Pepper: features of care, planting and growing. How to properly grow bell peppers in open ground? Bell pepper cultivation and care
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If you have never dealt with peppers and are learning this topic for the first time, this article will be very useful, as it will give not only the basic information about all the steps required to obtain a harvest, methods, tricks and secrets. But those experienced gardeners who have their own skills or preferences when growing peppers will also be able to learn something new for themselves, and perhaps fundamentally change their approach to business.
A heat-loving vegetable that came to us from Central America - sweet pepper, which our gardeners often call Bulgarian, has more than 2 thousand varieties. And each of them is remarkable not only for its taste, the amount of vitamins and other useful substances, but also for the beauty of its bright, juicy fruits.
How to choose from a variety of enticing bags of varieties that you will not be disappointed with? Read the description on the packages and select based on the specific conditions in which you will grow peppers. So, in small greenhouses it is better to take low-growing plants; in open ground, early varieties are more likely to ripen, and if you want not to spend money on the annual purchase of planting material, but to collect your own seeds from the harvest obtained in the garden, then heterozygous hybrids are not suitable for this. Although they are guaranteed to produce healthy plants that are maximally protected from diseases.
F1 Pinocchio:
The variety is very early, the fruit weight is about 100 g, the fruits are red, the walls are 5-6 mm thick and have an interesting shape - reminiscent of the elongated nose of a famous wooden doll. Bush up to 70 cm high. Resistant to traditional pepper diseases: blossom end rot and tobacco mosaic.
Atlantic F1: Also a very early variety, but these peppers are taller (up to 110 cm) and the fruits are much more massive (up to 450 g) and have a barrel-shaped appearance.
Gemini F1 is remarkable for its fleshy, bright yellow cube-shaped fruits and high fertility.
The Siberian format will please you with its juiciness and thickness.
Wonderful reviews about the varieties Bagration, Country, Big Red, Winnie the Pooh, Chardash, Yunga, Health, Maecenas, Barguzin. Popular varieties are Eroshka, Funtik, Californian Miracle, and Lastochka.
Video - sowing pepper seeds for seedlings
Determining the development period
Pepper is a plant with a fairly long development period, so seeds are planted for seedlings earlier than all other crops: in February-March. In more northern regions, where fruiting in open ground ends with the onset of cold weather (sometimes as early as September), it is good to have grown plants ready for planting by May. In a warmer climate (or relying on greenhouses and greenhouses), you can wait until the second half of March. The information on the seed bags will allow you to calculate the timing depending on the ripening time of a given variety.
It should be remembered: the daylight hours of February are not yet long enough for seedlings and additional lighting will definitely be needed up to 12-14 hours a day. Ideal for this with a balanced spectrum of light.
In addition, more and more lovers of growing fruits and vegetables recognize that it is useful to check the planting day according to the lunar calendar. The second phase of our satellite is suitable for peppers.
Pre-planting seed preparation
Planting with dry and unprepared seeds means greatly complicating and lengthening the entire planting process. There are several well-proven methods of pre-sowing seed treatment to speed up their germination and obtain strong and disease-resistant seedlings. Of course, you should not expose the seeds to all possible methods at once, but choosing one of them is highly recommended:
- the seeds are kept in water at a temperature of 45-50 degrees for at least 4 hours, then placed on a damp hygroscopic cloth (gauze, cotton) and germinated at 25-27 degrees for another 2-3 days;
- for disinfection, the seeds are dipped in a solution of potassium permanganate (1%) and left there for 20 minutes;
- Keep for 10-15 minutes in a forty-degree solution of hydrogen peroxide (take 3 ml per 100 g of water), then dry without rinsing;
- to activate the vitality of the seeds, they are treated for 24 hours with a solution (1:1) of juice from aloe leaves, previously kept in the refrigerator for about a week;
- Special purchased means for soaking seeds (Energen, Baikal, Fitosporin, Ideal, Agricola-Start) will fill you with health and give quick shoots. Ash can also serve as a growth stimulant. Mix 20 g of ash in 1 liter of water and leave for 24 hours. Keep the seeds in this solution for 6 hours;
- alternate between heat and cold. With this method, the seeds are placed on damp gauze or a napkin, covered with two layers of film and kept for a day at a temperature of 24-28 degrees, then taken out into the cold (5-10 degrees) for 4 hours. Can be on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. Then again for 20 hours in heat and 4 hours in cold. Repeat three times. This method allows the seedlings to harden and rapidly begin to grow.
IMPORTANT: when soaking seeds, do not allow them to be completely immersed in water. The seeds should be moist, but not drowned!
