A source of vitamins, an indispensable component of summer salads, spicy seasoning, without which we can’t imagine a single meat dish, a medicine that helps with radiculitis and colds - and this is not a complete list of the properties inherent in a plant such as pepper.
Short story
It is believed that pepper on the American continent has been grown for more than 6 thousand years. Even at the dawn of agriculture, the Aztec tribes, worshiping the gods of the moon and the sun, knew the secrets of its cultivation - they chose a favorable day for planting pepper, focusing on the location of heavenly bodies. The Aztecs called the pepper beautiful, which subsequently spread throughout the world, with the word “chile”, and was used as a seasoning for fresh food.
Pepper came to Europe in the 15th century, where the Spanish conquistadors brought it. In Russia, this wonderful plant was found out at the beginning of the 17th century, but they began to be planted as a garden culture only one and a half centuries later.
Now we cannot imagine how we could do without this vegetable. Pepper fruits are used not only in cooking, but also in medicine.
Scientists claim that each person must eat up to 7 kg of sweet pepper and up to 0.5 kg of hot pepper in order to maintain their health in perfect condition. No matter how great at first glance the figure of 0.5 kg seemed, lovers of spicy cuisine manage to eat hot pepper 3 times more - up to 1.5 kg per year.
Biological features of pepper
The annual planting of pepper seeds for seedlings has become so commonplace that many gardeners do not even know that pepper is a perennial culture. If you dig and transplant in the fall, and then create all the necessary conditions, then the pepper will continue to develop and will give its fruits for several years.
During the growing season , pepper appears from 15 to 100 bisexual flowers. This plant can self-pollinate. But often it is cross-pollinated by insects. Therefore, in order to taste the fruit consistent with its varietal qualities, it is not recommended to plant its bitter and sweet varieties at too close a distance.
Pepper fruits of various shapes and colors can reach 11 cm in diameter and weigh over 200 g. For elite varieties, the thickness of the fruit walls is over 10 mm.
Pepper seeds can maintain their germination for 2-3 years.
Seed preparation
To improve seed germination, they are placed in a 5% sodium chloride solution. Floated seeds are thrown away, and drowned seeds are selected for planting.
The selected seeds are washed well and placed in a damp cloth for further germination. After a few days, the seeds should hatch, and they can be planted in prepared containers with an earthen mixture.
Favorable days for planting pepper
It is believed that the growing moon gives seeds the impetus for the growth of green mass. Given this fact, you need to plant pepper seeds for seedlings by choosing the most favorable day. For planting pepper, like any other above-ground plant, from which the crop will be harvested “from the tops” and not “from the roots”, we select the day when the Moon will be in the growth phase. It is necessary to guess so that by this moment the necessary seed material has already been prepared.
Not an exception to the general rule is pepper. Planting pepper seedlings in February is recommended mainly for southern areas where spring comes relatively early. In such regions, many gardeners are engaged in growing seedlings not on window sills, but by building a kind of mini-greenhouse over the garden.
In other, more northern regions, the timing of planting pepper for seedlings is shifted by several weeks and calculated so that from the moment of planting the seeds to the time of planting the grown seedlings in open ground, about 60 days pass. If overexposed seedlings in temporary containers, then it can stretch out a lot and be sick for a long time when transplanted into the open ground, which will reduce the yield and ripening time of the crop as a whole.
Thus, the planting of pepper seeds for seedlings for the middle lane falls on the period from February 25 and ends around March 5.
Many gardeners, in order not to miss the right time for planting, prefer to use the ready-made "Sowing Calendar".
It is impossible to give a specific recommendation about the timing of planting pepper on seedlings on a strictly defined day. On the same day of the year, the Moon can be both in the growing and in the decreasing phase.
If you remember (and the numerous observations of experienced gardeners completely confirm this) that favorable days for planting pepper seeds come with the growing moon, then you will no longer need a "sowing calendar", and the harvest will be an order of magnitude higher than that of neighbors who do not adhere to the data recommendations.
