Bell pepper. Features of care, planting and growing

Caring for bell peppers in the country and in the garden is a favorite pastime for most gardeners. If you choose the right variety and carefully care for it, the colorful bushes in the garden will generously thank their owner.

Grow a rich harvest of bell peppers on personal plot not as simple as it seems at first glance. The main problem that gardeners face when growing this vegetable is the bitterness of the fruit. It’s a shame when you fuss with planting seedlings, regularly water and feed the plant, protect it from pests and diseases, and in the end you get beautiful, juicy, but inedible fruits. Quite often, instead of the expected variety, small twisted stumps grow on the bush.
How to deal with such phenomena? It’s very simple: buy bell pepper seeds from a company with good recommendations and grow seedlings yourself.

Bell pepper seedlings on the windowsill

High-quality bell pepper seedlings are the key to a rich harvest in the future. To make it healthy and strong, you need to take care of quality seeds. It is best to purchase them in specialized stores or on the manufacturer’s website. You should not buy seeds by weight; it is better to take several bags of the ones you like that are suitable for growing in your region. It is important that the packaging is hermetically sealed and provides complete information about the manufacturer, number of seeds, percentage of similarity and expiration date.

Seeds sown on time and correctly will produce friendly and strong shoots. In order for seedlings to please their owners, you need to remember a few rules:

• The best time for sowing. Pepper seedlings have time to become well established before planting in open ground and develop a powerful root system.
• Before sowing, seeds must be soaked in a strong solution of potassium permanganate, left for 15 minutes, washed under running water and process for 12 hours.
• After treatment with a stimulant, it is advisable to place the seeds on a damp cloth and place in.
• After swelling, high-quality seeds suitable for planting are clearly visible.
• Sowing must be done in sterile soil. Do not rely on purchased soil. It may also be infected with infectious bacteria. The best soil proportion for planting bell peppers is a 1:1 mixture of peat, garden soil and sand. The soil mixture should also be watered with a strong solution of potassium permanganate.
• Sowing is done in moist soil in small furrows no deeper than 1.5 cm. The soil is compacted with a spatula or palm. The container is placed in a mini-greenhouse or covered with film.
• Pepper is very heat-loving and seeds require high temperature and humidity to germinate. Until the soil in the container warms up to +25 degrees, seedlings will not appear. This is important to know if you are planting swollen seeds, which can rot in the soil at lower temperatures. If the temperature is lower, then you can wait a very long time for the first shoots or not at all.
• After the first shoots appear, the greenhouse must be ventilated every day for half an hour and the temperature reduced to +22 degrees so that the plants do not stretch out. It is not recommended to water the seedlings at this time. It is better to spray them with warm water from a spray bottle. Water procedures can be carried out on cloudy days, or remove the container with seedlings from the light so as not to burn the tender seedlings.
• At temperatures below +20 degrees, seedlings stop growing. On cloudy days, it is advisable to place plants under.
• After the second true leaf appears, you can begin. Plants are watered abundantly two hours before the start of the procedure. This technique reduces trauma to the root system. Perfect option– replanting with a small lump of earth. Such seedlings quickly take root and begin to grow. If the plant has long roots, then it is advisable to shorten them, but only the part that is not covered with soil. After the pick. Seedlings are watered no earlier than after five days.

Caring for bell peppers

The process of growing bell peppers in open ground is no less important than working with seedlings. If you treat it responsibly, then in the fall small bushes will delight you with a rich, colorful harvest. Caring for bell peppers includes regular weeding, loosening the soil, fertilizing and picking fruits according to their ripeness. Peppers are planted according to a pattern of 40 cm by 40 cm. Such thickened plantings are characteristic of this plant and have a beneficial effect on its growth.

Pepper is not only a heat-loving plant, but also a big drinker. Water the plant with warm water evening time. On hot days, daily watering will not be superfluous.

Once a week, after abundant watering, the plants are fed. Microelements can be added no more than once every two weeks.

Growing sweet bell peppers in a greenhouse is no different from cultivating them outside. The only difference is that tall varieties that require garter or support are also suitable. In a greenhouse, peppers feel more comfortable, as they love warmth and moisture.

The best varieties of bell pepper

Today it is quite difficult to identify bell peppers among the large assortment that domestic and foreign manufacturers offer gardeners.

Among the long-proven varieties, it should be noted:

• "California Miracle"
• "Gift of Moldova"
• "Orange Miracle"

These varieties feel great in open ground and film shelters.

Among modern varieties, they have shown themselves to be worthy:

• "Czardas",
• "Shorokshary" (improved Californian Miracle),
• "Cornet",
• "Triton",
• "Marinka's tongue"
• "Ivanhoe"
• "The Fat Baron"
• "Italian Boot".

In modern selection, red bell peppers have received many relatives that boast yellow, orange, black, white, purple colors and will help create a multi-colored carnival in the garden.

