Abstract:

By studying the effect of planting density on different varieties of chili pepper, we aim to investigate the optimal planting density of chili pepper in Kuitun of Xinjiang. ‘Yanjiao No.1’, ‘Yanjiao No.808’, ‘Yanjiao No.52’, ‘Yanjiao No.408’, which are main chilly pepper varieties in Kutun, were used as test materials, and the effects of different planting densities on growth period, plant characters, leaf area coefficient and yield of chili pepper were studied. With the increase of the planting density, the initial flowering period, fruiting period and harvest beginning period of chili pepper were delayed by 0-6 days, but the final harvest period was earlier by 0-9 days. The plant height increased with the increase of the planting density, while the stem diameter, branch number and spreading degree decreased with the increase of the planting density. In the range of the planting density of this study, the fruit number per plant, fruit longitudinal diameter and transverse diameter, fresh weight per fruit, dry weight per fruit and dry pepper weight per plant of the 4 varieties decreased with the increase of the planting density. The leaf area coefficient increased with the increase of the planting density. In the range of 25000-65000 plants/hm², the highest yield of the 4 varieties was obtained when the planting density was 48000 plants/hm². The relationship between the planting density and yield showed a quadratic curve. The optimum planting density of ‘Yanjiao No.1’ was 48700 plants/hm², and its optimum yield was 9304.74 kg/hm². The optimum planting density of ‘Yanjiao No.808’ was 49700 plants/hm², and its optimum yield was 9787.95 kg/hm². The optimum planting density of ‘Yanjiao No.52’ was 47800 plants/hm², and its optimum yield was 8565.07 kg/hm². The optimum planting density of ‘Yanjiao No.408’ was 48000 plants/hm², and its optimum yield was 8012.09 kg/hm², which is consistent with the actual yield measured in field.

Key words: chili pepper, variety, planting density, agronomic traits, yield