Usually, the seeds most suitable for seedlings are selected by appearance, that is, the largest and most undamaged, with a uniform color, but the method of weighing them in a saline solution can help in identifying viable seeds. Use a three percent solution. Those seeds that float to the surface when immersed are considered empty and it is useless to plant them.
Selection of soil, fertilizers
The prepared seeds are planted in the ground. Since peppers are afraid of picking, it is recommended to plant one or two seeds separately in their own container. The cups should be at least 200 g, since crowding will also hinder the development of plants in the future.
The soil for peppers should be light, loose, and non-acidified. You can buy ready-made soil, but it’s safer and sometimes cheaper to make it yourself:
Take one part of peat, garden soil and sand.
You can use humus, soil and sand in a ratio of 2:1:1. Pepper really likes additives made from finely crushed eggshells or wood ash. They are added one tablespoon per kilogram of the mixture. If you have the opportunity to dig up soil in a pine or spruce forest, then this is also an excellent option for pepper seedlings. But do not forget that the earth dug closer than 500 meters from highways may be filled with harmful and toxic substances.
The acidity of the soil for sweet peppers should not exceed pH 6–6.5. Seedlings are especially sensitive to this indicator, so it is useful to lime the soil.
NEVER add unrotted manure to the seedling substrate. The nitrogen released during the decomposition of this seemingly beneficial fertilizer will destroy your tender seedlings.
But it will be useful to dilute the soil with modern chemical industry materials such as vermiculite or perlite.
We apply fertilizers only after the seedlings produce 3-4 true leaves. Before this, there is a danger of overfeeding the plants.
Potassium humate is useful; in order to improve root formation, it is recommended to feed it with a solution (25 ml per 10 liters of water).
After the plant grows confidently, it is useful to water it with solutions containing microelements: boric acid (2 g per 10 liters of water), iron oxides and manganese sulfate - 1 g each. It is a good idea to add biofertilizers.
Temperature, humidity, watering
Bell peppers love heat. After the sprouts have hatched, under no circumstances should the temperature drop below 13 degrees for a long time. The pepper will simply die. Optimal temperature –
25-27 degrees. Only in the phase of 7-8 true leaves can you begin to harden pepper seedlings. To do this, the temperature is gradually reduced over 7 days to 14-16 degrees, then brought back to conditions that are comfortable for him.
Humidity is not particularly important for peppers, but if they are too dry, they will not grow healthy. Therefore, it is necessary to either move the seedlings away from central heating radiators or shield them with heat-proof material.
It is recommended to water young bell pepper plants only with warm, settled water.
IMPORTANT: while the seeds are still sitting in the ground, you should only spray the substrate to avoid their displacement and damage to the resulting roots.
Step-by-step instructions for sowing
So, the seeds have been processed, the substrate is ready, we begin planting:
Never place seeds on top of each other when soaking. The biofield of the seed may be damaged. Place them so that the seeds do not touch each other.
If the variety of bell pepper you have chosen is early ripening, then you can increase its yield in this way: pinch the tops above 6-7 leaves. The seedlings will lag a little behind in development, but subsequently several times more fruits will be formed from each side shoot formed.
It’s not difficult to get your own seeds from your peppers: select the largest and most beautiful fruits, leave them for a week or two in indoor conditions, then cut out the middle and separate the seeds. After drying for 5-7 days, place them in a glass jar. In this way, it will be possible to plant seeds for up to 5 years.
Video - instructions on how to sow bell peppers for seedlings
Pepper is a rather demanding crop, and you can get a harvest only with proper care. Experienced gardeners achieve excellent results without problems, but beginners often have difficulties growing peppers. It often happens that strong healthy bushes produce 2-3 fruits of not the best quality or the ovaries fall off for no apparent reason. But you really want to collect pepper in buckets, so that it is juicy, large, and aromatic! In fact, achieving a good harvest is not so difficult; you just need to carefully study several important rules of agricultural technology for this wonderful crop.
When planning to grow peppers in open ground, first of all you need to choose the right variety. The growing season of pepper is very long, and even in early varieties, the first fruits ripen 100 days after germination. Therefore, in order to get the harvest in time, you need to pay attention only to early and mid-season varieties. In addition, you should take into account the climatic features of your region. For example, in the south of the country, peppers of different ripening periods are successfully grown, since the conditions there are the most favorable, and in the northern and eastern regions, the best results are shown mainly by cold-resistant, early-ripening varieties.
The shape and size of the fruit also matter. For stuffing and canning, you should choose varieties with small, cone-shaped fruits; for fresh consumption, large, thick-walled, cube-shaped fruits are more suitable.
