Content
Pepper has taken one of the leading places in our diet. This is not surprising, it is very tasty; it has no equal among vegetables in terms of vitamin C content. Anyone who has even a piece of land can successfully grow this wonderful vegetable on their plot. In this publication we will examine in detail the picking of pepper seedlings, how to sow correctly and grow seedlings without picking, we will offer you a video on this topic.
What peppers like and don’t like
Peppers and tomatoes are close relatives, but it would be wrong to grow both crops in the same way - their needs are very different. Their requirements for the place of growth, moisture, light are different, and they need different amounts of nutrients.
So, pepper likes:
- Light fertile loams with a neutral reaction;
- Short daylight hours (no more than 8 hours per day);
- Not abundant, but frequent watering with warm water (about 24-25 degrees);
- Potassium fertilizers in high doses;
- Uniformly warm weather.
They don't like peppers:
- Transfers;
- Deep landing;
- Acidic soil;
- Midday direct sunlight;
- The difference between day and night temperatures exceeding 15 degrees;
- Fresh manure, excess nitrogen fertilizers;
- Water for irrigation with a temperature of less than 20 degrees;
- Ambient temperature exceeding 35 degrees.
Choosing a pepper variety and timing of its sowing
First of all, hybrids and varieties of pepper are selected in accordance with climatic conditions. Residents of the southern regions seem to have the largest choice, but they need to choose heat-resistant varieties. For northern regions with cool, short summers, early-ripening, short hybrids and varieties are suitable. Here sweet peppers of the Bulgarian selection will come to our aid. In order to grow late varieties it takes about 7 months; in the North-West they simply do not have time to ripen even when grown through seedlings.
But if you have a good greenhouse, you can plant more varieties. Pepper is loved not only by us, consumers, but also by breeders - many varieties and hybrids have been bred, but when buying seeds you need to pay attention to what climate zone they are intended for.
The seeds of late thick-walled varieties and hybrids, which require 150 days to ripen the fruits, are sown first.
In the south, for planting pepper seedlings this is approximately mid-January, in the Middle Zone and for the North-West - mid-late February.
Sowing pepper seedlings
In this chapter we will look at the rules for sowing pepper seedlings followed by a pick, we will offer you a video to watch.
Seed preparation
Unlike tomatoes, pepper seeds swell poorly and do not germinate well; they need help. To this end, soak the seeds for 20 minutes in a thermos with water heated to approximately 53 degrees. During this time, the pathogens will die, and the seeds themselves will not have time to suffer.
Wrap the seeds in a damp cloth, place on a saucer, and keep on the refrigerator shelf under the freezer for several hours. Then immerse them in a solution of Epin or a similar preparation for 20 minutes, and then immediately plant them as seedlings.
Such seeds are sown dry for seedlings - the manufacturer has done all the preparatory measures for you.
Soil selection and preparation
Prepare the soil yourself:
- 1 bucket of peat;
- 0.5 buckets of sand;
- 1 liter jar of wood ash;
- "Fitosporin" or "Agrovit" according to the instructions.
If you take purchased soil for seedlings, do the following manipulations with it before sowing the seeds:
- Place the bag of soil in a galvanized bucket.
- Fill the side of the bucket with boiling water.
- Cover the bucket with a lid.
- Leave the bag of soil there until it cools completely.
Sowing pepper seeds on seedlings followed by picking
To plant pepper seedlings and then pick them, the depth of the container must be at least 12 centimeters. Fill it with damp substrate to a height of 6-7 cm, compact it carefully. Spread the seeds every 2-3 cm, sprinkle about 5 cm with soil and lightly tamp again. It turns out that the seeds are covered with a layer of soil of 3-4 cm.
Cover the crops with glass or transparent film, moisten and ventilate the soil from time to time.
Although some experts still advise germinating seeds, watch the video:
Try to sow some of the seeds as we advised, and germinate some, see what you can do better. Each gardener has his own little secrets and everyone deviates a little from the generally accepted methods of growing seedlings (of which, by the way, there are also several options).
Depending on the soil temperature, pepper germinates:
- 28-32 degrees – a week;
- 25-27 degrees – two weeks;
- 22 degrees – three weeks;
- Above 36 degrees - most likely the seeds will lose their germination;
- Below 20 degrees - the seeds will rot.
Caring for seedlings after emergence
When the first shoots appear, remove the glass, lower the temperature to 18 degrees and place the seedlings under the phytolamp without waiting for the rest of the plants to sprout. After about five days, you need to raise the temperature to 22-25 degrees and feed the pepper for the first time.
