Agronomy Programme

Seeds were sown into seedling trays and transplanted into bags 21 days after sowing. Limestone was mixed into the bag potting mixture. Transplanting to the beds took place 42 days after sowing.

Timing of fertilizer application

The rate of fertilizer applied was 128 kg N/ha, 80 kg P/ha and 100 kg K/ha split in the following way:

Time of application	F1			F2			F3
Time of application	N	P	K	N	P	K	N	P	K
At transplanting	50	80	50	50	80	50	50	80	34
2 weeks after transplanting	26	0	0	39	0	0	26	0	0
4 weeks after transplanting	26	0	50	39	0	50	26	0	33
6 weeks after transplanting	26	0	0				26	0	33

Results & Discussion

General
Twenty eight days after transplanting, there was a greater degree of survival in F1Nobili than for the other varieties. 76% of transplants survived for F1Nobili, while 49% and 30% of transplants survived for varieties 1 & 3 respectively. The sample size for data collection varied somewhat among the plots; 7 of the 27 plots had 2 or 3 sample plants. Further, plants in plot 2 (var Stella) did not grow well and did not produce any fruits. Consequently, the analysis of variance was unable to detect statistical differences in the treatment means at the significant probability levels.

There were no significant incidences of pests or diseases. Each of the varieties had an incidence of anthracnose where a few fruits were infested in two of the harvests; hence the marketability of fruits was extremely high.

Flowering
Stella & F1Nobili flowered earlier than Capela. Within 28 days after transplanting over 80% of plants had flowered for Stella & F1Nobili while only 60% had flowered for Capela. In particular, fertilizer treatment 3 seems to have induced a greater degree of flowering in Stella (100%) than in other varieties.

Fruit set rating is the number of fruits set as a percentage of the number of flowers and was determined 21 days after flowering commenced. Fruit set rating for Stella, F1Nobili & Capela was 42.3%, 42.9% and 38% respectively. Fertilizer treatment 3 seemed to have induced a slightly higher fruit set rating for F1Nobili than for any other treatment.

First harvest took place 52 days after transplanting and harvesting was completed over a 24 day period. Almost half of the fruits were harvested by the second harvest for Stella (45%) and F1Nobili (47%). By the third harvest almost ¾ of fruits (74%) were harvested for Capela while 64% and 71% of the fruits were harvested for Stella & F1Nobili respectively.

Plant height
Plant height was measured 52 days after transplanting. Stella & F1Nobili were taller plants than Capela. Mean plant height was 58.9cm and 56.6cm for Stella & F1Nobili respectively while plant height for Capela was 41.4cm.

Fruit Weight/Fruit Size
Table 2: Plant height and fruit size of three varieties of sweet pepper grown at Fort Wellington

Variety	Plant height (cm)	Fruit weight (g)	Fruit length (mm)	Fruit width (mm)	L:W ratio
Stella	58.9	51.2	128.2	47.7	2.7
F1Nobili	56.6	61.1	108.5	52.6	2.1
Capela	41.4	37.8	57.1	48.8	1.2

F1Nobili produced the heaviest fruits at 61.1 g each while the smallest fruits weighing 37.8 g was obtained by Capela; Stella was intermediate weighing 51.2 g each.

Fruit size refers to the fruit length:fruit width ratio. A ratio on or around 1 means that the fruit is as long as it is wide and hence bell shaped. Capela showed a bell shaped fruit while Stella was the largest of the fruits (ratio 2.7) with a length that was more than 2 ½ times the width. F1Nobili also gave fruits that were longer than they were wide (ratio 2.1). F1Nobili had a smaller but heavier fruit than Stella while Capela had an overall smaller and lighter fruit than the other two vars.

Number of fruits
Table 3: Mean number of fruits harvested per plot for three varieties of sweet pepper grown at Fort Wellington

Number of fruits per plant also varied in a similar manner to number of fruits per plot

Table 4: Mean number of fruits obtained per plant for three varieties of sweet pepper grown at Fort Wellington

Yield
Table5: Mean yield per plot of three varieties of sweet pepper grown at Fort Wellington

Yield per plant was highest for F1Nobili (368.8 g) while the lowest yield per plant (167.0g) was obtained from Capela; Stella was intermediate with 252.2g per plant (Table 6). The highest yield was more than twice the lowest yield.

Table 6: Mean yield per plant of three varieties of sweet pepper grown at Fort Wellington

The yields obtained here were generally higher than those obtained for the same varieties in the previous trial. The first trial was transplanted in July 2003 towards the end of the wet season with the growing and production period occurring essentially in the dry season and this may have accounted for the generally lower yields. In that trial Stella was the highest producer of the three varieties followed by F1Nobili; Capela was the lowest producer. In general, yields obtained in this trial compares favourably with that obtained in previous trials with other varieties so that the potential of the varieties is good for commercial production.

The manufacturer’s data for Capela indicated that it is suitable for year round cultivation but better in the dry and cool season. The fruit is categorized as square with dimensions of 9-11cm by 7-8cm with first harvest taking place 60 days after transplanting for a period of 60-100 days after transplanting. It is reported to have resistance to heat and TMV-PVY. In the local trials, first harvest time compares favourably with manufacturer’s data; however, fruits were smaller in the local production.

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Timing of fertilizer application

F1

Results & Discussion

Plant height Plant height was measured 52 days after transplanting. Stella & F1Nobili were taller plants than Capela. Mean plant height was 58.9cm and 56.6cm for Stella & F1Nobili respectively while plant height for Capela was 41.4cm.

Variety

Variety

Variety

Plant height
Plant height was measured 52 days after transplanting. Stella & F1Nobili were taller plants than Capela. Mean plant height was 58.9cm and 56.6cm for Stella & F1Nobili respectively while plant height for Capela was 41.4cm.