Sweet pepper is one of the most beloved crops grown by vegetable growers. True, this vegetable is very demanding, without getting anything, it can seriously punish its owners with a reduction or complete lack of yield. Growing sweet peppers requires a lot of attention, knowledge and experience. Especially you should not be upset for those who have just taken up this business for the first year. Gradually, if there is a desire, everything will be able to learn.
Growing pepper seedlings
In most areas, even in the southernmost, the cultivation of sweet pepper begins in planting seedlings (late February, early March). This can be done both in greenhouses and in indoor conditions. It is best to grow seedlings on the windowsill in special earthenware cups, which are then easily transferred to the open ground. And all because the seedlings of sweet pepper, like any other species, take root very poorly. For normal growth, seedlings need moisture, heat and light.
When the seedlings reach growth of 60-65 days, it can be transplanted either in open ground or in a greenhouse. The last option, of course, is the most suitable, but if this is not possible, then you can try to harvest from the pepper that will grow on the street.
Pepper cultivation in open field
If you decide to save money on film using this method, then you will not succeed. In any case, the cultivation of pepper in the open field requires the temporary construction of a small greenhouse that will warm the plants until about the end of June. In May and even June, the weather is not quite stable, which can lead to weak growth of sweet pepper and lack of yield.
So, first you need to prepare the ground. Since the autumn, it is necessary to dig it up, add rotted manure. Before planting, you need to dig again, make mineral fertilizers. Pepper cultivation in open ground is best done at the place where legumes, cucumbers, green crops and root crops were grown before. Sweet pepper loves fertile soil, but if there is none on the site, then peat and rotted sawdust should be added to the ground at the rate of 1 bucket per 1 sq.m. The beds should have a height of about 30 cm, while the width is about 1 meter, but the length is at your own discretion. It is also necessary to think in advance how the greenhouse will be built. The easiest way is to stretch the film over plastic or metal arcs inserted into the ground.
When everything is ready, you can start planting seedlings. This is best done in the evening when solar activity is reduced. For this, it is necessary to dig holes at a distance of 40-45 cm from each other, taking into account the row spacing - 55-60 cm. Water must be poured into each hole and wait until it is absorbed. Seedlings or an earthenware cup with a plant are lowered into the pit and gently filled with earth. When the seedlings are finished, you can stretch the film. If it is very warm during the day, then the film can be removed without forgetting to pull it overnight.
It should be noted that the cultivation of pepper in the open ground in the first two weeks is unfavorable: the plants begin to hurt, they grow slowly. This suggests that the root system begins to take root. To help her, the earth can be slightly loosened, as well as reduce watering. When the peppers are well strengthened and begin to grow, watering must be increased to about 10-12 liters per 1 sq.m. Water for this is used only warm, the temperature of which is about 25 0C. Cold and cool water significantly inhibits the growth and fruit setting.
During flowering, it is necessary to fertilize sweet peppers with the “Fertility” fertilizer diluted with dry fertilizer (per 100 l 1 kg) at the rate of 1 liter per 1 bush. Another feeding is carried out during the fruiting period (per 100 liters of water, one bucket of bird droppings and 2 cups of nitrophoska).
In order for the pepper bushes to bear fruit well, it is necessary to remove the tops of the main stem, and also to carry out the drying, leaving only 4-5 upper stepsons.