Diseases and pests of bell pepper

A common disease of bell pepper seedlings is black leg. It appears when plantings are thickened and agricultural practices are not followed:

• frequent overflow of soil;
• lack of daily ventilation;
• low room temperature.

When infected with blackleg, 80% of seedlings die, so it is better to adhere to the rules for preventing the disease:

• treat seeds before planting in a solution of potassium permanganate;
• destroy problem seedlings;
• carry out soil disinfection.

At the first signs of the disease, water the soil with a solution of copper sulfate (3%).

Blossom rot affects young bushes that lack calcium. The cause may also be excess in the soil, irregular watering, sudden changes in humidity in the air. The disease manifests itself in the form of watery spots on the fruits, which dry out after a few days. The infection can be quickly and effectively overcome. Once you spray or feed the pepper bushes with calcium nitrate or calcium chloride, the plants quickly return to normal and continue to develop. To prevent the disease, it is necessary to control the amount of nitrogen in the soil and watering.

When the plant withers, turns yellow and the leaves curl, these are sure signs of Fusarium wilt. If measures are not taken, the bush will die in a few days. The peak of the disease occurs at the time of fruit set. There are no treatments for this infection. The only way out is to remove the diseased plant and destroy it. To prevent the disease from visiting vegetable beds, they must be kept clean from weeds and the soil must be loosened regularly.

Septoria blight appears as white spots on the leaves of the plant and can destroy half the crop in a few days. Trichodermin and Fitosporin will help cope with the problem.

The most dangerous pest of bell peppers is the whitefly. You can get rid of it only with the help chemicals. Biological agents effective only if plants are grown outdoors.

Diseases and pests of bell pepper can be defeated if you adhere to the rules of growing the plant and observe the growing season of green pets. Daily observations will help you quickly detect the problem and remove it. But how to grow bell peppers in the country? Urban residents do not have the opportunity to often walk in the garden beds, and in order not to lose most of the harvest, it is necessary to adhere to preventive measures, starting with sowing the seeds. It’s good if it is possible to grow peppers under a film cover. This will help avoid many problems during the absence of owners and protect the plants from hail, hot sun rays, hypothermia and strong wind.

- read our article!

This vegetable, because of its simply fantastic useful composition must be present in dishes all year round, but since it is a heat-loving crop, the growing time in open ground is very limited or even impossible due to climatic conditions Russia.

To eat bell peppers fresh throughout the year, they are grown at home or on the balcony.

Selecting varieties

For indoor or balcony cultivation, varieties of sweet peppers that are small in stature, compact and early ripening are selected.

Let's take a look at some of them.

"Dwarf". The fruits of this variety are ready for consumption 110-115 days after the appearance of the first seedlings.

The weight of one pepper, shaped like a cone, can reach up to 80-85 grams. Beautiful red fruits look great on a small bush.

"Treasure Island". This is an early ripening variety with red-orange fruits that reach technical ripeness at 95-105 days. The length of each pepper is from 4.5 to 5.5 cm, and the thickness is 0.5-0.6 cm.

"Martin".
On small bushes, large red fruits ripen within 130 days. The weight of one pepper can be 90 grams.

"Mysterious Island".
This early ripening variety attracts attention with its upright small bush (from 40 to 60 cm), similar to a bouquet, resistance to tobacco mosaic, and long fruiting time.

"Yarik." The light yellow fruits of this early ripening variety are technically ripe at 120-125 days. A decorative small bush (from 60 to 80 cm) produces a large harvest.

Getting ready for sowing

Bell pepper seeds for growing in room conditions It is best to choose in specialized stores or garden centers.

Its excellent germination ability vegetable crop preserves for 3-5 years, but also sprouts after 8 and 10 years most of seeds

If you have seeds that are stored long time, and you want to check their germination, then you should do this: select several seeds and germinate them on a damp cloth (such as gauze) for several days (from 2 to 5 days) in a warm place. Then you count how many seeds sprouted and convert it into percentages. If the germination rate is 30 percent or lower, you should not use seeds.

Gardener's advice: It is advisable to treat bell pepper seeds ready for sowing in a solution of (weak) manganese for one-third of an hour.

After this, the seeds are rinsed in water, and then, to increase germination energy, they are soaked in water with growth stimulants (heteroauxin, indolylacetic acid, novosil, zircon) for 6-8 to 12 hours.

You can also add microelements, humate-based fertilizers (ideal), and mineral fertilizers in a small dose to this solution.

You can reduce the time for the first shoots to appear by using sprouted seeds. To do this, after processing the seeds, they are placed on a damp cloth and kept for 2 to 3 days at 23-25 ​​degrees Celsius, but be sure to inspect them every day. As soon as most of the seeds have sprouts, they are sown.

Sowing and picking

bell pepper sown in cassettes, small pots or simply plastic cups in March, since during this period the length of daylight hours increases.

Sow one at a time in cassettes, and 2-3 in pots and cups, depending on the diameter.

Any soil for seedlings with an average amount of soil is suitable for sowing. nutrients.

