Pepper bunny ears planting and care in the open field

Pepper is a rather demanding crop, and you can only get a harvest with proper care. Experienced gardeners achieve excellent results without problems, but beginners often have difficulties in growing pepper. It often happens that strong healthy bushes give 2-3 fruits of not the best quality or the ovaries fall off for no apparent reason. But you really want to collect peppers in buckets, so that it is juicy, large, fragrant! In fact, it is not so difficult to achieve a good harvest, you just need to carefully study several important rules of agricultural technology of this wonderful culture.

Secrets of growing pepper

Variety selection

Bell pepper. Variety selection

When planning to grow peppers in the open field, first of all, you need to choose the right variety. The growing season for pepper is very long, and even in early varieties, the first fruits ripen 100 days after germination. Therefore, in order to have time to get a harvest, you need to pay attention only to early and mid-season varieties. In addition, you should take into account the climatic features of your region. For example, in the south of the country, peppers of different ripening periods are successfully grown, since the conditions there are the most favorable, and in the northern and eastern regions the best results are shown mainly by cold-resistant early maturing varieties.

Bulgarian pepper: variety selection

The shape and size of the fruit is also important. For stuffing and canning, it is worth choosing varieties with cone-shaped small fruits; for fresh consumption, large thick-walled cuboid fruits are more suitable.

Thick-walled sweet pepper

If you are going to grow peppers for sale, take a closer look at the Dutch breeding hybrids: they are cold-resistant, ripen early and amicably, less often they are affected by diseases.

It is difficult for a novice gardener to understand the abundance of varieties, so below are the most popular and reliable ones:

• early cold-resistant varieties - Eroshka, Funtik, Yunga, Sorvanets, Cornet, Smile;
• early varieties with high yields - Ivanhoe, Marinkin Yazychok, Bonus, Coupon;

  Ivanhoe

• mid-season varieties - Atlant, Bogatyr, Orange King, California miracle;
• productive hybrids - Gemini F1, Claudio F1, Salamander F1;

  Claudio F1

• hot pepper varieties - Adjika, Hungarian yellow, Fiery bouquet, Ogonyok, Superchili.

  Hot pepper - Hungarian yellow

Site preparation

You should choose and prepare a site for pepper in the fall. Well-prepared soil is a guarantee of normal growth and fruiting of plants for the next year. The ideal place is the beds on the south side of the house or outbuildings, which are in light shade in the afternoon. This arrangement provides protection from both wind and leaf burns in the July heat. Peppers should not be planted where tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants and other nightshade crops have grown in the previous three years. The best predecessors of pepper are considered to be legumes and pumpkin crops, cabbage, melons and green manures.

Preparing a bed for pepper

The soil for the pepper should be neutral or slightly acidic. In beds with acidic soil, plants take root for a long time after transplanting, develop poorly, almost do not bloom and do not bear fruit.

Advice! It is very easy to check the acidity at home: you need to take a little earth and moisten it with ordinary table vinegar. If no reaction follows, the soil is acidic and needs liming, but if bubbles appear on the surface, this indicates neutral acidity.

How to determine the acidity of the soil

Plants-indicators of soil pH

So, if the soil in the selected area is acidic, slaked lime (1 glass per square meter) or wood ash (1.5-3 kg) is added during digging. If the soil is neutral, you need to add rotted organic matter (from 5 to 10 kg per m2) and dig up the beds to a depth of 20-25 cm.

Growing seedlings

Sowing pepper seeds in open ground is impractical, the plants will not have time to start fruiting before the cold weather. That is why both sweet and hot peppers are grown through seedlings. Mid-season and mid-late varieties are sown around early February, early ones - in early March. Please note that overgrown seedlings adapt for a very long time in the open field, especially if already flowering plants are planted.

Step 1. The seeds are immersed in warm water for 5-6 hours to swell. Then they are laid out on a damp cloth, wrapped and left in a warm place for 2-3 days, until the sprouts hatch.

Seed soaking

Presowing seed treatment

Step 2. Mix 1 part of garden soil, 1 part of sand and 2 parts of rotted organic matter, heated in a microwave or conventional oven for disinfection. Then add a tablespoon of wood ash to 1 kg of the mixture and mix thoroughly.

Step 3. Take peat pots or disposable cups with a capacity of 0.5 liters for sowing and fill them with prepared soil. You can sow seeds in a common container, but as the seedlings grow, it will become cramped, and the pepper does not like picking.

Peat cups with soil

Step 4. The hatched seeds are laid out one by one in each pot, lightly sprinkled with earth, moistened through a spray bottle. Then the containers are covered with glass or foil and placed in a warm place. The temperature must be maintained within 22-24 degrees.

