In the country house, in a personal plot, most gardeners plant not only potatoes and tomatoes. The topic of growing pepper seedlings and the time of planting is considered relevant. And the unimportant question is whether it is hot or sweet pepper, the essence of this does not change due to the identical agricultural technology and insignificant difference of varieties. A rich harvest of pepper can only be achieved if grown through seedlings. A long ripening period is inherent in the fruit, therefore, in order to take a good harvest, it is worth worrying about the future in winter.
So, we will understand the question of when to plant pepper, from the very beginning. I want to say a little about the seeds themselves. When buying them, you should pay attention to the packaging time and shelf life. If the seeds are up to two years old, you can be sure of their germination, their more respectable age is not welcome - you run the risk of not having pepper at all.
A few words about culture
Pepper has been cultivated in warm countries since time immemorial and enjoys well-deserved love both among amateur gardeners and culinary specialists. Taking into account that not all varieties have time to mature in central Russia, many are interested in which variety is best suited to our climatic conditions and when to plant pepper. Let us make a reservation right away - experienced gardeners try to plant early and ultra-early varieties of sweet and bitter pepper. Here are just a few of them:
- Rafaela F1 - early pepper, refers to early ripening hybrids. Fruits are cone-shaped with high palatability. Ripening, the fruits gradually change color from dark green to rich red. This variety of pepper is ideal for canning and eating raw.
- F1 Lungs - Also considered a high-yielding hybrid of sweet pepper. The cone-shaped fruit has a thickness of up to 5 mm. Resistant to disease and adverse growing conditions.
- Ami is a variety that has gained particular popularity in the south of Russia. The undersized plant produces large cones-like fruits. The variety is characterized by high productivity and excellent taste.
You can also grow several varieties of early hot pepper. Each of them is distinguished by high productivity, elongated fruit shape up to 12 cm long. Due to its specific taste, each of the offered varieties - Hekgel, For mother-in-law or Fiery volcano - is used for making sauces, home canning, hot paprika and so on.
Seeding time
After buying the coveted seeds, a natural question arises: "When to sow pepper for seedlings?" The distillation period can take from 5 to 30, sometimes more, days. The older the seeds, the longer they have this time. A normal period for seedling of fresh seeds is 2-3 weeks. Reasoning on the topic of when to sow early pepper seedlings should be based on the timing of its planting in the ground. Unlike tomatoes, which perfectly migrate to a permanent place, peppers are best planted after the first flower in the first fork. As a rule, this occurs after 2-2.5 months from the moment of seed germination. If we consider the dates, then the seeds of pepper that have grown from March 1 to 15 can be planted in the ground from May 10, and the sowing of seeds will occur from February 20 to March 5. The germination rate and future harvest will depend on how correctly the choice of planting material is made. Pepper seeds are characterized by a long germination period, this is evidenced by the special structure of the seed culture, which means that it is proposed to carry out artificial activation.
Before planting, the seeds can be treated with a growth stimulator, which will lead to friendly seedlings. Most gardeners with many years of experience recommend removing a central flower from the first branch on the plant to obtain a large crop.
Seed planting
It is worthwhile to understand that if you want to grow pepper seedlings, which subsequently will give a good harvest, you need to make the right choice of capacity for planting seeds. It is best carried out in small cups or special cassettes, but a drawer or a low pot will adversely affect growth. It is worth remembering that pepper does not really like picks. Planting it with a large company in a common bowl, followed by picking, will lead to a delay in the development of seedlings for about a week or two. Therefore, it is best to plant seeds of pepper in small containers.
The soil mixture should be prepared a few days before planting. The soil must be warmed to room temperature. You can mix the substrate yourself, for which such components: lowland peat, dung humus and sod land are required in equal proportions.
Where to determine the seedlings
Everyone strives to use their greenhouse fully. But in order to get returns from such plantings, you still need to listen to the advice of specialists and not violate the rules developed by many years of practice: when to plant pepper, how to place seedlings. Typically, peppers are grown in greenhouses, tunnels, greenhouses or in open beds. But the greenhouse, of course, remains the best option.