The seeds are placed at a depth of 0.7-1.2 cm of moist soil. Moreover, it is moistened before it is distributed into pots or cassettes.

Specialist's note: seedlings that have two pairs of true leaves are ready to be transplanted into growing containers.

For indoor or balcony culture, containers with a diameter of at least 25 cm and a height of at least 30 cm are selected. They can be from different material(plastic, ceramics).

Care

Drainage must be poured onto the bottom (layer height from 2 to 4 cm).

This can be expanded clay, crushed stone, pieces of broken clay pots, pebbles and much more.

To grow indoors, the soil must be loose, breathable, and high in nitrogen.

You can make up soil for pots yourself from turf, humus, sand and ash, or you can use universal soil for flower crops (terra vita).

Young plants, when transplanted into permanent containers, are buried 2-3 cm.

Important point: for good development and fruiting, bell pepper plants need regular watering, fertilizing, high temperatures, sufficient daylight.

This crop requires a lot of water during the intensive growth of the bush and mass of leaves, as well as during the appearance of flowers and the formation of peppers. But between waterings, the soil in the containers should dry out by three quarters, since excess moisture will quickly lead to rotting of the roots and death of the plant.

The optimal temperature for bell pepper is considered to be between 23 and 27 degrees. The daylight hours should be at least 12 hours. IN winter time For additional lighting, use phytolamps or ordinary lamps with white light.

Feeding

When cultivating this plant, special attention should be paid to fertilizing, since with a lack of nutrition, the amount of harvest sharply decreases and the decorative appearance is lost.

Fertilizing is carried out every two weeks, using mineral fertilizers for vegetable or flower crops. During flowering and fruit set, fertilizers should contain more nitrogen than phosphorus and potassium.

During the period of crop ripening, nitrogen in fertilizing becomes less, and the amount of potassium and phosphorus increases. Usually, during the winter, the plant loses its decorative effect and is replaced with a new one, again grown from seeds.

Watch the video in which an experienced user explains how you can plant bell peppers from seeds at home:

Growing peppers requires care and attention. But if you prepare a strong and healthy seedlings If you properly care for it, the result will be an ideal harvest of large and juicy vegetables.

Preparation of seed material

Bell pepper: cultivation and care in open ground

Proper care Picking peppers in open ground involves careful preparation. You will need tools and supplies for watering, weeding, fertilizing and frost protection.

Timing for planting peppers in open ground

To plant, you need to wait for warm weather to allow the soil to warm up.

• In the south of Russia and in middle lane- at the end of May or beginning of June.
• For the northern regions, this time comes in mid-June, when the threat of return frosts has passed.

Hardening off seedlings before planting

To grow peppers in open ground successfully, seedlings must be hardened off 14 days before planting.

• For several days, open the window slightly for 1-2 hours if the weather is warm.
• Having built a sun shield from plywood sheets, hardening is carried out on the balcony or veranda for a week.
• If the night air temperature is not lower than 14 degrees. Celsius, then it is no longer brought into the room.

Selecting a location and preparing the soil for growing peppers

Select the area where you plan to grow peppers. It should be protected from strong drafts and well lit. The bed must be pre-treated:

• In autumn, the soil is carefully dug up and loosened, after which complex potassium and phosphorus fertilizers are applied (50 grams per 1 sq.m.)
• In the spring, 40 g is added to the top layer of soil on the site. ammonium nitrate for each square meter.
• Five days before planting seedlings, the soil is disinfected with a solution of copper sulfate (1 tablespoon per bucket of water).

If you are using different varieties, it is better to grow peppers in open ground at a distance from each other, since the crop tends to cross-pollinate. You can differentiate between varieties by planting tall plants - corn, tomatoes or sunflowers.

Procedure for planting pepper seedlings in open ground

Pepper does not tolerate cold soil well, so it is better to raise the height of the beds by 20-50 cm.

• Pepper seedlings are watered to remove them from the containers by the roots; they are planted in the morning or evening, when the sun is not too active.
• Plant vertically according to a 40x40 cm pattern.
• The peppers are sprinkled with earth, the area around it is slightly compacted and watered well with warm water.
• The leaves of young plants break easily, so place a peg on each one and tie it up.
• To provide oxygen access, loosen the soil around the plant.
• Cover the ridge with film, stretching it over pre-installed arched rods. After rooting, remove the film.

Build protection from the cold for the peppers using available materials at hand by constructing a tent from roofing felt, boards or cardboard. The top can be covered with burlap or agrofibre.

Pinching peppers in open ground

For proper formation of the bush and good development of the fruits, pinching is carried out every 10 days. When the plant reaches a height of 25 cm, cut off its top. As a result, the stem will produce many shoots; they must be partially removed, leaving the top 5-6. They will serve to form the crop. Pruning is carried out in hot, but not dry weather.

To attract insects to your site that will pollinate the pepper during flowering, spray it with a special sugar syrup. It is prepared like this: dissolve half a glass of sugar and 2 grams in a liter of hot water. boric acid.