If you are going to grow peppers for sale, take a closer look at the hybrids of Dutch selection: they are cold-resistant, ripen early and quickly, and are less likely to be affected by diseases.
It is difficult for a novice gardener to understand the abundance of varieties, so below are the most popular and reliable:
Preparing the site
You should select and prepare a site for peppers in the fall. Well-prepared soil is a guarantee of normal growth and fruiting of plants next year. The ideal place is beds on the south side of the house or outbuildings, located in light shade in the afternoon. This arrangement provides protection from both wind and leaf burns in the July heat. Peppers should not be planted where tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants and other nightshade crops have grown in the previous three years. The best predecessors of pepper are legumes and pumpkin crops, cabbage, melons, and green manure.
Preparing a bed for peppers
The soil for peppers should be neutral or slightly acidic. In beds with acidic soil, plants take a long time to take root after transplantation, develop poorly, and hardly bloom or bear fruit.
Advice! It is very easy to check acidity at home: you need to take a little earth and moisten it with ordinary table vinegar. If no reaction follows, the soil is acidic and needs liming, but if bubbles appear on the surface, this indicates neutral acidity.
So, if the soil in the selected area is acidic, when digging, add slaked lime (1 cup per square meter) or wood ash (1.5-3 kg). If the soil is neutral, you need to add rotted organic matter (from 5 to 10 kg per m2) and dig the beds to a depth of 20-25 cm. In the spring, an additional 40 g of potassium-phosphorus fertilizers are added per meter of area, the soil is well loosened and leveled.
Growing seedlings
It is not advisable to sow pepper seeds in open ground; the plants will not have time to begin bearing fruit before the cold weather. That is why both sweet and hot pepper varieties are grown through seedlings. Mid-season and mid-late varieties are sown around the beginning of February, early varieties - in early March. Please note that overgrown seedlings take a very long time to adapt to open ground, especially if you plant already flowering plants.
Step 1. Seeds are immersed in warm water for 5-6 hours to swell. Then they are laid out on a damp cloth, wrapped and left in a warm place for 2-3 days until the sprouts hatch.
Step 2. Mix 1 part garden soil, 1 part sand and 2 parts rotted organic matter, heat in a microwave or regular oven for disinfection. Then add a tablespoon of wood ash to 1 kg of the mixture and mix thoroughly.
Step 3. For sowing, take peat pots or disposable cups with a capacity of 0.5 liters and fill them with prepared soil. You can sow seeds in a common container, but as the seedlings grow, it will become cramped, and peppers do not like picking.
Step 4. The hatched seeds are placed one in each pot, lightly sprinkled with earth, and moistened through a spray bottle. Then the containers are covered with glass or film and placed in a warm place. The temperature must be maintained within 22-24 degrees.
Sprouts appear already 2-3 days after sowing. At this time, they need to be provided with at least 12 hours of lighting, so prepare phytolamps in advance. The film is removed from the pots so that high humidity does not destroy the tender sprouts. Water the pepper seedlings very sparingly, only when the substrate begins to dry out. Only warm and settled water is used; cold water slows down the development of seedlings.
If the air in the room is too dry, the seedlings should be sprayed in the morning (also with warm water). When ventilating the room, be sure to cover the seedlings from drafts and avoid sudden changes in temperature. A week after germination, it is recommended to reduce the night temperature to 15°C. Grown and strengthened seedlings should be hardened little by little. On warm days, when the temperature outside the window rises to 13°C, the pepper should be exposed to the open air, providing protection from the wind. The first time, half an hour is enough, then the time spent in the air is increased daily. On cold days, seedlings are not tolerated, since plants can be damaged even at 10°C.
Landing in the ground
Before planting seedlings, the beds are weeded, loosened and leveled. The holes are made at a distance of 30 cm in the row, 60-70 cm are left between the rows. Peppers should be planted in the evening or in cloudy weather, since the heat of the day is additional stress for the plant. Approximately 5-6 hours before transplanting, the seedlings are watered abundantly so that the root system can more easily adapt to the new conditions. Water for irrigation is also prepared in advance: it is collected in buckets or a large container and placed in the sun to heat.
Step 1. 2-3 liters of water are poured into each hole and allowed to soak a little.
Step 2. The seedlings are carefully removed from the containers so that the earthen lump does not disintegrate. If peat pots were used, peppers are planted with them.
Step 3. The plants are lowered into the hole a little deeper than they grew in the cups, sprinkled with earth on all sides, and compacted with hands.