Before embarking on transplanting seedlings, it must be hardened. This must be done in order to accustom the plant to the sun, wind, daily fluctuations in temperature, in general, to fresh air. They begin hardening a few weeks before planting a heat-loving crop such as pepper into the ground. What is the best preparation method? Here, gradualness is important. Seedlings are placed on the balcony, on the street. You can even simply open the window, increasing the airing time every day. But it is worth considering that the temperature on the street should be at least +13, otherwise the seedlings may freeze.
In the absence of a greenhouse, the planting of pepper seeds has to be scheduled for the month of February, so that by the time of transplanting the seedlings are about 100 days old. It is not recommended to pamper your seedlings with excessive watering, as this can lead to a disease called the black leg. But drying out the soil should not be allowed.
Feeding seedlings
During the period of growing seedlings, it will need to be fed a couple of times. The correct seedlings will have to receive the first top dressing two weeks after the appearance of the first seedlings. The second is carried out a few days before planting plants in the ground. The composition of the nutrient mixture includes: urea - 5 g, superphosphates - 30 g, potash fertilizers - 10 g (per 10 l of water). Good top dressing is obtained from a mixture of wood ash and nettle infusion in a ratio of 1:10. It is worth remembering that potassium chloride is contraindicated in pepper.
Landing place
Pepper is a heat-loving vegetable crop, which means it needs a sunny, warm place, protected from the wind. Also, the plant is very demanding on the soil, therefore, requires strong seedlings. The earth must be fertile, retain moisture well and let air through. The best predecessors of pepper are carrots, onions, and also legumes (except beans). Do not plant pepper in the beds after eggplant, tomato, potato. The first couple of weeks after planting, the plants grow very slowly. Therefore, it is recommended to help them - loosen the soil. This improves the oxygen supply to the root system of the pepper.
Proper pepper watering
Pepper prefers frequent, but moderate watering with warm water. After each, the earth must be fluffed up, bearing in mind that the root system of the culture is very close to the surface. Therefore, the procedure is carried out very carefully, trying not to damage the roots of the plant.
Irrigation rate before the formation of ovaries is 30-35 liters per 1 m 2 , during fruiting period - 40-45 liters. Watering stops 20 days before the last harvest.
The advantages of bitter and sweet pepper
Hot peppers have a lot of useful properties, not to mention it will be just a sin. Oddly enough, it is popular not only in the preparation of individual dishes or in preservation, but also as a firming agent for hair, as well as warming with colds and inflammatory diseases.
It’s best to start with a gentle way. To do this, the burning tincture is diluted with kefir or vegetable oil with the addition of vitamins A and E. The mask has a stimulating effect on the hair without overdrying the scalp. Tincture can be prepared independently, or can be purchased at pharmacies. For self-cooking, you need chopped finely chilled peppers (2 pcs.), Which must be poured with 150 ml of alcohol and hidden in a dark place for 7 days. After that, the solution is ready to use. Apply it to the scalp, diluting with water in a proportion of 1 tablespoon of the extract per 10 tbsp. l water.
Now about sweet pepper. Due to the presence of rutin and a record amount of ascorbic acid, it strengthens the capillaries, supplies the body with vitamin C. Eating ripe fruits will normalize the secretion of gastric juice, improve digestion and appetite. Peppers contain trace elements such as zinc and cobalt, which regulate the production of their own melanin.
Pepper for open ground
When to sow pepper for seedlings for open ground? At about the same time as for greenhouses, but in the southern regions of our country they are shifted by about 3 weeks to the beginning of the calendar year. Such varieties of seeds of sweet pepper, like Denis, Arsenal, Slastena, Hercules or Novocherkassky, have established themselves as species that give an excellent harvest. They are often grown by amateur gardeners. You can pick up other varieties of sweet pepper, which, through the efforts of professionals and amateurs, were bred for cultivation in the middle lane in the open ground.
Among the varieties of bitter pepper, I want to single out such pepper for open ground, as Astrakhan modification 147 and 628, Ukrainian bitter or Elephant trunk modification 304.
The agricultural technology of bitter and sweet peppers is in many ways similar to the cultivation of tomatoes. But peppers, as it turned out, are much more sensitive to temperature changes and the effects of cold air flows. This means that you should choose varieties of bitter and sweet peppers for cultivation in the open field with great regard to the weather and climate calendar of a certain area.
