230 Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 121: 2008.

Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 121:230–233. 2008.

*Corresponding author; email: nlshaw@ifas.ufl.edu; phone (352) 392-9905

Greenhouse Production of the Famous St. Augustine Hot Pepper, the Datil (Capsicum chinense var.)

NICOLE L. SHAW1*, DANIEL J. CANTLIFFE1, CHAD M. HUTCHINSON1, STEVEN A. SARGENT1, AND DAVID DINKINS2

1Horticultural Sciences Department, University of Florida, IFAS, P.O. Box 110690, Gainesville, FL 32611

2St. Johns County Extension, 3125 Agriculture Center Dr., St. Augustine, FL 32092

ADDITIONAL INDEX WORDS. protected agriculture, soilless media, specialty crop, processing

Datil pepper (Capsicum chinense var.) is well known throughout St. Augustine, FL where it has been cultivated since the 1700s. Liked for their unique sweet-hot flavor, datil peppers are used for cooking, hot sauces, relishes, and other condiments. Mainly grown in backyard gardens, numbers of plants grown for commercial purposes are unknown. Seeds are not commercially available, but found via the internet, festivals, Master Gardeners, or as family heirlooms. Four selections were cultivated under passively ventilated greenhouse conditions in Citra, FL. Seeds were sown 26 Jan. 2006 and transplanted into 11-L pots filled with pine bark on 15 Mar. Plants were grown at 2.2 plants/m2 until 2 Aug. when plants were cut back to 30-cm height and re-spaced at 0.5 plants/m2. Plants were harvested 6 times from 8 June to 31 July at 2.2 plants/m2 and 4 times at 0.5 plants/m2 from 26 Oct. 2006 to 3 Jan. 2007. Marketable fruit number/m2 was similar between densities, but significantly different between selections and ranged from 234 to 392 fruit/m2. Interac-tions between plant density and selection for marketable fruit weight/m2 and cull number/m2 were significant. ‘Super Datil’ produced nearly twice the fruit weight at 0.5 than at 2.2 plants/m2; other selections were not affected by plant density (yields ranged from 0.8 to 1.4 kg/m2). ‘Super Datil’ was determined not to be a true datil pepper. A selection named ‘Norm’ (handed down through several family generations), was included on 17 May 2006 and harvested three times (4, 26 Oct., and 13 Nov. 2006). ‘Norm’ produced a yield nearly three times greater than the other four selections in the trial at 998 fruit/m2 and 2.7 kg·m–2.

Though history is vague on the introduction of the datil pepper (Fig. 1) to the St. Augustine area of Florida, traces of its journey can be found through literature and the St. Augustine Histori-cal Society (St. Augustine, FL). In 1768, a group of indentured workers from the Spanish islands of Minorca, including Greeks and Italians, arrived on the beaches of New Smyrna. It was with these workers that a group of Africans became enslaved at the indigo plantation of Andrew Turnbull. By 1777, much had changed in Florida: Spain traded the territory to the British for control of Cuba, the American Revolution had divided Florida into sectors where the east sector, including St. Augustine, was loyal to the British crown, and Andrew Turnbull’s plantation was failing—causing his workers to seek asylum in St. Augustine (Andrews, 1995). It was at that time that the Minorcan heritage began in St. Augustine and still carries on today.

Capsicum chinense peppers are not native to Florida, nor are they native to the Mediterranean, Spain, nor India where Piper nigrum (black pepper) can be found. So it is unlikely that the datil pepper, so tightly woven through Minorcan heritage, originated with Mr. Turnbull’s workers, but more likely with the African slaves that travelled the Spanish shipping routes through the Ca-ribbean and northern Amazon. It is these latter countries where Capsicum chinense varieties of peppers can be dated back 4000 years via microfossils of starch (Perry et al., 2007). Other pos-sibilities include general travel of ships from Cuba up the eastern seaboard to deliver messages and goods to Cubans living in exile while under Spanish rule, again bringing the pungent peppers

along for the ride to satisfy the tastes of these traveling fishermen (Andrews, 1995). Regardless of origin, the Minorcans can prob-ably be credited with giving this hot, spicy, orange-yellow fruit its name since the peppers resembled the golden fruits of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) found throughout the Mediterranean. Dátil is the Spanish translation for date fruit (Velazquez De La Cadena

Fig. 1. Datil pepper (Capsicum chinense var.) is well known throughout St. Augustine, FL where it has been cultivated since the 1700s. It has a unique sweet-hot flavor and used mainly for cooking, hot sauces, relishes and other condiments.

231Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 121: 2008.

et al., 2003). Their descendants also have kept the datil pepper peculiarly localized to St. Augustine for over 200 years.

