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One of the most common crops thatgrows almost every summer resident, is a sweet pepper. And there are several reasons for universal love:
- First, this tasty and healthy vegetable is universal. It can be cut into salads in fresh form, or even solo cooked as a separate dish.
- Secondly, pepper is easy and easy to grow if you know a few basic principles of how to do it correctly.
In order for culture to feel comfortable, you need to look a little into history. This will help to find out what conditions are necessary for good fruiting, both in the open field and in the greenhouse.
Sweet Pepper Homeland - South America. So, this plant is best suited approximately the same climate: warm and not arid.
If it is still cool in the greenhouse, it is worthwhile to install a heater. And remove excess moisture due to ventilation.
Open ground pleases the plant with heat, but watering is necessary for good growth. These are the basic rules. But there are peculiarities of pepper care that every summer resident should know.
How to grow a good crop of pepper in the open field?
A good pepper harvest is no coincidence. Efforts are needed with knowledge. So, for example, the speed of ripening of a fruit and features of care of it will depend on the choice of a grade. On the variety will depend on the time of sowing seeds, and the time of planting a young plant in the ground.
We divide the whole process of growing peppers into several stages:
- Preparation of soil and seeds.
- Growing pepper seedlings from seeds.
- Plant Care.
- Diseases and pests.
The first stage
It all starts with the preparation of seeds. What is included here? There are several seed treatment technologies.
- One of them is to soak the seeds in hot water for 4-6 hours( water temperature is from 40 degrees and above).After that, the seeds for 2 days are placed in a damp cloth in a heated room.
- Another method is seed dressing in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for 15–20 minutes. Then they must be washed and placed in a growth stimulator solution for 12 hours. After that, the seeds are washed and placed for a couple of days in a damp cloth.
- Land preparation. If for the sowing of seeds already prepared soil is sold. So for planting seedlings after picking and for growing peppers in the open field you need to take care that the earth is loose and light, well-fertilized. To do this, add humus and sand to the soil, in a ratio of 2 to 1. Ashes can be added.
- Soil preparation includes site selection. It should be a bright place, protected from drafts. From the autumn it is desirable to fertilize the earth with superphosphate( 40-50 g), rotted manure( about 10 kg) and wood ash( up to 100 g).These figures are for 1m² of soil.
Second stage
Considering the fact that pepper seeds germinate for a long time, within two weeks, they should be planted in advance in containers in order to grow seedlings.
Approximate dates when it is better to do this - the end of January, the beginning of February, depending on the variety and on where the young plants will be planted: in open or closed ground.
Sowing seeds:
- soil is pretreated with a weak solution of potassium permanganate;
- box should be at the bottom with holes;
- distance between seeds 2 cm;
- , after disembarking, cover the box with film or glass, put in a dark warm place;
- is put on the light box with the appearance of the first shoots;
- water only when the soil dries;
- watered with lukewarm water;
- dive with the appearance of two true leaves.
You can sow the seeds of pepper and in separate pots, then you do not have to repot it, which the plant really like.
The third stage of the
It takes about 100 days, and the seedlings are ready for relocation to a permanent place of residence. The middle or the end of May is great for this. The soil then warms up well, and the plant is less sick. If the climate for heat-loving pepper is not entirely suitable, this problem is easily solved by building a high bed plant.
The seedlings themselves, and the beds prepared under the pepper by that time, should be watered abundantly. Water must be warm! The distance between bushes and beds should not be less than 40-60 cm.
What is required to carry out the proper care of plants? There is a simple four “P” rule:
- Top dressing.
- Watering.
- Weeding.
- Garter.
Here are some tips for pepper care:
- Top dressing. During the growth and development of the plant( vegetation period), the pepper must be fed 3-4 times. You can do this as a specially prepared selling means, and to prepare the fertilizer.
- For the first time, seedlings are fed up in 10-14 days after planting in open ground. At 10-12 liters of water is taken 1 liter of manure.
- Second dressing before the flowering period. Potassium humate is diluted with 10 liters of water, 2 tbsp added.double superphosphate( it can be pre-crushed).
- For the third time, pepper is fed with wood ash or superphosphate( it is possible in the complex).A glass of ash( or 2 tablespoons superphosphate) is filled with water and infused with the sun for 2 days. This feeding is carried out two weeks after the last fertilization of plants.