Also, when planning to plant seedlings in the ground, for peppers, a careful selection of the place is necessary. To protect plants from the wind, they try to plant them along the fence, hedges and so on. Due to the ability of the culture to cross-pollination, we sow pepper seeds at a considerable distance from each other. This will give the plants the space necessary for development.
Planting seeds of pepper in the soil should be accompanied by the introduction of organic fertilizer. Getting regular top dressing from complex fertilizers, the plant develops a powerful root system.
Pepper Seed Planting
Pepper refers to rather capricious crops: seed germination quickly drops, and since they have a fairly dense shell, then, most likely, the shoots will be few in number, and it may happen that they will not be at all. A logical conclusion follows from this: planting with pepper seeds should be prepared in advance. How to do it?
Immediately before planting pepper, it is recommended to make a careful selection of seeds for planting. To do this, make a solution of sodium chloride (30 g per 1 liter of water). Seeds are immersed in it for no more than 10 minutes. Full seeds will sink to the bottom of the container, and hollow or weak ones will emerge. Floated seeds can be collected and thrown away without regret, as there will be no sense in them. Drain the solution, and rinse the remaining seeds at the bottom with clean water and spread out to dry completely.
The next step that must be taken before planting pepper is called pickling. With its help, you can disinfect seeds and prevent plant diseases. To do this, sort the planting material by size and make a 1% manganese solution (1 g per 1 liter). Put the selected seeds in the solution and leave there for no more than 15 minutes. Rinse again with water and allow them to dry.
In order to give plants health, it is recommended a couple of days before sowing pepper seeds for seedlings to conduct treatment with trace elements. To do this, make small bags out of gauze and place the seeds prepared for planting in them. Immerse in a solution with trace elements (fertilizers "Ideal" or "Elin") and leave for 12-14 hours. After this, the seeds must be removed and dried. It is worth noting that rinsing them after this procedure is not required.
In addition to chemical fertilizers, seeds can be processed with folk remedies. For example, take 2 g of wood ash per 1 liter of water (the mixture should settle for 24 hours with frequent stirring). Then the seeds are folded in bags of gauze and lowered into the nutrient mixture for 3 hours. After that, rinse and dry everything.
If you want to get guaranteed seedlings, the seeds can be germinated in advance. To do this, put pepper seeds disinfected in potassium permanganate, put on gauze, wrap and, laying in a shallow dish, slightly moisten. Put in a warm place. Within a day you can observe how small roots hatch. Germinated seeds can be planted in a substrate.
There is another method of seed germination, which is considered more effective - is sparging, which involves the processing of planting material in oxygenated water. This method of processing pepper seeds allows you to accelerate the emergence of seedlings. This method is good for 1-2 weeks before transplanting seedlings.
To do this, it is recommended to prepare a three-liter jar and fill it with water at a temperature of 20 ° C for two-thirds. At the bottom of the can lower and turn on the compressor. After the appearance of bubbles, dip the seeds in a jar for a day. After that, take out and dry.
And the last method used in seed treatment is hardening. With its help, plants can safely endure the vagaries of nature. After the necessary disinfection, it is recommended to soak the pepper seeds in warm water and leave them to swell. Then immediately put on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator for 24 hours. After letting them dry. You can start sowing pepper seeds for seedlings.
How to grow pepper
If seedlings are bought for growing pepper, then you should pay attention to the stem of the plant - the leaves on the sturdy stem should be dark green. Only under these conditions can we say that this is the correct seedlings of pepper. It is worth abandoning the one on which there are flowers or fruits. This is a guarantee that there will be no harvest. In dry weather, the plant needs abundant watering. Otherwise, due to lack of moisture, the fruit may be bitter, and the flesh will be thin and dry. Pepper is a lover of warm soil, which means that it is best to plant it in the soil warmed up to +15 degrees. The pallor of greens and the slow growth of the fruit may indicate a lack of proper nutrition. You can feed the plants with mullein or compost tea.
In recent years, gardening has been influenced by fashion. This is evidenced by the rapid rise or fall in popularity of a particular variety. Most hobbyists try to plant their own material, which was obtained from the seeds of the previous harvest, but sometimes disappointment comes from the second generation of a new variety. Many varieties of seeds that appear on the market are first-generation hybrids, which next year give out a wide range of genetic traits. Persistent traits are usually provided by time-tested varieties.