Seedling care

Sprouts appear as early as 2-3 days after sowing. At this time, they need to provide at least 12 hours of lighting, so prepare phytolamps in advance. The film is removed from the pots so that the high humidity does not destroy the tender sprouts. Pepper seedlings are watered very sparingly, only when the substrate begins to dry out.Water is used only warm and separated, from cold water the development of seedlings slows down.

If the air in the room is too dry, the seedlings should be sprayed in the morning (also with warm water). When airing the room, be sure to cover the seedlings from drafts, avoid sudden changes in temperature. A week after germination, it is recommended to lower the night temperature to 15 ° C. The grown and matured seedlings should be hardened little by little. On warm days, when the temperature outside the window rises to 13 ° C, the pepper should be exposed to the open air, providing protection from the wind. For the first time, half an hour is enough, then the time spent in the air is increased daily. On cold days, seedlings are not tolerated, since plants can be damaged already at 10 ° C.

Growing pepper seedlings in peat pots

Pepper seedlings in cups

Landing in the ground

Before planting seedlings, the beds are weeded, loosened and leveled. The holes are made at a distance of 30 cm in a row, 60-70 cm are left between the rows. Peppers need to be planted in the evening or in cloudy weather, since the heat of the day is additional stress for the plant. About 5-6 hours before transplanting, the seedlings are watered abundantly so that the root system can more easily adapt to new conditions. Water for irrigation is also prepared in advance: it is collected in buckets or a large container and placed in the sun for heating.

Step 1. 2-3 liters of water are poured into each well and allowed to soak a little.

Step 2. Seedlings are carefully removed from the containers so that the earthen lump does not disintegrate. If peat pots were used, the peppers are planted with them.

The hole for planting pepper should be so deep that when planting, the root collar is at the level of the soil surface

Water and top up the soil abundantly

Step 3. Plants are lowered into the hole a little deeper than they grew in cups, sprinkled with earth on all sides, compacted with hands.

Advice! Peppers are easily pollinated, so if you plan on harvesting seeds, plant different varieties as far apart as possible. Additionally, you can intersperse them with tall crops, for example, corn, sunflower, Jerusalem artichoke and others. Hot and sweet peppers must also be planted at the maximum distance, otherwise all fruits will have a pungent taste.

Outdoor Pepper Care

Bell pepper seedlings a few days after planting

Watering and feeding

2 days after planting, the pepper is watered and the ground is sprinkled with fine straw, dry grass or sawdust. In the future, you need to water the plants once a week until the ovaries are formed, after which the watering is increased - 1 time per 5 days. In order not to water so often, you can increase the mulch layer to 10 cm.

Mulch the plantings with peat

The plantings are fed three times:

• for the first time, fertilizer is applied 10 days after planting. For this, bird droppings are used, diluted in a ratio of 1:10, with the addition of 200 g of ash and 40 g of superphosphate per 10 l of solution. The specified volume is enough for about 10 bushes;
• the second time the pepper is fed at the beginning of fruiting with a mullein solution in a ratio of 1: 5 or diluted bird droppings (1:10);
• the third time fertilization is applied during the mass formation of fruits, when the plants are most in need of replenishment of nutrients.

Sweet Pepper Care

By the appearance of the pepper, it is easy to determine which substances it lacks. If the leaves dry out along the edge and then curl, this indicates a lack of potassium. Lack of nitrogen is expressed by the dullness of the leaves, the presence of a grayish tint. In addition, the leaves become small. But with an excess of nitrogen, ovaries and flowers begin to fall off. A deep purple color on the back of the leaves indicates a lack of phosphorus, a marble pattern occurs when there is a lack of magnesium. The use of mineral fertilizers helps to replenish all this, but do not forget to accurately observe the dosage, otherwise all the surplus will end up in the fruits.

If the autumn is warm, with the help of another top dressing, you can prolong the fruiting of early varieties. To do this, 50 g of superphosphate, 15 g of ammonium nitrate and potassium chloride are diluted in 10 liters of water.

Loosening

Loosen the ground around the peppers with a hoe to prevent weeds from growing

The soil between the rows must be regularly loosened to a depth of 10 cm. The formation of a soil crust slows down the development of pepper, causes oxygen starvation of the root system. It is best to loosen in the morning after watering while the ground is still moist enough. If mulch was not used, loosening is carried out under the bushes themselves, but very carefully, since the roots are located very close to the surface. During the period of budding and flowering, it is advisable to spud each plant to a height of 10-12 cm.

Bush formation

To get large ripe fruits, excess shoots (stepchildren) should be removed from the plant. All shoots located below the first branch are removed completely, since they only draw out the juices from the plant and interfere with fruiting. In addition, the crown should be thinned so that each branch receives enough air and light. Too dense bushes form few ovaries, the fruits grow on them small and thin-walled.

