the open shade structures to extend the pepper harvest season throughout the summer and into fall.The trials were conducted under an open 40x40 ft commercial shade structure (Atlas, Alapaha, Georgia). The structure was made from galvanized pipe and covered with a black 50% polypropylene shade cloth. The peak of the structure was 10 ft tall. Peppers were grown in 3-gallon plastic pots filled with a soilless media of 100% composted pine bark. Pots were arranged in two double rows with 5-foot spacing between the centers of the two double rows. Plants were spaced 18 inches apart in the row. The crop was established on April 1, 2006 using 6-week-old Heritage VR (Harris Seeds, Rochester, New York) pepper transplants, with one plant per pot resulting in a total of 76 pots. Heritage was selected because of its tolerance to tomato spotted wilt, an important thrips-vectored virus in North Florida, and because of its tall and vigorous growth habit. The crop was irrigated and fertilized using a hydroponic nutrient solution and low volume delivery system (Table 1 ). Water and nutrients were applied several times a day with the duration of each irrigation event set to leach slightly at the end of the event.
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Figure 1. Plants were supported by placing a 5-ft-long bamboo pole in each pot and then tying the plants to the poles. Additionally, a metal fence post was driven into the ground down the middle of the double row every 10 feet. The bamboo poles were attached to the metal posts with horizontal polypropylene strings. As the plants grew taller, additional horizontal strings were added to support the weight of the branches.
Insect pests and diseases were managed using a weekly scouting program and treated as needed. Common insect pests were armyworms, corn earworms, aphids, stinkbugs, and silverleaf whitefly. Mature green fruit were harvested every 7-14 days from June 16 through Nov. 9, 2006. Fruit was graded into USDA grades of Fancy, US No. 1, US No. 2 or cull. Fruit in each grade was counted and weighed. In addition, each month a representative sub-sample of 15 Fancy grade fruit were measured for average fruit width as an indicator of fruit size changes during the season. The yield for the peppers grown under shade was converted to yield per acre by converting the total production area (square feet), including the row middles to an acre basis.
Figure 2. Pepper fruit size measurements. Results and Discussion
Production of bell peppers in an open shade structure resulted in mostly US Fancy fruit with 3,460 boxes (28-lb boxes) per acre in comparison to 477 boxes of US No.1, 202 boxes of US No.2, and 236 boxes of culls. The yield total for US Fancy and US No.1 fruit was 3,937 boxes per acre. This yield is higher than yields for most open field production systems, but the growing season in the shade trial was as much as four months longer. Large fruit was harvested throughout the season with an average fruit width of 3 inches or greater (Table 3). The largest fruit width was measured during the June and July harvests at 3.5-3.7 inches. Fruit width decreased slightly in August and September, but increased again in October and November after temperatures had cooled somewhat. This is also noticed in the average number of fruit per box in the Fancy category during the season. Most Fancy fruit harvested during the middle of the season just made the minimum size grade for Fancy and therefore had many more fruit per box than the Fancy fruit during June and July.Based on this observational trial, it appears using an open shade structure to extend the bell pepper harvest season from June to frost (November) was successful.
An added benefit was that this system produced large, high-quality fruit for the entire season. Continued trialing of this system should lead to further increases in yield and quality.
Figure 3. Open shade structure pepper crop at end of season. Table 1. Hydroponic fertilizer solution concentration used to grow shade house peppers in a composted pine bark media at Live Oak, Florida.
Nutrient Concentration (ppm mg/L)z
Nutrient
Transplant to first flower
After first flower
N
80
130
P
50
50
K
120
200
Ca
150
150
Mg
40
50
S
50
60
Fe
2.8
2.8
Cu
0.2
0.2
Mn
0.8
0.8
Zn
0.3
0.3
B
0.7
0.7
Mo
0.05
0.05
Z For details of nutrient sources and rates for use in hydroponic fertilizer solutions see Nutrient Solution Fertilization for Hydroponic Tomatoes in Florida by G.J Hochmuth and R.C. Hochmuth (http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/cv216 )
Tables
Table 2. Shade culture bell pepper yield and USDA grade on several harvest dates in 2006 in Live Oak, FL.
Harvest Date
Days After Transplant
Bell Pepper Yield (per acre basis)z
US Fancy y
US No. 1 x
US No. 2
Cull
Fruit No.
Boxes
Fruit No.
Boxes
Fruit No.
Boxes
Fruit No.
Boxes
16 Jun
77
10,990
259
230
3
0
0
230
3
23 Jun
84
16,260
355
0
0
0
0
460
4
30 Jun
91
12,820
451
1,370
14
0
0
0
0
10 Jul
101
11,910
206
920
10
0
0
0
0
21 Jul
112
4,810
79
0
0
0
0
0
0
27 Jul
118
16,720
231
1,370
15
0
0
1,140
12
3 Aug
125
21,530
273
1,370
12
920
6
4,580
33
18 Aug
140
8,930
108
1,600
15
230
2
4,580
28
28 Aug
150
23,360
264
2,060
20
1,140
3
7,330
37
12 Sep
165
30,690
335
4,580
35
4,120
27
7,560
58
29 Sep
182
14,660
169
6,410
55
1,600
10
1,140
11
13 Oct
196
26,790
292
8,700
69
4,810
27
2,290
14
9 Nov
223
38,010
438
28,170
229
21,760
127
8,700
36
Total
237,480
3,460
55,340
477
34,580
202
38,010
236
z Yield is presented on a basis of number of fruit or 28-lb boxes per acre. y USDA Grade Fancy size. The diameter of each pepper shall not be less than 3 inches.
x USDA Grade No. 1 size. The diameter of each pepper shall not be less than 2 ½ inches.
Table 3. Average US Fancy bell pepper fruit width on several harvest dates.
Harvest Dates
Average Fruit Width (in)z
16 Jun
3.67
23 Jun
3.63
10 Jul
3.54
27 Jul
3.47
18 Aug
3.00
12 Sep
3.13
13 Oct
3.35
9 Nov
3.30
z Average fruit width was determined by measuring 15 randomly selected fruits from the US Fancy category. Measurements were taken across the base of the fruit near the stem end, the widest part of the fruit.
Footnotes
1. This document HS1113 is one of a series of the Horticultural Sciences Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Date first printed July 2007. Please visit the EDIS Web site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.2. Robert C. Hochmuth, multi county extension agent, Linda B. Landrum, regional specialized agent, Wanda L. Laughlin, sr. agricultural assistant, Lei Lani Davis, farm manager, North Florida Research and Education Center - Suwannee Valley, Danielle D. Treadwell, assistant professor, Eric H. Simonne, associate professor, Horticultural Sciences Department, University of Florida/IFAS, Gainesville FL 32611-0690
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U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Larry Arrington, Dean.
Copyright Information
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