Datil peppers are generally produced in small, back-yard, family gardens primarily located in northeastern Florida and used for homemade hot sauces, relishes, and other recipes. There is one grower in an undisclosed area of Florida that has approximately 400 plants in one location (Robin Sorenson, per-sonal communication); however, further information about the datil seed source, production methods, yield, fruit quality, and destination (final use) are unavailable. Many restaurants in the St. Augustine/Jacksonville, FL area pride themselves on their own datil pepper table sauces, and when asked, you will find the peppers come from the family garden as does the recipe, which may have existed for decades.

One restaurant chain in particular uses datil peppers for their own sauce (Captain Sorenson’s) that is available to use in the restaurants, for purchase to take home, and in some of their recipes. Currently, the store has enough peppers and sauce to satisfy the needs of their 300 plus store operations; however, the owners have the desire to expand. In order to keep their sauce manufactured in the quantity that they currently use for all future stores, datil peppers would need to be produced under a defined method. The objective of this research was to find a suitable plant selection and to define a method for greenhouse production of datil peppers for year-round production. Information on specific fruit qualities, including Scoville Units, sugar content, beta-carotene and lutein content, as well as postharvest storage characteristics, are available in Lon Kan et al. (2007a, 2007b) and will not be discussed in this paper.

Materials and Methods

Datil pepper seeds were acquired via internet sources in Dec. 2005. The four selections available were ‘Super Datil’ (Datil Dew Pepper Products, Green Cove Springs, FL), ‘Sensation’ (Datil Sensation, Blountville, TN), ‘Terra Time’ (Terra Time & Tide, Jacksonville, FL), and ‘Wanda’ (W. Chapman, Jacksonville, FL). Only ‘Super Datil’ was named by the distributor, the other three were named by the authors after the source. Seeds from the selection Norm were given to us at a later date from one of the Plant Science Research and Education Unit (PSREU) staff members. This selection was handed down within a family from the St. Augustine region for over 100 years. In previous reports on this project, the name ‘Linda’ was used.

Seeds of the selections Super Datil, Sensation, Terra Time, and Wanda were sown into 128-cell expanded polystyrene trays (Speedling Inc., Sun City, FL) filled with 70:30 (v:v) peat:ver-miculite mix (Promix 0463, Premier, Quebec) on 26 Jan. 2006. Transplants were produced in growth chambers (Conviron E15 model, Controlled Environments, Inc., Asheville, NC) with temperature at 28/25 °C day/night and 12 h light. Seedlings were irrigated every other day and weekly with a fertilizer solution to deliver 20N–8.8P–16K (Peter’s Professional All Purpose Plant Food, Spectrum Group, St. Louis, MO). Seedlings were trans-planted on 15 Mar. 2006. ‘Norm’ seedlings were produced in the same fashion with sow and transplant dates of 28 Mar. and 17 May 2006, respectively.

The research was conducted at the Horticultural Sciences Department Protected Agriculture Project (www.hos.ufl.edu/pro-tectedag) located at the University of Florida PSREU in Citra, FL. Production occurred in a passively ventilated high-roof sawtooth-type greenhouse (Top Greenhouses Ltd., Rosh Ha’ayin, Israel). A

complete description is available in Shaw and Cantliffe (2005). Plants were grown in 11-L black polyethylene nursery pots (Lerio Corp., Kissimee, FL) filled with pine bark media (Elixson Wood Products, Starke, FL). Plants were pruned in accordance with Jovicich et al. (2005) using the ‘Spanish’ system. Under these conditions, all branches, side shoots (laterals), and fruit remained on the plant. The plants were trellised using both horizontal and vertical string, as well as homemade wire clips using ceiling tile wire (photo available in Jovicich et al., 2005). Plants were initially spaced 30.5 cm within-row and 1.2 m between rows. Plant density became too close to properly trellis and maintain good plant health; therefore, on 2 Aug. 2006 all plants were cut back to approximately 60 cm high and relocated to increase plant spacing. The new plant spacing was 90 cm between plants and 2.4 m between rows. Plant density decreased from 2.2 plants/m2 to 0.5 plants/m2.