Watering peppers in open ground

Growing bell peppers in open ground does not require abundant watering. The first time it is watered during planting, the second time after 5 days, then once a week. To water one plant, 1-1.5 liters is enough. But as you grow older, the norm can be doubled.

When the pepper begins to bloom, water it only with warm water (20-22 degrees Celsius). Watering is stopped 2 weeks before the vegetables are completely harvested. After each watering or rain, the soil must be loosened.

To reduce the number of waterings and better retain moisture at the roots of the plants, mulch the peppers with a 10-centimeter layer of rotted straw.

Fertilizing peppers in open ground

Caring for peppers after planting in the ground necessarily includes three feedings per season.

1. The first is carried out two weeks later. Nitrogen fertilizers are necessary for good growth. To do this, dilute a tablespoon of superphosphate and urea in a bucket of water. You can mix urea (1 teaspoon) in the same volume of water. Pour 1 liter of this mixture under each plant.
2. The next feeding is done during flowering. Since potassium is needed for fruit set, use wood ash. Feed again with urea, as with the first feeding.
3. The last time peppers are fed is when the first fruits appear. To do this, dilute potassium salt and superphosphate (2 teaspoons each) in 10 liters of water.

Watch the growth of the pepper; it may need additional feeding. It can be foliar, since the plant can receive the necessary substances not only through the roots, but also through the leaves.

Problems when growing peppers and their solutions

• If the leaves turn yellow, then they do not have enough nitrogen. To provide this substance, spray with a solution of urea in water in the ratio: 1 tablespoon per bucket of water.
• If the pepper loses its ovaries, then prepare a solution of boric acid: a teaspoon per bucket of water.
• If fruit formation is poor, feed with superphosphate or ash: a teaspoon per 5 liters of water.

Foliar feeding is carried out exclusively in the morning or evening, otherwise the leaves may burn in the scorching sun. In this case, the weather should be calm. Fertilizing with yeast has a good effect on the development of peppers.

Recipe for yeast nutrition for peppers

For preparation you will need 100 grams of fresh yeast. They are soaked in 0.5 liters of water for a day. Before use, add 5 liters of water to the solution.

Fertilizer recipe for peppers using dry yeast

Dissolve one packet of dry yeast in a bucket of water, add 2 tablespoons of sugar, leave for 2 hours to activate the fermentation process. Dilute the infusion with water at the rate of 0.5 liters per 10 liters of water.

Apply this fertilizer only to sufficiently warm soil. It can be applied no more than twice per season. After feeding with yeast, be sure to add wood ash.

Protecting peppers from diseases and pests in open ground

• To protect pepper from the main pests of pepper, spray it three times during the season. wood ash. This should be done early in the morning when there is still dew on the plant.
• To prevent damage by mole crickets, 1 hour before planting peppers, fill the holes with onion water (0.5 kg onion peel Infuse 10 liters of water for three days).
• If during the growing season you find aphid damage, treat with a solution of 1.5 liters of whey in a bucket of water. After spraying, dust with ash.

Harvest time for peppers in open ground

• The fruits are harvested when they have acquired the size and color appropriate for ripeness. Since these vegetables are fragile, it is better to cut them with the stalk.
• The first harvest appears by mid-August, then it is harvested every week until frost.

To prepare seeds for next year, select several large fruits. Do not remove them until the end of summer, allowing them to fully ripen. Cut and wrap in paper until completely dry. Cut and collect the seeds. Their varietal characteristics can persist for three years if cross-pollination does not occur.

Sweet pepper: growing and care in a greenhouse

Since pepper is a very heat-loving crop, its cultivation in open ground most often begins with seedlings. When sowing pepper seeds into the ground, they are carefully processed and well hardened. That is why many gardeners prefer growing bell peppers in a greenhouse, where ideal growth conditions can be created for the plant.

Glass, film greenhouses or hotbeds are used for planting seedlings or sowing seeds. It is also now widely practiced to grow peppers in a polycarbonate greenhouse.

Technology for planting bell peppers in a greenhouse

Peppers are planted in the greenhouse in early April. You can sow seeds, but for better yield use 2-month-old seedlings 20-25 cm high, which already have from 6 to 10 leaves.

• In the greenhouse, beds are prepared at a distance of half a meter from one another.
• Holes are made in them corresponding to the size of the container in which the seedlings grew.
• A solution of manure or chicken droppings is poured into the holes. To prepare it in a bucket warm water(about +50 C) dissolve half a liter of manure or a glass of droppings.
• 1 liter is poured into each well.
• Pepper seedlings are watered to remove them from the container by the roots.
• Then the peppers are planted in the prepared holes and tied to pegs.

Peppers in a greenhouse growing and caring

The main care for peppers in a greenhouse is to maintain optimal temperature regime, water, regularly feed, weed and loosen.

