The purpose of this experiment was to evaluate the influence of flower development stage on sweet pepper seed yield in manual pollination. The trial was set up in a randomized complete block design, with five treatments, six replications and ten plants/plot. The treatments were manual pollination soon after flower emasculation; manual pollination one, two and three days after emasculation (always with flower emasculation one day before anthesis) and a control (natural pollination). Higher seed yields (weight and number), per fruit and per pollination, were obtained with pollination either one day before anthesis or at anthesis, treatments that did not differ from natural pollination.
Capsicum annuum L.; anthesis; manual pollination
