Planting and caring for sweet pepper seedlings are not overly complicated processes, but they require certain knowledge to obtain he althy and strong planting material.
Preparing pepper seeds for planting
Seedlings of bell peppers begin to be planted from February to mid-May. It all depends on where the seedlings are grown. In a heated greenhouse and on a windowsill, seeds are sown in mid-February, and in an unheated greenhouse, it is better to sow in mid-March. After three years, sweet pepper seeds lose their germination capacity, which is why they are sorted out beforehand and spoiled ones are removed. In order for pepper seedlings to be strong and viable, the preparation of seeds and soil must be carried out in advance.
There are many ways to improve seed germination. First of all, calibration is carried out, during which the largest and highest quality seeds are selected, which contain more nutrient reserves. To do this, they must be soaked for several minutes in a solution of sodium chloride, which is prepared by diluting 1 teaspoon of s alt in 1 glass of water. Everything is thoroughly mixed and then settled. For sowing, only settled seeds are used, which are washed with clean water and dried.
To disinfect and stimulate germination, soak the seeds for 7 minutes in a warm 3% hydrogen peroxide solution or for 30 minutes in a potassium permanganate solution, which is prepared by dissolving 1 g of potassium permanganate per 100 ml of water at room temperature, or in a special preparation, for example, "Ecopower".
To improve germination, you can simply soak the seeds for a couple of days in warm water, the temperature of which is from +25 to +30 degrees Celsius. To do this, it is enough to lay gauze or filter paper in a container, on top of which put planting material moistened with water. Follow the constant moisture, there should be little water so that the seeds do not rot. After they hatch, they should be dried a little and immediately sown in cups or a greenhouse.
Some amateur gardeners are experimenting with seed hardening. This is necessary so that in the future the seedlings are adapted to the temperature drop. Sprouted seeds are placed in the refrigerator for 60 minutes, then removed and kept at room temperature for 2 hours. Such manipulations are carried out 3 more times.
Selection of soil and containers for seedlings
Proper care of pepper seedlings largely depends on the quality of the selected soil, which should be loose and absorb moisture well. For self-preparation of the mixture, you can use a combination of light brown peat containing undecomposed plant residues, leaf, greenhouse, sod, soil, small sawdust,coarse sand, perlite, humus, garden compost and biohumus. An important point is the ban on the use of land from the site where plants of the Solanaceae family were previously grown in order to avoid infection of seedlings with pathogens of tomatoes and peppers. After preparing the mixture, it is necessary to disinfect it with a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
There are different proportions for collecting soil:
- Ratio 5:1:4 of humus, peat, garden or soddy soil. You can use some river sand.
- Ratio 1:3:1 of sod land, peat and humus. It is recommended to add mineral fertilizers to such a mixture: superphosphate 10 g, ammonium nitrate 1 g, potassium s alt 5 g per 1 kg of soil.
Seedlings will grow well on coco seedlings. Peppers planted and cared for are no different from caring for plants sown in a regular potting mix will do just fine.
You can add hydrogel to the soil, which will allow you to better retain moisture. For this purpose, the balls, swollen in advance in water, are mixed with soil. If the granules are used dry, then during the swelling they will displace the soil from the container.
Small boxes, plastic cups or jars, cells with a pallet, peat tablets, pots with holes at the bottom are suitable for planting seedlings.
A very convenient option for sowing seeds are peat tablets, from which it is easy to transfer seedlings during transplantation orpicks.
Sowing pepper seeds for seedlings
Capacities are filled with earth mixture so that 2 cm remains to the top edge of the pot. When planting seedlings in boxes, grooves are made with a wooden stick to a depth of 1 cm, with intervals between rows of 5 cm. The distance between the seeds in the groove is 2 cm. After sowing, they are sprinkled with a small amount of earth.
In order not to waste time on transplanting young sprouts, the seeds are brought into cups or separate cells.
A container with seeds sown in the ground for a while, until the seedlings have sprouted, put in a warm place near the battery, covered with thin polyethylene or glass to reduce moisture evaporation. Every day you need to check the soil in the box so that it does not dry out.
If pre-treatment of pepper seeds was carried out, then the first shoots appear after a week. After that, the protective cover is removed to prevent overheating and damage to the sprouts.
Optimal temperature and illumination
Proper care of pepper seedlings is to maintain a favorable air temperature for this crop, which is +24 to +26 degrees Celsius during the day and +15 to +17 degrees Celsius at night.
Sunlight is very important for peppers, as opposed to artificial lighting. Before planting seedlings, you need to determine which window has more light, and plants should be grown on it. Peppers grow best on the south side.
Additional lighting
But doesn't always get enough natural lightseedling. Tomatoes and peppers require similar care, so in cloudy weather, plants can be illuminated with fluorescent lamps. The distance from the top of the seedling to the lighting device must be at least 15 cm. Over time, the lamp must be lifted from the grown seedlings. The plant needs up to 20 hours of such artificial lighting.
Seedling picking
Further care for seedlings of pepper is associated with the selection of the strongest and largest seedlings, which are planted in separate pots. This gives the plants more space to develop and prepares them for later planting outdoors.
Seedlings dive when they have grown 2 small cotyledon leaves, this happens after 2-3 weeks from planting the seeds. To carry out this manipulation, the earth is watered and after 2 hours the sprouts are taken out, from which the main root is then cut off by a third. Each such plant is planted in a separate pot or other container.
Irrigation
After germination, the soil is not moistened for the first three days. Caring for pepper seedlings at this stage consists in timely watering, using a simple sprayer. With the appearance of cotyledon leaves, the seedlings are watered with water, the temperature of which is about +30 degrees Celsius.
You should not moisten the soil too much, so that excessive moisture does not provoke the defeat of seedlings with a black leg when the root part of the stem rots. At the slightest sign, care for seedlings of pepperscomes down to stopping watering, then sprinkle the ground with wood ash or calcined sand. You also need regular ventilation so that the soil has time to dry out.
There should be holes in the bottom of each pot or box to allow excess moisture to drain out.
Feeding seedlings
For normal development, you need to feed the bell pepper. Seedlings of fertilizer-related care require at least 4 times. When two true leaves appear, they are fed with a solution obtained by dissolving 15 g of potassium s alt, 10 g of urea, 40 g of superphosphate in 10 liters of warm water. One liter of such top dressing is enough for 10 seedlings.
The second fertilization is carried out after 2 weeks, only when preparing the solution, 2 times more superphosphate is added.
For better development of the root system, seedlings are poured with potassium humate, 25 ml of this product is diluted in 10 liters of water.
When 6 leaves appear during budding, micronutrient top dressing is carried out, which includes copper, iron sulfate, orthoboric acid, manganese sulfate, zinc.
It is important not to let seedlings outgrow and plant them in open ground in time.