Nettle is an all-purpose excellent fertilizer. Cut the nettle into a bucket and pour it with warm water at the rate of 1 to 10.Insist day 2 or 3. Fertilizer is ready.
- Watering. This plant loves moisture, but not waterlogging. Therefore it is worth watering pepper only if the soil has dried. Water must be warm!
- Weeding. Light, fluffy soil is a prerequisite for good pepper growth. To do this, the land must be regularly flush.
- Garter. Not only high varieties of pepper need support, but also those that delight gardeners good harvest. To do this, in order not to injure the roots of the plant, even when planting seedlings, the support is buried next to the bush.
Pepper care when problems arise
Diseases and pests that cause harm to pepper:
- late blight;
- black leg;
- white rot;
- black bacterial blotch;
- aphid;
- whitefly;
- bear;
- slugs;
- Colorado potato beetle.
If the “black leg” is easily prevented, using good earth, avoiding over-wetting it, and pouring only warm water on it, then the most effective method will be prevention. For this, it was necessary to pickle the seeds before planting. And with the arrival of night coolness and rain, the plants should be covered for the night. It is also useful spraying infusion of onion peel.
From insects such as the Colorado potato beetle and Medvedka, experienced gardeners use special preparations and herbal extracts: tansy, garlic, yarrow, wormwood.
Pollution from tree ash will help protect the plant from pests. Aphids can be defeated with whey mixed with water( 1.5 liters per bucket of water).
Tips for growing peppers in the greenhouse
Many gardeners prefer to grow heat-loving peppers in the greenhouse. But here there are some points that you need to know, and be prepared for them. For example:
- In order to grow peppers in a greenhouse to bring only positive results, it is necessary to carefully consider the selection of the variety. Not every variety of pepper can do without insects in pollination. But in this case, you can try artificial pollination, with the help of an ordinary soft brush.
- Typically, the soil in greenhouses is depleted from more frequent use. So, you need to take care of its fertilizer or the replacement of the top layer( 20-25 cm) of the soil.
- Toxic chemicals and fertilizers are best used by those that are suitable for greenhouses. Most often, on their packaging there is a special mark.
- To control pests that find conditions convenient for themselves in the greenhouse, it is necessary to spray the pepper with Fitosporin once a month.
- If the pepper is planted in the greenhouse in spring or autumn, then it is best to preheat the air in it.
- It is necessary to ventilate the greenhouse in order to avoid too high temperatures and high( almost 100 percent) humidity. If it is not possible to ventilate the greenhouse regularly, it is possible to equip it with artificial ventilation.
Finding out how to grow peppers in the greenhouse, and taking the necessary steps, you can ensure that the plants will be healthy, and yields are high.
Seedlings for greenhouses and for open ground are grown according to the same principles. The main points for this are three things: the pots with plants must be kept warm;make sure that the earth does not dry out, and was not too moist;the soil should be fluffy and light. Sand, humus, undecomposed organic matter give the soil looseness.
Seedlings can be transplanted into a greenhouse earlier than in open ground. At the same time, gardeners with experience advise to do this carefully, so that the roots of the young bush are fully submerged in the planting hole, without bending or twisting.
There are few rules for growing peppers in the open field, they are all easily implemented. If you comply with them, you can get a great harvest.
Here are some useful tips for productive pepper cultivation in open field:
- To attract insects during the flowering of the plant, it can be sprayed with sweetened water.
- Pepper pereopilyatsya easily. Therefore, it is not necessary to plant his varieties close to each other.
- The plot, which is planned to give under the pepper, is carefully selected. In order to avoid diseases of the plant and for a good harvest, in no case the predecessors of the pepper should not be representatives of table vegetables, pumpkin and legumes.
- Be sure to harden the seedlings for better acclimatization. To do this, 10 days before planting in open ground, it is necessary to take the seedlings to fresh air. Starting from 10-15 minutes you need to gradually increase the residence time of the plants.
- If a cold struck unexpectedly, pepper plants can be saved. For this you need to water the soil well. Or insulate the plants with film, paper, lutrasil. You can wear plastic bottles on the bushes with the bottom cut off.
Over time, every summer resident gets his experience. This helps him to spend less energy to get good results.
Read the same: when to sow pepper for seedlings?
