Sweet bell pepper is a welcome vegetable in any garden. This vitamin giant has been enjoyed in Europe since the 15th century. Pepper came to us relatively recently and has taken root well, although it prefers warmer countries.
Its bright coloring adorns any dish, and hardly any other vegetable can boast of such an amount of vitamins. Pepper, the description and care of which will be presented below, is the most popular among gardeners and the most prominent representative of vegetables.
Sweet pepper varieties
The variety of varieties on store shelves confuses not only beginners, but also experienced gardeners. Peppers grown in a greenhouse, open field or greenhouse can be of different colors and a wide variety of shapes.
All varieties of sweet pepper, depending on the ripening time, are divided into:
- ultra-early, which reach the degree of technical maturity in less than 100 days;
- early, require 100 to 120days to maturity;
- mid-early, mature in an average of 130 days;
- late, will require at least 140-150 days;
- very late - more than 150 days.
The height of the bush allows you to select the following varieties:
- undersized (up to half a meter high);
- medium height (up to 1 meter);
- tall (1.5 meters or more).
In the garden without a greenhouse and a greenhouse, "sweet", "sazachok", "hercules" grow well. Resistance to temperature extremes was shown by "dawn", "hedgehog", "violet", "accord", "freckle", "dolphin".
For growing in a greenhouse, low-growing early-ripening varieties or hybrids like Bianca, Eroshka, Jungi, Turquoise, Victoria, Hercules, Flamingo and some others are suitable, which not only grow up, but also mature. Moreover, these varieties are disease-resistant, tolerate low temperatures well.
Tall, thick-walled, large-fruited varieties of late ripening, and, in general, any other peppers can be grown in a greenhouse if it is glazed, polycarbonate, with warm or heated beds.
California Miracle Pepper Description
Growing this variety of pepper is a pleasure. Today it is one of the most sought after varieties.
California Miracle Pepper variety is mid-season, requiring 100 to 130 days to reach technical maturity. Bush size is medium. The height is 0.7 meters. One bush can produce an average of 7-10 fruits. "California miracle" - pepper, reviews ofwhich among gardeners is exceptionally positive, has cube-shaped fruits, they are smooth, glossy, bright red. The aroma is pronounced, with an unobtrusive peel and a wall thickness of 8 mm. The fruit of few people can leave indifferent. Seeds of this variety have good germination both in open and closed ground. Strong spreading bushes with strong elastic branches are characteristic of the "California miracle" variety. Pepper (reviews testify) sometimes has bitterness. This may be due to not very suitable growing conditions. In most cases, the pepper is sweet, it can be consumed both fresh, pickled or processed.
Sweet pepper: when to sow seedlings
Sweet bell pepper is a thermophilic vegetable. Pepper "California miracle" will not be an exception. Cultivation begins with the preparation of seeds and their sowing to obtain seedlings. The vegetable does not tolerate transplanting well, so it is better to choose peat pots with a diameter of 10 cm for sowing. The root system of the plant develops slowly, which means that it is not advisable to use large pots for a vegetable such as sweet pepper.
When to sow? This is the main question that needs to be addressed. Seeds are usually sown in February, so that by the time of transplantation they are 60-70 days old.
California miracle pepper seeds require preplant treatment. It is advisable to soak them in any stimulating solution. They can be disinfected first. To do this, you can use 1%a solution of potassium permanganate, after which the seeds are washed. They are then left to hatch on a damp cloth for several days. As soon as they hatch, they should immediately be sown in well-moistened soil no deeper than 1 cm.
Pots with seeds should be covered with foil, plastic bags or glass. The variety of pepper "California miracle" sprouts in 5-7 days, or even earlier. At the same time, the temperature in the room should not be lower than 20 ° C, optimally 25 ° C, any illumination.
Sweet pepper seedling care
When the first seedlings appear, the containers should be rearranged to light or seedlings should be provided with additional lighting. Polyethylene or what the containers were covered with is gradually removed, the plants get used to the new conditions for them. It is not worth watering the seedlings excessively, but the substrate should not dry out either. In this case, the water should not be cold, at least 30 ° C, otherwise the plant may become frail, get sick, and then die. The air in the room where the seedlings are located should not be dry. There should be regular ventilation, but without a draft. Pepper responds well to spraying.
Feeding during this period is optional, especially if the conditions for growing peppers are appropriate.
Soil preparation
It is possible to plant seedlings in the soil of an unheated greenhouse from mid-May. If this is open ground, then it is better to wait until the end of May - mid-June. In any case, landing requires preliminary soil preparation.