Pepper picking

Sweet pepper bush formation

On average, pruning is carried out every two weeks, but if the summer is rainy, stepchildren will have to be removed more often - about once every 10 days. It is advisable to combine pruning with loosening the soil in order to disturb the plant less.

The shoots of the pepper are quite fragile, and any careless movement can damage the stems. To avoid this, it is recommended to tie tall varieties to supports.

Pepper garter

Diseases and pests

This culture is susceptible to late blight, white and apical rot, tobacco mosaic and some other diseases. The best way to deal with them is through prevention and proper care. Compliance with the planting scheme, timely thinning and pruning, proper watering, removal of diseased plants from the garden will help you keep plantings healthy and get a full harvest.

Dusting the bushes with wood ash is effective against pests. This should be done at least 5 times per season, preferably in the morning, while the leaves are wet. For spider mites and aphids, spraying pepper with garlic infusion also helps. Slugs that do not mind eating fresh leaves are collected using traps or scared away with salt, lime, mustard, pepper powder, scattered between the rows.

Video - Pepper: growing and care in the open field

Video - Planting pepper seedlings

Video - Formation of a pepper bush

In nature, there are more than 2,000 species

peppers

and their homeland is Central America. In this article I will tell you about sweet peppers, which are also called Bulgarian. "Mexican" came to Europe in the 15th century and by roundabout ways, through Spain, Turkey, Iran, eventually penetrated into our lands. Here he took root seriously, despite his warmth and capricious disposition - after all, pepper has more than enough merits! It is not only rich in bright colors that give the dish a festive look, not only tasty and juicy, but also an invaluable storehouse of vitamins. In this respect, a rare vegetable or fruit can be compared to it.

Sweet peppers are ripening But to get a good harvest, you have to try. This "southerner" loves warm weather, so in the middle latitudes it is grown mostly by seedlings and in greenhouses.

Pepper is a short-day plant, that is, if the daylight hours lasts less than 12 hours, the pepper starts to bear fruit earlier and, importantly, gives more stable and high yields.

Growing pepper seedlings

If you do not have a greenhouse, then pepper seeds must be sown in February so that the plants are 90-100 days old before transplanting in May.Pepper does not tolerate picking well, so try to immediately sow seeds in individual peat pots with a diameter of about 8-10 cm. It makes no sense to use large pots because of the slow development of its root system.

Peat pots for peppers - a good option The substrate for growing peppers in seedlings should be light and loose and consist of 2 parts of humus, mixed with 1 part of sand and 1 part of earth. For 1 kg of such a mixture, you need to add a tablespoon of ash.

Pepper seeds need pre-planting treatment - they need to be kept until they swell for five hours in water, the temperature of which is about + 50 ° C. After that, they must be placed for pecking into a damp cloth for 2-3 days, the room temperature is about + 20 ° C. Having carried out such a simple pre-planting seed preparation, you will receive seedlings literally the next day after sowing.

Sown pepper seeds must be well watered, and immediately after that, cover with plastic wrap or glass. Before sprouting, they can be in any warm (about + 22 ° C) place, the lighting is not important, it is also possible in the dark. After the emergence of seedlings, the optimum temperature for growing seedlings is about + 26 ... + 28 ° C during the day, about + 10 ... + 15 ° C at night.

Do not indulge the peppers with excessive watering, this can only harm them - cause a black leg disease. But try not to let the substrate dry out. Water for irrigation should be warm - about + 30 ° C, from excessively cold seedlings will be frail, get sick and may even die. Do not forget to monitor the air in the room in which the seedlings are grown, it should not be too dry. Spray the plants, and ventilate the room itself, remembering to protect from drafts.

Pepper seedlings require additional lighting. Throughout the month of February, it must be lit from 7 am to 9 pm. Before planting, the seedlings need hardening, gradual accustoming to the rays of the sun, lower temperatures, wind and rain. For this, the plant is taken out into the fresh air, gradually increasing the time of its stay there. During hardening, watch the weather conditions, it is impossible to allow the pepper seedlings to get frozen or low temperature - for pepper it is below + 13 ° C.

Planting pepper

The best precursors for peppers: onions, cucumbers, pumpkin, cabbage after green manure, courgette and carrots. Poor predecessors: potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, physalis and eggplant.

Light soils are best for growing. It is better to prepare the soil for pepper in advance - a year in advance, adding 5 kg of organic fertilizers per square meter under the predecessor, and in the fall, 50 g of potash and phosphorus fertilizers for deep digging. In the spring, on the site - in the top layer of the soil, we add 40 g of ammonium nitrate. Five days before replanting pepper seedlings to a permanent place, disinfect the soil, this must be done with the help of a solution - add a tablespoon of copper sulfate to a bucket of water.

