Oakes Irrigation Research
Site
Carrington Research Extension Center * North Dakota State University
P.O. Box 531, Oakes, ND 58474-0531, Voice: (701) 742-2189, FAX: (701)
742-2700, email: rgreenla@ndsuext.nodak.edu
PEPPER PLANTING PATTERN STUDY, 1996
Richard G Greenland
Planting patterns affect yields and quality of most crops. Rows that are too wide reduce yield. Rows that are too narrow can reduce yield and often reduce quality. This study compared planting double rows on 4 ft centers, a single row on 3 ft centers, and a single row on 4 ft centers.
Table 68. Planting pattern effects on pepper yields.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
| Soil: | Hecla sandy loam Egeland loam and Maddock sandy loam; pH=6.9; 3.0% organic matter; soil-P was very high; soil-K was high; soil-S was very low. |
| Previous crop: | 1995 - squash; 1994 - edible beans; 1993 - field corn. |
| Seedbed preparation: | Disked on May 22. Multiweeded twice on May 29 to incorporate herbicide, and once on June 6. |
| Planting: | Belle Star peppers were seeded in the greenhouse on April 15. Plants were hand transplanted on June 7. As it was planted, each plant received ½ pint of fertilizer solution (1 gal 10-34-0 in 100 gal of water). The single row planting pattern was a single row planted on 3 ft or 4 ft centers, with in-row spacing of 1 ft. The double row planting pattern consisted of a paired row, 1 ft apart, planted on 4 ft centers. In-row spacing in each row was 18 inches, but staggered in the rows such that there was one plant every 9 inches along the double row. |
| Plots: | Plots were 17 ft long by 4 ft wide. There were 4 reps. |
| Fertilizer: | On April 17, broadcast 14 lbs N/acre and 70 lbs P2O5/acre as 10-50-0, 16 lbs N/acre and 19 lbs S/acre as 21-0-0-24, and 94 lbs K20/acre as 0-0-60. Sprayed 30 lbs of N/acre as 28-0-0 on May 22. Fertilized 90 lbs N/acre as urea on July 15. |
| Irrigation: | Surface drip irrigation as needed. |
| Pest control: | Weeds were controlled by Treflan (1 pt/acre on May 29), and by hand weeding. Sprayed Malathion (1.5 pt/acre on August 1) for insect control. |
| Harvest: | Harvested 5 times from August 8 to September 18. |
RESULTS
Planting peppers in single rows on three-foot centers did not increase yields compared to single rows on four-foot centers, even though it required 33% more plants. Planting the peppers in paired rows, with the pair of rows on four-foot centers, also required 33% more plants but increased marketable pepper yield by 50%. The planting pattern used did not effect pepper size or quality.
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Table 68. Planting pattern effects on pepper yields.
| Planting pattern | Number of fruit | Yield | |||||
| Fancy | US #1 | total | Fancy | US #1 | total | size1 | |
| ------ 1000s per acre ----- | ---- 1000 lbs per acre ---- | oz | |||||
| Single row on 4 ft centers | 28.8 | 12.2 | 49.1 | 10.5 | 3.6 | 16.0 | 5.3 |
| Single row on 3 ft centers | 26.9 | 10.6 | 41.0 | 9.6 | 3.3 | 13.9 | 5.4 |
| Double row on 4 ft centers | 35.5 | 21.6 | 66.9 | 14.4 | 7.1 | 24.2 | 5.8 |
| LSD (0.05) | NS | 3.0 | 12.4 | NS | 1.3 | 4.5 | NS |
| C.V. (%) | 20 | 12 | 14 | 20 | 16 | 15 | 9 |
1Average fruit size.
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Table 69. Cumulative marketable (US Fancy plus US #1) yield of peppers as affected by planting patterns.
| Planting pattern | Cumulative marketable yield as of: | ||||
| Aug 8 | Aug 15 | Aug 22 | Aug 29 | Sep 18 | |
| Single row on 4 ft centers | 6.7 | 9.3 | 10.5 | 10.6 | 14.1 |
| Single row on 3 ft centers | 6.3 | 9.1 | 10.2 | 10.5 | 13.0 |
| Double row on 4 ft centers | 9.3 | 13.0 | 14.7 | 16.0 | 21.5 |
| LSD (0.05) | NS | NS | NS | 4.4 | 4.4 |
| C.V. (%) | 36 | 22 | 19 | 21 | 16 |
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Go to Oakes Irrigation Research Site 1996 annual report