• The greenhouse must be ventilated and shaded in hot weather.
• Water the pepper every 2-3 days, pour 1-2 liters of water under the root of each plant.
• Growing peppers in a greenhouse involves maintaining optimal temperatures. During the day it should be at 20-27°C, at night - 15°C. After fruiting begins, it can be reduced by a couple of degrees.
• Bushes are earthed up when the soil is still moist. After the soil dries, it is necessary to loosen the row spacing.

Caring for peppers in a polycarbonate greenhouse does not differ from the rules of care in a regular greenhouse.

How to properly feed peppers in a greenhouse

Growing peppers in a greenhouse is impossible without sufficient nutrients. For feeding, urea is used in a similar proportion. But it's better to use a solution bird droppings in water in a ratio of 1 to 15. Water 1 liter of it for each sprout. Before feeding, pepper care includes adding wood ash.

• The first feeding is carried out two weeks after planting in the greenhouse.
• The second is when fruit sets.
• The third is before harvest.

The composition of fertilizers can be the same for each of the procedures if the plant does not show signs of a lack of any microelements.

Bottom line

Bell peppers, the cultivation and care of which we have examined, will delight you with an excellent harvest if you follow agrotechnical rules. Follow the recommendations, provide timely watering and fertilization and you will not have any problems with this crop.

Bell pepper is one of the most capricious garden crops. He, like a true man, loves everything to be exactly the way he wants. Therefore, planting and further caring for bell peppers, although troublesome, is very exciting.

Bell peppers show their character even before they sprout - they sprout sluggishly, and you get the impression that by sprouting they are doing you a big favor. Those who have been growing bell pepper seedlings for at least several years know this feature well, and therefore sow seeds for planting very early - at the beginning, at the latest in mid-February.

Seed selection and preparation

To sow bell peppers, you need only whole, undamaged seeds. You can collect them yourself from fruits that have reached biological maturity, but it is better to purchase them in specialized stores. At home, achieving varietal purity is almost impossible. To do this, it is necessary that no other pepper bushes are planted within a radius of about a kilometer from the planted bushes, otherwise the possibility of cross-pollination cannot be completely excluded.

It is best to sow pepper seeds of varieties that are zoned in your area. First, they need to be disinfected for half an hour in a 1% iodine solution or a weak solution of manganese, and then rinsed with warm water. After disinfection, the seeds can already be sown, but it is better to germinate them, otherwise you will have to wait 1.5-2 weeks for germination.

To germinate bell pepper seeds, they are laid out on a piece of cloth, placed in a shallow plate and covered with the same cloth on top. Then the fabric is thoroughly moistened and left to swell in water for 4-5 hours. room temperature, after which the water is drained, the plate with the seeds is wrapped plastic film and put in a warm place for 2-3 days.

This time is enough for the seeds to hatch. It is impossible to keep them wrapped in polyethylene for any longer; the stems of the seeds will become long and most of them will be injured when planted.

Preparing the soil and sowing seeds

While the seeds are hatching, it’s time to prepare the ground for planting. If you plan to sow 4-5 dozen seeds, then it is better to first stock up on a ready-made universal soil mixture, purchasing it at the nearest specialized store. But if you plan to get several hundred seedlings, then it will be cheaper to prepare such a soil mixture yourself.

To do this, you need to mix humus, soil and sand in a ratio of 2:1:1. It is best to take a mixture rich in microelements and useful substances turf forest soil, but garden soil will also work.

Since bell pepper seeds are usually planted in February, you need to prepare the soil mixture in the fall. You can even store it on outdoors, the main thing is that rain and snow do not fall into the container in which the soil will be stored.

2-3 days before planting, the soil is brought into a warm room and heated. Wood ash is added to the heated soil mixture (2 cups per bucket of mixture), and the containers for sowing seeds are filled with it.

Bell pepper seeds can be sown both in a common container and in separate containers: peat, plastic or paper cups. Considering that pepper does not tolerate picking very well, it is still preferable to choose the second option.

The containers are filled with prepared soil mixture. I additionally put a broken one at the bottom of each container. eggshells: it simultaneously serves as a kind of drainage and a good fertilizer for plants.

Then the soil mixture in containers is watered with water at room temperature. This allows you to not only moisten, but also slightly compact the soil. After waiting until the water is absorbed and the soil settles, you need to add soil mixture on top and water it again. If you water immediately after planting the seeds, the soil will become compacted and the sown seeds will be too deep from the surface.

Using a wooden stick (I do this with a regular pencil) make shallow - about 2 cm - holes in the soil. If you sow seeds in a common container, the holes in it should be made at a distance of 4-5 cm from each other to avoid the need to pick seedlings in the future.

Carefully place the sprouted seed in the hole, cover it with soil on top and water the ground again. There is no need to water abundantly; the soil is already quite moist by this time. All watering should be done with warm water - approximately 28-30°C.

Caring for sown seeds

Containers with sown bell pepper seeds are placed in a warm room, isolated from possible drafts and covered with glass or film. As soon as the first shoots appear, it is imperative to provide additional lighting for the seedlings using fluorescent lamps. The total length of daylight should be at least 12 hours.

