Content
Sweet or bell pepper is one of the most widely grown vegetable crops in Russia. It is grown in open, unprotected ground in the southern regions and middle zone, and in greenhouses almost everywhere. Despite the fact that the plant is extremely heat-loving, which is not surprising, since its homeland is the tropics of Central and Latin America, the modern level of agricultural technology and high-quality breeding work make it possible to obtain decent yields of a tasty and healthy vegetable in domestic conditions.
Description and benefits of sweet pepper
The crop in question is an annual plant, with single or group leaves in the form of a rosette, usually of various shades of green. Sweet pepper flowers are large, fruits are false hollow berries of various bright colors (from red and yellow to brown and green). A special feature of sweet pepper is that it has many alternative names, most of which are actively used in everyday life - bell pepper, paprika, vegetable pepper, red or Green pepper.
The main advantage of bell pepper is its excellent taste. Most varieties of vegetables are universal, that is, they can be used in various forms: salads, after heat treatment, for canning. There are probably no people in Russia who have not at least once tried classic stuffed peppers or the extremely popular lecho.
But when eating pepper, people rarely think about its numerous and extremely beneficial properties. It is enough to list just a few of them:
- a huge amount of vitamins. In terms of the content of extremely useful vitamin C, sweet peppers are the best among all vegetables, and among plants, only black currants and rose hips are distinguished by a large amount of it. Pepper is also a supplier of the very rare vitamin P, which has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the human cardiovascular system. According to numerous studies, with constant consumption of bell pepper, the risk of stroke is reduced by almost half - by 46%. In addition to the above, the healthy vegetable also contains B vitamins;
- high content of nutrients. Potassium, magnesium, iron, iodine - they all enter the human body in required quantities when sweet peppers are regularly consumed. The rare capsoicin deserves special mention. This substance has a beneficial effect on appetite, starting and activating digestion processes. Its content is especially high in black pepper and Chile, but also in sweets there is quite a sufficient amount of it to be consumed as an aperitif at the beginning of lunch or dinner;
- prevention and treatment of diseases. This point is in many ways a continuation of the previous two.The presence of a large amount of useful substances and vitamins allows the use of pepper in various health-improving diets. For example, it helps in the treatment of a wide variety of forms of neuralgia. In addition, studies conducted in recent years show that constant consumption of sweet peppers significantly reduces the risk of the possible occurrence of various cancers.
The given rather large list of beneficial properties of pepper allows us to say with confidence that satisfaction from its excellent taste properties is not all that it can and does give to a person.
Features of growing sweet peppers
Bell pepper is a fairly heat-loving crop with a long ripening period. Based on these characteristics, cultivation, as a rule, occurs in several stages.
Growing seedlings
Seeds used for planting seedlings can be purchased or collected yourself. It should be borne in mind that hybrids marked F1 are not suitable for self-harvesting seeds, since they do not pass on their properties to the next generation.
Sowing of seeds occurs in domestic conditions approximately at the junction of winter and spring.
It is best to plant the seeds in separate special cups.
Care Caring for pepper seedlings is practically no different from caring for similar vegetable crops: regular watering, fertilizing, hardening is allowed, the benefits of which are not unanimous among experts. The optimal size of seedlings is 20-25 cm.
Planting in a greenhouse or open ground
Planting in greenhouses in central Russia occurs around the beginning of May.It should be noted that seedlings are not picked.
Sweet pepper seedlings are planted in open, unprotected ground in early June. The optimal predecessors are onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes or eggplants. For faster growth and ripening, windless places in the garden are chosen for sweet peppers.
Before the seedlings take root, they must be covered with film. When planting different varieties, you should distance them as far as possible from each other in order to preserve their characteristics and differences.
Caring for sweet peppers
Agrotechnical methods for caring for bell peppers are quite traditional. The plant requires regular and fairly abundant watering, which should become even more intense during fruit ripening.
The soil should be loose, fertilizing is done 2 times per season - when the vegetable is flowering and during fruiting.
Sweet peppers are quite susceptible to diseases and pests, so it is advisable to carry out preventive spraying.
Following the described simple techniques will allow you to get a decent harvest of healthy and tasty vegetables.
The best varieties and hybrids of pepper
Specialty stores offer gardeners a huge selection of a wide variety of varieties and hybrids of sweet peppers.
Apricot favorite
Bulgarian variety pepper Apricot favorite Designed primarily for planting in unprotected soil. However, quite often it is used in greenhouses, where it also shows excellent qualities. The vegetable bush is quite low, rarely growing up to 0.5 m. The shape of the peppercorns is cone-shaped. Their color varies from light green (stage of technical maturity) to orange and even apricot (stage of biological maturity), which was the reason for the name of the variety.
Apricot favorite peppercorns are quite large in size, often exceeding 150 grams. At the same time, their wall thickness is quite normal - 7 mm. The high yield of the Apricot favorite variety is achieved by the fact that up to 20 fruits ripen simultaneously on each bush. In addition to yield, the undoubted advantage of the variety is its resistance to many of the most common diseases.
