Emergence Pattern among Jalapeno and Habanero Peppers

by

Salah Shaikh (Biological Sciences and Public Health 2016)

Advisors: Albert Ayeni, and Carrie Mansue

Abstract:

Capsicum annuum (Jalapeno), and Capsicum chinense (Habanero),are two pepper species becoming

popular in America as ethnic crops. The objective of this experiment was to study the germination of

three types of Jalapeno (Early, Sweet/Small, and Sweet/Large), 10 different types of red Habanero and 4

types of yellow Habanero under greenhouse conditions. The results showed that among the Jalapeno, the

sweet/small (SSJ) and sweet/large (SLJ) Jalapeno achieved 50% emergence 15 days after seeding (DAS).

The Early Jalapeno (EJ) achieved 50% emergence 21 DAS. Among the red Habanero, those labeled A,

B1, B2, C, D, E, and F achieved 50% emergence 13 days after seeding. Red Habanero G showed 50%

emergence 15 days after seeding. Red Habanero I showed 50% emergence 19 days after emergence, and

red Habanero H showed 50% emergence 21 DAS. Among the yellow Habanero, the one labeled YH-2

had 50% emergence 13 days after seeding. The yellow Habanero labeled YH-1 and YH-4 showed 50%

emergence 15 DAS. Yellow habanero labeled YH-3 showed 50% emergence 23 days after seeding. The

study demonstrated that seedling emergence among the Jalapeno and Habanero peppers evaluated varies

significantly and should be noted among the criteria to use for inter and intraspecific separation of these

pepper species.

Introduction

In this study two particular peppers were worked on: Capsicum annuum, and Capsicum chinense.. These

are some of the more high demand ethnic crops in America today. Capsicum annuum species has several

peppers like the cayenne, jalapeño, and the Peruvian purple peppers. The Capsicum chinense include

habaneros, scotch bonnet, and the naga jolokia peppers. Capsicum annuum are native to Mexico and

Central America but are cultivated for food in many warmer regions of the world. Capsicum Chinense

originating from the Amazon into the Caribbean and then spreading into Central and South America.

These peppers have now been started to be introduced in America and are now starting to be grown.

The reason for them being grown in America is that they have several key uses in human daily life. These

peppers can be used for culinary, medicinal, and ornamental uses. For culinary, cuisines that uses them is

the Ethiopian cuisine, where this species has been cultivated since the nineteenth century. It shows up

occasionally in Egyptian and Moroccan dishes too. They are also used extensively as flavoring in several

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cuisines including Indian, Thai, Korean and Chinese as well as in many Latin American and African

dishes. These peppers can be added to curries, pickles and chutneys. These pepper species also have many

uses in medicine. Capsaicin is the most-studied active ingredient in the plant can be useful for managing

pain related to surgery and mouth sores due to chemotherapy and radiation therapy and is used by

alternative medicine practitioners as a remedy for a variety of conditions, such as upset stomach,

menstrual cramps, headaches, shingles, diarrhea, loss of appetite, stomach ulcers, poor digestion, sore

throat, itching, alcoholism, motion sickness, toothache, malaria, and yellow fever. Finally, these peppers

have ornamental uses for the eye catching display of the profusion of erect peppers growing in colorful

ripening patterns .Some cultivars grown specifically for their aesthetic value include the U.S. National

Arboretum's Black Pear and the Bolivian Rainbow. Ornamental varieties tend to have unusually colored

fruit and foliage with colors such as black and purple being notable.

The demand for high quality seeds has grown, which has led to seed companies to adopt advanced

technologies to get the best seeds. Studies related to maturation and harvest of seeds is important since

this can let the seed reach its highest quality level and can help in defining the various genotypes with the

Habaneros and Jalapenos. Such knowledge is necessary for seed producers to determine the ideal time for

harvest that would obtain the preferred genotype for a Jalapeno or Habanero. In the southern United

States, thousands of acres of peppers are planted commercially in the fall and spring. Fall production

accounts for much of the acreage of jalapeño peppers. However, seed for fall transplants is sown when

summer greenhouse temperatures can reach 40 to 45 °C for six hours or more. This is far above the

optimum temperature (29 °C) for pepper germination suggesting that temperature can play a role in

affecting the germination of jalapenos and habaneros.

These peppers are of vital importance to our daily lives and must be able to prosper and grow. However,

if the crabgrass weed can in fact take over, it will reduce the yield of these plants and thus puts the grower

in a difficult economic spot. It will also be detrimental to us as humans due to the many versatile uses

these two pepper species have on our daily lives. Peppers are a warm-season crop that need a long

growing season. Peppers nearly all transplanted, which can give the crop some advantage over weeds.

However, pepper transplants are slow to establish and compete poorly with weeds, such as crabgrass

which can reduce pepper yields by competing for light, water, and nutrients as well as delaying maturity.

With all of this in mind, the main objective of this experiment is to see how these two pepper species

(Capsicum annuum (Jalapenos), and Capsicum chinense (Habaneros)) with 3 types of Jalapenos, 10 types

of Habaneros and 4 types of yellow Habaneros all germinate in greenhouse conditions. The hypothesis

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that is being tested will be how the Capsicum Species will germinate differently to greenhouse conditions.