Advice! Peppers cross-pollinate easily, so if you plan to collect seeds, plant different varieties as far apart as possible. Additionally, you can alternate them with tall crops, for example, corn, sunflower, Jerusalem artichoke and others. Hot and sweet peppers also need to be planted at a maximum distance, otherwise all the fruits will have a pungent taste.
Caring for peppers in open ground
Watering and fertilizing
2 days after planting, the pepper is watered and the ground is sprinkled with fine straw, dry grass or sawdust. In the future, the plants need to be watered once a week until the ovaries form, after which watering is increased more often - once every 5 days. To avoid watering so often, you can increase the mulch layer to 10 cm.
Feed the plantings three times:
- For the first time, fertilizer is applied 10 days after planting. For this purpose, bird droppings are used, diluted in a ratio of 1:10, with the addition of 200 g of ash and 40 g of superphosphate per 10 liters of solution. The indicated volume is enough for about 10 bushes;
- the second time the pepper is fed at the beginning of fruiting with a solution of mullein in a ratio of 1:5 or diluted bird droppings (1:10);
- The third time fertilizers are applied during the mass formation of fruits, when the plants most need replenishment of nutrients.
By the appearance of the pepper it is easy to determine which substances it lacks. If the leaves dry out along the edges and then curl, this indicates a lack of potassium. A lack of nitrogen is expressed by leaves becoming dull and having a grayish tint. In addition, the leaves become small. But when there is an excess of nitrogen, the ovaries and flowers begin to fall off. The deep purple color of the back of the leaves indicates a lack of phosphorus; the marble pattern occurs with a lack of magnesium. The use of mineral fertilizers helps to make up for all this, but do not forget to strictly follow the dosage, otherwise all the excess will end up in the fruit.
If the autumn turns out to be warm, with the help of another feeding you can prolong the fruiting of early varieties. To do this, dilute 50 g of superphosphate, 15 g of ammonium nitrate and potassium chloride in 10 liters of water.
Loosening
The soil between the rows must be regularly loosened to a depth of 10 cm. The formation of a soil crust slows down the development of pepper and causes oxygen starvation of the root system. It is best to carry out loosening the morning after watering, while the soil is still quite moist. If mulch was not used, loosening is carried out under the bushes itself, but very carefully, since the roots are located very close to the surface. During the period of budding and flowering, it is advisable to hill each plant to a height of 10-12 cm.
Bush formation
To obtain large ripened fruits, excess shoots (stepchildren) should be removed from the plant. All shoots located below the first branch are removed completely, since they only draw juices from the plant and interfere with fruiting. In addition, the crown should be thinned out so that each branch receives enough air and light. Too dense bushes form few ovaries, the fruits on them grow small and thin-walled.
On average, pruning is carried out once every two weeks, but if the summer is rainy, the stepsons will have to be removed more often - about once every 10 days. It is advisable to combine pruning with loosening the soil in order to disturb the plant less.
Pepper shoots are quite fragile, and any careless movement can damage the stems. To avoid this, it is recommended to tie tall varieties to supports.
Diseases and pests
This crop is susceptible to late blight, white and blossom-end rot, tobacco mosaic and some other diseases. The best way to combat them is prevention and proper care. Compliance with the planting scheme, timely thinning and pruning, proper watering, and removing diseased plants from the garden will help you keep your plantings healthy and get a full harvest.
Dusting bushes with wood ash is effective against pests. This should be done at least 5 times per season, preferably in the morning while the leaves are wet. Spraying peppers with garlic infusion also helps against spider mites and aphids. Slugs that don’t mind eating fresh leaves are collected using traps or repelled with salt, lime, mustard, and pepper powder scattered along the rows.
Video - Pepper: growing and care in open ground
Video - Planting pepper seedlings
Video - Forming a pepper bush
The southern culture gained its popularity due to the content of a large number of useful components (vitamins A, C, E, PP, B9, H, carbohydrates, fiber, protein) and low calorie content. Bell peppers are grown almost everywhere, but only in seedlings. To achieve good results, you need to know all the intricacies of the process, from preparing seed to harvesting.
Agrotechnical conditions
Bell pepper has established itself as a rather fastidious plant to grow. To create favorable conditions for its growth and development, you will have to try a lot. But knowing the agricultural technology of growing sweet peppers, you can reduce the labor intensity of this process.
Climatic conditions
This heat-loving representative of the Solanaceae family was bred by Bulgarian breeders; its homeland is South America. The semi-shrub plant has a long ripening period; 160-180 days pass from sowing the seeds to harvesting the fruits. Unlike natural growing conditions, peppers in Siberia are grown taking into account the characteristics of the cold climate. Varieties are selected with a high degree of resistance to adverse environmental factors and early ripening (Kolobok, Sibiryak, Topolin, Novosibirsky).