It would be useful to disinfect the soil in the greenhouse. This should be done in early spring. For these purposesyou can use special chemicals or just thoroughly wash everything in the greenhouse with water and soapy water. To transplant a pepper, you need:
- the soil in the greenhouse was warmed up to +18° C;
- the land was fertilized with phosphorus and potash (40 g per m²), nitrogen fertilizers (30 g per m²);
- loamy soil can be mixed with rotted sawdust, manure, peat;
- semi-rotted sawdust, coarse sand should be added to clay soil;
- peat, humus, rotted manure should be added to the sandy soil;
- a week or a few days before planting, the beds can be watered with a hot aqueous solution of mullein (5 liters of solution per square meter of soil).
After fertilization, the soil must be dug up.
How to prepare seedlings for transplanting
Seedlings must be hardened off before planting in the ground. To do this, pepper must first be briefly, and then exposed to fresh air and sun for the whole day, and brought back at night.
A week before planting in the greenhouse, pepper seedlings can be fed with a solution of potash fertilizers and sprayed with a solution of Bordeaux mixture, which will prevent the occurrence of various fungal diseases.
Pepper planting scheme
The scheme of planting sweet pepper directly depends on the size of the bush of the selected variety. The "California miracle" pepper, which is grown in a greenhouse, is planted according to the 40 by 40 pattern. And on average, 4-6 bushes per 1 m² are obtained.
Placing seedlings on permanentplace, seedlings should not be buried, it will not have side roots. Otherwise, the plant may rot and die.
You should also be careful about the root system, damage to which can lead to the fact that the pepper will recover for a long time. Therefore, it is advisable to transplant along with the earthen clod in which the seedlings grew.
Further care
Sweet pepper has taken root well in the middle latitudes of Russia, being considered a relatively unpretentious plant. But care still has some features, which allows you to get a good harvest from the California miracle variety.
Pepper, reviews of which indicate the yield of the variety, loves water. The lack of moisture leads to inhibition of the development process and the dropping of ovaries by the plant. Overwatering can lead to illness. It is necessary to water regularly, only under the root, and the water should be separated and warm.
Not only the soil should be moistened, but also the air in the greenhouse. To keep the humidity level normal, you can water the paths between the rows or the glass of the greenhouse.
If the weather is hot and humid, then the lower side shoots should be removed. If the weather is hot and dry, then you should not pinch the plant, as the foliage protects the soil from drying out.
The root system of sweet pepper needs constant access to air. The compaction of the top layer leads to a decrease in yield. It is necessary to loosen the soil under the plant carefully, since it has superficial roots, they are easy to damage. To avoid weeding the soil under the plantneed to be mulched. For this, sawdust, mowed grass, humus, straw, which has already overripe, are suitable. The layer of mulch should be at least 4 cm.
Pepper is a fragile plant and requires a garter, as the stem and branches under the weight of the fruit can be damaged. And this is done not only with tall, but also with undersized varieties.
Feeding planted seedlings
During the season, sweet bell pepper requires several top dressings. The first fertilizer can be carried out when a few true leaves appear. The second feeding will be carried out a few weeks after the first. You have to be careful with nitrogen fertilizers, feeding the "California miracle". From such feeding, the plant will become more powerful, but the number of ovaries will be sharply reduced.
Collecting sweet bell pepper seeds
To be fair, sweet bell pepper seeds have a maximum germination rate only in the first year after harvest, and the "California miracle" (pepper) will not be an exception. Reviews confirm the popularity of the variety and say that self-collected seeds are in no way inferior to purchased ones. But there are a few rules to follow.
In order for the collected pepper seeds to be purebred and not cross-pollinated with neighboring plantings, it is necessary in advance, even before flowering, to choose a stronger bush. And as the first buds appear, it will need to be covered with a small greenhouse. After setting the first ovaries, which are best suited for collecting seeds, the shelter is removed, the ovaries are marked with strings so that in the futuredo not confuse them with fruits from other pollinated bushes.
Pepper: diseases and pests
The following diseases are dangerous for pepper:
- late blight;
- white rot;
- macrosporiosis;
- top rot;
- septoria;
- black leg.
Pepper is very fond of slugs, whitefly butterfly, scoop, aphid, Colorado potato beetle and bear. To protect the plant from the bear, an hour before planting, the holes prepared for seedlings are filled with water. After planting with a sprayer, the plantation is sprayed. The spraying procedure for the season can be carried out 2-3 times. Wood ash is suitable as a remedy, which fights various pests well.
Aphids are best de alt with with whey. It will take one and a half liters per bucket of water. After treating the plant with serum, it is advisable to sprinkle pepper with wood ash again.
Pepper "California miracle", the description and methods of cultivation of which were presented above, is a truly unique vegetable. Arriving to us from distant warm Mexico, he was able to perfectly adapt to local conditions and at the same time did not lose a drop of his usefulness, taste and aroma.
