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Pepper, despite its reputation as a capricious and demanding plant, is the dream of every gardener to grow. After all, its fruits contain six times more ascorbic acid compared to citrus plants. And in terms of taste, rarely any vegetable can compete with it. In addition, without hot pepper it is unthinkable to prepare a variety of adjikas, seasonings, sauces and vegetable preparations for the winter. In fact, growing modern pepper varieties and hybrids is not that difficult if you provide the plants with sufficient heat and moisture. In areas with unstable weather conditions, it is possible to use additional film shelters. Pepper is also very demanding when it comes to nutrition. And in unfavorable conditions it can be susceptible to various fungal infections. diseases. Therefore, it will probably be difficult to do without regular fertilizing and treatments.
At the same time, many gardeners are now trying to avoid the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in order to obtain not only tasty, but also healthy fruits. What natural folk remedies can help in this situation? In the case of pepper, ordinary iodine can help out, which can easily be found in the medicine cabinet of every home.After all, iodine can serve pepper not only as a fertilizer, but also as a growth stimulator and a means of protection. But first things first.
Iodine and its effect on plants
Iodine is one of the many trace elements that is quite common in nature, but is found in very small concentrations, and therefore is a relatively rare substance. In different regions and on different soils, its content can vary greatly.
But most podzolic soils, gray soils and solonchaks often lack iodine content.
At the same time, experiments conducted in recent decades have shown that iodine:
- Able to increase the vitamin C content in some crops, in particular peppers.
- It has a beneficial effect on productivity, as it stimulates the growth and development of garden crops.
- It has a positive effect on the size, color, and taste of grown fruits.
This multifaceted effect of iodine on plants is explained primarily by the fact that with the help of iodine, the digestibility of nitrogen compounds in plants improves. And nitrogen is one of the main elements that plants require for good growth.
Thus, the use of iodine as a fertilizer for peppers is a completely scientifically based fact. True, very little of it is required for the normal development of plants, so it is not produced as a separate type of fertilizer. Moreover, it is contained in manure and ash, which are often used to feed plants.
However, it is quite possible to prepare and use a separate iodine solution.
And this can be very beneficial for health with modern acute iodine deficiency in food.
Ways to use iodine for feeding peppers
Interestingly, iodine can be used at many different stages of pepper development.
Seed and seedling treatment
Iodine is often used at the seed treatment stage. To prepare the required solution, it is enough to dissolve one drop of iodine in a liter of water. Pepper seeds are soaked in this solution for about 6 hours. After soaking, the seeds are immediately sown in the prepared soil mixture. This procedure helps speed up germination and the appearance of more strong and strong shoots.
For feeding pepper seedlings You can also use iodine solution. When young plants have 2-3 true leaves, they are watered with a solution obtained by dissolving one drop of iodine in three liters of water. One such procedure will be enough before planting seedlings in the ground so that they acquire increased resistance to various fungal diseases.
Iodine as a supplement for adult peppers
After planting pepper seedlings in the ground, the plants can be treated with iodine either by watering them at the root or by using foliar feeding - that is, by spraying the entire pepper bushes.
To use iodine as a fertilizer, just dissolve 3 drops of iodine in 10 liters of water and pour the resulting solution onto the pepper bushes, using one liter per plant.
As a result, fruits can grow 15% larger in size than without feeding, and their ripening time is reduced.
If it is easier for you to use foliar feeding of peppers, then for this purpose 2 drops of iodine are diluted in one liter of water. The resulting solution can be used to treat plants in open ground every 10 days. Three treatments per season are enough. When growing pepper in greenhouses It is enough to carry out two foliar feedings with iodine solution with a time interval of 15 days between them.
Using iodine as a means of protecting peppers
Also foliar feeding are used to simultaneously protect peppers from diseases. A solution prepared as follows is very effective for preventive protection against late blight and powdery mildew:
Take 10 liters of water at room temperature, mix with one liter of whey, 40 drops of iodine tincture and one tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide. After mixing thoroughly, pepper bushes are sprayed with this mixture, so that all branches and leaves are not ignored, especially on the back side.
There is also another recipe that helps well against late blight, even if the disease has already affected the peppers.
It is necessary to heat 8 liters of water to a boiling state and pour in 2 liters of sifted wood ash. After the solution has cooled to room temperature, the contents of a standard vial of iodine, as well as 10 g of boric acid, are added to it. The resulting mixture is infused for 12 hours. When feeding peppers, take one liter of the mixture, dilute it in a 10-liter bucket of water, and pour this solution onto the pepper bushes at the root.Treatment with the solution according to the above recipe will stop the development of late blight disease, but it is better to remove the affected parts of the plants.
Rules for feeding peppers with iodine
It is imperative to take into account the fact that iodine is a toxic substance. Consuming just 3 grams of this element can lead to irreparable consequences for a person.
- Therefore, it is necessary to strictly follow the recommended dosages when preparing iodine solutions for feeding peppers.
- When spraying peppers with even the smallest concentration of iodine solution, it is recommended to protect your eyes with special glasses.
- For plants, exceeding recommended doses is also quite dangerous, as it can lead to distortion in the shape of the fruit.
- It is advisable to carry out foliar feeding of peppers only in cloudy weather to avoid burns on the leaves.
- Like all fertilizing, spilling iodine solution under the roots should only be done after first watering the plants with water.
As you can see, fertilizing with iodine can be very beneficial when growing peppers, provided all precautions are followed.