Soil requirements
To grow a good pepper crop on your plot, you need to take into account the requirements of the vegetable crop regarding the composition and structure of the soil. Best of all, the semi-shrub plant grows on light, water-breathable, fertile soil.
If the garden has sandy loam soil, then it is more effective to plant varieties with early ripening, and on loamy soil and chernozems that can retain moisture for a long time - mid-season and late varieties of bell pepper.
You should not count on a rich harvest when growing on clay and sandy soil; these types of soil are not suitable for this crop. But they can be cultivated by adding sand, brick chips, mature compost, chopped straw for heavy loam to improve digging. But for sandy soil they use clay, bone meal, composted peat, vegetable compost, and manure humus.
Crop rotation norms
To protect against through northern winds, corn is sown near the pepper plantings. Thanks to such a hedge, gardeners save young seedlings sensitive to cold. Among the predecessors, it is better to choose pumpkin, carrots, zucchini, cucumbers, and squash. These agricultural crops perfectly saturate the soil with useful components and make its structure quite loose.
A positive result is also observed when growing sweet peppers after onions and garlic. But planting it in beds where eggplants, physalis, potatoes, tobacco and tomatoes previously grew is not recommended due to common diseases and pests.
Growing seedlings
Considering the biological characteristics of bell pepper, in the northern regions it is more expedient to cultivate it in greenhouses through seedlings. In the southern regions, early and mid-season varieties are planted in open areas. When growing pepper seedlings at home, you must follow certain rules of agricultural technology. After all, southern culture is characterized by increased demands on both maintenance and care.
When to plant pepper seedlings
Determining the timing of planting is one of the important points in growing sweet peppers. If you sow seeds too early, there is a high probability that the plants will overgrow in containers or separate containers. The time for planting seed in the ground depends on:
- Varietal characteristics of the crop. Peppers with early ripening are sown 2 months before being allocated to a permanent location. Late varieties - 70-75 days.
- Places of further growth. In heated greenhouses, sprouts should appear in late April, in film structures - from mid to late May, in open areas - in early June.
- Picking applications. Plants that have not passed it must be planted 7 days earlier.
- Climatic conditions in a particular region.
Experienced vegetable growers are of the opinion that it is better to plant pepper seedlings in early February. To extend daylight hours in winter (up to 12 hours), LED lighting devices or phytolamps are used.
Preparing the substrate and container
Since the crop does not really favor picking, you should not use large containers for sowing seeds. For these purposes, pots with a volume of 100 ml and separate opaque containers are suitable so that the sun's rays do not fall on the root system of the seedlings. The soil for peppers is used that is sufficiently heated and saturated, first it is spilled with hot water, and then covered with plastic film to collect the fumes. There are several options for a suitable substrate for filling pots:
- Purchased land. You can purchase a fertile mixture that has already been treated against diseases and pests at any specialized retail outlet.
- Substrate prepared at home. The following soil components are used: seedling soil (1 bucket), peat (4 parts), turf soil (2 parts), rotted sawdust (1 part), humus (1 part), river sand (0.5 l), wood ash (203 tbsp).
- Coconut soil. This substrate has proven itself only on the positive side when growing capricious peppers.
- Soil with hydrogel. Add gel beads swollen in water to maintain moisture. If you use them dry, then as they swell, the earth will be forced out of the container.
- Peat tablets. This is a convenient and practical option; when transplanted to a permanent place, the seedlings do not take out with a lump of earth, but are planted in the ground all together.
For better survival, a small amount of soil from the garden should be added to the pots, but before that it must be disinfected with a solution of potassium permanganate (2-3%) or steamed in the oven for 30-40 minutes. Drainage made of polystyrene foam and small fragments of broken bricks is placed at the bottom.
Pre-planting seed preparation
The seed requires pre-treatment, thanks to which seedlings appear just a few days after they are planted in the ground. Before planting, pepper seeds are soaked for 5 hours in a container of water (+50 degrees) to swell. After that, they are placed in a damp cloth for 2-3 days so that they hatch. The room temperature should not be lower than +20 degrees. To speed up the ripening process of peppers and prevent the development of diseases, the seeds are disinfected with a weakly concentrated solution of potassium permanganate (1%) and a growth stimulator.
Sowing technology
Pepper seedlings are planted in a container with prepared soil at a distance of 2-3 cm from each other. Then the seeds are carefully covered with a thin layer of soil and moistened. To avoid washing them, it is more advisable to use a sprayer for irrigation. After all the procedures, the pots are placed in a warm place, using glass or plastic film to create a greenhouse effect.