Seedlings are planted in open ground at the end of May - mid-June, according to the 40x40 cm scheme. Pepper seedlings are planted in an unheated film greenhouse in early April, and in tunnel shelters at the end of May.

Planting pepper To place seedlings in the holes, try to the same depth at which the plants grew in the seedling box, without exposing the roots and without dropping its root collar. Pepper does not like cold soil, and if you want to get a serious harvest, arrange high beds for it, which must be raised by 25-55 centimeters.

Remember, peppers are highly susceptible to over-pollination, so if you plant several varieties of it on your site, try to place them as far away from each other as possible and, if possible, separate them from each other by planting tall tomatoes,

corn

and

sunflower

.

Growing pepper by planting seeds in open ground is impractical even in the southern regions. Sowing will have to be late anyway, when the soil warms up, the plant will develop more slowly, the first fruits will ripen later, and the fruiting period of the pepper will be much shorter.

Pepper care

Pepper care consists of timely watering, garters, weeding and dressing. The first feeding of pepper seedlings must be carried out in the phase of 1-2 true leaves, for which 0.5 g of ammonium nitrate, 1 g of potassium fertilizers and 3 g of superphosphate are mixed in 1 liter of water. The second feeding 2 weeks after the first, the dose of mineral fertilizers for it must be doubled.

Feeding pepper seedlings with a special nettle infusion is effective, for the preparation of which you need to take 1 part of nettle and 10 parts of water - we insist for 2 days. The last feeding should be carried out 2 days before you intend to plant the seedlings in a permanent place, while increasing the dose of potash fertilizers to 7 g per 1 liter of water. During the season, you need to make about 3-4 dressings of pepper with chicken droppings - 1:10, alternating such dressings with foliar, for which you need to use mineral fertilizers, for example, nitrophoska (a tablespoon in a bucket of water).

A bed of peppers

With a lack of potassium, the pepper leaves curl and a drying border appears on them. But you need to be careful with potassium - pepper does not tolerate the abundance of potassium chloride. If the plant lacks nitrogen, its leaves become dull and, acquiring a grayish tint, gradually become smaller. When there is a lack of phosphorus, the underside of the pepper leaves becomes deep purple, and the leaves themselves are pressed closer to the trunk of the plant and rise up. If there is a lack of magnesium, the leaves become marbled, and the excess nitrogen in the soil leads to the shedding of ovaries and pepper flowers.

In hot and humid weather, it is imperative to carry out pinching (removal of side shoots), especially for the lower stepchildren, and vice versa, if it is hot, but dry weather, the plants do not pinch, since the leaf mass perfectly protects soil moisture from evaporation. Experienced growers are advised to remove the central flower on the plant growing from the first branch, this will help to increase the yield.

During the growing season, the peppers must be pruned several times, trying to shorten the longest shoots and ensure that there are no shaded branches. Be sure to remove all the peppers below the main fork of the stem, as well as the branches inside the crown. Pruning should be done every ten days and after harvesting. Simultaneously with pruning, soil cultivation is also carried out.

Try to attract pollinating insects to the garden by spraying the plants with a sugar solution during flowering: 100 g of sugar and 2 g of boric acid per liter of hot water. An excellent result is given by feeding peppers with liquid organic fertilizers.

It is useful to mulch the pepper with rotted straw - a layer of about 10 cm, so you can reduce the frequency of watering, reducing them to once every 9-10 days. Timely care of pepper plants also consists in the garter of the plants. It is necessary to make a garter after hilling and mulching.

Pests and diseases

The most common diseases of pepper: late blight, white rot, macrosporiosis, apical rot, septoria, black leg. More than others, peppers are harmed by slugs, whiteflies, scoops, aphids, the Colorado potato beetle and the bear. To protect the pepper from damage by the bear, an hour before planting its seedlings, the previously made holes must be filled with water. Having planted pepper seedlings, spray the plantings with a sprayer again. During the season, 3 times, pepper plants must be pollinated with wood ash - preferably with dew. It will also help protect them from pests.

If you notice pepper seedlings

aphids

, process the peppers with whey - one and a half liters per bucket of water.After this procedure, powder the plants with sifted wood ash.

Pepper varieties

Before planting pepper, you need to decide on the choice of the variety, and here it all depends not only on your taste preferences, but also on the purpose of future fruits. So, if you intend to consume peppers mainly fresh, it is better to give preference to thicker-walled and large-fruited varieties, for example

‘California miracle’ ,

'Gladiator ‘,

'Winnie the Pooh' or

‘Gift of Moldova’ ... If the main purpose is

conservation

, then choose small-fruited varieties belonging to the "Siberian" series:

'Merchant' ,

‘Ermak’ ,

'Victoria' and others.