After 5-7 days, when all the seeds have sprouted, the film or glass is removed from the containers and the first watering is carried out. It is best to water the plants with settled water at room temperature.

Watering seedlings should be carried out according to need - capricious plants react equally poorly to both a lack of moisture in the soil and its excess. In both the first and second cases, the seedlings can be destroyed by the black leg. Before watering, the soil in the container must be loosened.

All the time during the growth and development of seedlings in the room, you need to maintain a temperature of 22-24°C during the day and about 15°C at night. All this time, you need to regularly ventilate the premises and maintain stable air humidity in it, for which you periodically spray a little water from a spray bottle in the room.

If you still need to pick bell peppers, it is better to do this when 2-3 true leaves appear on the seedlings. Before picking, seedlings need to be watered abundantly. While the soil absorbs moisture, you need to prepare containers for replanting.

The transplantation itself is carried out according to the same scheme as sowing seeds. The containers are filled with soil mixture, and a shallow depression is made in the center of each for seedlings.

Then, using a plastic or iron teaspoon, remove the plant from a common container along with a lump of earth on the roots and carefully, so as not to injure it, transplant it into the hole made. After this, the containers with the transplanted seedlings are watered and, if necessary, soil is added to the container so that its surface is equal to the growth point of the plant.

The transplanted plants are kept in a “dim-dark” room for 2-3 days to give them time to adapt. To do this, the windows are curtained with loose fabric to create twilight in the room. IN further care Caring for pickled seedlings is no different from regular care.

Feeding and hardening

Pepper seedlings are fed twice. The first feeding is carried out when the pepper has 4-5 true leaves. In time, this is approximately 2-2.5 weeks from the emergence of seedlings. The peppers are fed with nitrogen fertilizers: a tablespoon of urea is dissolved in 10 liters of water, a pinch of wood ash is sprinkled on top of the soil around the stem, and then watered with the prepared solution.

3-4 days before planting the seedlings in the garden bed, a second feeding is carried out. In addition to a tablespoon of urea, superphosphate is also added to the water - also a tablespoon per 10 liters of water.

2 weeks before planting, hardening of the seedlings begins. First, a window is opened in the room with the seedlings, and after a week they are taken out of the room into the air, first for 20-30 minutes, and then gradually increasing this time.

Important points in hardening: Pepper cannot be brought out if the outside temperature drops below 13°. And you should not expose the seedlings to direct sunlight for the first 2-3 days.

Planting in open ground

Bell pepper seedlings are planted in open ground when it warms up to 12° at the depth of the root system (5-7 cm). IN different regions this happens at different times. In most southern and central regions This is the period from May 25 to June 5. For the northern regions, these dates are even more shifted - planting is carried out no earlier than mid-June, when there is no longer any danger of night frosts.

For bell peppers you need to select light ones, sunny areas, maximally protected from cold winds and drafts. You need to start preparing a bed for peppers ahead of time - in the fall.

For autumn plowing, complex phosphorus and potassium fertilizers are applied at the rate of 50 grams per 1 m². Can also be incorporated into the soil organic fertilizers- well-rotted compost or crushed green manure. It is better not to apply fresh manure under peppers.

If organic fertilizers were not incorporated into the soil in the fall, in the spring you need to fill the area with nitrogen fertilizers, adding 40 grams of ammonium nitrate to each square meter of the bed. 3-4 days before planting, disinfect the soil in the garden bed by watering it with a solution of copper sulfate (50 grams of the drug per bucket of water).

At the time of planting, the seedlings should be at least 90-100 days old. Most gardeners plant pepper seedlings according to a 40x40 cm pattern. For planting, I use a different pattern: I form a bush of two plants with a distance of 10-12 cm between them.

I make the distance between such double bushes in a row 70-80 cm, and the distance between the rows remains the same - 40 cm. This planting scheme allows you to avoid “bald spots” in the planted bed - if one plant dies in the bush, the other continues to grow and develop.

It is best to plant bell peppers in the garden, like any seedlings, in a warm evening. I do not practice various tricks in the form of raised beds or garter bushes.

The only thing that must be provided is the ability to protect the planted seedlings from the cold north wind, and even more so from night frosts. Therefore, for the first 2-3 weeks after planting the seedlings, I have iron arcs on the bed so that, if necessary, I can cover the bed with film.

Caring for pepper plantings

Planted bell peppers require timely watering, fertilizing, maintaining the bed free of weeds, and forming a bush. At the beginning of growth, planted plants do not need abundant watering. I carry out the first watering when planting seedlings, the next day in the evening I carry out another watering, and a day later - the third. With this irrigation scheme, even in hot weather, the survival rate of seedlings approaches 100%.

After the seedlings have started, I water the plants once every 7-10 days, and even then when there is no rain. Before flowering begins, I pour 1 liter of water under each bush; after the first fruits appear, I increase the amount of water to 1.5 liters per bush.