When sprouts appear, remove the cover and move the containers to a well-lit place. At this stage of cultivation, the main thing is to maintain the temperature in the room within 24-25 degrees; the night temperature should not fall below +14 degrees.
Picking
When growing peppers correctly, seedlings are planted in containers with a large volume. When 2-3 true leaves are formed on the seedlings, pick. But given the very vulnerable root system of pepper and the long period of its recovery, it is better not to do this procedure, but to immediately sow it in suitable pots.
To avoid moisture stagnation, containers must have drainage holes. After transplantation, the soil around the plant is compacted and watered. In order for the roots to adapt better, the peppers are darkened for 10 days.
Seedling care
It is possible to grow healthy plants only with the right approach. Caring for bell pepper seedlings at home consists of:
- Watering. For young seedlings, one procedure per day is enough, which is performed in the morning or evening. The water should be settled and at room temperature. Before moistening, the soil is loosened to a depth of 5-6 cm.
- Maintaining the desired temperature in the room. During the day the indicator should be 22-27 degrees, and at night 14-16 degrees.
- Adding nutrient mixtures. To enrich the soil with useful components, it is effective to use mineral complex compositions, applying them every 2 weeks.
Planting on the beds
In order to get a bountiful harvest in the future, you need to know how to properly plant seedlings in a permanent place, and what to pour into the holes for quick establishment. You should also familiarize yourself with the timing of planting peppers in open ground. If you ignore these points and place plants in the garden ahead of time, then due to their low degree of resistance to negative environmental factors, they may die.
When to plant pepper seedlings in open ground
The timing of planting southern crops depends on the characteristics of the variety and the ripening period. The seedlings are transferred to a permanent place at the age of 50-80 days. This is the end of April - beginning of May. The air temperature during the day should be at least 20-25 degrees. In well-developed and hardened bushes, the leaf color will be dark green. There should be no dots or tubercles on the green central trunk.
Pepper seedlings are planted in the ground when the plant height is within 18-25 cm and the number of buds is 2-4. The root mass should be fibrous and sufficiently developed.
Planting scheme
To plant peppers correctly, you need to know what distance should be between plants. If the plantings in the garden cover each other, then due to lack of sunlight the fruits will not be able to ripen normally.
In addition, thickening provokes the development of stem rot. Peppers are transplanted into open areas in two lines, where the distance between adjacent rows is 30 cm, and between seedlings 20-25 cm. The second pair of plants is placed at a distance of 70 cm from the first. There is only one pepper in each hole.
Landing technology
Properly planted peppers can quickly adapt and begin to bear fruit abundantly. The technology for growing crops in open ground, in particular in the Moscow region, involves the following actions:
- When planting peppers, complex mineral fertilizer, pre-mixed with soil, is placed at the bottom of the hole. It is added at the rate of 1 tbsp. l. per plant. Alternatively, you can add potassium (1 tbsp per seedling).
- Carefully, so as not to damage the root system of the pepper, remove the seedling along with the earthen lump.
- Place the plant in a hole half filled with soil and sprinkle it to the end, then water it. The main thing is not to fill the root collar.
- The top of the soil is mulched with peat.
How to care for peppers
To get a good harvest when cultivating a southern crop, you need to know what it likes and what care is required after planting peppers in the ground.
Bush formation
When cultivating bell peppers, to increase productivity and better growth, the central flower that formed in the first fork is removed. In addition, a pinching procedure is carried out, which allows the formation of bushes with 2-3 stems. Its essence comes down to breaking off the side shoots (stepchildren). In order for the fruits to be large in size, only 25 pieces are left on one plant. When growing tall varieties, install a vertical support nearby and tie the pepper to it.
Watering and fertilizing mode
Timely moistening of the soil and the application of nutrient mixtures can significantly increase crop yields. Before the flowering phase begins, irrigation is carried out once every 7 days, during the flowering and fruiting period - 2 times every 7 days. In dry and hot weather, the frequency of watering is increased.
Peppers are fed every 2 weeks using phosphorus-potassium compounds. Twice a season, a solution of bird droppings prepared in a ratio of 1:10 is added.
Only with proper cultivation and care will bell peppers bear fruit abundantly.
Loosening and mulching
Growing and caring for peppers in open ground involves not only watering and fertilizing, but also cultivating the beds. After each moistening, the soil is loosened: the top layer should not be allowed to set into a crust. This approach will lead to oxygen starvation of the roots. Plants will be weakened and lethargic.
