Outdoor Pepper Care

Growing peppers outdoors is not an easy task. It is believed that bell peppers are quite a demanding crop, therefore they require special conditions for growth and development. Bell peppers are often grown in greenhouses, but they can also be grown outdoors. But for this you will need to follow certain rules and adhere to our recommendations. If you do not provide proper care for the pepper, then even strong and healthy bushes will not bear fruit well, and the ovary may dry out for no apparent reason. But every summer resident wants to harvest a bountiful harvest, and without making any special efforts for this. And this, perhaps, you should only carefully monitor the development of plants, and also adhere to the rules of agricultural technology.

Pepper care: choose a variety

Before growing a particular vegetable crop, summer residents first determine the variety. Pepper is no exception. The growing season for these plants is quite long, so you need to choose a variety even in winter.

Peppers have a wide variety of fruit shapes, they are cuboid, spherical and conical. By the colors of the peppers, you can easily assemble a Traffic Light. They are yellow, red, green, as well as brown and orange and even black.

Pay attention to early and mid-season varieties, as they help gardeners get the harvest as early as possible. Consider the climatic features of the region where you live.

After all, if in the south of our country it is possible to grow peppers with different periods of fruit ripening, then in more northern regions it is preferable to choose only early ripening varieties. Think immediately about what you want to get in the fall.

If you want to consume fresh sweet peppers, then absolutely any varieties will suit you. But if you want to preserve it, then it is better to choose varieties with small fruits. So it will be very convenient to place them in the jar.

It is best to choose thick-walled fruits, as they are the most juicy and not susceptible to frost and cold weather. Pay attention to the Dutch varieties, they withstand the cold very well, ripen and generally do not get sick.

If you want a sharper pepper, then pay attention to the following varieties: Adjika, Twinkle, Super chili and others. The Bonus variety has a high yield, and Smile is cold-resistant.

Preparing the place

Pepper care begins with the choice of a planting site, with which they are determined in the fall. For him, you should select areas that are well lit by the sun, protected from the wind.

Peppers do not like drafts, so it is best to plant them near any hedges, but if there are no such on the site, then you can build a fence with your own hands near the plantings. It is best to choose plots located on the south side of the buildings.

So, the peppers will be in the shade in the afternoon, so even on the hottest day, the bright sun will not burn the delicate leaves of the plants. If we talk about the plants of neighbors, then it is good to plant peppers next to cabbage, legumes.

But in the place where nightshade crops previously grew, pepper should not be planted for several years. This is because many soil-borne diseases are equally dangerous for potatoes and peppers.

In the fall, you will need to dig up the area well, and in the spring only loosen the top layer. If we talk about the soil, then peppers love neutral and slightly acidic.

You can check the acidity level using litmus tests, which are sold in specialized agricultural stores, and they are inexpensive.

If you have acidic soil on your site, then you will need to calcify it with wood ash or chalk. It should be noted that wood ash also structures the soil, making it loose and soft.

But if this is not done, then on acidic soils you will not get any harvest. Since peppers practically do not bear fruit in such conditions.

If you don't feel like running to the store for a litmus test, then you can take a handful of soil from the site and moisten it with table vinegar. If bubbles appear on the surface of the soil, then the ground is neutral, but if there is no reaction, then you should follow the chalk.

In the fall, it is also recommended to add organic fertilizer to the soil, and only then dig up the beds. In the spring, usually only mineral fertilizers or rotted organic matter are applied to the soil. This is necessary in order for the plants to grow and develop well.

The fertilizer also enriches the soil with oxygen and structures the soil.

Pepper: growing seedlings and caring for it

Pepper care is about growing seedlings. To do this, you need to stock up on seeds in the winter. It is impossible to plant seeds immediately in open ground, since in this case you will not receive fruits. They simply do not have time to ripen before the onset of frost.

Therefore, absolutely all varieties of pepper are grown through seedlings. Already in early February, many summer residents begin to plant peppers for seedlings. But remember that overgrown plants do not tolerate transplanting well, so it is inappropriate to plant peppers too early.

In order to get healthy and strong seedlings, you will need to pick up the seed material first. Remove any empty and damaged seeds, then cover the seeds with warm water for a few hours to swell.

Wait for the seeds to grow in size. After that, you will need to transfer them to a damp cloth and leave for several days in order for the sprouts to hatch. After that, you can plant seeds in the ground.

Usually, equal parts of earth, sand and humus are used to prepare the soil. However, if you do not want to do the preparation of the soil yourself, you can buy it at a specialized agricultural store.

