Pepper
Pepper also refers to solanaceous cultures. He comes from Guatemala and Mexico, so he is thermophilic, light-loving and relatively drought-resistant.
What does pepper love? Light, fertile, loamy soils with reaction pH 5.5-5.5.He needs a short light day in the period of growth and development( therefore, the highlight of seedlings should be done no more than 8 hours a day).Pepper, especially in the age of seedlings, loves frequent, but uninfluenced watering with warm water( 24-25 degrees).Pepper is a big fan of potassium( the ratio between N: P: K is 40: 10: 50), so it needs higher doses of potassium fertilizers. In addition, he prefers warm( 18-24 degrees) soil and warm( about 25 degrees) air. The optimum temperature of growth and development is 22-28 degrees. When the temperature drops to 15 degrees, the pepper ceases to develop. The adult plant is able to tolerate small( not below -1 degree) freezing.
What does not like pepper? He does not tolerate the slightest damage to the roots. The pepper has a bad regeneration of the roots, that is, when the sucking hairs break, they are long and badly restored, and therefore the pepper does not tolerate the transplant, especially at an early age. He does not like penetration when transplanting. It is contraindicated in clay, acid soil, peat, fresh manure and excess nitrogen, increased doses of mineral fertilizers, thickened plantings, high( above 35 degrees) temperatures in the greenhouse, sharp, more than 15 degrees, temperature changes, watering the cold, below 20 degrees, water, direct sun at noon.
Variety selection and sowing time for pepper
Varieties or hybrids should be selected based on your climatic conditions. In areas with a cool or short summer it is necessary to plant low-growing fast-growing varieties or hybrids. But if you have a good greenhouse, then on warmed ground or when heating greenhouses it is possible to grow tall, large-bodied and thick-walled hybrids, usually late-ripening and mostly foreign selection. In these cases, transplants can be transplanted early, at the age of 75 days. Sow the seeds will be in mid-February, and for the southern regions - in mid-January. Then the large peppers, which take about 150 days to ripen, the plants will have time to give in July. Where spring is long and cloudy weather is until March( for example, in the North-West), do not plant peppers in January. Until the sun appears, the pepper seedling will not release the first real leaf, no matter how much you highlight it, -so it will last an extra month with the cotyledon leaves, and this will have a bad effect on the crop.
Varieties of Bulgarian breeding are removed in the stage of technical ripeness, in this condition the pepper is already fully edible and well-dispensed to the stage of biological ripeness, when the fruits are completely colored in the color inherent in the variety.
Hybrid of Dutch breeding in the stage of technical ripeness is not tasty and poorly dispensed, so they should be removed no sooner than the first smear of varietal coloring appears, then they will reach. It is even better to grow them to the stage of biological ripeness directly on the bushes, that's when they really have a wonderful taste! As a rule, peppers of Dutch breeding are large-fruited, thick-walled hybrids of late maturation. It is better to have early Bulgarian varieties in your greenhouse, usually unpretentious and reliable, and a few multicolored Dutch hybrids to amuse your soul and please the eye. In the Northwest, late varieties of peppers do not have time to ripen: in order to grow them, it takes about 7 months and a sufficient amount of heat.
The most popular pepper Tenderness - early, yielding, tasty already in the stage of technical ripeness, the most reliable in the conditions of the Northwest. Also popular is the Moldovan Gift. Of the new varieties, the rash is Zorka. Sorts of Frey-Tyap, Jack, Jeanne, Green Marvel, Player, Karapuz, Corvette, Maxim., As well as hybrids Chancellor F1, Orient Bouquet and Galatea belong to the early ripening species, and therefore they can be grown in almost any region. Naturally, they are not very large, weighing about y0 g, fruits and quite dwarf shrubs - an average of 50-60 cm, and therefore it is very convenient to grow them in low greenhouses or under arches in a concealed soil.