Hilling up peppers would be a good activity. To preserve moisture in the soil, mulch it with freshly cut grass, rotted sawdust, straw, and fallen leaves.
Harvesting
The fruits begin to be picked from the bush when they reach their technical maturity. This period begins in early August. Peppers are collected every 5 days, regularly. Using scissors, they should be cut off along with the stalk. If you plan to collect seeds of this variety, then leave the largest specimens on the bush so that they reach their biological maturity.
If the temperature drops, all peppers are removed from the garden because they are not resistant to sub-zero temperatures. After picking such fruits from the bush, they are sorted according to the degree of ripeness into different containers and stored in a cool room. In order to have time to collect vegetables before frost, you need to know how long a particular variety grows and plan its optimal planting in open ground.
Diseases and pests
- Wireworm, which is eliminated with insecticides.
- Spider mite. It can be effectively combated with an infusion prepared from liquid soap (1 tbsp), chopped onion (1 cup), chopped dandelion leaves (5-7 cups) and 10 liters of water.
- Small aphids. It is destroyed using an infusion of wood ash and tobacco dust. The use of Karbofos gives a good effect.
Southern culture, if the basic rules of agricultural technology are not followed, gets sick with gray rot, black leg, blossom end rot, late blight, verticillium, and fusarium.
Bushes affected by diseases are difficult to treat; it is recommended to remove them from the ground, and treat healthy ones with appropriate fungicides, according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Despite the whimsical nature of bell peppers in terms of cultivation and care, this crop is still in great demand among vegetable growing lovers. To achieve good results, you need to choose exclusively zoned varieties and adhere to the correct agricultural techniques.
Sweet peppers are a very popular crop among vegetable growers.
And this explains a lot.
It contains a lot of useful vitamins and minerals, the amount of which exceeds tomatoes and eggplants, and in terms of ascorbic acid content it has no equal.
Pepper will decorate any dish on your holiday table, giving it an exquisite taste and aroma.
This plant is easy to grow and get tasty fruits if you follow all agrotechnical measures.
Features of sweet peppers that you need to know when growing them
- Pepper is negatively affected by changes in night and day temperatures, as well as changes in humidity.
- Insufficient lighting of the crop, especially during the period of bud formation, has a bad effect on its development.
- There are varieties and hybrids of sweet peppers. Your best option would be a hybrid, as it is more productive, more disease resistant and has beautiful, even fruit.
- Flat, sunny, windless areas are most suitable for growing crops.
- The ground for pepper should be prepared immediately after harvesting the previous crop.
- You also need to know what fertilizers to apply and when.
Features of different types of soils that need to be taken into account so as not to be disappointed in the resulting harvest in the future:
- What needs to be done to improve the fertility of the land if the site has loamy soils?
To do this, you will need the following components: rotted sawdust, peat or manure. All of the above must be added in certain quantities. One bucket of manure, two peats, and one sawdust are required.
- What needs to be done to improve the fertility of the land if the site has clay soils?
To improve such lands, it is necessary to take coarse sand and the same rotted sawdust, a bucket of each, mix and apply to the soil.
- What needs to be done to improve the fertility of the land if the site has peat soils?
If such lands predominate, it is necessary to add such components as: turf soils and humus. Each of them is taken in a bucket, mixed and applied to the soil.
- What needs to be done to improve the fertility of the land if the soil on the site is sandy?
For such soils, the following substances are added: peat or clay soil, humus is added to them about two buckets and one bucket of sawdust.
- The first thing you need to know is that the land for planting crops begins to be prepared immediately after harvesting the predecessor crop, that is, in the fall. The ideal ones are: cabbage, cucumber.
- During the autumn soil preparation period, organic fertilizers are applied along with mineral fertilizers. But before this, it is necessary to carry out harrowing or shallow plowing of the soil.
- But if it suddenly turns out that you were unable to fertilize the soil in the fall, you can do this in the spring. In the same way and with the same fertilizers.
- After applying all the necessary fertilizers, the soil is dug up. In this case, you need to immediately make beds on which the crop will grow. The height should be 25-30 cm.
- And the last thing that is done is to water the ready-made beds with a solution prepared from one bucket of water and 0.5 liters of mullein.
- In room conditions. It is best to place such seedlings on windows or balconies; if there is not enough light, you can also use artificial lighting. The water used for irrigation should settle for several hours. Feed indoor seedlings twice. The first time when the leaves appear, and the second time two weeks after the first feeding.
- In greenhouses. In order to obtain high quality seedlings. It is necessary to use biofuel, that is, hot manure. Such seedlings can be grown with or without picking. The best option for growing seedlings is to grow them in pots that are placed on the greenhouse soil and watered. You need to feed the seedlings at least twice.
