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Planting Paprika

Paprika is one of the less pungent varietiesof red pepper and is widely used as a condi-ment. It has long been grown for export ineastern and southern Europe and successfullycultivated in the United States. The substancegiving red peppers their pungent properties isproduced almost entirely in the thin paperytissues to which the seeds are attached. Evenin the mild paprika pepper this is somewhatpungent. The degree of pungency of groundpaprika may therefore depend on the thorough-ness with which these tissues are removed.Removal of the seeds and papery tissue resultsin a mild product, while grinding the wholefruit results in a product of more pungency.The seeds add a nutty, oily flavor. The so-called Spanish paprika is the milder type.

The paprika pepper, like the more pun-gent varieties, is well adapted to southern warmareas from the eastern coastal plain to Cali-fornia. When the weather is warm and sunny,fruit is produced throughout the season andripens uniformly. However, if there is muchrainy and cloudy weather at the bloomingstage, the plants sometimes fail to set fruit, andif such weather prevails late in summer the fruitwill not color properly and may be damaged bydisease.

The paprika pepper grows on a large va-riety of fertile soils but thrives best on a warm,mellow, well-drained, sandy loam or clay loamtype. The plant is propagated exclusively fromseed, which may be planted in seedbeds ordirectly in the field. In beds the seed is sownas early in spring as possible, and the seedlingsare then ready to be planted in the field assoon as the danger of frost has passed. Theyare spaced 12 to 18 inches apart, in rows 30 to 48 inches apart. If there is favorable weatherearly in spring the seed may be planted directlyin the field by drilling in rows three to four feetapart and covering with one inch of soil. Whenthe plants are two to three inches high theyshould be thinned to stand 12 to 18 inchesapart in the rows and missing places filled inas necessary. Frequent shallow cultivation isnecessary, and this must be continued through-out the long growing period of the crop.

Fruits of various degrees of maturity arefound on the plant in summer and fall becausethe flowers are produced over a long period.Only fully mature fruits should be picked.Therefore, the harvesting must extend overseveral months, and the field must be checkedat weekly intervals when good ripening weather prevails.

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