Agapovsky
Not so long ago (in 1995), a variety of sweet pepper bred by Russian breeders is currently one of the most widespread and popular. The reasons for this lie in its excellent properties and characteristics.
The bell pepper variety allows you to begin harvesting in about 100-110 days, that is, it is early ripening. The bush of the plant has a compact shape, not very tall, on the trunk and branches there are a large number of leaves, of a bright dark green color. The peppercorns are prism-shaped, the ribbing of the surface is weakly expressed. The fruit sizes are quite small, rarely exceeding a weight of 120 grams. The wall thickness is quite standard - 6-7 mm.
A distinctive feature of the variety is its high yield. With proper and competent care, it can reach 10 kg/sq.m. m. But the advantages of the variety are not limited to productivity. In addition to it, Agapovsky is able to successfully resist many of the most common diseases in domestic conditions, for example, blossom end rot, tobacco mosaic virus. In addition, experts note the excellent taste properties of the variety, which are universal.
Orange
The Orange variety, quite common in central Russia, is a mid-season variety. The vegetable bush is not tall, rarely growing above 0.45 meters.Peppercorns have a very distinctive bright orange color, sometimes turning into red-orange. Their shape is rounded and elongated, with a smooth surface and no ribbing.
Bulgarian variety pepper Orange against the backdrop of numerous relatives, it stands out with two features:
- the presence of many small (up to 40 g) fruits, giving the bell pepper bush an original appearance;
- characteristic especially sweet taste and persistent aroma.
According to the method of consumption, the Orange bell pepper variety is considered universal, retaining its original taste both in salads and during heat treatment, as well as when canning or preparing lecho.
The variety has properties that make it easier and easier to grow in the middle zone, even in open, unprotected ground. It is unpretentious to care and growing conditions, has the ability to withstand the effects of cold temperatures, and is resistant to most pests and diseases.
California miracle
Widely known and widespread variety California miracle owes to its extraordinary characteristics. It is mid-season and allows you to get a harvest in less than 110-120 days. The vegetable bush is compact, but very large - its height often reaches 1 meter or more. Very powerful and elastic branches extend from the stem, so the plant does not require any garter.
The peppercorns of the California miracle are relatively large in size, the weight of each pore reaches 130-150 grams, and often exceeds this figure. The variety is characterized by the fleshy structure of the insides of the fruit and their density. The color of the peppercorns is red or bright red, the shape is a regular cube, the surface of the fruit has a faint ribbing.
The variety of sweet pepper is universal both in the method of consumption (retains excellent taste properties in salads, during heat treatment and canning) and in the method of cultivation (in the protected soil of greenhouses and in open ground conditions). At the same time, the taste of the Californian miracle is considered one of the best.
In addition to the advantages already listed, the sweet pepper variety is quite resistant to diseases, has a high and stable yield from year to year.
Hybrid sweet pepper Kakadu F1
Sweet hybrid pepper Kakadu F1 has extremely original properties that set it apart from most of its relatives. In terms of ripening speed, it is mid-season. The hybrid has a rare, extremely tall bush with a spreading shape and an extremely large number of leaves. Its height often reaches one and a half meters.
The bell pepper hybrid is specially bred for growing in greenhouses, any type of which suits it perfectly - film, polycarbonate, and glass. Peppercorns, as a rule, have a slightly elongated cylinder shape. The fruits are also quite large in size, often exceeding 30 cm in length, while the wall thickness is quite normal - 6-8 mm. As a result of these sizes, the weight of one peppercorn can reach 0.5 kg.
The yield of this hybrid often exceeds 3 kg of fruit from one bush. It has excellent taste and is versatile in its preparation method.
An additional highlight of the hybrid is the presence of two varieties at once. In addition to the already described, and more often found bright red, reminiscent of the coloring of the famous parrot, which gave its name to the hybrid, there is another one - with yellow peppercorns.Their sizes are somewhat smaller in size, but also quite large - weighing 0.3-0.4 kg and about 15 cm long. The second variety also has excellent taste.
Hybrid sweet pepper Isabella F1
The main distinguishing feature of the Isabella hybrid is its fairly high yield and excellent taste. The plant is mid-season, its fruits reach technical maturity in approximately 120 days. The vegetable bush is tall and has a closed shape.
Peppercorns reach quite large sizes when ripe. Often their weight becomes 160 grams or more. Moreover, the fruits are relatively thick-walled - 8-10 mm. Their shape is a regular prism, the color of the peppercorns is various shades of bright red.
The fruits of the Isabella hybrid are excellent for fresh consumption. But they retain their taste properties both during canning and during heat treatment necessary for cooking.
Isabella, with proper and attentive care, is quite capable of producing 10 kg of fruit per square meter. m. This does not require anything extraordinary, since the hybrid is unpretentious to growing conditions, which is an additional advantage.
Conclusion
The choice of a specific variety or hybrid of bell pepper depends only on the wishes and preferences of the gardener. A huge offer of a wide variety of sweet pepper seeds will allow you to fulfill any of its requirements and wishes without any problems, and the right choice and compliance with the requirements of agricultural technology will allow you to get a decent harvest of an extremely healthy and very tasty vegetable.
