In nature, there are more than two thousand varieties of pepper. The birthplace of this plant is Central America. From there, in the fifteenth century, it was introduced to other countries: Turkey, Iran, Russia. Here he took root and became indispensable, despite his capricious disposition. Widespread is associated not only with a bright color, but also with a rich set of vitamins. To get a good harvest, you will have to learn how to grow bell peppers. This lover of heat in most of the country grows only in greenhouses.
It sounds strange, but pepper is a short-day plant. If daylight hours last less than twelve hours, then it earlier goes into fruiting, giving more stable and higher yields.
Growing seedlings
The process of growing sweet pepper begins with the acquisition of seeds and growing seedlings. Crops are carried out in February, so that by May the seedlings reach the age of one hundred days.
Pepper is a culture that does not tolerate picking, so seedlings should be planted immediately in separate cups. Do not use large pots, as their root system develops slowly.
For sowing seedlings using lungs and loose substrate. It can consist of humus, sand and garden earth (in a ratio of 2: 1: 1). A tablespoon of wood ash is added per kilogram of this mixture.
Before sowing, pepper seeds must be processed: they are kept in warm water for five hours. After swelling, the seeds are placed in tissue for a couple of days at a temperature of 20 degrees. After such preparation during the cultivation of sweet pepper, the gardener will see that the seedlings appear literally a day or two after sowing.
Growing sweet pepper from seeds is a long process. Shoots appear after three weeks. At this time, it is necessary to monitor the soil: it should not dry out. Some summer residents recommend covering the crops with glass or plastic wrap. The box with crops is placed in a bright and warm place. The optimum temperature for growing sweet pepper seedlings is from 25 to 28 degrees during the day, and at night - not lower than 10.
Seedling Care
When growing seedlings, do not water it too much, otherwise it will lead to a disease called the black leg. However, the drying of the substrate is also impossible. When watering use only warm water.
When growing seedlings, it is necessary to monitor the temperature in the room and the level of humidity: it should not be dry. Plants must be periodically sprayed from the spray gun.
Usually pepper crops for seedlings are carried out in February. At this time, there is still not enough light for normal growth and development, so it must be illuminated. This procedure is performed only in February and early March, until daylight hours increase.
Before planting seedlings in a greenhouse or open ground, it must be hardened. This procedure involves the gradual accustoming of plants to sunlight, wind, and low temperatures. To do this, the boxes are taken out to fresh air, increasing the length of stay there. During hardening, you need to ensure that the seedlings do not get frozen.
Transplanting
For planting pepper, choose a place where last year crops such as onions, pumpkin, cabbage, carrots or zucchini grew. Do not plant it in places where eggplants, tomatoes, and potatoes are grown.
The technology of growing sweet pepper involves planting plants on light soils. Typically, ridges are prepared in the fall, introducing five kilograms of organic matter per square meter, 50 grams of phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. The soil is deeply dug. In the spring, forty grams of nitrate are added to the upper layers. A week before planting, seedlings, soil and a greenhouse must be decontaminated. To do this, make a solution of copper sulfate (1 tablespoon per bucket of water).
When growing sweet pepper in a greenhouse, seedlings are planted in late April and early May, and in open ground in late May or early June. Planting scheme: 40x40 cm. Plants are placed in holes to such a depth that the basal neck remains open.
Pepper is a heat-loving culture that does not tolerate cold soil and a sharp drop in temperature.
Greenhouse Pepper Care
When growing sweet pepper in a greenhouse, it is important to provide it with heat, enough light, and moisture. Watering is carried out in a timely manner: before the fruit is formed - once a week, but as soon as peppercorns appear - at least every three days. The ground under the plants should always be wet. To reduce the frequency of irrigation, mulching is carried out. This helps to maintain the friability of the substrate, allowing the root system to breathe. Loosen the soil the day after watering.
Formation
Growing and caring for sweet peppers comes down to the need to form bushes. To do this, pinch the top of the head of the main stem immediately after transplanting. This action stimulates the development of side shoots.
In order to get a large crop of large fruits, they are sure to carry out stepsoning. On the bush leave no more than five shoots on which the fruits are formed. The remaining stepsons are removed.
Some summer residents say that you can not pinch the central stem: the plant itself begins to branch. But it is necessary to carry out pinching, otherwise the bush will be dense: a lot of greenery and few fruits will form on it. It is necessary to form a plant both in the open ground and in the greenhouse.
