Pepper has excellent and incomparable taste. Using this healthy vegetable, a person receives many different vitamins, minerals and useful substances necessary for health and well-being. Peppers are stuffed, canned, added to various salads, frozen for the winter.
In summer, this vegetable is inexpensive, but in autumn, the price is quite high. To save your money and get an environmentally friendly and nitrate-free product, it is worthwhile to grow pepper in a greenhouse. To provide this culture with a suitable temperature and care is not at all difficult. And for your work you can get a rich harvest with excellent taste.
In order to avoid large material costs, summer residents with experience use a certain technology of growing pepper in a greenhouse. There is nothing complicated in the process itself, but careful attention is required. To master it, it is enough to grow a vegetable only once, and then everything will turn out by itself.
Benefits of Growing Peppers in a Greenhouse
Sweet pepper can be grown under a film or in the open field. But vegetables grown in a greenhouse boast the highest yield . In greenhouse conditions, both early and late varieties and hybrids grow well.
Among the main advantages of growing pepper in a greenhouse are:
- Early and friendly ripening of fruits.
- Possibility of harvesting several times a year.
- You can grow even the most heat-loving varieties.
- Plants suffer much less from various diseases or pests.
- The greenhouse provides the perfect microclimate for the crop.
- In greenhouse conditions, it is possible to grow not only adult plants, but also seedlings.
- Getting a good harvest.
- Extension of the fruiting period to the coldest.
- Possibility of growing pepper in a greenhouse year-round.
The best and most common greenhouse designs
For growing pepper from early spring to late autumn, you can use film light greenhouses or unheated structures covered with glass. They are erected without foundation, on a metal or wooden frame.
The most convenient are considered collapsible options that can serve without repair for many years.
To harvest throughout the year, use heated capital greenhouses. They are erected from cinder blocks on a solid foundation.
Greenhouses with a metal frame and coated with cellular polycarbonate are very durable. Today, growing peppers in a polycarbonate greenhouse is the most popular and versatile way.
The design can be arc, wall or pitched. It is better to give preference to the latter option, since snow does not accumulate on its roof. For ventilation, the design is equipped with window leaves.
It is desirable that 2 doors are present from different sides. When growing this crop in a greenhouse, it is very convenient to have drip irrigation. On the north side, the wall of the greenhouse can be laid out with a beam or cinder block. With this overhaul, crops can be protected from frost and wind.
Equally important is heating. To grow plants all year round, the greenhouse must be equipped with a wood stove or a water boiler. For summer light greenhouses, portable heaters or biofuels are well suited. Fluorescent lamps are installed along the walls and under the ceiling. When growing seedlings on shelves, lamps are mounted over each of its tiers.
The best varieties for growing in a greenhouse
For greenhouses, pepper varieties of indeterminate type are suitable, which do not take root well in open beds. For their fastening you will need trellis or stakes. Varieties of peppers for growing in a greenhouse can be early ripening, mid-ripening or late. In one greenhouse, you can plant plants with different ripening periods, which will allow you to smoothly harvest, starting in early spring. Do not be afraid to experiment with the shape and color of the fruit. Sweet pepper can be elongated, conical, spherical, cuboid. The size, juiciness of the vegetable, and the shade also differ in different varieties. In addition to the usual red and yellow, there is an orange, green, purple color.
Things to consider when choosing a variety
- The purpose of the pepper. If this useful vegetable will be consumed fresh, it is advisable to give preference to large-fruited varieties with a short ripening period and thick walls. When choosing peppers intended for canning, you should pay attention to the type and weight of the fruit. They should be small (up to 150 g) and not fleshy.
- Ripening period. You can start harvesting from early varieties as early as 100 days after planting, from mid-season - 110-130 days, and from late days after 140.
- Bush height. If sweet pepper is grown in a greenhouse made of polycarbonate of small size and height, choose undersized varieties (up to 70 cm). Tall varieties (up to 1.5 m) are more productive.
There are universal varieties that are suitable for film greenhouses, polycarbonate greenhouses and even open ground.
On the label of each grade are indicated the conditions for growing pepper in a greenhouse: temperature, lighting, humidity. They must be compared with their own.
Consider the most famous and productive varieties.
Cardinal
An early hybrid that is only suitable for greenhouses. Bushes are tall, reaching 1 m in height. The fruits are purple, quite large and very juicy.
Claudio
Early variety ripening in 115-120 days. Bushes reach a height of up to 130 cm. The pepper itself is elongated, dark red, large.
Atlant
The variety is early ripening, ripening in 105-115 days from the date of germination. Bushes are not very high (up to 80 cm). Ripe fruits are large, red, thick-walled, with excellent taste and very juicy pulp.
Cockatoo
Early variety ripening in 100-110 days. It can be grown only in large-sized greenhouses, since the height of the sprawling bushes sometimes reaches up to 1.5 m. The fruits are elongated-cylindrical, red. The variety differs in fruit size (up to 500 g).
Hercules
Mid-season variety with large fruits, reaching 500 g. It is characterized by long storage, therefore it is often grown for sale. It has good disease resistance.
Latinos
An early, tall variety with fairly large fruits, weighing up to 200 g. For a season from 1 m², you can collect up to 14-15 kg of the crop.
Let us further consider the features of growing pepper and leaving in a greenhouse.