Some gardeners recommend annealing the soil before use. Sometimes wood ash is also added to the mixture in order to structure the soil and enrich it with useful substances. And after that, the prepared soil is distributed in pots and boxes.

First, the seeds are sown in a common container, after which a dive is often carried out, but remember that pepper does not like a dive. Therefore, it is best to immediately maintain the distance between the plants when planting seedlings.

After the seedlings hatch, the boxes can be moved to the windowsill. Remember that peppers need 12 hours of light for optimal seedling growth. Only in this case will the seedlings develop well.

If natural light is not enough, then you can hang a phytolamp. Watering pepper seedlings should be about once a week, it is best to use warm water for this.

If the room is not very humid, then young sprouts should be sprayed from a spray bottle. Protect seedlings from drafts and temperature changes.

After the seedlings are recommended to be tempered, namely, to expose to the air and to teach the plant to survive adverse weather events.

Pepper - planting in the ground and care

Pepper care is the correct planting in the ground. Before planting seedlings, it is necessary to perform some agrotechnical measures on the site. You should dig up the ground, namely, loosen the topsoil.

Then remove all weeds and fertilize the soil, usually the pepper is planted in the holes. To do this, you will need to dig planting holes, keeping the distance between the rows and between the plants.It is best to plant peppers in cloudy weather, so the plants will better tolerate a pick.

Before transplanting, the pepper must be watered abundantly so that the root system is saturated with moisture and adapts well in the open field. Each well also needs to be watered. Moreover, it is abundant enough.

After the water has been absorbed, you can plant the pepper. Carefully remove the seedlings from the box, it is best to plant them with an earthen clod. If you planted peppers in peat pots, then you do not need to remove the plants. Green leaves should be left on the surface.

If you are planting different varieties of pepper, then be prepared for the fact that they can be pollinated. In order to avoid this, you need to plant different varieties as far apart as possible, and also alternate planting pepper with other tall plants.

Outdoor Pepper Care

Already 2 days after you plant the pepper, you should water it, and also sprinkle the ground with mulch. Mulching must be done so that moisture is retained in the soil better, and weeds do not multiply.

To do this, sprinkle the soil with sawdust, straw, cover with foil. After the seedlings adapt to the new conditions, they should be watered once every five to seven days. During this period, you also need to start feeding the peppers.

For the first time, fertilizers can be applied as early as 2 weeks after transplanting seedlings into open ground. Often mineral fertilizers, superphosphate and bird droppings are used for this. The next time the pepper should be fed at the very beginning of fruiting.

During this period, it is watered with mullein solution, as well as other natural fertilizers. The last time the pepper should be fed during the period of mass fruit formation. It is at this time that plants need additional resources, which means nutrients.

As the plants develop, you can determine which substances are missing in the pepper. If the leaves of the plant dry up, this indicates a lack of potassium. With a nitrogen deficiency, a grayish tint appears in the leaves of plants, but with an excess, the ovaries begin to fall off.

If a purple color appears on the leaves of the pepper, then this indicates a lack of phosphorus. If you find these signs on your peppers, then you should apply the appropriate mineral fertilizers.

However, you will need to read the directions carefully and follow the suggested dosage. The fact is that an excess of nutrients also negatively affects the development of plants.

Pepper care is mandatory loosening of the soil. This must be done so that an earthen crust does not form on the surface, which prevents air and moisture from entering the soil.

It is best to loosen the soil after watering, however, you do not need to do this right away, otherwise you will simply compact the soil even more.

Loosening must be done with caution directly under the bushes. Since the root system of peppers lies close enough to the surface, so you need to not damage it. During the flowering period, it is recommended to huddle the plants in order for them to develop better.

It is also necessary to remove unnecessary stepsons and processes from the bush. In order for nutrients to be distributed most efficiently throughout the plant. And extra shoots interfere with fruiting.

Due to too dense bushes, a lot of ovary is also formed, but there are few fruits. These same processes are recommended to be removed once every 2 weeks. In order to save your time and effort, it is recommended to do this while loosening the soil.

Also, tall varieties are recommended to be tied to supports so that, as the fruit grows, the branches do not break.

If we talk about diseases and pests, it should be noted that peppers often suffer from late blight, white rot, tobacco mosaic, and other diseases.

In order for your pets to be healthy, you need to take proper care of them, as well as take preventive measures on time. It is best to remove diseased plants from the site so that they do not infect neighbors.

If you are worried about pests, it is good to powder the bushes with wood ash. This is usually done in the morning after dew, about four or five times over the summer. Often summer residents spray pepper leaves with garlic broth.

Keep a close eye on the development of your plants, take proper care of your pepper and please yourself with a bountiful harvest.