How to plant seed
Planting sweet pepper seedlings occurs in the following sequence. The soil mixture is poured into the prepared containers, row spacing of at least 6 cm wide is marked, the soil is moistened and pepper seeds are laid out at a distance of 3 cm. From above, the tank is covered with a centimeter layer of an earthen mixture, consisting of humus and light sod land, and watered again. Before emergence, the container is covered with glass or plastic film and kept at a temperature ranging from 25-30 ° C.
After the appearance of sprouts, the seedlings are kept for about 4 days at a lower, about 15 °, temperature. After this period, you need to again increase the air temperature in the room with seedlings to + 18-25 ° C in the daytime and up to + 13 ° C at night.
Watering seedlings is carried out every 6 days, as soon as the top layer of soil is slightly dry.
Two weeks before planting, the seedlings are tempered by placing containers with plants in an open and protected from the wind space.
To prevent over-pollination, the planting of sweet pepper on seedlings and the bitter variety of this plant should be carried out in separate containers.
Planting seedlings in open ground
In order to get a high crop, which will maintain its presentation for a long time, it is also advisable to choose the most favorable day for planting seedlings. For planting pepper in open ground, this will be the period when the moon will be in a waning phase. It's easy to find out - take a look at the night sky. If the moon resembles a sickle or the letter "C", then you can proceed with the landing.
It is believed that with a waning moon, the plant tolerates a transplant, so this time for planting pepper is not in vain - seedlings are less sick and adapt to new conditions more quickly.
The bed is located in a sunny place. Pre-prepare the earth - loosen and make fertilizers.
In prepared holes carefully, so as not to damage the root system, without deepening, lower one plant each. The distance between the plants is about 20 cm, and between the rows is 70 cm. The periostemal space is well watered and mulched.
Pepper has a powerful and sprawling root, due to which it is relatively drought tolerant. But this quality should not be abused and soil should not be allowed to dry out. To obtain a quality crop, the plant needs to be provided with regular watering, especially during flowering and the formation of the ovary.
By the way, it is believed that if the very first ovary is removed from the pepper, much more will form.
From the time of planting the seeds to the flowering phase, depending on the variety, on average about 80-100 days pass. The final ripening of pepper fruits occurs on 140-180 days after planting seeds for seedlings.
Why is it necessary and how to mulch the soil under seedlings correctly
The advantage of growing plants with mulching the soil beneath them is obvious.
Firstly, this allows you to increase the irrigation interval, and therefore, reduce water consumption.
Secondly, the earth does not warm up so much, which also has a beneficial effect on productivity. It is proved that at temperatures above 35 ° C pepper begins to drop flowers and ovary.
Some gardeners mistakenly believe that it is enough to simply fill up a bed of mulch and limit it to that.
Mulch also needs care. After it is evenly distributed over the bed, it is necessary to spray with special micropreparations. Only then will she retain her biological qualities.
Fertilizer application
Pepper is very responsive to fertilizer application. Plant nutrition is carried out according to the following scheme:
- the first top dressing - on 10-15 days after planting seedlings in the ground;
- the second feeding - after the plant enters the flowering phase;
- the third feeding - after the plant enters the phase of the onset of fruiting.
As fertilizer, it is advisable to use recycled bird droppings or slurry. Litter is diluted with water in a ratio of 1 to 10, slurry - 1 to 5.
Sometimes pepper is treated with wood ash, sprinkling it with beds, or during watering, dissolving 200 g of ash in 10 liters of water.
Key secrets to getting a high yield of pepper
To summarize all of the above, it is necessary to highlight 5 main points, when observed, the yield of pepper in your garden will always be stably high:
- Seed selection. For planting on seedlings, select seeds of only good quality and productive varieties.
- Plant seeds and seedlings on an auspicious day for planting pepper.
- Observe the temperature regime when growing seedlings. Temper it before planting in open ground.
- Mulch the beds with pepper.
- Carry out timely watering and fertilize plants with organic fertilizers.