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Sweet pepper, or as it is often called, bell pepper, has become widespread in Russia quite a long time ago. But in recent years its popularity has especially increased. One of the reasons was the continuous work of breeders to develop new varieties of vegetable crops with even more attractive properties and characteristics.
Also, ways and methods of growing healthy and tasty vegetables are constantly being improved. It is these two factors - high-quality breeding work and improvement of agricultural cultivation technology - that played the main role in the next round of gardeners' passion for bell pepper.
Description and properties of bell pepper
Sweet pepper is known in Russia under many names, among which the most common are: bell pepper, vegetable pepper, paprika, and even red or Green pepper.
The appearance of the plant is known to everyone, even people far from gardening. From a botanical point of view, sweet pepper is an annual garden vegetable crop with a relatively low bush, usually up to 1.5 meters, single or group leaves in the form of rosettes, colored green and its various shades of color.The plant has relatively large flowers; the fruits are hollow false berries of various sizes and colors. Peppercorns can be red, yellow, orange, green or brown.
Pepper, in addition to its excellent taste, has a number of beneficial properties. It has a healing and preventive effect, significantly reduces the risk of many serious diseases, stimulates appetite and activates the digestive system. It would take a long time to list the beneficial properties of sweet peppers, especially since their number, thanks to ongoing research by scientists, is constantly increasing.
Criteria for selecting bell pepper seeds
Currently, any specialty store contains a huge selection of sweet pepper seeds for planting. To navigate this diversity, it is necessary to clearly understand the criteria by which the choice should be made.
First of all, it is necessary to carefully study the properties and characteristics of the proposed variety, a description of which is always placed on the bag of seeds.
The main attention should be paid to the following properties:
Variety ripening period. According to this criterion, all plants are divided into:
- early ripening varieties and hybrids. They are better suited for planting in unprotected soil, as they have time to ripen even in non-optimal conditions of a short period of consistently warm and sunny weather. It is these conditions that are most typical for the domestic middle zone;
- mid-season varieties and hybrids. They can be used both in greenhouses and in unprotected soil. In the second case, they will require a little more attention and care necessary to ensure a good and stable harvest;
- late-ripening varieties and hybrids. They are most suitable for greenhouse conditions, since in open ground in most cases they simply do not have time to ripen to the required stage.
Variety resistance sweet peppers to diseases and pests common in a particular region.
Regionalization of a variety or hybrid for a specific region where it is planned to be grown.
One of the important criteria for choosing sweet pepper seeds is establishing priority between varieties and hybrids.
The main advantage of the variety is the ability to independently prepare seeds for future planting. In addition, varietal varieties, as a rule, are less whimsical and more stable, if we take the totality of their properties and characteristics.
Hybrid seeds prepare does not make any sense, since their properties are not preserved for the next harvest. However, hybrids have their advantages: higher yields and excellent taste.
Following these criteria will help the gardener make the right choice of variety or hybrid when purchasing sweet pepper seeds.
Sweet pepper - varieties and hybrids
As noted above, there is a huge variety of different varieties and hybrids of bell peppers.
Cardinal F1
The presence of the F1 marking allows you to easily find out that Cardinal is a hybrid of bell pepper. In terms of ripening, the vegetable plant is early ripening. The first peppercorns reach the stage of technical maturity 90-95 days after the seedlings are planted. The hybrid has a compact shape of a relatively low (up to 0.5 meter) bush. The shape of peppercorns is a classic regular cube with sides of 9-10 cm with the usual thickness of the walls of the fruit reaching 8 mm.
The peppercorn at the stage of technical maturity acquires an extremely attractive and original dark purple color. Then, with further ripening, the fruits turn bright red.
The main advantages of the hybrid are as follows:
- high and extremely stable plant productivity;
- taste properties and versatility of the method of consumption. The hybrid can be used both fresh for salads and for canning and cooking by heat treatment;
- ability to resist one of the most common and dangerous diseases of peppers – tobacco mosaic virus.
As with most other varieties and hybrids, it is recommended to plant Cardinal seeds to obtain seedlings in March. At the same time, they do not need to be soaked, since the necessary preparation of hybrid seeds is always carried out in the seed farm.
Big Daddy
A variety with such an original name appeared relatively recently. It is considered an early ripening plant, bearing the first peppercorns in about 100-105 days. Big Papa has a low bush and medium spreading habit. Peppercorns are cone-shaped and small in size. And the weight, as a rule, does not exceed 100 grams with fairly thick walls of the fruit - 8 mm.
The main advantage of the sweet pepper variety in question is its high and fairly stable yield. It is also relatively disease resistant. And experts note the taste qualities of the Big Papa variety. They are expressed, among other things, in the juiciness and special aroma of peppercorns, which is preserved during various processing during the preparation of certain dishes.
Orange
Variety Orange has several distinctive features that set it apart from the general range.
Firstly, the fruits of the variety are small in size, almost never exceeding a weight of 40 grams. At the same time, a very large number of them ripen on the bush at the same time, which allows the variety to show good yields.