The results that are expected to be seen is that the germination rates will be different amongst all the

species.

Materials and Methods

Growing the seedlings of the Jalapenos began on January 14th 2015 in black pots. The plants were

watered regularly throughout the study period in the greenhouse. On January 29th, 2015, 10 red Habanero

types and the 4 yellow Habanero types were planted in black pots. These black pots had 24 of them in

each cart. Greenhouse Mix Soil was used to plant the seedlings. They along with the plant were being

watered everyday. In order to avoid the yellowing of leaves, 20-20-20 NPK fertilizer was used once every

4 weeks starting on February 26th, 2015. Jalapeno data was taken once there were signs of growth, which

was on January 29th, 2015. Habanero data was also taken once there were signs of growth, which was on

February 10th, 2015. The data was handled by making simple comparisons and will be subjected to future

statistical analysis. The data collection ended when all the numbers were beginning to saturate, which was

on March 25th, 2015.

The peppers were labeled as follows:

Jalapenos (Planted on 1/14/2015)

EJ = Early Jalapeno

SSJ = Sweet and small Jalapeno

SLJ = Sweet and large Jalapeno

Red Habaneros (Planted on 1/29/2015)

A = EPV/Mex. Hab; Rough Leaf, Hard Fruit, Blunt Tip

B1 = EPV 19/ Mex. Hab; Rough Leaf, Hard Fruit, pointed tip, color retained

B2 = EPV 19/ Mex. Hab; Rough Leaf, Hard Fruit, pointed tip, color change

C = EPV 19/ Mex. Hab, Smooth Leaf, Hard Fruit

D = EPV 19/ Mex. Hab, Rough leaf, Hard Fruit, Corrugated Tip

E = EPV 19/ Mex. Hab, Short/Fat Fruit, Dimpled tip

F = EPV 19/ Mex. Hab, Deep Red Color

G = EPV 19/ EPV 17

H = EPV 28 Atarodo Onidodo

I = EPV 24, Aji Duke

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Yellow Habaneros (Planted on 1/29/2015)

YH-1 = EPV 02, long fruit

YH-2 = Mex Hab 1,

YH-3: Pumpkin Type

YH-4: Scotch Bonnet

Results:

Figure 1.1: Emergence patterns of Early Jalapeno, Sweet/small Jalapeno, and Sweet/large Jalapeno in the

greenhouse

Emergence rate of Jalapenos

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Early Jalapeno

Sweet/Small Jalapeno

Sweet/Large Jalapeno

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Figure 1.2: Emergence patterns of 10 types of red Habanero (A, B1, B2, C, D, E, F, G, H, I)

Figure 1.3: Emergence patterns of three types of yellow Habanero (YH-1, YH-2, YH-3, YH-4)

Emergence rate of red habaneros

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Emergence rate of yellow Habaneros

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Jalapeno (31 DAS) Jalapeno (59 DAS)

Figure 2.1 Jalapeno seedlings at 31 and 59 days after seeding in the greenhouse

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Red Habanero 21 DAS Red Habanero 55 DAS

Figure 2.2: Red Habanero seedlings at 21 and 55 days after seeding in the greenhouse.

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Yellow Habanero 21 DAS Yellow Habanero 55 DAS

Figure 2.3: Yellow Habanero seedlings at 21 and 55 days after seeding in the greenhouse.

The overall results display that based on the graphs all the types of jalapenos, red habaneros, and yellow

habaneros all had varying emergence rates and all had different points where they achieved 50%

emergence (out of 24 pots). The results show that among the Jalapeno, the sweet/small and sweet/large

jalapenos achieved 50% emergence 15 days after seeding. The Early Jalapeno achieved 50% emergence

21 days after seeding. Amongst the red habaneros, habaneros labeled A, B1, B2, C, D, E, and F achieved

50% emergence 13 days after seeding. Red habanero G showed 50% emergence 15 days after seeding.

Red habanero labeled I showed 50% emergence 19 days after emergence. Red Habanero labeled H

showed 50% emergence 21 days after seeding. Among the yellow habaneros, the one labeled YH-2 had

50% emergence 13 days after seeding. Yellow habaneros labeled YH-1 and YH-4 showed 50%

emergence 15 days after seeding. Yellow habanero labeled YH-3 showed 50% emergence 23 days after

seeding. The pictures display the early growth of the jalapeno, red habanero, and yellow habanero

respectively midway after seeding and the day when the data collection was finished. They show that the

plants did grow vigorously and well in greenhouse conditions.

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Discussion:

The results show that among the jalapenos, the sweet/small and sweet/large jalapenos achieved 50%

emergence 15 days after seeding. The Early Jalapeno achieved 50% emergence 21 days after seeding.

