As we all know, pepper can be sweet and spicy. Despite this, there is almost no fundamental difference in the technology of growing seedlings. Therefore, we will talk about the main culture – sweet pepper.
Choosing a variety or hybrid, decide for what main purpose the fruits are grown and in what conditions the vegetation will take place. It should be noted that early-maturing peppers rarely boast impressive size and fleshy.
And to get an enviably large thick-walled fruit, you will have to make a little more effort — they will need a longer period of time and more heat.
Grow seedlings
To obtain early fruits, it is necessary to grow seedlings aged 65-80 days and plant it in the early stages. In 80-day seedlings, the first flower already appears on the site of the fork. Many gardeners, removing it, remove the fruits of the earliest harvest.
Having made this action, the person notices that on a Bush soon there are 2-3 new buds depending on a branching. Fruits developing from them, will surely be aligned with the same maturity, but not the first, and therefore is not super weird.
But let us go back to the beginning. When buying seeds, pay attention to the output. The dates printed on the bags indicate the period of use. Compliance with it is more concerned with the manufacturer and the implementing party. And buyers should know that a good company has at least two years from the date of completion of the sale, which is primarily facilitated by additional metallized sealed packaging.
Pre-sowing seed treatment
Pepper seeds have strong enough seed shells, so it is more useful for them and calmer for us to carry out preliminary soaking and bringing to pecking, that is, until the appearance of a white tender root 2-3 mm long. For this, it is necessary to soak the seeds in water of melted snow (rain) for 12-24 hours, keep at a temperature of about +25°C, from time to time shaking.
Then spread the seeds on a damp cotton cloth (2-3 layers), placed on the bottom of the container, cover with the same cloth (1 layer). Close tightly and place under the ceiling of the bathroom or kitchen, where the temperature is usually not below +20°C and not above +30°C, and an average of about +25°C, which is very good.
In such conditions, good seeds will show their viability, if not on the 5-7 day, then on the 10-12 th exactly. Seeds of some hybrids that have very thick walls, a huge mass of fruits, a large habit of the Bush, late maturation, can only hatch on the 15-20 day. This requires high (almost 100%) humidity and heat, light is not needed.
Sow seeds dry, without prior preparation is irrational and dangerous. With this method, you can lose a lot of time, effort, hope and ultimately do not get a timely and planned harvest.
Soil preparation and sowing
While the embryos in the seeds come to life, you can do the soil. Ideal for growing seedlings of a mixture of different soils with the addition of inert or long-decomposing materials. Substrates made on the basis of deoxidized and refined chemical fertilizers peat, I do not like. They easily and unexpectedly dry up, then hardly moisturize, nutrients in them are not delayed — quickly washed away.
A very good substrate is obtained by mixing the same volumes of purchased soil mixtures for vegetables, river sand and coarse-grained deoxidized peat. Its nutritional value in containers of 0.5-0.8 liters is enough for the organic development of plants (respectively, medium and large habitus) in the seedling period. Planting capacity is better to fill such a mixture and how to shed 3-5 days before sowing.
Sowing seeds hold, throwing them in a pit depth of 1.5 cm, made by a finger or a pencil. Fill the seeds can be due to the collapse of the edges of the hole or the same substrate. To seed C came into good contact with the substrate, you must carefully a few drops of water from a pipette, syringe or syringe to moisten the projection of the landing site, thereby precipitate the substrate.
The correct mode of the content of the seedlings
To germination temperature should be maintained at about +20…+25°C. Then urgently need to lower it to +12…+16°C, increase the illumination to the maximum, and the soil is better to dry a little than waterlogged. This is done in order to prevent strong stretching of the subfamily knee (the section of the stem from the surface of the substrate to the cotyledons). To get rid of excess moisture is very simple, putting the planting containers on a pack of Newspapers or toilet paper. Do not throw away the “absorbents”, dry on the battery – they are still useful.
Sometimes the cotyledons can not open because of the strong embrace of the seed shells. It happens, as a rule, for the following reasons:
- shallow landing,
- too loose or loose substrate,
- insufficiently moist soil,
- too high temperature from sowing to germination,
- too large seeds, which should be sown deeper (2-2.5 cm).
Do not rush to remove the seed shell, this can greatly damage the cotyledons and disrupt the development of the plant. To carefully remove the seed coat, it is necessary more often (5 times a day) to moisten it with water using a pipette, syringe, syringe, water droplets on the tip of the match, etc. you Can cover the seedling with a transparent Cup, sprinkled with water inside. Created humidity soften dry scales, and after a couple of days they will bounce.
10-15 days maintenance of plants in Spartan conditions, temperature should be raised to 12…+18°C in the dark and up to 22…+25°C in the light period. Try to add up to 16 hours of daylight during the growing of seedlings, so that at night there is a third of the day. Conventional incandescent lamps strongly heat and dry the air, so it is desirable not to use them, and use gas or led lighting.
The sun’s rays can severely damage the above-ground part of the seedlings and its root system. Suction roots (very gentle, but the most responsible) die from overheating in the first place, leaving no hope for a full recovery of good health of the plant. From hyperthermia planting containers can be protected with foil or a strip of white paper.
All the flaws of cultivation at the initial stage will necessarily respond in the future and will affect the taste and external qualities of the fruit, the speed and time of yield, the total yield. In the period of fruiting, it is necessary to pay attention to the development of bushes and when inhibiting growth, the absence of flowers to carry out fertilizing. Good luck growing the best peppers.
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