CALCIUM AND ETHEPHON EFFECTS ON PAPRIKA PEPPER FRUIT RETENTION AND FRUIT COLOR DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

While ethephon [(2-chloroethyl) phosphonic acid] has increased yields of red fruits, its use as a pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) fruit ripening agent has been limited by premature fruit abscission and defoliation. We tested ethephon solutions of 0, 1500, 3000, 4500, and 6000 μl·liter-1 with or without 0.1M Ca(OH)2 as a one-time foliar application to field-grown paprika pepper in southwestern Oklahoma. There was a linear increase in fruit abscission with increasing ethephon rates in two out of three years, with or without added calcium. Ethephon at 6000 μl·liter-1 improved the percent of total fruit weight due lo marketable fruits in two out of three years, primarily by decreasing the weight of harvested green fruits. However, ethephon never significantly increased the dry weight of harvested marketable fruits over that obtained from the control. There also was no effect of ethephon on the intensity of red pigment extracted from dehydrated marketable fruits. The only significant effect of Ca(OH)2 was an undesirable increase in the retention of green fruits on the plants. Ethephon had little value as a fruit ripening agent for paprika under the conditions of our studies, and Ca(OH)2 was not useful as an additive to ethephon sprays.