Growing temperature
The main feature of growing sweet pepper is its love of warmth. In order for the fruits to form on the bushes, it is necessary to provide him with a temperature of at least twenty degrees. With a decrease in night temperatures below thirteen degrees, the plants are covered with a film. The fact that the plant freezes, says leaf staining in dark purple.
Watering
The plant is a moisture-loving species. The fruits themselves are about 95% water, therefore, for their normal development it is necessary to ensure good watering. There is even an opinion that this culture should be watered almost like rice: it should always be in the water. Of course, it should not be taken literally.
To get a big crop, you must constantly monitor the level of soil moisture: it should not dry out.
For irrigation use warm water with a temperature of about 24 degrees. The irrigation scheme depends on the soil on which the plants are planted and the growing conditions. Watering plants must be done at least once a week before flowering. During fruiting - at least twice a week. Usually it is necessary to water more often in some periods of vegetation. Due to hot weather, watering is carried out daily. In a greenhouse, soil moisture lasts longer, so peppers are watered less often.
We feed
During the flowering period, only high-quality feeding is used. It is best to prepare nutrient solutions yourself. To do this, take a barrel of one hundred liters. About five kilograms of nettle, wood lice, dandelion, and plantain are added to it. Pour ten liters of cow manure (rotted), two glasses of wood ash. Pour water into the barrel, mix everything and insist for a week. For watering use this cocktail at the rate of one liter per plant. If suddenly the mixture remains, then it can be used to feed other plants.
During the fruiting period, the plant is watered with another solution. To prepare it, you need to take a barrel, add five liters of bird droppings and ten liters of rotted cow manure to it. Everything is filled with water and infused for a week. The resulting cocktail feed crops at the rate of five liters per square meter.
During the growing season, the plant is fed about five times. At least ten days must elapse between fertilizer application.
During flowering, it is useful to shower the plant with ash, as well as bring it under the root: a glass of wood ash per plant.
When growing sweet pepper in open ground and a greenhouse, you can use nitrate, phosphorus-potash, complex fertilizers. They are used in accordance with the attached instructions.
Soil loosening
Culture loves loose soil so that the roots can breathe. However, during loosening, they are easily damaged. This is due to the peculiarity of the location of the root system in the soil: it is located at the surface. In order not to damage it, the earth is loosened to a depth of not more than five centimeters.
The easiest way to keep the soil loose is mulching. It protects against drying out and also prevents weed growth. Cover the soil only after it has warmed up.
Extra care
When growing sweet pepper from seeds, you may encounter the need for additional pollination. This procedure may be required when growing in open ground and a greenhouse. Additional pollination is carried out by lightly shaking a flowering plant.
Sweet pepper needs to be tied up. The plant has fragile stems that break easily even with gusts of wind. So that the bushes are not damaged, they must be tied to a support. If the culture is grown in open ground, then tall plants should be planted around the beds that protect the fragile stalks of peppers from gusts of wind.
Possible difficulties in growing
When growing sweet pepper at home, you can encounter various problems. Summer residents usually distinguish the following difficulties:
- Fall of foliage, ovaries, flowers. It can be observed in extreme heat, when the air temperature rises above 32 degrees. It also indicates a lack of moisture, light.
- Inhibition of flowering, growth, lack of ovary. So the plant can respond to watering with cold water, low temperature, lack of light.
- The fruits are crooked. This is the result of incomplete pollination of flowers.
Pepper diseases
Sweet pepper suffers from the same ailments as other plants from the nightshade family. It can be damaged by tobacco mosaic, late blight, powdery mildew, rot. The causative agents of infections are fungi, viruses, bacteria.
The most common diseases in peppers are the black leg and wilting. The first ailment usually damages seedlings. To combat the disease, you need to adjust the humidity level and temperature.
Wilt disease is observed in adult plants. It can be of several types: verticillosis, bacterial and fusarium wilt. All cases are manifested by a change in the color of the leaf plates, then the bushes discard the foliage, the stems acquire a brown color. As a result, the plant dies.
Measures for the prevention and control of any disease are the selection of high-quality seeds, good seedlings, timely removal of weeds, pests, and crop rotation.
Of the pests, the most dangerous are slugs and aphids. To combat the latter, it is necessary to spray the plants with fungicides, for example, “Aktara”, diluting it according to the instructions, or any other aphid medicine available in the garden store.
Fighting slugs is harder. From these pests, special granular types of preparations, crushed egg shells are laid around the beds. In the beds themselves, the soil should always be loose. If there are slugs on the site, then the plants are not mulched, otherwise pests will start under the mulch layer.