The pollination of greenhouse sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum L. var. grossum cv. Superset) by Bombus impatiens Cr. was investigated in Ste. Scholastique, Quebec for two periods, 27 June-15 July and 4-18 August, 1995 to determine the pollination effectiveness of B. impatiens compared to a mechanical method (vibration wand) and natural greenhouse ventilation (NGV) and to determine the foraging activity of B. impatiens throughout the pollination period. B. impatiens pollination resulted in a significantly greater number of seeds per fruit and a greater percent marketable fruit, due to a positive quadratic relationship between seed number and fruit weight, than both vibration wand and NGV. Both B. impatiens and NGV resulted in a significantly greater fruit set than vibration wand. Per fruit, an extra profit of $0.06 for green and $0.13 for red sweet peppers could be made by B. impatiens pollination over NGV, due to greater marketable fruit and greater mean fruit weight. B. impatiens pollination was more effective than both vibration wand and NGV even though both the daily activity of the insect at the hive (hive traffic) and their foraging on plants (greenhouse foraging) decreased throughout the pollination period and attained a maximum of only 3 B. impatiens foraging in the greenhouse during the second period. It was estimated that a B. impatiens colony of 30-40 workers could optimally pollinate 17475 plants or a greenhouse size of about 9470 m$ sp2.$

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Written for the Dept. of Plant Science. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2009/06/10). Includes bibliographical references.

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M.Tech. Agriculture / Sweet peppers (Capsicum annuum L.) are also known as bell peppers or capsicum belonging to the family Solanaceae. The sweet pepper contains various bioactive compounds along with significant amounts of beta-carotene (provitamin-A) and other similar compounds. This technological study was carried out to investigate the influence of photo-selective nets (ChromatiNet™) (red, pearl and yellow), with 40% shading effect, on the morphological parameters (plant height, leaf chlorophyll, stem diameter, leaf area, number of leaves, number of flowers, number of fruit, fruit weight, marketable yield, and pest and disease incidence, the fruit quality parameters (fruit mass, firmness, colour, soluble solids content and titratable acidity) and health promoting compounds (ascorbic acid, lycopene content, β-carotene, total phenols and flavonoids, and antioxidant scavenging activity) of three selected sweet pepper cultivars at harvest maturity stage. The commercially used black net (25% shading) was also included for comparison measures (control). The photosynthetically active radiation, air temperature and relative humidity were monitored throughout the growing period.

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Producing red bell peppers in high temperature and light environments can be challenging because many new semi-indeterminate varieties produce small plant canopies that leave fruit exposed to damage (sunscald) caused by solar radiation. Pepper production in Utah coincides with high air temperatures and solar radiation levels during July, August, and September. Increasing plant canopy size is one way to protect fruit from solar radiation. Low tunnels optimize plant growth by increasing air and soil temperatures. Growing plants under low tunnels early in the season could increase fruit shading later in the season. Another way to protect fruit is by using mechanical shade. Hanging shade cloth over a crop has been shown to decrease air temperatures and solar radiation levels reaching fruit. While the common production practice is to horizontally orient shade cloth, vertically orienting shade cloth may also be effective by providing shade to the crop in the morning and evening. These protection methods were evaluated in Layton, Utah for effectiveness of increasing yield by decreasing sunscald occurrence. While plants grown under low tunnels for two weeks after transplanting had larger canopies, they did not increase yield or decrease sunscald compared to plants not grown under low tunnels. Vertical shade increased yield and decreased sunscald most effectively when combined with plants grown under low tunnels. Vertical shade protected exposed fruit when the sun was at lower elevations while increased canopy shade protected fruit when the sun was at high solar elevations. Horizontal shade completely eliminated sunscald and produced the largest yields of high quality fruit. The additional costs associated with using supplemental shade were offset by increased yields and higher value of larger fruit. Separate studies were carried out to determine how sunlight and wind influence the temperature of pepper fruit. Sunlight exceeding 550 W·m-2 increased pepper fruit surface temperature (FST) to damaging levels. Wind decreased pepper FST but moderate wind speeds (3.0 m·s-1) did not decrease it below damaging levels. To insure protection, growers should apply supplemental shade when solar radiation levels exceed 550 W·m-2. These results provide improved guidelines for growers interested in using supplemental shade to provide pepper fruit for local and national consumption. Additionally, pepper growers in high air temperature and light environments can increase productivity and profitability with the use of supplemental shade.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Auburn University, 2009. / Abstract. Includes bibliographic references (p.72-81).

High tunnels are used to modify the crop environment by trapping solar energy, providing protection from unfavorable weather events, and extending the growing season in temperate regions. This project assessed yield and quality in three independent cultivar trials of warm-season crops tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.), bell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) and cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) grown under high tunnel production compared with an outdoor field in eastern and western North Dakota. Tomato yields in the high tunnel were increased by 1.4 times over the field trial yields. Yields from the pepper cultivar trials both inside the high tunnel and outside field were comparable to one another at 1.24 kg plant-1 and 1.06 kg plant-1, respectively. Cucumber yields in the high tunnel were increased by 1.7 times over the field trial yields. Results indicate that in North Dakota, high tunnels extended the growing season, and increased production relative to field conditions.