One of the earliest ripening varieties of pepper, the fruits ripen early and amicably. After the first harvest, the pepper variety '

Ermak ' blooms again and gives a good second crop. Very large fruits, the weight of which reaches 250 g. The yield of the variety is 12-15 kg / m².

• 'Gladiator'

Medium late Dutch variety with large, bright yellow fruits, tasty, with thick flesh. The thickness of the fruit walls reaches 13 mm, the weight of individual specimens reaches 380-400 g, and the yield is 10-12 kg / m².

• 'Medal'

An early ripe variety with extended fruiting. It blooms constantly and forms new ovaries. The fruits of the Medal variety are quite large - up to 150 g, in biological ripeness they are bright red in color, with a wall thickness of about 8-13 mm. The yield of the variety reaches 16 kg / m².

• ‘Yova’

One of the fastest ripening Russian varieties, from the emergence of seedlings to the moment of technical ripeness, it takes about 95-100 days. Very productive, juicy and thick-walled. The yield is up to 14 kg per square meter, and the weight of some of its fruits exceeds 250 g. It is unpretentious and gives excellent yields even on heavy soils.

• ‘California miracle’

Medium early variety, fruit weight up to 400 g, and wall thickness up to 12 mm.

• ‘Black Cardinal’

Belongs to late Italian varieties, has unusually beautiful black-purple fruits (in technical ripeness) turning into red (in biological ripeness). From m² up to 10 kg of yield.

• 'Victoria'

The variety is medium early, fruits are relatively small by weight - up to 110 g, conical, slightly ribbed, about 7-13 cm long, wall thickness 7-8 mm. Productivity 9-10 kg / m².

. 

How to properly cultivate peppers in the open field and create care? Bell peppers are a southern crop and require warmth and humidity. In the middle lane, peppers are grown in open soil through seedlings and greenhouses. To grow the desired crop crop, you need special care.

Pepper grows well in the open field of the middle lane

Soil preparation

Growing pepper in the open field requires proper preparation of the land.

Outdoor sweet peppers grow better in places with a mild climate and in an area where there is more sun and less wind. To protect from the wind, they make a shield from plants or erect a wattle fence.

To grow peppers in an open area, it is important to understand after which crops it is more effective to grow peppers.

Planting peppers is best done in the place where cabbage, pumpkin, cucumbers, legumes, table roots grew. In places with a previous harvest of tomato, eggplant, potatoes, planting peppers for three years is not recommended, since diseases of these vegetables spread through the ground.

The soil allocated for the pepper should be fertile and retain moisture. They begin to prepare the ground in the fall. Harvesting in the fall, you need to carefully collect the remains of the previous crop and dig up the ground. They also fertilize the soil, enriching the following substances (per 1 square meter):

• superphosphate in a volume of 30-50 g;
• wood ash - 50-80 g;
• humus - from 5 to 10 kg.

In places where fresh manure was fertilized, sweet peppers cannot be planted, since there is no need for organic fresh feeding.Excessive nitrogen in the soil causes the active growth of the vegetative parts of the pepper, and the ovary is so poorly preserved, which affects the yield.

In the fall, the place where they plan to place the pepper is dug deeply. In the spring, the soil is loosened and fed with fertilizers with phosphorus, potassium and nitrogen. The earth is slightly dug up and leveled before planting seedlings.

Pumpkin is a great precursor for pepper

How to properly plant seedlings?

Only when the frost is over is it recommended to plant peppers. This is in the second half of May. Planting is carried out according to the scheme 60-70 x 20-30 cm.

Before planting, it is important to water the seedlings well so that the pepper does not wilt. The withered pepper does not take root well, its growth is delayed, which leads to the dropping of the first buds. So the early harvest is lost.

If the weather is hot, it is best to plant in the evening. In gloomy weather, morning disembarkation is recommended.

Prepare the holes for planting and water. It is recommended to pour up to two liters of water (at least a liter) into each hole, which should be heated in the sun. The seedlings are planted deeper than they were planted in pots, like seedlings. On the stalk covered with earth, adventitious roots are formed that can feed the plant.

Pepper seedlings are planted in the holes, while ensuring sufficient watering

How to water bell peppers properly?

Sweet pepper seedlings require special care.

In order for the seedling to take root faster, it is necessary to water the root every 2-3 days. For one seedling, 1-2 liters of water are consumed. If the weather is hot, water it every day. Seven days later, the seedlings are checked and where the pepper has died, a new sprout is planted from the reserve. Reduce the amount of watering. This is called "thin" watering. It is important not to harm the plants with abundant watering. How to determine the water requirement of a vegetable? If the plant darkens, this is a sign that water is needed. Prolonged wilting of the plant should not be allowed. If the leaves are withered in the heat, this is not a reason for watering.