Of medium-sized F1 hybrids of great interest is a series of fairly large peppers weighing about 200 g, called the Star of the East. It includes peppers of the most diverse color. Early-maturing hybrid Golden, medium term maturing hybrids Yellow, White, Orange, Red, Chocolate. When all of them grow in one greenhouse, then at the moment of onset of biological ripeness, they simply can not take their eyes off. Interest is represented by the early-ripening variety Kakadu, reaching 1.5 m in height. Its red fruits reach a length of about 30 cm and a weight of 500 grams!
From the Siberian series there are good, fast-growing varieties Kupets, Morozko, Ivolga. In regions with hot summers, well-known thick-walled large-bodied hybrids Latino, Montero, Indalo, Aria, Aries are well-growing.
Pepper is a widely distributed and beloved culture, and therefore created a huge number of varieties and hybrids of peppers, so that we have a great choice.
By the way, from large, tasty and attractive foreign peppers, which are sold in shops, you can take seeds and grow very good peppers. These will be hybrids of the second generation F2.But they do not take seeds from them, because, as a rule, nothing worthwhile of these seeds grows.
Pepper sowing rule
Seeds of pepper are difficult to swell and badly rise, so they should be stimulated. To do this, the seeds should be kept for 20 minutes in a thermos bottle with water heated to 53 degrees, then wrapped in a damp cloth and put on a saucer for a few hours under the freezer compartment of the refrigerator, then immediately sowed or immersed for 20 minutes in a solution of "Novosil"( "Silk ")," Epin-extra "or" Energien ", and then sow.
Soil for seedlings is prepared exactly as for tomato. The capacity should be taken deeper, because the pepper is planted to a greater depth than the tomato. The height of the container should be approximately 10-12 cm.
The capacity before sowing should be filled with well-moistened soil at half height, compact with a tablespoon, spread the seeds according to the scheme 2 x 2 cm and pour over the soil to a height of 5 cm, then compact. Seeds should be sown to a depth of 3-4 cm. The fact is that pepper can not be buried at a picking and transplantation, because it can cause rotting of the buried part of the stem. Therefore, it must be planted immediately to a great depth, otherwise the root system is formed too close to the surface and the bush will subsequently fall. Tanks should be covered with glass or a film and put in a warm place.
You can pre-germinate seeds in a warm place and then decompose them into containers, but, as already noted above, there is a high probability of breaking the too long spine and thereby ruining seedlings. Pepper can be made to climb very quickly, on the 6-7th day, if the soil temperature is maintained at 28-32 degrees. You can not raise the temperature above 36-40 degrees: with prolonged high temperature, seeds lose their germination. If the soil temperature is reduced to 25-27 degrees, pepper will rise 14-15 days. At a temperature of about 22 degrees, it takes about 20 days for sprouts to appear. Peppers can not ascend completely at temperatures below 20 degrees, and at a lower temperature they generally rot.
As soon as the first eyelet of sprouts appears, it is necessary, without waiting for the appearance of the others, immediately put the container1 under the fluorescent lamp and reduce the temperature to 16-18 degrees. If you wait for the remaining shoots, the subfamily knee of the risen, strongest plant will stretch out very much, the seedlings will be shinier and obviously weak. After 4-5 days, the temperature should be raised to 22-25 degrees. Pepper is thermophilic, it can not be placed on the windowsill near the glass. At the same time, he is very light-loving, although he does not stretch himself like a tomato, with a lack of lighting. At it at disclosing of cotyledonous sheets in a growth point the development program is put in pawn. In case of insufficient illumination, instead of the fork in which the first bud is laid, leaves will be laid, that is, in the future, budding and fruiting will be prolonged.