I water after sunset with water from my own well, which I collect in an iron container in the morning so that it can settle until the evening and be warmed by the sun. I stop watering when the daytime temperature does not rise above 24°C for two weeks.

To avoid loosening the soil after each watering, many people use mulch. I prefer to do it the old fashioned way, and instead of mulching the pepper bed, I loosen the soil and destroy weeds using a hand cultivator. Firstly, I’m too lazy to carry so much straw to cover an area of ​​3-4 acres with a 10-cm ball. And secondly, mulch not only retains moisture in the soil, but also serves as a good shelter for various pests, primarily mole crickets.

During the growth process, bell peppers consume a lot of nitrogen, and during the period of fruit formation, they also consume potassium. Therefore, the peppers in the garden are fed three times. The first feeding is carried out 2 weeks after planting the seedlings. Feed with urea diluted in water (a teaspoon per bucket of water) or a mixture of urea and superphosphate (a tablespoon per bucket of water), pouring 10 liters of solution under each plant.

During flowering, bell peppers are fed a second time by adding wood ash and then watering the ground with a urea solution. The third feeding is carried out after the fruits begin to form. For feeding, use a mixture of potassium salt and superphosphate (2 tablespoons of each fertilizer per bucket of water).

To get a good harvest, you need to pay close attention to the formation of the bush. To do this, it is pruned and stepsoned. When the bushes reach a height of 25-30 cm, their tops are cut off so that the plants grow wider, forming many new shoots and increasing productivity. 4-5 of the strongest stepsons are left on the bush, the rest are removed, carrying out this procedure every 10-12 days.

I will say right away that I do not trim my peppers and do not root them. Today there are many bushes that can be grown without these procedures, without endangering the plants. And the danger is quite real: if you miscalculate a little and remove more than necessary, the plant will stop its growth and shed the entire ovary, and may even die.

If you decide to strictly follow agrotechnical recommendations, then keep in mind that it is not always possible to plant peppers. Dry hot weather the branched tuft creates its own shade, retaining moisture in the soil.

If you notice any changes in appearance plants, it is also better to avoid pinching. It is possible that such changes are a visible sign of plant disease, and in this case, pinching will only worsen the situation.

If you do not have experience in pruning and pinching, then do not rush to prune all the planted bushes in one fell swoop. It’s better to take a few training ones for the first time, practice on them, be sure to notice what and how you do, and look at the result.

Tall varieties of pepper, in addition to pinching and pinching, also require a mandatory garter, otherwise they may break under the weight of ripening fruits.

Protecting bell peppers from diseases and pests

Pepper is good because pests and diseases do not particularly bother its plantings. But, nevertheless, it is necessary to constantly monitor the condition of the plants.

Most often, bell peppers are bothered by aphids. To get rid of it, spray the plants with a whey solution: dissolve 1.5 liters of whey in a bucket of water. After treatment with a whey solution, the plants need to be dusted with wood ash. IN for preventive purposes You can saw the bed with peppers 3-4 times during the growing season. Pollination must be done early in the morning, after dew.

You can fight mole crickets with onion water. To obtain it 0.5 kg. Onion peels need to be poured into 10 liters of water and left for 3 days. When planting peppers, pour 0.5 liters of onion water into each hole.

To fight mole crickets, I use special poisoned baits, throwing several of them into each hole when planting. Their smell attracts pests; mole crickets eat the bait and die before they can gnaw the roots of the plants.

Although pepper pollinates itself, with the help of insects you can significantly improve pollination, laying the foundation for a future rich harvest. To attract more insects to the pepper, it is useful to spray the bushes with sugar syrup during flowering. To do this, dissolve 100 g of sugar and 2 g of boric acid in 1 liter of water.

Growing bell peppers is not easy, time-consuming, but exciting work. But, if everything, starting with planting the seeds in February, is done correctly, then from August until the frosts you will be able to feast on juicy, tasty and tender fruits.

Every gardener grows bell peppers, but it’s not always possible to collect them. good harvest. Have you ever thought that the yield of pepper depends on the quality of the seedlings? Let's talk about how to grow high-quality seedlings, plant bell peppers correctly in the ground, and the intricacies of caring for the crop.

Planting bell pepper seeds for seedlings with photos

Bell pepper is a perennial crop that is grown as an annual in our latitudes. The growing season of pepper is long; a lot of time passes from sowing the seeds to the ripening of the fruit; a short summer is not enough to grow pepper by sowing in open ground. In our area it is cultivated through seedlings.

To obtain good seedlings, you need to select quality seeds. Keep in mind that there are mainly hybrid varieties on sale that give a good harvest. It makes no sense to collect seeds from them for further cultivation; the subsequent harvest will no longer meet all the characteristics, since the hybrids do not retain their maternal qualities.