When the fruits ripen, watering is done once every 5-6 days. In the heat, watered in the morning or evening hours.

Watering young peppers should be regular

When to loosen the soil?

Sweet peppers grow comfortably in loosened ground. It should not be brought to the appearance of an earthen crust.

What is the use of loosening the soil?

• Air flow to the root is improved.
• The plant grows faster.
• The functioning of microorganisms is stimulated.

By weeding the ground, weeds are being fought.

You should be aware of the slow growth of pepper in the first 10-14 days, because the rhizome is strengthened and the soil does not need to be loosened.

The first loosening of the earth is done after the first "thin" watering. The root system is in the upper ball of the earth, so the loosening will be shallow, at a level of 5-10 cm.

If the soil is heavy, the first time it is allowed to loosen the soil deeper, destroying the soil crust. This way the soil warms up and ventilates better.

Further, loosening is carried out after each rain or watering, when the earth is dry, but there is still no crust.

Hilling is carried out during flowering.

Loosening the soil around the peppers should be done regularly.

Feeding

Pepper care will not bring the desired harvest if not fed.

Seedlings are well fertilized with nettle dressing. To do this, combine nettle with water, in a ratio of 1:10 and insist for two days. The last time the seedlings are fed 2 days before planting, increasing the dosage of fertilizers with potassium (7 g per 1 liter of liquid).

At least three dressings are done per season. The first time during the first plowing (after disembarkation in two weeks). Fertilize with slurry from manure, poultry droppings, mixing with phosphorus-potassium fertilizers or wood ash.

Manure is diluted with water in a ratio of 1: 4, bird droppings are diluted 1:10. It is good to alternate the chicken afterbirth with nitrophos (1 tablespoon per bucket of liquid).

It is effective to add 40-60 g of superphosphate and potassium chloride up to 20 g to an organic fertilizer solution (manure, droppings).or wood ash in the amount of 150-200 g.

Mineral fertilizers are also used. To do this, add the following substances to 10 liters of water:

• ammonium nitrate - 15-20 g;
• superphosphate - 40-60 g;
• potassium chloride - 15-20 g.

This dressing is used for 8-10 seedlings.

During the formation of fruits, the need for pepper nutrition increases. At this stage, the third feeding is carried out. And the second time they feed at the beginning of fruiting, with an increase in the dose of ammonium nitrate.

If the fruits of the culture ripen small, they are fed for the fourth time.

It is important to know that when caring for peppers, they use fertilizing without chlorine or with a very small percentage. Pepper does not tolerate chlorine. But there is a good substitute for potassium chloride - this is ash from wood.

Superphosphate is one of the main fertilizers for pepper

How to protect peppers from frost?

Having planted pepper, you need to know how to protect the crop from frost and damage. Caring for a crop at the time of frost, forcing ingenuity.

Tents are built from scrap materials (pieces of wood, cardboard, fabric, etc.). They are made in the evening and removed in the morning. But when the cold snap lasts a long time, it is advisable to use a film.

Flowers and ovary fall off often. All due to the unfavorable temperature conditions for the vegetable (low or very high temperature). Growth stops at + 8-10 degrees. But if there is a heat of 30-35 degrees for several days, the buds also fall off.

The consequence of untimely watering is a lack of moisture. Dry soil also reduces crop growth.

Pepper cannot be shaded. In insufficient light, especially during a cold snap, flowers and ovary also fall off.

Bell pepper flowers may fall off due to lack of sunshine

Features of the care of bell pepper

There are some subtleties of caring for peppers, in order to better yield:

1. It is imperative to pinch the pepper - removing the side and bottom stepsons. But in hot and dry weather, pinching is not recommended. Leaves protect the soil from evaporation. Professionals suggest, to increase the yield, cut the central flower that has grown from the first branch.
2. During the growing season, long shoots are cut off a little so that there is no shading of other branches.
3. Remove plant branches below the main branch and internal branches. Pruning is carried out every 10 days.
4. Pollinating insects are useful for sweet peppers. They are attracted by spraying the plant, during the flowering period with a solution of sugar (100 g of sugar and 2 g of boric acid are diluted in 1 liter of hot water).
5. Applying mulching of peppers with rotted straw (up to 10 cm of a layer), the frequency of watering will decrease.
6. When leaving, it is important to tie up the crop immediately after hilling and mulching.

Mulching Pepper Helps Reduce Watering Frequency

Pest control

Pepper is sensitive to diseases, therefore it requires special care.