Top dressing should be started as soon as the cotyledons are opened. It is best to water not with water, but with a weak solution of liquid fertilizer "Uniflor-bud", which includes nitrogen, phosphorus, high doses of potassium and 18 microelements. To do this, 2 teaspoons of fertilizer diluted in 5 liters of water. Usually, for growing seedlings, as well as during the initial growth of any plants, it is recommended to use "Uniflor Growth" containing higher doses of nitrogen, but pepper is potassium, so it is better to immediately feed it with the drug "Uniflor-bud".The solution can stand unlimited time. First, for each plant, pour out 1 tsp every other day, then gradually increase the dose, while the soil should be moderately dry all the time.
You can use AVA to infuse fertilizer, it is better to use a dust fraction or take smaller granules. Enough 1 tsp spoonful of water. Infusion is unlimited time. As necessary, at first take 1 teaspoon per plant, then - more, instead of water for irrigation. Each time the solution must be mixed and after consumption again add up to 3 liters. One teaspoon of fertilizer is enough for the entire period of growth of seedlings. You can use as fertilizer ash or azofosca or other mineral fertilizers.
In the initial period of growth, it is not necessary to give organic fertilizing, especially the manure infusion, because the plant will start giving too much aboveground part to the detriment of the root system.
Pikking of pepper sprouts
When sprouting seedlings, the main thing is not to damage the root system. First of all, well water the seedlings, it is easier to remove the dirt from the mud without damage.
Prepare pots or spoons for seedlings. They should have openings for excessive moisture and for air intake, that is, drainage holes must be made not only on the bottom, but also in the lower part of the side surface. Fill the pots with prepared soil, compact, pour well, make a funnel and carefully lower the seedling in it so as not to bend and damage the spine. He does not in any way shorten the central spine. Pepper does not bury, it is planted at the same depth on which it grew. Now we must gently squeeze the soil around the plant and pour a nutritious solution of a teaspoon.
Do not rush to transplant pepper: the older it is, the easier it will be to transplant, approximately in the phase of 3-4 real leaves. The first 2-3 days it does not need to be highlighted, then the daylight lamp will have to be turned on for no more than 8 hours - the pepper is a plant of a short day.
I do not recommend peat pots for growing seedlings, because they quickly pick up moisture from the soil and dry out - it is difficult to keep a moderately dry or moderately moist soil in them. Seedlings are planted right in the pot, this is just an advantage, as the roots are not damaged, but I absolutely know that the roots are hard to germinate through the pot wall, and this retards the development of the plant.
In recent years, growing seedlings in peat blocks, which are then planted in place, with the roots are not damaged. However, it is better to dive the pepper in a "diaper" from the film, and even better to grow it in paper cylinders. Make them simple: fold in 3-4 layers of a newspaper sheet, put it on a half-liter bottle, fasten the upper and lower ends of the received tube with a paper clip so that the cylinder does not turn. In the lower part, it is not bad to push the moss-sphagnum, but you can also soil. Now fill the soil cylinder and plant the pepper. No holes on the sides do not need to, the lower edge does not need to be bent, the cylinder is an abyss, and it does not fall apart. All the cylinders from the newspaper are close together in shallow containers, for example, in a can of herring or a photocell. Planted in place with the newspaper, it quickly soaks and cracks in the soil, without interfering with the growth of roots. The roots of this transplant are not damaged at all. The only thing that you pay attention to: you can not use colored newspapers. It is possible to solder a sleeve with a soldering iron from a film with a width of 12 cm, then cut it into cylinders about a centimeter in height and fill them with soil. When transplanting into the hole, put the cylinders and cut the film on them, which they take out and sprinkle the soil around the seedlings.
You can sow the peppers immediately in plastic flower pots with a capacity of 1 liter, 3 seeds at a distance of 1 -2 cm from each other, placing them in a triangle in the center of the pot. This allows you to do without picks, that is, without transplanting at an early, most vulnerable age. If more than one plant appears, only one, the strongest, is left at the stage of the first real leaf. The rest is cut with manicure scissors according to the soil level. When the time of transplantation arrives, the plant has a fairly large, well-developed root system, and therefore tolerates a transplant more easily. There are, of course, also failures, when one weak plant emerges or none grows at all, and three and all the strong ones have risen nearby. I would very much like to transplant a strong pot into an empty pot, but I do not recommend doing this, because when you transplant you will damage both the plant that will be transplanted and the one that will remain in the pot, because the pepper root system is broken very easily, evenat loosening and weeding.
