Not every summer resident takes up the cultivation of pepper seedlings, considering this matter problematic, and the culture is whimsical, especially at an early stage of development. Often, the decision in favor of buying ready-made plants occurs after one or two failures associated with incorrect picking of seedlings and errors in care.
What doesn’t pepper like?
Pepper does not tolerate transplanting at an early age, because it reacts very poorly to the slightest damage to the roots. In addition, it can not be planted deeper than it grew before, as this is fraught with disease of the lower part of the stem. Therefore, it is immediately deepened by 3-4 cm. The seed shells of pepper are poorly wetted with water, so they swell for a long time. This is generally a “thoughtful” culture: until it rises, it will take two weeks. Lots of problems! However, you can grow seedlings without picking at all.
Sowing pepper for seedlings
Roll up the bags from a small sheet of film the size of a notebook sheet, fill them with moist soil for seedlings. Put an elastic band on the bags or fasten them with a paper clip so that they do not unfold, then make them close to each other in a container of such size that they do not fall. Do not forget to make an inscription with the name of the variety or number, it is convenient to use a piece of plaster or masking tape for this.
How to sow pepper in bags
Make a hole in the soil by sticking your finger into it to the depth of the first phalanx (3-4 cm), and immediately lower the seed. Then pour in a little solution prepared from any preparation that stimulates germination and root formation.
Sprinkle with soil, seal with your finger. Put the container in a clear plastic bag, take a few deep breaths into it (to get carbon dioxide) and tie the bag. Put it in a warm place, for example, under a normal table lamp or near a heating battery (the best temperature for a friendly and fast emergence of seedlings is about +28°C).
Then what?
Seedlings sown in this way do not pick and do not settle. It is only necessary to unfold the bags from the film — and add 1 tablespoon of soil when 4-5 real leaves appear. As you understand, the tip of the root does not pinch. In the future, this will contribute to the rapid growth of its depth.
Watering and fertilizing for seedlings
After the appearance of the first loop of shoots, the plants are transferred to a cool place for 10 days, and then to a warm place. Illumination is needed immediately after unfolding the cotyledons, but only for 8 hours a day, since pepper is a short-day plant.
Top Dressing begins immediately (without waiting for the first leaf to appear), combining them with watering. Watering seedlings in diapers from the film is always done very moderately. By the way, in such homemade containers, any seedlings grow perfectly, even cabbage.
Planting seedlings in a permanent place
On the eve of transplanting seedlings to a permanent place, all the soil must be shed with a nutrient solution. The holes should be made according to the scheme of about 30 × 30 cm, pour a feather or dry hay into them, add 1 tablespoon of potash fertilizer without chlorine, pour 1 liter of hot water and half a glass of liquid prepared from hydrogel into each, and plant the seedlings directly on it, unfolding the diapers.
Pepper has a compact root system, it does not like the drying of the top layer of soil, so it will have to be watered. But when using hydrogel, this should not be done very often, about 1 time in 2-3 weeks, especially if the soil under the plantings will be regularly mulched with mown green grass, straw or weeds.
This method of growing seedlings does not involve the purchase of seedling containers — it is enough to take a dense film (for example, after use in greenhouses or greenhouses). It turns out that the costs are less, labor costs are lower, and the result is consistently good. Take up the option of breeding your own pepper seedlings.
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