But most pepper suffers from pests (scoop, whitefly, aphid, Colorado potato beetle, bear, slugs).

So that the plant is not damaged, pollination is carried out with wood ash (three times per season). To fight aphids, you can use a solution of serum with water (0.5 liters of serum per bucket of liquid). And sprinkle the leaves with wood ash on top.

With all the tips in hand, you can grow a great sweet pepper crop.

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Pepper, planting and outdoor care for which has much in common with caring for tomatoes, is a thermophilic member of the nightshade family. However, with a competent approach to cultivation, the crop can demonstrate excellent results even in rather harsh climatic conditions.

Pepper varieties for open ground

Currently, there are many different varieties, the classification of which is based on such parameters as the height of the bush, ripening time, purpose. Depending on the climatic characteristics of the cultivation region, the gardener himself chooses the most suitable varieties or hybrids - in the conditions of a short summer, early ripening varieties are used, while in the southern regions it is easy to get a high yield of late ripening varieties.

However, when choosing a variety, farmers are often based on the division according to taste - into sweet and bitter.

Among the sweet varieties, the most popular are:

Chord - an early ripening variety suitable for conservation with excellent taste. On bushes up to 1 m high, red cone-shaped fruits ripen, the weight of which varies from 160 to 190 g with a wall diameter of 6 mm. The variety is resistant to certain viral diseases.

Corvette - a mid-season, high-yielding variety, a semi-sprawling bush of which reaches a height of 70 cm. Bright red cone-shaped fruits weighing up to 80 g are excellent both for fresh consumption and for conservation.

Eroshka - an early variety with compact bushes up to half a meter in height, a distinctive feature of which is the high load of fruits - up to 16 pieces per bush. The orange-red fruits are cuboid and weigh about 140 g with a wall diameter of 5 mm. The variety is resistant to viral mosaic and top rot.

Funtik - early maturing, medium-sized variety with large cone-shaped red fruits, when ripe, the weight can reach 180 g with a wall thickness of 7 mm. The yield is amicable when 18 fruits are formed on two tiers of the bush.

Pinocchio - a very early hybrid, the height of which does not exceed 70 cm, is characterized by oblong cone-shaped fruits of red color with a weight of up to 120 g.

When buying varieties of hot peppers, the choice is often made on the following:

Little Prince - mid-season variety with decorative properties. On bushes up to 120 cm high, yellow or red rounded fruits with a strong aroma and pungent taste ripen. Fruit weight does not exceed 10 g.

Ukrainian bitter - mid-season variety with a semi-spreading bush up to 45 cm, on which a crop is formed from red cone-shaped fruits weighing up to 20 g. It is used both fresh and dried.

Fiery volcano - high-yielding early ripening variety. Narrow-triangular fruits with a pungent taste and pleasant aroma weigh on average about 20 g.

Basic requirements for growing

The cultivation of pepper must be accompanied by the strict fulfillment of the basic requirements:

• preparation of high-quality planting material;
• the right choice of location and preparation of the soil;
• adherence to the timing of planting seedlings in open ground;
• providing the necessary comprehensive care.

Growing seedlings at home

In order to get a rich harvest of pepper in the future, you should take high-quality seedlings seriously.

Work begins in late February-early March, depending on the duration of the growing season of the selected variety, according to the following scheme:

1. The seedling container is disinfected.
2. 10 days before sowing, a soil mixture for seedlings is prepared from leafy soil, peat and sifted sand in a ratio of 2: 2: 1 and ignited in an oven heated to 200 ° C for half an hour.
3. The seeds are sorted out, after which the selected seed is soaked in a pink solution of potassium permanganate for 20 minutes for disinfection.
4. The prepared seeds are distributed over the surface of the substrate with a distance of 1.5-2 cm and sprinkled with a layer of earth of 1 cm.
5. After sowing, the container is covered with a damp cloth and placed in a place with a temperature of 25 ° C.
6. After the sprouts appear, the container is moved to a well-lit place, where the temperature regime is 15-17 ° C.
7. The growth of seedlings is constantly monitored - moistening the soil, turning towards the light.
8. After the formation of one pair of true leaves, the seedlings are dived into separate containers with a volume of 150 ml, which are installed on the windowsill of the western or eastern window, located in a room with a temperature of at least 15 ° C.

Planting bell peppers in open ground

For cultivation of sweet peppers, areas protected from the wind with good lighting are selected.However, in addition to choosing a place before planting seedlings, you should prepare the soil on the site.

Soil requirements

The soil for growing a representative of the nightshade should be light, loose and have a good fertile layer.