The pepper has a compact root system, but nevertheless it should not be put in too small containers( the glass should be at least 0.5 liters, and even better 1 liter).In a small volume, the root system spins into a tangle and after a transplantation into place it does not grow long into the interior and breadth.
Sometimes paddy seedlings are damaged by aphids. This happens if you take the soil for seedlings from a greenhouse or buy a ready-made soil and do not steal it, or you have indoor flowers in the same room as the seedlings. It is very difficult to combat aphids on peppers. Spray the seedlings with the biological preparation "Fitoverm" or "Iskra-bio".Every 2-3 weeks, spraying will have to be repeated. Preparations are harmless for humans and animals. You can, of course, just wash off the aphid with soapy water or a solution of potassium permanganate in a bright pink color, but this should be done every 4-5 days.
Transplanting pepper seedlings into the greenhouse or in the ground
Pepper in our country grows in the open ground only in the southern regions, the rest of it grows in greenhouses or low greenhouses. You can not put pepper in a cold ground, the soil must necessarily have a temperature of at least 15-16 degrees of heat. Before transplanting the seedlings, pour well, make wells of this size, so that the seedlings, together with a clod of earth, fit easily in them. Pipette 1 tbsp into each well.spoon of potassium fertilizer that does not contain chlorine, as pepper chlorine does not tolerate. Pour a full hole of water and, once the water is absorbed, plant the seedlings together with a clod of earth. Pepper does not deepen, but is planted just as it grew in a pot.
Seal the soil around the plants, pour and immediately tie to pegs, except for short stature varieties. Do not thicken the planting, this will lead to stem rot. Each variety or hybrid has its height and requirement for the area of nutrition, so follow the recommendations given on the package with the seeds. For the next week, do not water the seedlings.
Pepper can be grown along the rows of tomato, then it will not be attacked by aphids, but it can be planted in one greenhouse with cucumbers, although it prefers dry air. But it is best to grow pepper in a separate low greenhouse, in which the air at night is not cooled as much as in the high one. And since pepper very badly tolerates temperature changes, it is more suitable for small greenhouses. In high greenhouses on cool nights it is necessary to include heating, at least an electric lamp with a power of 100 watts per 10 m2, a kerosene lamp, a belt electric heater. And it is necessary to plant pepper on the warmed ground, if the hothouse without heating. In regions with a cool summer, the pepper should also be planted on the warmed soil.
As a biofuel, you can take dry hay, leaves, unbroken compost, but do not take the manure, because the pepper will build up the above-ground part, but will not tie buds, moreover, if in the initial period of growth in the soil there is too much nitrogen, pepperwill dump not only ovaries, but also buds.
Fertilizing and watering pepper
The indicator of the well-being of pepper is the lighter color of young leaves when compared with the rest. Seedling takes about 10 days. As soon as the next leaf appeared, the seedlings took root, and it is possible to feed it with mineral fertilizers, taking 0.5 liters of water per 10 liters.spoons of urea, 1 tbsp.spoon of double granulated superphosphate and potassium fertilizer that does not contain chlorine. Spend a glass under the plant. Further fertilizing is done every 10-14 days, watered regularly, but moderately. Experience shows that it is better to water the pepper not with water, but with a weak solution of mineral fertilizer every week as a fertilizer and watering. To do this, in 10 liters of water must be dissolved 2 tbsp.spoons azofoski and 1 tbsp.a spoonful of potassium that does not contain chlorine, add microelements( 2 teaspoons of "Uniflor-micro" spoon) and pour, spending 10 liters of solution on a five-meter bed.Drip irrigation can be organized( as described in the section on tomatoes).Using "Aquadon" and fertilizer AVA, you can water once every 2-3 weeks, and do not do any fertilization at all summer. Growing pepper without watering, like tomato, of course, can not, because it does not tolerate the slightest drying of the surface layer of the soil. But mulch the surface of the soil under the planting of pepper must be.
