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Heat stress can limit yield in pepper (Capsicum spp.), generally through flower and fruit abortion. A kaolin-based particle film, originally developed to protect fruit trees from insects, has been found to reduce temperatures in tissues of plants. A kaolin-based particle film was tested to determine if it could be used to improve yields of pepper in Oklahoma and Georgia. In Oklahoma, seedlings of a bell pepper, `Jupiter', and a nonpungent jalapeño, `Pace 103', were transplanted at three progressively warmer planting dates from mid-May to mid-July 2002 and 2003, that would ensure that inflorescences would be subject to high day and night temperatures and treated with the kaolin-based particle film. Applications were begun as the first flowers were set and continued through the settings of the first three flushes of flowers on a three-times a week schedule, or on an as needed basis, to determine if the kaolin-based particle film improved yield. In Georgia, the bell peppers `Camelot' and `Heritage VR' were transplanted on 24 Apr. 2003, and treated with the kaolin-based particle film. In addition to yield, physiological measurements and disease incidences were recorded in Georgia. In both locations treatment with water only served as controls. In Georgia, the kaolin-based particle film had no significant effect on net photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, leaf transpiration or leaf temperature, as measured at midday on clear days. In Oklahoma, planting bell pepper after 15 May is not recommended. Planting the nonpungent jalapeño after mid-June can reduce yields. The kaolin-based particle film did not affect yield at either location and is not recommended for use on peppers.

Bolting causes significant economic losses in sweet onion (Allium cepa L.) production. Although temperature and photoperiod are considered to be the main factors that initiate bolting in onions, preliminary results suggested that low N fertilization rates increased bolting. The objective of our study was to determine the relationships of bolting, yield and bulb decay with N fertilization rates. The N fertilization rates applied ranged from the infraoptimal to the supraoptimal (from 102 to 302 kg·ha^-1 N). Shoot and bulb N content increased with increasing N rates, but there were no differences in the respective shoot and bulb N contents among cultivars. Bolting incidence declined steadily with increasing N fertilization rates up to 197 kg·ha^-1 N. Bolting incidence was among the highest in the cultivar Pegasus. The percent of decayed bulbs also increased at a steady rate with the rate of N applied. Total (14.7 t·ha^-1) and marketable (0.8 t·ha^-1) yields at the lowest N rate (102 kg·ha^-1 N) were lower (P ≤ 0.01) than those at higher N rates. Rates of N ≥145 kg·ha^-1 had no significant effect on either total (mean = 33.6 t·ha^-1) or marketable (mean = 21.6 t·ha^-1) yields. Losses in marketable yield were primarily a combination of bolting and bulb decay and were minimized at 162 kg·ha^-1 N. Yield losses at low N rates were mostly due to bolting while yield losses at high N rates were mostly due to decay. Thus, excess applications of N fertilizer should be avoided since they have little effect on yields or bolting but they increase bulb decay.

Mulch (black plastic, wheat straw, or bare ground) and irrigation (drip or overhead sprinkler) treatments were evaluated for their effect on center rot of onion (Allium cepa L.), caused by the bacterium Pantoea ananatis, over the course of two seasons. Irrigation type had no effect on center rot incidence or severity in either year. In contrast, center rot development was delayed by 7 to 14 days on onions grown in straw mulch or bare ground compared to those in black plastic. Straw mulch resulted in later harvest dates and was associated with reduced levels of center rot. In contrast, black plastic increased disease incidence and hastened the onset of the epidemic. The spatial distribution of disease incidence in both years indicated the presence of a primary disease gradient. At harvest, infected plants were segregated by treatment and by duration of infection [based on disease ratings taken from the time of first symptom expression (beginning at 110 to 120 days after transplanting and then every 5 to 10 days until harvest)]. Early-vs. late-infected plants had no significant effect on yield (bulb weight). However, symptom expression in terms of the number of days after planting was significantly correlated with a disease severity index. Amount of rot in bulbs from plants displaying their first symptoms only 1 to 2 days before harvest (late-season infection) was not significant from rot levels in control bulbs at harvest. However, at 4 weeks after harvest, onions from plants with late-season infections exhibited significantly more rot in storage compared to the control.