The soil preparation process is carried out as follows:

1. In the fall, the site is freed from plant debris and dug up.
2. When digging for 1 m2, 50 g of superphosphate, 80 g of wood ash, 10 kg of humus are introduced.
3. With the arrival of spring, the soil is loosened with the addition of 100 g of ammophos per 1 m2.

After which can you plant?

Good precursors for bell peppers are cruciferous (cabbage), pumpkin (cucumbers, zucchini), legumes (beans, soybeans) and small-seeded (dill, carrots) crops. If last season the site was occupied by tomatoes, peppers, eggplants or potatoes, then seedlings should not be planted there: being representatives of the same family, they remove similar nutrients from the soil and infect it with specialized harmful organisms that develop mainly on these crops.

How and when to plant?

In order to delight yourself with vitamin salads with the addition of pepper during the season and still have left for winter preparations, the gardener should adhere to certain rules:

1. At the end of May, when the threat of night frosts has passed, seedlings are planted that have reached the age of 60-80 days.
2. Wells are prepared according to the scheme 70x30 cm.
3. 1-2 liters of warm, settled water are poured into each depression.
4. After absorbing water, seedlings with a moistened earthy clod are placed in the planting pit and covered with soil.
5. The earth in the near-trunk circle is compacted.

Outdoor care

In order for the selected variety to demonstrate the maximum possible result, it is necessary to carry out appropriate agrotechnical measures.

Frost protection

After planting pepper on the beds, the gardener needs to be prepared for night frosts and prepare portable film shelters, which will also come in handy in the event of a prolonged cold snap. You can use an event from the well-known techniques - smoking. When choosing a material, objects that provide thick smoke should be preferred.

Temperature regime

The optimum temperature at which the pepper develops fully ranges from 20-25 ° C. When the temperature drops below 13 ° C, cover the peppers to avoid dropping buds or ovaries.

Watering the pepper

For a representative of nightshades, humidification is organized with settled, warm water from 24 to 26 ° C:

1. Before the onset of the flowering phase, moistening is carried out once a week with a consumption rate of 12 liters per 1 m2, in case of heat - twice a week.
2. During the flowering and fruiting period, the frequency and volume of watering increase: three times a week, 14 liters per 1 m2.

Top dressing and fertilizers

During the growing season, the pepper is fed 3-4 times:

1. At the first loosening, the first feeding is carried out with bird droppings and superphosphate when diluted with water in a ratio of 1:15.
2. At the beginning of the formation of the ovary, the pepper is fed a second time with 20 g of ammonium nitrate, 60 g of superphosphate and 20 g of potassium chloride, diluted in 10 liters of water.
3. In the fruiting phase, a solution of bird droppings is introduced.
4. When the fruits are crushed, the fourth feeding with wood ash is organized.

Loosening the soil

Pepper, having a delicate root system, needs systematic loosening, which provides free air access to the roots:

1. The first time the procedure is carried out to a depth of 10 cm no earlier than 15 days after planting the seedlings, so as not to injure the superficial root system of the pepper.
2. Subsequent loosening is carried out after each rain and soil moisture until a hard crust is formed.
3. In the phase of flowering, the soil in the near-trunk circle after the next loosening is earthed.

Disease and pest control

Pepper, along with other nightshade crops, is affected by fungal, viral and bacterial diseases. Among the most common are the black leg, which manifests itself at the seedling stage due to non-observance of the temperature regime, humidity level and due to contamination of the soil, as well as wilting, as the plant develops, dies. The use of high-quality seed, crop rotation and maintenance measures will help protect plantings. Also, an effective method of control, if the infection has already occurred, is the treatment of the plantings with a fungicide. Of the pests on pepper, aphids, spider mites, slugs are often noted, for which insecticides and a mechanical method of protection are used in the case of gastropod pests.

How to save bell pepper seeds for planting?

In order to get seedlings of his own production next season, the gardener can prepare the seed on his own as follows:

1. After ripening, large fruits are selected from the shoots of the first order and placed in a place inaccessible to direct rays for ripening.
2. After a week, the seeds are manually removed from the fruit and dried.
3. The finished seed is placed in paper bags or glass containers and sent to storage in a dry place with a constant temperature.

Harvesting and storage

When harvesting pepper, it is necessary to distinguish between types of ripeness - technical and biological. If a vegetable of sweet varieties is supposed to be used immediately, then the collection is carried out after the onset of biological ripeness - the acquisition of a rich color with pepper. If the purpose is storage or transportation, then the fruits are torn off in the phase of technical ripeness, when they are still green. In the case of harvesting hot peppers, the rule applies: "the redder, the hotter". Fans of spicy picks after full ripening, and for those who love such varieties for aroma, and not bitterness, the option of technical ripeness is suitable. So, getting a good harvest is quite easy if you organize the right and comprehensive care.