How to grow seedlings
Growing bell pepper in greenhouse conditions begins with the preparation and sowing of seeds for seedlings. In our climatic conditions, this vegetable crop is obtained mainly only by seedlings. Let us further consider the features of growing pepper in a polycarbonate greenhouse.
Seed preparation
It should be noted that pepper seeds have a maximum germination of only one year after their collection. With further storage, this percentage decreases significantly. Seeds for seedlings are sown from late February to mid-April. Harvesting can begin from mid-summer until late fall. For winter cultivation, seeds are planted in September. Consider the phased cultivation, formation of pepper in a greenhouse.
Preparatory work
- The strongest seeds are selected. To do this, breed 2 tbsp. tablespoons of salt in a liter of water at room temperature. Dip the seeds into the solution, mix and leave for 10 minutes. Damaged and weak specimens will emerge, while healthy and strong ones will sink to the bottom. Floaters are thrown away, the rest are washed and dried on clean paper.
- Pepper seeds must be sanitized using a 1% potassium permanganate solution. They are soaked for 20 minutes, then washed with water.
- It is desirable (but not necessary) to soak the seeds for a day in a solution of ash (wood) or in any stimulant.
- Seeds are washed in clean water and left on a saucer until pecking, covered with wet gauze. It is necessary to ensure that the fabric does not dry out.
- When the seeds hatch, they are sown in prepared containers with soil to a depth of not more than 10 mm. The soil in them must be moist.
- The containers are covered with polyethylene or glass and transferred to a warm place until emergence. The most favorable air temperature for germination is +25 o C.
When the seedlings begin to appear in the containers, they are transferred to the light, gradually removing the polyethylene, thereby accustoming the seedlings to new conditions.
Caring for plants, you need:
- regularly and timely water the plants;
- about two weeks after emergence, feed the seedlings with liquid complex fertilizer;
- when 2 true leaves appear, the plants are pealed into individual pots or containers;
Seedlings are ready for planting in the greenhouse after 60 days, and provided that there are at least 16-17 of these leaves.
Planting seedlings in a greenhouse
Planting plants in a greenhouse can be done provided that:
- their age is 60 days, not less;
- kidneys are visible in the leaf sinuses;
- growth of about 25 cm;
- plant color is deep green;
- there are 16-17 full leaves;
- a plump stalk is formed.
Only such seedlings can please with good survival rate and rapid growth.
Planting seedlings in a greenhouse
In unheated greenhouses, seedlings are planted around mid-May, having prepared the soil for it in advance and created additional shelter in case of lowering night temperatures and return frosts.
It is important to understand that no matter how carefully and accurately seedlings are transplanted, this is a huge stress for her. The future crop depends on the correctness of the planting.
Autumn is important so that the soil warms up to +18 ° C, is saturated with mineral and organic fertilizers and well moistened, since pepper can be grown in greenhouse conditions only if the necessary microclimate is created for the plants.
When preparing the soil for seedlings per 1 m 2, add 1-2 buckets of compost or rotted mullein, 40 g of ammonium nitrate, 60 g of superphosphate and 30 g of potassium chloride. After this, the soil is dug up.
In cold, film greenhouses, it is better to plant early-ripening and medium-sized varieties, and heated ones are suitable for tall, more productive pepper bushes.
Landing pattern
It is chosen depending on the size of the bushes of the selected variety. Tall plants are planted on 1 m 2 about 4-5 plants. In this case, the distance between seedlings should be at least 40 cm, and between rows - at least 70 cm.
Low-growing varieties are planted more often, based on 1 m 2 - 6 plants, between seedlings a distance of 30-35 cm, between rows of 70 cm.
When planting seedlings, they should not be too deep, since they do not form secondary roots. When deepening, seedlings can rot in the root neck and die.
Planting plants in a permanent place should be carefully and accurately, and together with a lump of earth. Pepper does not tolerate damage to the root system and after a transplant takes a long time to recover.
After planting, plants need to be watered well.
Care
So that when growing bell pepper in greenhouse conditions, the plants are healthy and strong, they need to be provided with a sufficient amount of moisture. If it is deficient, light brown spots (gray rot) may appear on the fruits. Watering should be carried out under the root of the pepper with settled warm water.
An important factor is air humidity. To increase it, pour glass or paths in the greenhouse.
Hybrid varieties of bell pepper need frequent top dressing, so when watering it is advisable to add herbal tea or mullein infusion to the water. Do not use fresh manure. Fertilize with mineral fertilizers during the growing season should be about 3-4 times.
It is important that air enters the root system, but loosening the earth around the plants is undesirable, since they have a surface root system. Therefore, it is better to mulch the soil around the bush with grass, sawdust or humus of 3 cm.
Secrets of growing peppers in a greenhouse
- When buying seedlings, you should pay attention to its stem - it should be strong enough with dark green leaves. Do not buy seedlings with flowers or fruits, since such plants will not bear fruit well.
- Distribute a dense but light mulch (straw or grass) around the plants when planting.
- In dry weather, water abundantly. Due to lack of moisture, a bitter taste of pepper may appear.
- It is advisable to remove the weeds manually so as not to accidentally damage the surface root system of the plant.
- The slow growth of seedlings and the pale color of the leaves most often indicates a lack of nutrients. In this case, you need to feed the plants.
- Pepper fruits should be cut, not torn from the plant.