Inheritance for Earliness in Ornamental Peppers (Capsicum annuum)

An ornamental pepper is a plant that is grown mainly for its aesthetic value. The architecture of ornamental pepper cultivars have to be compact and attractive, making them suitable for decorative purpose. These peppers vary widely in leaf and fruit color and growth habit. This work aimed to study the inheritance for earliness of ornamental peppers Capsicum annuum. Manual crosses among six strains of peppers were made in a diallel scheme. The experiment was arranged in entirely random design with 21 treatments (parents and hybrids) and three replicates. Each replicate was composed by the average of five plants. The number of days for flowering and for the fruit set was determined. The data were submitted to analysis of variance and Hayman's diallel analysis. Dominant genes are responsible for the earliness. The number of days until flowering showed over dominance action, thus a breeding program should be based on hybridization in order to explore this effect. These traits are more difficult to select in earlier segregated generations.