Planting And Caring For Pepper Seedlings In A Greenhouse

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Read the previous part. ← Growing sweet pepper seedlings

Sweet pepper with a Ural accent. Part 2

Preparing the greenhouse for planting pepper seedlings

In a harsh climate, the cultivation of heat-loving crops (in particular, pepper) in greenhouses without biofuel is not very effective. In the Middle Urals, in this case, it is possible to plant pepper seedlings no earlier than June 10. At the same time, gardeners have to constantly be on alert in order to establish additional shelters at the first threat of another frost. And pepper develops badly on cold ground. As a result, in practice, its yield is symbolic.

Soil with biofuel is a different matter. Here, the threat of frost is an empty phrase (of course, in the presence of single-layer internal shelters), and the growth activity is high and the development of plants (and, therefore, ultimately, the harvest) is at a height. The options for filling greenhouse ridges with biofuel can be very different - manure mixed with straw and foliage, tops and other organic residues mixed with hay and some manure, etc.

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Regardless of the version of the greenhouse cake you choose, in the spring, the ridges (not yet fully formed) are covered with transparent plastic wrap to accelerate the thawing of the upper layer, and the greenhouses themselves are closed. When the soil components in the greenhouse more or less thaw, the folded organic matter is loosened with a pitchfork and poured abundantly from a watering can with hot water with dissolved nitrogen fertilizer (for 10 liters of water, 1 tablespoon with top of urea).

With a limited amount of manure or its complete absence, it is also good to spill the soil with infused bird droppings or mullein solution. After that, the organic materials stored in the fall (preferably manure), if necessary, are heated in one way or another, and then the organic matter is placed in the trenches and poured abundantly with hot water. After that, the ridges are again covered with foil for several days to start the heating process.

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Then, over the prefabricated soil, prepared soil is poured, mixed with mineral fertilizers and ash, with a layer of at least 10-15 cm, after which it will be possible to start sowing and planting. Of course, it will be too early to plant seedlings of heat-loving crops at this moment, and the greenhouse can temporarily be occupied for growing seedlings or various vitamin greens.

Planting pepper seedlings in a greenhouse

Planting pepper seedlings in greenhouses in a harsh climate, for example, in the Urals, is carried out approximately in the second half of May. By this time, the first buds should already appear on the seedlings (but not fruits - the appearance of fruits in the seedling stage usually leads to the depletion of plants), and the greenhouse soil is completely prepared and well heated.

The technique of planting seedlings does not present any difficulties. Plants are watered abundantly, and then carefully removed from the pots and planted in prepared holes, without deepening. The pepper should not be deepened, since no side roots are formed in it. In addition, in the case of deepening, rotting in the area of the root collar is possible. After planting, the plants are well watered.

When planting, I do not add anything to the wells, but on insufficiently fertile soils, this, of course, is necessary, since this culture requires very fertile light soils with a neutral reaction of the environment, containing organic matter in the form of humus. On insufficiently fertile soils, a large crop of pepper cannot be obtained. A possible option for additional fertilization in the holes can be semi-rotted compost mixed with a complex mineral water (Kemira, etc.).

The pepper planting scheme recommended by agronomists depends on the size of the bushes in the selected hybrid. For example, tall hybrids are placed according to the scheme: between rows - 70 cm, between plants - 40-45 cm (about 4-5 plants per 1 m2). Seedlings of low-growing hybrids are planted denser - according to the scheme 70x30-35 cm (6 plants per 1 m2).

By the way, from my experience I know that peppers can be grown even with a denser planting, but provided that the light conditions required for the pepper are provided (there can be no question of any shading - when shading, the plants stretch out, they have yellowing of the leaves, falling buds and ovaries, etc.). If you want to harvest a larger crop per unit area, then you can safely plant plants and are somewhat thicker. It all depends on the circumstances: the design of the greenhouse, the level of soil fertility and your readiness for additional labor costs. The fact is that you will have to steadily monitor the degree of efficiency of redistribution of the available light space between plants and regularly make your own adjustments by further deflecting the plant and tying individual shoots to supports.

At one time, for example, in this way I deflected too densely planted plants towards the glass (where the light space with the usual garter option often disappears), as well as towards the greenhouse path (however, all the household members began to express dissatisfaction here), and received noticeably more high yield of pepper. So some generally accepted recommendations and rules can be broken to a certain extent.

In our Ural climatic conditions, at the time of planting seedlings, daytime and nighttime temperatures are still too low, and we have frosts until June 17-18. Therefore, you need to immediately build additional shelters inside the greenhouse in the form of arcs covered with thick covering material. On warm sunny days, the covering material is temporarily thrown back from the arches, and carefully returned to its place at night. Indoor shelters can usually only be removed after June 20th. In other regions where the climate is also harsh, gardeners should be guided by the time when the return frost stops.

And yet, vegetable growers should remember that sweet peppers can be pollinated not only with their own pollen, but also with the pollen of bitter peppers, and as a result, the sweet peppers can then taste bitter. Therefore, sweet and bitter peppers are not planted at the same time in the same greenhouse.

Seven points of further care

If you forget about the harsh climate, then pepper as a whole is a grateful enough culture and not particularly laborious. True, it is necessary to act taking into account his individual characteristics. There are seven requirements that he makes to anyone who wants to get a good harvest of his fruits.

First, all modern highly productive pepper hybrids are intensive type hybrids, that is, they can give large yields, subject to the application of increased doses of fertilizers. This means that you need to ensure a regular supply of fertilizers to the plants. For this purpose, ordinary gardeners can follow the time-tested path, weekly carrying out root dressings with complete fertilizers and foliar fertilizers by them, but in smaller doses. There is also an easier way - to use long-lasting complex fertilizers (for example, "Apions"), which provide a continuous supply of nutrients, which allows you to use every day of a short growing season with maximum efficiency and significantly reduces labor costs.

Secondly, the root system of pepper does not tolerate a lack of air, and, as a rule, it is not enough due to the compaction of the soil. It can be observed both due to irrigation and due to insufficiently breathable soil. As a result, the development of plants is delayed, and the yield decreases markedly. Therefore, the soil must always allow sufficient air to flow to the roots. How can this be ensured? It is very simple: on the one hand, initially form a sufficiently structured soil by introducing loosening additives (sawdust, hay, chopped bark, etc.), and on the other hand, do not forget about mulching (foliage, leaf litter, straw or humus with a layer of 3-5 cm). As for loosening the soil, this operation is undesirable due to the superficial location of most of the roots.

Third, pepper is extremely sensitive to lack of moisture. In case of a lack of moisture in plants, the ovaries fall off (and the bushes themselves will be lower, and the size of the leaves and fruits is smaller). True, excessive waterlogging is also dangerous, as it leads to a lack of oxygen in the soil and provokes the development of diseases. Therefore, it is necessary to water the plants in a timely manner (only at the root, not by sprinkling), but not to overflow, and only with very warm water (33 … 35 ° C).

Fourth, thermophilic peppers can have big problems with pollination in our conditions. Therefore, it is better not to wait for the ovaries to fall, but to regularly spray the plants with fruit-forming stimulants (Bud, etc.) - these preparations will provide almost complete pollination in any weather conditions.

Read the next part. Growing sweet peppers in a greenhouse →