Formation and development phases of pepper
Low-grown varieties and hybrids can not be tied up or formed. Tallies tie up and need to be formed. Gradually, you need to remove all the leaves before the fork of the stem, constantly clean and all the stepsons to the fork. Sometimes in the fork, three stems are formed instead of two, the third is best removed. All twigs and buds directed into the bush should also be removed, as these twigs thicken and shade the bush, and the fruits from the inner buds grow ugly. In the conditions of the Northwest, 2-3 succeeding forks on each branch can form, therefore it is possible to remove pepper 2-3 times from each bush during the summer. In late July, all buds and flowers should be cut off, leaving only the ovaries, and pinching the ends of all branches to stop further growth. Then in the end of September you will receive many fruits, otherwise there will be one little thing that has not had time to grow.
In the fork of the bush, a fetus is formed that produces a special inhibitor substance that suppresses the growth of the remaining ovaries. If you want to get very large peppers or grow your seeds, then you should leave this fruit and take the seeds from it. If you want to get a lot of peppers, then this fruit should be plucked even in the bud stage, as soon as possible, while the fruits will not be very large, for by weight the plant yields the same yield: either a few large fruits or many small ones.
The crop should be formed depending on the condition of the plant: on the strong - to leave more fruit, on the weaker - less, plucking buds or ovaries.
Shoots appear at a temperature of about 25 degrees in about 2 weeks, 15-20 days after emergence, the first real leaf appears, and every week the next one. After 40-90 days after emergence, depending on the variety, budding begins. From the appearance of the bud before the flowering takes 15-25 days, each flower is opened about 6 days. From the moment of ovary formation to the fruit of technical ripeness, 20-30 days pass and 20-30 days will be required for ripening of the fetus from technical to biological ripeness. So, in order to grow peppers of technical ripeness, it will be required from the moment of shoots from 75 to 165 days, depending on the variety, and accordingly from 95 to 195 days from shoots to fruits of biological ripeness.
Pepper, like tomato, is perennial, unfortunately we do not hibernate, that's why we grow it in one-year culture. But it can be transplanted into a large three-liter container at the end of the summer and taken home. In this case, you can not break off the buds and flowers at the end of July. At home, it will blossom and will bear fruit until the end of November, if you provide him with sufficient lighting. Then he will lose the foliage, during this period it is not necessary to feed him, water should be very little. In February, the pepper will come to life and again cover with foliage, quickly blossom. On the site you will transport it and drop it into the greenhouse already with fruits.
Pepper grows well on the windowsill, especially small-fruited varieties. Year-round grows, blossoms and fructifies small-bodied bitter pepper, which is grown as a decorative room culture, but it is suitable for food. Excellent grow on the windowsill and small as sweet-boned, and bitter dwarf varieties of pepper.
As in the case of tomatoes, you can get your own seeds from varieties( but not from hybrids).On seeds it is best to leave the first fruit in the fork. When it is painted in the color that is inherent in this variety, cut the fruit, shake out the seeds and dry them. Seeds of peppers are not washed. Like tomatoes, the best peppers grow from their seeds. If the seeds are not ripe, they will darken when drying, and their edges will slightly curl, they, naturally, will not ascend.
The fruit left on the seeds can be removed at the beginning of staining and allowed to fully ripen to the stage of biological ripeness. Seeds obtained from overripe peppers, as well as from overripe tomatoes, have poor germination.