Amongst the red habaneros, habaneros labeled A, B1, B2, C, D, E, and F achieved 50% emergence 13

days after seeding. Red habanero G showed 50% emergence 15 days after seeding. Red habanero labeled

I showed 50% emergence 19 days after emergence. Red Habanero labeled H showed 50% emergence 21

days after seeding. Among the yellow habaneros, the one labeled YH-2 had 50% emergence 13 days after

seeding. Yellow habaneros labeled YH-1 and YH-4 showed 50% emergence 15 days after seeding.

Yellow habanero labeled YH-3 showed 50% emergence 23 days after seeding. This can suggest that each

of the fruits unique characteristics can be the result of their differing genotypes suggesting that these are

various types of jalapenos, red habaneros, and yellow habaneros. They can be distinguished based on not

just the fruits characteristics, but their emergence rates. This is in fact crucial because the demand for high

quality seeds has grown, which has led to seed companies to adopt advanced technologies to get the best

seeds (Caixeta et.al., 2014). The data can help in defining the various genotypes with the Habaneros and

Jalapenos not just on the characteristic of the fruit.

Another major result was the fact that out of all the Jalapenos, the Sweet/small ones grew the most

vigorous at the end of data collection which was 3/25/2015, while the Sweet/large ones grew the second

vigorous, while early jalapeno grew the least vigorous. The vigor is an indication of the potential fruit

production each of the plants has the potential for. It can be predicted that since the Sweet/small jalapenos

grow the most vigorously, they will produce the most fruit. This is also crucial for farmers while planting

the seeds to see which one will have the most yield, and most likely it will be the sweet/small jalapenos

out of the 3 types.

Another major implication of this result, this can lead to an increased production of the two peppers and

distinguish the various types of fruit the jalapenos, red habaneros, and yellow habaneros produce. For the

increase production of peppers. One study showed that there is a strong demand and interest for ethnic

produce in East Coast. (Ayeni et.al, 2008). Producers can concentrate effort in producing ethnic

vegetables and fresh produce and making newer products available in the local and regional markers

(Ayeni et.al, 2008). The frequency of purchase of ethnic products for Chinese they shopped on average

55% more frequently and spent $98 on average monthly ethnic produce expenditures; $91 for Asian

Indian; $79 for Mexican and $77 for Puerto Rican (Ayeni et.al, 2008). About 46-56% of the purchasers in

each group were “more willing” to purchase ethnic produce (Ayeni et.al, 2008). A large percentage of

non-purchasers were “more willing” to purchase ethnic produce that were sold in ethnic outlets (40%) or

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grown on local farms (42%). (Ayeni et.al, 2008). 35% of non-purchasers indicated they would be “more

willing” to buy ethnic produce in the future. (Ayeni et.al, 2008). These results can help show that the

local producers who are struggling to compete in national markets can benefit by concentrating their

efforts in the production of ethnic vegetables such as the two Capsicum spp. This could help the farmer

economically and can benefit the population with the culinary, medicinal and ornamental uses. The two

pepper species can help in creating a growing market demand for ethnic crops thus increasing their yield

here in the U.S going down to their specific genotypes. This finding can help maximize the market for

these two ethnic groups and various types of jalapenos and habaneros to the consumers liking they can

select from.

For the greenhouse, the two pepper species can be grown in greenhouse conditions and display varying

emergence rates implying that the Jalapenos and habaneros may be different from each other. However,

greenhouse conditions differ much from field conditions so these results have to be confirmed in field

conditions. The hypothesis can be confirmed that the Capsicum Species will emerge differently to

greenhouse conditions and they showed differing emergence rates amongst all the species.

Conclusions

From this study it is shown that each of the Jalapeno types and the Habanero types can be distinguished

by their emergence periods and this can be helpful for the farmer as he develops the nursery schedule for

the planting season.

Acknowledgement:

Professor Albert Ayeni for giving the resources to do the experiment and Carrie Mansue for general

guidance. Both are greatly appreciated for their efforts.

Literature Cited:

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2. Anonymous. 2014. Large Crabgrass - Weed Management (Penn State Extension). Retrieved December 11, 2014, from http://extension.psu.edu/pests/weeds/weed-id/large-crabgrass

3. Anonymous. 2011. Biology and Management of Crabgrass. (n.d.). Retrieved December 11, 2014, from https://extension.umass.edu/turf/fact-sheets/biology-and-management-crabgrass

4. Anonymous. 2008. Capsicum. Retrieved December 11, 2014, from http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/complementaryandalternativemedicine/herbsvitaminsandminerals/capsicum

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5. Govindasamy, R., VanVranken, R., Sciarappa, W., Ayeni, A., Puduri, V. S., Pappas, K., . . . McAvoy, G. (2008). Ethnic crop opportunities for growers on the east coast: A demand assessment. Proceedings of the ...Annual Meeting of the Florida State Horticultural Society., , 36-49. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/46346967?accountid=13626

6. Carter, A., & Vavrina, C. (2001). High temperature inhibits germination of jalapeño and cayenne pepper. Hortscience, 36(4), 724-725.

7. Caixeta, F., Guimarães, R. M., Henrique, P., Pereira, A. R., & Catão, H. C. R. M. (2014). Physiological and biochemical alterations during germination and storage of habanero pepper seeds. African Journal of Agricultural Research,9(6), 627-635.

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