Peppers

Twenty-four varieties of peppers were grown at the Horticulture Research Center (HRC) outside of Fort Collins, Colorado during the 2004 growing season. Transplants were started in the greenhouse on April 1st. Seeds were planted into 72-cell trays filled with Sunshine No. 3 brand soil mix and topped with vermiculite to aid in keeping the seeds moist. Seedlings were fertilized once a week with fish emulsion fertilizer fed through an injector. An average of 20 plants of each variety were transplanted at the HRC on May 26th into black plastic mulch on beds with 30″ centers, in a double row at 18″ in-row spacing with one line of drip tape. Plastic hoops were used to support row cover from transplanting time until mid-July.

Unfortunately we were hit with a severe golf-ball sized hail storm on August 10, 2004. That storm plus a cool season lended to poor pepper production (see our Study Area web page for more weather information). Therefore we are not reporting yield data per plant for severely hail damaged varieties, however average weight per pepper, photos, and comments for each of the varieties are below. Yield data is available for varieties that had negligible hail damage, although again, keep in mind the unusually cool season. We will continue with pepper variety trials in 2005.

Photo	Variety/Type	Yield Data	% Hail Damage	Comments
	Ace (Green to Red Sweet Bell Pepper)	3.53 oz./fruit	68%	100% germination rate, thick walled, work horse of a pepper, reliable, first flower set may need thinning because of propensity to become self-entangled, traditionally a good performer
	Antohi Romanian (Specialty/Ethnic Sweet Pepper)	2.71 oz./fruit	29%	78% germination rate, beautiful color, nice size, very productive, thick walled, but unfortunately plain flavor
	Buldog Hungarian Spice (Ristra/Drying Pepper)	1.21 oz./fruit	28%	83% germination rate, pretty colored pepper
	Conchos Jalapeno (Jalepeno Pepper)	1.49 oz./fruit 1.64 lbs./plant	negligible	100% germination rate, nice large peppers, heavy yields, and ironically earlier than Early Jalepeno
	Early Jalapeno (Jalepeno Pepper)	0.40 oz./fruit 1.60 lbs./plant	negligible	87% germination rate, good set, still a good producer but not as large a pepper as the Conchos
	Giant Marconi (Italian Grilling Pepper)	1.38 oz./fruit 1.28 lbs./plant	negligible	truly giant – nice sized peppers with thick walls, indeed great for grilling, 2002 AAS winner
	Gourmet (Orange Sweet Bell Pepper)	4.32 oz/fruit	31%	90% germination rate, large pepper, nice color
	Habanero (Specialty/Ethnic Pepper)	N/A	negligible	89% germination rate, lots of buds but too late, almost no production
	Hot Pepper Lantern (Specialty/Ethnic Pepper)	N/A	negligible	89% germination rate, almost no production
	Hungarian Hot Wax (Specialty/Ethnic Pepper)	0.90 oz./fruit 1.0 lbs./plant	negligible	93% germination rate, pretty, tasty hot pepper, very prolific, some sunburn
	Islander (Sweet Bell Pepper – Purple to Orange to Red)	3.66 oz./fruit	49%	86% germination rate, great marketability, people love color purple to orange, however walls are still somewhat thin when purple
	King Arthur (Green to Red Sweet Bell Pepper)	5.36 oz./fruit	39%	97% germination rate, great variety, BIG bells, covered well by leaves, beautiful sized fruits, consistent variety
	Krimzon Lee (Ristra/Drying Pepper)	2.58 oz./fruit	21%	96% germination rate, an attractive pepper, good for roasting and grilling
	Labrador (Yellow Sweet Bell Pepper)	3.54 oz./fruit	51%	83% germination rate
	Lipstick (Specialty/Ethnic Sweet Pepper)	2.33 oz./fruit	21%	61% germination rate, thick walls, a beautiful multi-use pepper, previous experience indicates that it’s a good performer in this area
	Numex Joe E. Parker (SW Style Chile)	1.99 oz./fruit 2.0 lbs./plant	negligible	71% germination rate, good reliable chile pepper
	Perfection (White Sweet Bell Pepper)	3.25 oz./fruit	28%	94% germination rate, medium to small size, valued as an additional color to your pepper mix
	Round of Hungary (Specialty/Ethnic Sweet Pepper – Pimento)	3.20 oz./fruit	28%	72% germination rate, beautiful deeply lobed pepper, very sweet, great in salads, needs washing when grown on plasticulture if soil splash is a problem
	Serrano del sol (SW Style Chile)	0.33 oz./fruit	9%	92% germination rate, good set, heavy yields, hot pepper!
	Sweet Chocolate (Brown Sweet Bell Pepper)	2.31 oz./fruit	29%	73% germination rate, small size, good chocolate color, tend to get soft quickly after turning brown, thin walled
	Thai Dragon (Ristra/Drying Pepper)	0.08 oz./fruit 0.48 lbs./plant	negligible	94% germination rate, brutally hot!!
	Tiburon (Poblano/Ancho Pepper)	1.48 oz./fruit 1.06 lbs./plant	negligible	94% germination rate, nice deep green pepper, good stuffing/roasting pepper – thin walled
	X3R Red Knight (Green to Red Sweet Bell Pepper)	5.43 oz./fruit	46%	87% germination rate, good sized peppers, in these trials performed better than Ace