- In greenhouses. It is easier to grow seedlings in a greenhouse than in a greenhouse. Under such conditions, seedlings growing in pots can be taken outside to undergo the hardening procedure. In the greenhouse, seedlings are fertilized with mineral fertilizers once or twice.
- The first stage must be carried out after two weeks of planting the crop in an open area. For this event, you need to prepare a special solution consisting of urea, superphosphate and water. Having combined all these components, mix them thoroughly and pour in 1 liter for each bush.
- The second stage must be carried out while the plant is flowering. For this activity, you need to prepare the following solution, consisting of urea, superphosphate and potassium sulfate and water. All components are mixed and applied under each bush.
- The third stage must be carried out during the appearance of the initial fruits. For this activity, you need to prepare the following solution, consisting of potassium salt, water and superphosphate. All components are mixed and poured under each bush, in two doses.
Properly prepare the ground for sweet peppers, we list all the stages:
After the measures have been taken to prepare the land, it can be used for planting peppers.
Varieties and hybrids of sweet peppers that you can try for planting on your site: “Agapovsky”, “Atlant”, “Barguzin”, “Alyosha Popovich”, “Bogatyr”, “Bonus”, “Victoria”, “Vitamin”, “ Gift of the Caspian", "Dobrynya", "Yellow Bouquet", "Green Miracle", "Ilya Muromets", "California Miracle", "Bell", "Cornet", "Pioneer", "Gift of Moldova" and many others.
When choosing any of them, you must decide for yourself for what purpose you are going to use the pepper.
Seedlings of the crop can be grown in three conditions, and briefly about them:
Features of planting crops
Since sweet peppers are characterized mainly by a long growing season, a suitable method of planting the crop would be seedlings.
When planting seedlings, you need to consider the distance between them. The best option would be 45-55 cm.
A suitable period for planting seedlings would be the last day of May or the first ten days of June. Because there will be complete confidence that spring frosts will not come and the crop will not freeze. The optimal time of day for such a process would be the evening, and you can also select a cloudy day. Thus, the culture adapts better to new conditions and is less traumatized.
It is generally not possible to plant seedlings during the day, especially if it is a very hot day.
Before planting, you need to prepare small holes with a maximum depth of 50 cm. A little ash and humus is poured into the bottom of the hole, and then the seedlings are installed and the hole is filled.
For faster adaptation of the plant to new conditions, they are necessary cover with either film or other material. After the crop has taken root and taken root in the ground, the cover can be removed.
In the first days of the plant’s life, it will look lifeless and lethargic, even if you water it often, but there is no need to worry, this is a completely normal phenomenon. After ten days, the culture will come to life and begin to grow intensively. In order for the seedlings to grow better, it is necessary to loosen the soil daily.
When planting a crop, you need to immediately install pegs so as not to injure it later. This is necessary in order to tie up the crop in the future and ensure its normal growth without breaking.
Planting plays an important role in the life of a culture. To form a stronger and branchier bush, you need to pinch the top. This process is carried out when the plant has reached at least 30 cm in height.
If you decide to plant several varieties of pepper. It is better to do this at a certain distance from each other. Because cross-pollination of crops may occur, which in the future will not greatly affect the taste of pepper.
What should you observe when caring for sweet peppers?
There are many diseases and pests that can harm the plant. To prevent this from happening, preventive measures must be taken. Both folk remedies and products sold on the market can help in the fight against them.
Crops growing nearby can also provide protection to their neighbors. For prevention, plants can be watered with a solution every two weeks, but the main thing is not to overdo it.
You also need to pay attention to timely watering of the crop, tying it up to prevent unnecessary breaks, weeding and removing weeds, as well as applying various types of plant nutrition for better development.
Watering the crop is very important. With proper moisture, the plant will grow and develop well. The soil must be constantly moist. But It is also necessary to monitor precipitation if they have abundant watering, it is worth avoiding altogether, and if not very much, then it is necessary to water the crop from time to time.
It is best to moisten the soil in the morning, during cold nights. And if not, it’s fashionable to water during the day. The water temperature should not be cold so as not to harm the plant. Before watering, you need to slightly loosen the soil; this is done so that there is no formation of bark around the crop.
Feed The plant is needed in several stages:
Loosening the soil under the planted plant must be done with extreme caution. The root systems of sweet peppers are close to the surface. In order not to harm the roots of the pepper, loosening is carried out at a shallow depth.
The fruits of the crop can be harvested unripe and ripe. But if you harvest them unripe, you can get a larger harvest.
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