Pepper plants were fertigated through individual pressure-compensating emitters (Netafim USA, Fresno, CA) at a flow rate of 33 mL·min–1. Irrigation water originated from two sources throughout the crop cycle. When well water was used, fertilizer levels remained constant at 120 mg·L–1 N (calcium nitrate and potassium nitrate), 50 mg·L–1 P (phosphoric acid), 150 mg·L–1 K (potassium nitrate and potassium chloride), 135 mg·L–1 Ca (cal-cium nitrate), 50 mg·L–1 (magnesium sulfate) Mg, 65 mg·L–1 S (all sulfate sources listed), 3 mg·L–1 Fe (iron sulfate), 0.2 mg·L–1 Cu (copper sulfate), 0.8 mg·L–1 Mn (manganese sulfate), 0.3 mg·L–1 Zn (zinc sulfate), 0.7 mg·L–1 B (solubor), and 0.06 mg·L–1 Mo (molybdenum sulfate). When recycled water was used, total EC and pH were adjusted to attain a final solution of 2.0 ± 0.5 EC and 6.0 ± 0.5 pH using a combination of the fertilizer sources previously listed. Recycled irrigation originated from the leachate (drainage) water collected from all plants grown in the greenhouse. The water was filtered for particulates (200 µm) and sanitized with chlorine before being stored, adjusted, and delivered back to the plants. Both sources of irrigation occurred daily for most of the season. When recycled irrigation was not available, plants received irrigation only from the well water source. Daily irrigation was based on plant need plus 20% leachate and scheduled through a programmable injector unit (Fertimix, Netafim USA).

Plants were grown under pesticide-free measures. No pesti-cides were applied because beneficial insects were used to control unwanted pests and bumble bees (Koppert Biologicals, Romulus, MI) were in the greenhouse to pollinate needed crops. The pep-pers did not require bee pollination, however, the bumble bees were found to frequent the datil flowers. The most common pest of the datil peppers was two-spotted spider mites (Tetranychus urticae), which were controlled with monthly releases of the predatory mite Neoseiulus californicus (Biotactics, Perris, CA) or Amblyseius swirskii (Koppert). No diseases were present throughout the duration of the experiment.

Plants were harvested 10 times for the duration of the experi-ment. Six harvests occurred at the plant density of 2.2 plants/m2 (8, 22, 29 June and 6, 20, 31 July 2006) and the remaining four harvests occurred once the plants were moved to the lower density of 0.5 plants/m2 (26 Oct., 15 Nov., 6 Dec. 2006, and 3 Jan. 2007). The selection Norm was harvested five times at 2.2 plants/m2 (30 Aug., 20 Sept., 4, 26 Oct., and 13 Nov. 2006). Fruit were harvested at full mature orange color, except at the first harvest when many green fruit were also harvested. Numbers of green vs. colored fruit were not recorded. Fruit were considered marketable if they were free from disease or damage and at least 2 cm in length. Nonmarketable fruit were culled.

232 Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 121: 2008.

Data were subjected to analysis of variance using SAS (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC). Data were compared between datil se-lections and plant density. Means were separated using Duncan’s multiple range test (5% significance level).

Results and Discussion

Total marketable fruit number was significantly different among pepper selections (Table 1). Fruit numbers were similar for the selections Sensation, Terra Time, and Wanda with a mean value of 360 fruit/m2. Fruit number from the selection Sensation was not different from the selection Super Datil (mean 234 fruit/m2), which is marketed as a ‘Super Datil’ based on its larger fruit size (Table 1). ‘Super Datil’ was about twice as large as all other datil pepper selections with a mean of 6.0 g/fruit; however, it is not a true datil pepper. Since the selection Norm was planted at a later date, plants fruited under different climatic conditions and only five harvests occurred during the duration of the project; there-fore, it was not included in the statistical analysis. The means are reported for valuable comparison purposes only since ‘Norm’ was provided to us with historical information of 100 years of family heritage. From our data, it is evident that this seed was selected wisely as it appears to yield nearly three times more fruit than the other lines found from internet resources.

There was a significant interaction between plant density and datil selection for total marketable weight and culls (Table 2). There was no significant difference between the four selections for marketable weight within each plant density. However, ‘Su-per Datil’ produced significantly higher fruit weight at the lower plant density (1.8 kg at 0.5 plants/m2 compared to 1.0 at 2.2 plants/m2). Similar to fruit number per square meter, the selection Norm produced nearly three times the fruit weight than the other pepper selections. Further experiments will compare ‘Norm’ to the other selections under identical conditions to determine if yields are indeed superior. Culls were highest from the selection Wanda at both plant densities. Culls for all selections were far less at 0.5 plants/m2 than 2.2 plants/m2. Reduction in cull number is important as these fruit still need to be removed from plants to prevent decay inoculation. This removal leads to higher labor costs. However, some fruit in this experiment were culled due

Table 2. Influence of datil pepper selections and two plant densities grown hydroponically on marketable fruit yield and culls. Planted 15 Mar. 2006.

