High-Yield Varieties of Cayenne Pepper in the Solanaceae Family and Key Points of Cultivation Techniques

Cayenne pepper, also known as sky-pointing pepper or small chili, is a perennial plant commonly found in Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Shanxi, Guangxi and other places. Because it is smaller than other peppers and extremely spicy, it is deeply favored by pepper consumers. It is now cultivated in many regions, so what high-yield varieties of cayenne pepper should be planted? What are the key points of cultivation techniques?

I. Variety Selection

Choose varieties with high yield, good quality, wide adaptability, resistance to pests and diseases, and good marketability.

1. High-quality clustered cayenne pepper varieties

(1) Mantianhong

Good disease resistance and wide adaptability. A mid-season variety with good fruit shape, bearing 6 to 8 fruits per cluster, and excellent marketability. Fruits are 6 cm long and 1 to 1.2 cm thick, with a single fruit weight of about 5 grams. The plant is tall with strong branching ability, strong disease resistance, and high yield.

(2) Shengnong Cayenne No. 2

Good disease resistance and wide adaptability. An early-maturing variety with good fruit shape, bearing 6 to 8 fruits per cluster. High yield, with fruits about 6 cm long and 0.9 to 1.1 cm thick. The fruit skin is thin, the spiciness is extremely strong, the fresh fruit has good marketability, and the dried fruit quality is excellent.

2. Erect single-born cayenne pepper varieties

Danfeng Chaoyang

Mid-early maturing, with fruits 5 to 7 cm long, fruit diameter 0.8 to 1.2 cm, single fruit weight 4 to 6 grams, and high yield. Strong spiciness, uniform fruit shape, suitable for making green and red peppers as well as dried peppers. It is an excellent variety suitable for processing and export. Strong disease resistance, heat tolerance, moisture tolerance, high fruit-setting rate, and good marketability.

3. Single-born cayenne pepper varieties

Danfeng

Mid-early maturing, strong disease resistance, and wide adaptability. Strong growth, long harvest period, high continuous fruit-setting rate, and high yield. The fruit skin is moderately thick, the spiciness is strong, the dried pepper color is deep, and the marketability is good. Fruits are 5 to 6 cm long and 0.9 to 1 cm thick, with a single fruit weight of about 5 grams.

II. Cultivation Techniques

1. Seed germination

Before sowing for seedling raising, pepper seeds need to be treated for germination, which can promote pepper seedlings to emerge quickly and uniformly and improve the emergence rate. The specific method is: put seeds that have been sun-dried for 1 to 2 days into a cloth bag, first soak them in warm water at 50 to 55°C for 10 to 15 minutes for disinfection while stirring continuously. After soaking in warm water, move the seeds into water at about 30°C and continue soaking for 12 to 24 hours, then place them in an insulated container at 20 to 30°C for germination, rinse once a day with warm water at about 25°C, turn the seeds up and down, and germinate for 4 to 5 days. Once the seeds show white sprouts, they can be sown.

2. Sowing and seedling raising

(1) Seedbed selection

Choose a fertile plot with flat terrain, good ventilation and sunlight, close to a water source, and loose soil. Plow 20 to 30 cm before winter for freezing and sun exposure to mature the soil. However, never raise seedlings continuously on the same plot. Plots with underground pests should be treated with chemicals. The area of the seedbed is determined according to the field planting area. Generally, planting 1 mu of cayenne pepper requires 15 to 20 sq m of seedling bed and about 150 grams of seeds.

(2) Seedbed preparation

10 to 15 days before sowing, apply 5000 kg of fully decomposed high-quality farmyard manure, 30 kg of superphosphate, and 20 kg of urea per mu, then turn and rake the soil evenly so that soil and fertilizer are mixed uniformly, and make flat beds 1.2 to 1.5 m wide. The seedling bed is required to be level with straight edges, and the soil in the bed should be loose, fine, and free of clods.

(3) Sowing at the proper time

In western Henan, sowing is generally carried out on a sunny morning in late February or early March. Before sowing, first water the bed thoroughly, and after the water seeps down, mix the seeds with 2 to 3 times their volume of fine soil, mix evenly and scatter over the seedling bed, spreading back and forth several times to ensure uniform sowing, then cover with about 1 cm of fine soil. The covering should be uniform to prevent seeds from being exposed on the ground. After sowing, promptly build a small plastic-film arch shed or promptly cover the large shed with film to prevent freezing and increase temperature.

