The 2011 ASHS Annual Conference

Guizhou is one of the leading pepper production provinces in China and annual yield of dried peppers could reach one million tons.  To increase the diversity of cultivated pepper varieties, forty-three cultivars from commercial growers in US were introduced and evaluated for their performance in Guizhou (China). Although the germination rate of all introduced Capsicum seeds were stated 98% or higher, the germination percentages in Guizhou ranged from 20% to 100%. Ornamental peppers had germination rates 80% or higher and the perfect germination was obtained from ‘Explosive Ember’.  Sweet bell peppers germinated from 56% (‘Sweet Pimento Lipstick’) to 85% (‘Green to Red Bell’). Hot (spicy) peppers had highly variable germination rates from 20% (‘Jalapeno’) to 93% (‘Andy F1’). Germination indexes were 0.20 (‘Hungarian Hot Wax’) to 8.03 (‘Numex Joe Parker’). Average germination days were from 9 to 23 days. Although ‘Numex Joe Parker’ took more than three weeks to germinate, it germinated uniformly. The growth of plants was measured by height, number of branches, and canopy. ‘Jalapeno’ was the shortest plants at 24cm, while ‘Numex Joe Park’ reached 78.8cm. Number of branches, defined as bearing fruits, was from 3 (‘Jalapeno’) to 20 (‘Red Caribbean Habanero’). The canopy ranged from 730 (cm2, ‘Long Pepper Mix’) to 3,600 (cm2, ‘Hungarian Hot Wax’). ‘Andy F1’, ‘Numex Joe Parker’, and other 33 cultivars should grow Guizhou growing conditions well. ‘Jalapeno’ and other 7 cultivars should be further evaluated for their adaptation.