Pepper

General information: Annual( in tropical countries - perennial) plant of the Solanaceae family. His homeland - South and Central America, where even now peppers can be found in the wild. Peppers were brought to Europe by Columbus' caravels, and since then it is one of the most valuable vegetable crops. For food purposes, pepper is divided into sweet( vegetable) and spicy( spicy).

Requirements: pepper is a heat-loving culture of a humid climate and does not tolerate frost. At a temperature of 0.3-0.5 ° C, plants die. Seeds germinate at 20-25 ° C in moist soil after 7-9 days. The temperature above 20 ° C and below 15 ° C causes the flowers to fall off. Plants are very demanding for light, but at the same time they develop better in conditions of a short day. Water in small quantities is necessary for pepper during fruiting. It is demanding of the structure and fertility of the soil. It grows well and fructifies on light, humus-rich soils containing nutrients in an easily accessible form. The acidity of the soil should be pH 6-6.5.When cultivating the soil, peat, humus or humus soil is enriched with mineral elements and ash. Fresh pepper does not tolerate fresh pepper, therefore it is given under the previous culture - cucumbers, cabbage, beans. Mineral fertilizers are applied fractionally: under soil cultivation and in the third fertilizing.

When grown in a greenhouse soil soil for pepper is prepared from peat, which has a rather loose composition, good moisture capacity and aeration. Use it for 2-3 years, then replace. To prolong the period of use in peat add loosening materials, use the combing culture of pepper.

Ingredients: sweet pepper contains sugar, protein, fats, dry matter and essential oils, giving the fruit a tart aroma. By the amount of vitamin C, pepper surpasses all vegetable crops: 100-200 mg per 100 g of dry matter, and in some varieties - up to 300 mg. In the fruits of sweet peppers there are no enzymes that oxidize vitamin C, so it is well preserved in canning. It has a lot of carotene( almost like carrots), as well as vitamins B1, B2, PP, folic acid and mineral salts.

Cultivation: seeds are sown in late February - early March. Shoots are dived into peat-and-peat pots, nourishing cubes or flower pots with a diameter of 9-10 cm and grown in greenhouses, warm greenhouses or in room conditions. In the open ground the seedlings are planted when the frost passes and the soil temperature reaches 15 ° C, at the end of May. After planting, the plants are temporarily covered with a film. The plants are planted in a ribbon method with a feeding area of ​​at least 40 x 40 cm, or 6-7 plants per 1 m2.

Varieties

For growing in open ground are suitable:

Bulgarian 79 ( vegetation period 110-130 days);fruit is truncated-pyramidal, red. Gogoshara local{ 96 -105 days);fruits single, sticking up, tomato-shaped, ribbed, red.

Michurinsky 41 ( 110-140 days);fetal blunt, large, orange-red. Novocherkassk ( 105-120 days);fruits single, sticking up, truncated-pyramidal, red.

For cultivation of in protected soil: Tenderness - is an early-stage. The height of the bush is up to 1 m, in greenhouses - 1.5 m. The fruit is truncated-pyramidal, large, weighing 75-100 g. Red;the skin is tender, the flesh is juicy.

Swallow - medium-term. Shrub bush, height up to 1 m. Fruit cone-shaped, red;Fruit weight 60-70 g.

Winnie the Pooh - early maturing. The bush is small, bouquet type, 25-30 cm high. The shape, color and size of the fruit, as in Swallows. The gift of Moldova is mid-ripeness. The fruit is cone-shaped, light green and green, weighing 50-60 g. The main advantage of the variety is resistance to wilting and high temperatures.

The taller varieties can be placed less often - 50 x 40 or 50 x 50 cm. When grown in heated greenhouses, the seedlings are planted at the age of 45-50 days, in unheated ones - 60-70 days. Seedlings should be healthy, hardened, have a thick stem( 3-4 mm in the root neck), a height of no more than 20-25 cm, 8-9 leaves and formed buds. The time for planting seedlings in heated greenhouses - the end of March - the beginning of April, in the unheated - the end of April - the first half of May. Pepper is better for growing on ridges and ridges. On the first seedlings are planted in 2-3 rows with row spacing of 30-40 cm, on ridges and a flat surface - in 1 row through 50-60 cm. In all cases, the distance between plants in a row is 15-25 cm, depending on the variety. The technique of planting is the same as for a tomato.

Care: After the end of the aisle, they immediately loosen. Care of plants consists in loosening, watering, feeding, protection from frost, pests and diseases. Loosening should be carried out after each rain and watering, once the soil has dried and a crust begins to form. The soil should be constantly moist enough.

For the growing season, pepper is fed 3-4 times. The first top dressing is given 10 to 15 days after planting with a slurry solution or bird droppings with the addition of phosphate-potassium fertilizers or wood ash. The slurry is diluted with water in a ratio of 1: 4-5, bird droppings - 1 9632;10-15.10 g of the solution is added with 40-60 g of superphosphate, 15-20 g of potassium chloride or 150-200 g of wood ash. If mineral fertilizing is carried out, in addition to phosphate-potassium fertilizers, ammonium nitrate is introduced - 15-20 g per 10 liters of solution.

Reliable protection against frosts are temporary shelters in the form of tents made of wooden blocks, cardboard, matting, sacking and roofing. Widely used and portable temporary film shelters. However, with strong frosts, the film must be covered from above with sackcloth or some household rags. As a means of protection, smoking and sprinkling are practiced. Aphids appear on young plants if they are kept in cold conditions. In summer, leaf drop occurs as a result of a lack of space, an overabundance of fertilizers and a lack of lighting. When the first appearance of white flies hang nearby adhesive tapes. Increased humidity can cause the appearance of gray mold. As a preventive measure, timely airing is necessary. There are also diseases characteristic of tomatoes.

Harvesting: harvesting begins when the fruits reach technical ripeness, that is they will be fully formed, with thick fleshy walls, with typical color for this grade( light green, green, yellow), characteristic peppery aroma and taste.

When stored in a dry warm room after 25-30 days, they acquire a color characteristic of biological ripeness - cream, yellow, red, intense red or orange-red. After the harvest, the remaining ovaries on the bush begin to grow rapidly. In this period, it is desirable to give plants additional fertilizing. Cleaning is completed before the frost. If there are ovaries left on the bushes, the plants can be excavated from the root and dig in the greenhouse, where the ovaries will continue to grow and reach technical ripeness. The collected fruits can be stored in a moderately warm room for 1-2 months.

Usage: sweet pepper is widely used in cooking: it canned, marinated, salted, baked, boiled, stuffed, added to salads and side dishes. Pepper bitter varieties are used as a seasoning for all kinds of dishes( especially meat) and as spices, it is used to prepare fragrant pepper oil.