Marketable wt (kg) Cull no.Selection 2.2 plants/m2 0.5 plants/m2 2.2 plants/m2 0.5 plants/m2

Super Datil 1.0 1.8* 2.0 c 0.8 bSensation 1.4 1.0 20.5 b 7.2 aTerra Time 0.8 1.2 16.0 bc 8.7 aWanda 1.1 1.1 57.8 a* 12.0 aSignificancez NS NS 0.0001 0.0026CVy 37.0 59.1 67.2 94.5Normx 2.7 16.0 z * = significantly greater than mean at other density. Means were separated by Duncan’s multiple range test, 5% level. Mean yield of 6 harvests: 8, 22, 29 June and 6, 20, 31 July 2006 at 2.2 plants/m2 and 4 harvests: 26 Oct., 15 Nov., 6 Dec. 2006 and 3 Jan. 2007 at 0.5 plants/m2.yCV = coefficient of variation.x‘Norm’ was planted 17 May 2006 and harvested 5 times: 30 Aug., 20 Sept., 4, 26 Oct. and 13 Nov. 2006 at 2.2 plants/m2. Due to different plant-ing/harvest dates, ‘Norm’ was not included in the statistical analysis.

Table 1. Main effect of datil pepper selections grown hydroponically on marketable fruit size and yield (planted 15 Mar. 2006).

Fruit wt Marketable fruit Selection (g/fruit) (no./m2)Super Datil 6.0 a 234 bSensation 3.3 b 364 a Terra Time 3.1 b 321 abWanda 2.7 c 392 aSignificancez 0.0001 0.0218CVy 8.5 53.3Normx 2.6 998zMeans were separated by Duncan’s multiple range test, 5% level. Mean yield of 10 harvests and 2 densities: 8, 22, 29 June and 6, 20, 31 July 2006 at 2.2 plants/m2 and 26 Oct., 15 Nov., 6 Dec. 2006 and 3 Jan. 2007 at 0.5 plants/m2.yCV = coefficient of variation.x‘Norm’ was planted 17 May 2006 and harvested 5 times: 30 Aug., 20 Sept., 4, 26 Oct. and 13 Nov. 2006 at 2.2 plants/m2, due to different plant-ing/harvest dates, ‘Norm’ was not included in the statistical analysis.

Fig. 2. A “true” datil pepper has the following characteristics: a golden-orange color, about 3 g in weight, 3-4 cm long with a slightly blunt tip and both sweet and hot characteristic flavor and aroma.

to small size. Small, non-diseased fruit could, possibly, still be used for processing.

No scientific reports could be found on datil pepper production under field or greenhouse production systems. The data reported within could lead to a new greenhouse industry that supports both fresh market and processing hot peppers. It is unknown whether the datil peppers selected for this trial are true datil peppers as they are such a peculiar and unique pepper to only the St. Au-gustine, FL area. Depending on which family garden you visit, one can find similar datil pepper lines with varying phenotypes. The family who has kept datil seed for over 100 years claims that the datil peppers grown today are similar to those of an older era. Based on historical information, a “true” datil pepper has the following characteristics: a golden-orange color, about 3 g in weight, 3–4 cm long, with a slightly blunt tip and both sweet and hot characteristic flavor and aroma (Fig. 2). Fruit yields from the datil pepper selections produced during this experiment, if

233Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 121: 2008.

extrapolated to 1 ha of production, could be processed into more than one-half million liters (≈150,000 gal) of hot sauce.

Literature Cited

Andrews, J. 1995. A botanical mystery: The elusive trail of the datil pepper to St. Augustine. Florida Historical Quarterly 74(2):133–148.

Jovicich, E., J.J. VanSickle, D.J. Cantliffe, and P.J. Stoffella. 2005. Green-house-grown colored peppers: A profitable alternative for vegetable production in Florida. HortTechnology 15:355–369.

Lon Kan, E.E., S.A. Sargent, A. Simmone, D.J. Cantliffe, and N.L. Shaw. 2007a. Quality characteristics of datil hot pepper harvested at different stages of maturation. HortScience 42:928. (Abstr.).

Lon Kan, E.E., S.A. Sargent, A. Simmone, N.L. Shaw, and D.J. Cantliffe. 2007b. Changes in the postharvest quality of datil hot pepper as affected by storage temperature. Proc. Fla. State Hort. Soc. 120:246–250.

Perry, L., R. Dickau, S. Zarrillo, I. Holst, D.M. Pearsall, D.R. Piperno, M.J. Berman, R. G. Cooke, K. Rademaker, A.J. Ranere, J.S. Raymond, D.H. Sandweiss, F. Scaramelli, K. Tarble, and J.A. Zeidler. 2007. Starch fossils and the domestication and dispersal of chili peppers (Capsicum spp. L.) in the Americas. Science 315:986–988.

Shaw, N.L. and D.J. Cantliffe. 2005. Hydroponic greenhouse production of “baby” squash: Selection of suitable squash types and cultivars. HortTechnology 15:722–728.

Velázquez De La Cadena, M., E. Gray, J.L. Iribas, I. Navarro Hinojosa, M. Blanco-Gonzalez, and R.J. Nelson. 2003. Velázquez Spanish and English dictionary. New Win Publishing, El Monte, CA.