(4) Seedbed management

From sowing until emergence, keep the bed surface moist to prevent soil crusting. When seedlings emerge, water once to make the cotyledons straighten and the roots take hold. Keep the seedbed temperature at 20 to 30°C during the day and 15 to 20°C at night. During the day, keep the temperature in the seedbed from exceeding 30°C. On clear days, ventilate appropriately to lower the temperature and prevent leaf scorching; before strong winds and cold waves arrive, cover with straw curtains to prevent freezing injury to the seedlings. To prevent seedlings from growing excessively and becoming leggy, pay attention to timely ventilation and air exchange.

7 to 10 days before transplanting, gradually enlarge the ventilation openings until the film is uncovered and the seedlings are exposed, so as to lower the seedbed temperature and strengthen seedling hardening, which helps seedlings recover after transplanting. When the bed soil surface is dry, choose a sunny morning to water and replenish moisture. When humidity in the bed is too high, ventilate to remove moisture.

3. Field planting

(1) Field preparation

Cayenne pepper prefers fresh land and is not suitable for continuous cropping. Choose non-low-lying land that has not grown solanaceous fruit vegetables within 2 to 3 years, and deeply plow and freeze the soil before winter. When preparing the soil in spring, plow deeply and rake finely so that the soil is fine and free of clods, with a plowing depth of about 25 cm.

(2) Fertilizer

According to the fertilization principle of “combining organic and inorganic fertilizers, and supplementing nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and micro-fertilizers”, carry out optimized formula fertilization. High-quality organic fertilizers suitable for pollution-free production include compost, barnyard manure, decomposed human and livestock manure, green manure, decomposed crop straw, and cake fertilizer. Chemical fertilizers and micro-fertilizers allowed for limited use include urea, ammonium bicarbonate, ammonium sulfate, phosphate fertilizers (diammonium phosphate, superphosphate, calcium magnesium phosphate, etc.), potassium fertilizers (potassium chloride, potassium sulfate, etc.), zinc (zinc sulfate), boron (borax), etc. In combination with spring soil preparation, generally apply 70 kg of phosphate fertilizer, 25 kg of potassium sulfate, 50 kg of nitrogen fertilizer, and 3000 to 5000 kg of farmyard manure per mu. After soil preparation, make beds promptly, with wide beds 60 to 70 cm, narrow beds 50 cm, bed height 10 to 15 cm, and lay plastic film. Complete soil preparation 7 to 10 days before transplanting.

(3) Transplanting method

Transplant after Grain Rain when frost has ended (mid to late April), with two rows per ridge. Plant spacing is: about 15 cm for single plants and about 25 cm for double plants. The planting density is 8000 to 9000 plants per mu for single plants and about 5000 plants per mu for double plants. Break the film and punch holes, transplant with soil, water thoroughly, and seal the soil firmly. When transplanting, remove diseased seedlings, weak seedlings, mixed seedlings, and variant plants.

4. Field management

(1) Water management

After the transplanting recovery period, do not water or water less, in order to help increase soil temperature and promote root development. The fruit yield of cayenne pepper is mainly concentrated on side branches, so about 20 days after transplanting, promptly pinch off the growing tips to limit main stem growth and promote side branch development for high yield.

(2) Fertilizer management

After cayenne pepper sets fruit, gradually increase the amount of watering. If the base fertilizer is insufficient, in the early fruit-setting stage spray the leaves respectively with 2% to 3% urea solution, 0.3% to 0.4% monopotassium phosphate solution, and 0.2% borax solution for foliar topdressing, supplementing nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and micro-fertilizers.

(3) Disease control:

① Anthracnose

Use 70% thiophanate-methyl wettable powder at 600 to 800 times dilution or 50% poly-sulfur suspension concentrate at 600 times dilution for spray control of anthracnose.

② Phytophthora blight and early blight

Use 58% metalaxyl-mancozeb wettable powder at 500 to 700 times dilution to control phytophthora blight and early blight.

③ Viral disease

Use 20% Virus A at 600 times dilution or 1.5% Zhibingling at 1000 times dilution for spray control of viral disease.

5. Harvesting

The fruits of colorful peppers grown in open fields generally begin to mature successively from mid to late August. They should be picked and cut promptly to help increase production and improve economic benefits. The cut mature peppers can be sold on the market or strung and hung in a ventilated and dry place to dry into dried peppers, to be kept for consumption or sold as commercial peppers.