Pre-planting seed treatment

Pepper seeds are difficult to germinate, so growing seedlings begins with pre-planting seed treatment. You can skip this point if you bought already processed and prepared seeds; information about this is indicated on the package. If it is not there, then proceed to processing:

· fill a container with water, the temperature of which is 45-50 ° C, lower the change to swell for 6-8 hours;

· wrap the seeds in a damp cloth and place in a container with a lid, put the container in a warm place for 3 days;

· discard the seeds, remove all that have not sprouted.

High-quality bell pepper seeds are used for planting. This preparation accelerates their germination; seedlings appear already on the third day after sowing.

Soil preparation

For seedlings use ready-made store soil for vegetables. It meets all the necessary characteristics: light, loose, well permeable to water and air. If there is no such soil, then you can prepare it yourself. To do this, mix good humus with garden soil in a 2:1 ratio, add some washed sand and a spoonful of ash. Homemade soil is pre-sterilized so that it does not contain pathogenic bacteria. To do this, it is fried in the oven and left until it cools completely.

Preparing containers and planting bell pepper seeds

Spacious containers are used as containers, since root system pepper is fragile and does not tolerate frequent transplants. Gardeners have different opinions about picking; some advise using regular containers and then picking the peppers into separate cups. However, there is an opinion that it is better to sow peppers immediately in separate containers and grow seedlings without picking. Which method to choose is up to everyone. We suggest considering growing using the picking method, since this method requires knowledge.

1. Seedling boxes are disinfected, filled with soil and grooves 2 cm deep are formed.

2. The seeds are placed at a distance of 5 cm from each other so that the sprouts have enough light and do not stretch out.

3. The boxes are covered with film and put in a warm place where the temperature is 20-22 °C.

Do not forget that when seedlings appear, the night temperature must be reduced to 16 ° C, otherwise the seedlings will stretch. In the future, cultivation comes down to proper watering. In too wet soil, peppers may develop blackleg, and in dry soil they will die. Soil moisture is maintained with moderate watering.

What you need to know about picking bell peppers

Pick the pepper twice. At the stage of two true leaves, the sprouts are transplanted into separate containers for seedlings, and the second pick is made immediately to the permanent growing site.

During the first picking, the seedlings are buried down to the cotyledon leaves, but no more, deep planting will only do harm. The pots are filled with a nutrient mixture, a hole is made in the soil, and the sprout and a lump of earth are carefully transferred. After planting, the soil is moistened. Picked peppers look lethargic and need time to get stronger. For several days, remove the seedlings to a shaded place, do not water them, and provide high air humidity around the pots. As soon as the peppers take root, the seedlings will begin to grow.

Caring for bell pepper seedlings

To get high-quality seedlings at home, you need good lighting. Since the seeds are planted at the end of February or the very beginning of March, then natural light won't be enough. Experienced gardeners recommend using artificial lighting or special lamps for seedlings. Lighting is turned on for at least 6 hours a day.

Two weeks after picking, the seedlings are fed for the first time. Mineral fertilizers for seedlings Agricola, Krepysh and others give good results. The second time, fertilizing is applied in the development phase of the second or third pair of leaves. The concentration of fertilizers is reduced so as not to burn the tender roots.

Planting bell pepper seedlings in open ground

The peppers are transferred to a permanent location when a stable air temperature of +16 °C has established and the threat of night frosts has completely passed. Usually this is the second half of May, but in the northern regions the dates may shift.

The best predecessors for peppers are green manure, cucumbers, zucchini, carrots, and onions. You should not plant seedlings after tomatoes, potatoes, or eggplants. In the fall, the soil is dug up, adding organic matter and phosphorus-potassium fertilizers. Immediately before planting peppers, the bed is disinfected copper sulfate or a solution of potassium permanganate.

Peppers are planted in rows, with 60 cm between them. The plants in the row are placed at a distance of 35 cm. The holes are made shallow so that the root collar remains at ground level after planting. The bottom layer of soil from the hole is mixed with mineral fertilizers, fresh soil is poured on top, and then the seedlings are planted.

Advice! Try to preserve the earthen ball so that the roots are not damaged during planting, and the seedlings adapt faster to the new place.

After planting, the bed is watered abundantly and the soil is mulched with organic material. If the night temperature drops below +13 °C, then without additional shelter the seedlings may get sick and lag in growth.

How to care for bell peppers to get a good harvest

To increase the pepper yield, the first flower on each bush is removed, and the bushes are formed into 2 or 3 stems. However, one plant cannot bear more than 25 fruits.

Pepper bushes are fragile and often break under the weight of the fruit or from gusts of wind. After planting, you need to think about supports. In cloudy weather, plants are poorly pollinated by bees, which affects the yield. Spray the bushes with the following mixture:

· Boric acid– 2 g;

· Sugar – 100 g.

Dissolve the components in 1 liter of warm water and spray in the evening.

Water the pepper as needed, but not more than 2 times a week. After each watering, the soil is loosened. To avoid this procedure, mulch the beds.

Two weeks after planting, the seedlings are fed with nitrogen fertilizers. The number of feedings is no more than two with an interval of 10 days. In the flowering and budding phase, they switch to phosphorus-potassium fertilizers.