How to pick peppers for seedlings
The most important thing when picking pepper seedlings is not to damage the fragile root.
Container for picking
First, prepare a container into which you will plant the pepper seedlings. Let’s say right away that peat pots are not suitable for peppers. This is explained by the fact that their walls do not retain constant moisture well - they take moisture from the soil and then quickly dry out. And the advantage that we plant the plant together with the glass in the ground without injuring the root turns out to be illusory.
Practice has shown that plants grown in peat cups develop worse than peppers grown in other containers. If you dig up such a bush, it turns out that the roots grow very poorly through the peat walls, which greatly inhibits development.
Pots or cups for picking pepper seedlings should contain drainage holes and holes in the lower side surface so that the roots receive not only moisture, but also air.
It’s even easier to make pots from newspaper:
- Fold the newspaper in 3-4 layers;
- Wrap it around a half-liter bottle;
- Secure the top and bottom of the resulting tube with an elastic band or paper clips;
- Stack newspaper cylinders close together in a shallow container;
- Fill them with soil and water.
Subsequently, the peppers will be planted directly with the newspaper - it will simply get wet and spread out in the ground. The newspaper should be made of plain paper, not colored or glossy.
You can plant seedlings on peat blocks; when planting them in the ground, the roots are not damaged.You can use an iron, a soldering iron or the same hot nail to make a pipe approximately 12 cm wide from the film, cut it into pieces 10 cm long, and install it close to each other. When planting in a permanent place, you will need to install the film pots in the hole and cut them right there.
Picking pepper seedlings
Before picking the pepper, first water it thoroughly so as not to damage the root and discard weak or deformed plants - they will be of no use anyway. Fill the containers with soil, compact it and water. Then make a hole, carefully remove the young plant with a spoon and place it in the hole, being careful not to bend or injure the root.
It is not advisable to bury the pepper; it must be planted in the same way as it grew earlier, at the same depth. If the seedlings have become very elongated, it is permissible to deepen the stem by a maximum of a couple of centimeters. Now all that remains is to crush the soil around the seedlings and carefully water them with a spoon. For the first three days, pepper needs shading, then we illuminate it for up to 8 hours a day, no more, since it is a short-day plant. Look video about picking seedlings pepper:
Picking seedlings according to the lunar calendar
Those who focus on the phases of the moon when carrying out gardening work argue that it is best to pick pepper seedlings on the waxing moon, when it arrives in Taurus, Libra or Scorpio. You can pick pepper seedlings during the waning moon and under no circumstances should you pick them during the new moon or full moon, especially when the Moon is in Pisces, Sagittarius, Aries, Gemini and Virgo.
Everyone can believe in anything, the main thing is that it does not bother anyone.But it would be worth noting that if everyone plants food plants in accordance with the phases of the moon, we will die of hunger.
Sowing peppers for seedlings without picking
Picking pepper seedlings is a responsible task; we must not allow damage to the roots, because then all our work will be lost. Gardeners often ask the question: “Do I need to pluck pepper seedlings?” If we grew it as indicated above, then picking is needed. But it is possible to sow seedlings so that picking is not required.
One of the options on how to grow good pepper seedlings without picking, see the video:
Prepare the pepper seeds as indicated above. The glass or pot for planting should be no less than 0.5 liters in volume; it is even better to take a liter container. Thus, the root system will develop freely and will grow well by the time of planting in a permanent place. In a small volume, it will curl and after transplantation it will take a lot of time to grow as it should. And time for pepper, especially in the northern regions, is very important.
If the containers do not have a drainage hole, we will make one with a hot nail, and we will also use it to make holes in the lower side plane. Fill them with soil, pour them well with warm water and lightly compact them with a spoon.
Plant three pepper seeds in a triangle in each container at a distance of approximately 2 cm from each other as indicated above. The seeds do not germinate very well, and if more than one seed has sprouted, leave the strongest pepper, and cut off the rest near the surface of the soil. But it happens that not a single plant has sprouted in the container, or only one plant has sprouted, obviously weak and non-viable.
The question arises, is it possible to plant peppers there from a pot where several good plants have appeared? Don't do this, no matter how much you want to! When replanting, both the plant you are replanting and the one that remains will be damaged. It is better to get one healthy plant than two depressed ones.
As you can see, it is not only possible but also easy to grow seedlings without picking, and besides, you save time actually picking peppers.