Pepper Diseases and
Problems The stem starts to rot and the plant is killed - it is the stem rot. Most often appears in thickened plantings with poor airing or high humidity, with prolonged cooling( below 15 degrees).When a white scurf appears, which is the first sign of the disease, immediately stop watering, ventilate the greenhouses, remove all leaves and stepsons from the stems to the fork, dilute the branches on each plant, remove the rag with a cloth and cover the damaged area with putty from chalk and potassium permanganate with water. Either rinse with a strong solution of potassium permanganate and pollinate the ashes.
With prolonged cooling, or sudden changes in temperature, or prolonged rainy weather, give the peppers a calcium and potassium top dressing( 2 tablespoons of calcium nitrate + 2 tablespoons of carbonate or potassium sulfate per 10 liters of water, a glass per plant).
The branches are bare, rise up, the withering leaves have a mosaic color, the fruits are ugly, woody - this is a viral disease pillar. Dig out a bush and burn it. At the top or side of the fruit, a bright spot forms, which then rotes, - this is the vertex rot. She is not a disease. The reason is the lack of potassium, calcium, water. Pour, top up with potassium and calcium, as mentioned above. Leaves have a brown border or are curled upwards by a boat - this is a lack of potassium. Give foliar top dressing on leaves in the evening( 1 tablespoon of potassium nitrate or any potassium fertilizer without chlorine for 10 liters of water), and even better to feed on the leaves with fertilizer "Uniflorus-bud"( 2 teaspoons per 10 liters) or pour outfor each plant on wet soil, 1/2 cup of ash.
The leaves rise vertically upwards - lack of phosphorus, top off with superphosphate( 3 tablespoons per 10 liters of water).
All the leaves, not just the young ones, lighten up - a lack of nitrogen, feed the infusion of weeds, diluting the infusion with water 1: 5, consuming 0.5 liters, or urea( 2 tablespoons per 10 liters), a glass under the plant.
Against all diseases of peppers should be preventive spraying with a mixture of three drugs: 2 drops of "Zircon" + "Epine-extras" + "Citovita" dissolved in 1 liter of water and sprinkled with pepper once a month. The soil before planting and planting is useful for watering with a solution of "Phytosporin".Any disease is easier to prevent than to get rid of them.
The main pest at pepper is a aphids, as with it to struggle, it has already been told.
Often leaves damage slugs, eating large holes. Near each stem, arrange a metaldehyde( preparations "Thunderstorm" or "Meta") with a triangle, or tie the bottom of the stalk with nettle. There is also a simple folk remedy: 0.5 cups of 9% vinegar per 10 liters of water. Sprinkle plants and soil under them in the evening, when slugs and snails are sent for feeding. There is still a good folk way: lay out among the plantings pieces of slate. In the daytime, turn them around and collect the slugs that will be raised to wait for the day.
Typical failures in the cultivation of pepper
Pepper turned out to be bitter. This could be due to the fact that you planted a number of sweet and bitter varieties. Since the ancestor of sweet pepper is bitter pepper, when perepyleniem all peppers turn out to be bitter.
Pepper does not give buds for a long time. This means that you have overfed it with nitrogen fertilizers, including infusion of weeds or manure, which it is generally counter-indicative.
Pepper blossoms, but does not form ovaries. No pollination occurs at high humidity or too high air temperature in the greenhouse, with a strong( below 12 degrees) cooling. Use "Buton" or "Ovary" preparations, spray them with solutions in the morning. Well ventilated greenhouses in hot weather, heat them for a strong and prolonged cooling, less water plants.
Peppers are bloomed with flowers and even ovaries. The plant could fall under frost;in the supply of excess nitrogen;too dry soil, and although the pepper does not like excessive moisture in the soil, it does not tolerate even the slightest drying of the roots;sharp( more than 15 degrees) difference in daytime and night temperatures;long cooling or watering with cold water. The shedding of the ovaries can be caused by a disease of fruit rot in the place of attachment of the fetus. Sprinkle the pepper in the evening on the leaves with "Uniflor-bud" fertilizer( 2 tsp on