Secondly, the Orange variety has a particularly sweet taste of fruits characteristic only of it and a very pronounced aroma. This taste is preserved not only fresh in salads, but also when canning or preparing classic lecho.
Thirdly, the Orange variety, thanks to the work of the breeders who developed it, has the most suitable qualities for growing in unprotected open ground. It is unpretentious to care and climatic conditions, resistant to low temperatures, and is able to withstand most diseases common in Russia.
The remaining properties of the Orange bell pepper variety are not so remarkable:
- in terms of ripening – early ripening;
- bush height – average, up to 0.45 meters;
- fruit color is either bright orange or red-orange;
- The shape of the fruit is round, elongated.
Agapovsky
The Agapovsky variety was bred by Russian breeders a little over twenty years ago. During this time, it became widespread, managing to become popular among domestic gardeners. This is not at all surprising if you study its properties.
Agapovsky allows you to begin harvesting the first harvest after 100-105 days, classifying this indicator as early ripening plants. Like most peppers, it has a compact bush shape, relatively low. It stands out for the characteristic bright dark green color of its numerous large leaves.
The shape of the peppercorns is prism-shaped, with faint ribbing.The fruits almost never weigh more than 110-120 grams, while having a wall thickness of about 7 mm.
The main advantage of the Agapovsky variety of bell pepper is, without a doubt, its high yield. If you follow the rules of care and perform the necessary agrotechnical measures, it can be around 10 kg/sq. m. In addition to this extraordinary yield indicator, the Agapovsky variety also has significant resistance to many diseases. But its advantages do not end there. Most gardeners who have grown it highly appreciate the taste qualities combined with the versatility of the method of consumption.
Hercules
In terms of ripening time, the Hercules variety is mid-ripening. This means that you can start harvesting no earlier than after 110-120 days. The color of the fruit at the stage of technical maturity is dark green. When they reach biological maturity, peppercorns gradually change their color to red.
The cube-shaped fruits, measuring 11*12 cm, are quite large. Often their weight exceeds 250 grams. The surface of the peppercorns has a barely noticeable ribbing. The wall thickness is usually 7-8 mm.
The main advantage of the Hercules variety is its excellent taste and versatility of use. In addition, the bell pepper variety is quite resistant to most diseases.
California miracle
The California Miracle variety of bell pepper is one of the most popular among domestic gardeners. Its properties and characteristics have allowed it to become widespread in the southern regions of Russia, as well as in the middle zone. Being mid-season, it provides the opportunity to begin collecting the first harvest of peppercorns after 110 days.The bush of the plant has a compact shape, but is quite tall. It often grows up to 1 meter, and sometimes higher. The variety is distinguished by the fact that it does not need to tie up the branches - this happens because they are very powerful and elastic.
The fruits of the California Miracle variety are relatively small, only some of them reach a weight of 150-160 grams. Peppercorns have a characteristic fleshy internal structure. The fruits have a bright red rich color. Their shape is a cube with almost equal sides and a faintly ribbed surface.
The main advantages of the variety are its versatility, which is manifested in two indicators at once:
- according to the method of consumption - the excellent taste properties of the variety are manifested both fresh and canned, as well as when preparing various dishes;
- according to the place of cultivation - the properties of the variety allow it to be grown both in greenhouses and in unprotected soil.
In addition to all the above advantages, the variety is also quite resistant to diseases.
Cockatoo F1
One of the bell pepper hybrids with original and remarkable properties. Its name most likely refers to the bright red color of the most common variety of the hybrid, somewhat reminiscent of the beak coloring of a famous species of parrot.
The second distinctive feature of the hybrid is the large size of its fruits. They have a somewhat elongated shape, up to 30 cm long. As a result, their weight is often 0.5 kg.
As a result, the yield of the sweet pepper hybrid is quite high and often reaches 3 kg from each bush.
The third remarkable property of the hybrid is the existence of two varieties. Above we discussed the first, most common.The second is less common. Its fruits are somewhat smaller, but nevertheless reach a weight of 300-400 grams with half the length (up to 15 cm). Their color is yellow.
Siberian prince
It’s easy to guess, if the name contains the word “Siberian”, then we are probably talking about a variety for open ground. It is for such growing conditions that this variety of bell pepper is intended. Being early ripening, it has a low bush with a semi-spreading structure.
The color of the peppercorns is rich bright red, the insides of the fruit are very fleshy, and the skin is smooth and glossy. Peppercorns grow quite small in size, rarely reaching a weight of 100 grams. They have a cone shape.
One of the features of agricultural technology is the need to periodically trim the side shoots of the plant, otherwise their growth will lead to a slowdown in the formation and maturation of peppercorns.
The variety stands out for its excellent taste properties. It is universal in the way it is eaten.
Conclusion
The variety of varieties and hybrids of sweet peppers makes choosing one or more a difficult task. But if you follow the recommendations and criteria, it will be somewhat easier to do. And the right choice, combined with careful care and implementation of the necessary agrotechnical measures, guarantees a high yield of such a healthy and tasty vegetable as bell pepper.
