Among all fruits and vegetables, peppers are a more convenient type for cultivation. It grows rapidly and has many varieties. Most of them are not badly resistant to pests and diseases and are easy to harvest.
Especially those varieties that are ornamental, it is even more cute. The fruits are colorful and shaped, like jewels dotted among the green branches and leaves, which are interesting, beautiful and edible.
(Small fruit-type discolored ornamental pepper of the bee)
Although peppers are extremely easy to hang fruit, in the case of potted plants, it still requires a little skill to obtain ultra-high yields. The photo above is of an ornamental pepper planted by the little bee of the weed, living in a pot of about three gallons, the fruit is densely packed, dotted with curved branches, now let's announce its cultivation steps:
First, sow seeds
Pepper sowing, usually in the spring of each year, choose mature and full of fresh seeds, the temperature is between 20 and 30 degrees, it is easier to germinate. To provide success, pepper seeds can be soaked in lukewarm water for two or three hours (add a little potassium permanganate to the water for disinfection and antiseptics).
After the soaking is complete, scoop up the seeds and dry the surface slightly. Prepare the burrow tray or trumpet nursery bowl. Peat is best used for the substrate, and if not, relatively loose and clean saprophyll soil or garden soil can also be used. Fill the potassium permanganate solution twice and thoroughly aspirate. Then poke the hole and sow the seeds in it at a depth of about three centimeters and cover the soil.
At this depth, the seed does not meet the light. Therefore, before budding, light conditions have little effect. But be careful, you must burrow one seedling at a time, and never sow more than one seed in one hole. So as not to crowd each other, it grows into a thin "bean sprout", which also affects the integrity of future plant types.
2. Seedlings
Usually within 5 to 15 days, pepper seeds will gradually break through the soil and germinate. The newly germinated seedlings have only a pair of cotyledons, are still fragile, and are afraid of lack of water. At this time, we can place it in a bright astigmatism in the room and maintain a certain moisture of the soil. Light is required, but not exposed to the sun for the time being.
Pepper seedlings grow more than 2 true leaves, and the photosynthetic ability is strengthened. At this time, the light can be gradually increased, and it is still not exposed to the sun. You can spray a little thin foliar manure to enlarge the leaves and increase the chlorophyll content. The little bee himself uses the green of The Green, and the effect is not bad. The proportion should be thinner than thick, so as not to burn the seedlings.
After fertilization, the seedlings grow rapidly. Stay until more than 4 true leaves, and every evening you can leave them outdoors for a while to refine the seedlings. It can make the seedlings more robust and adapt to the open environment. The soil still can't dry.
Third, transplant the pot
When the true leaves of the pepper reach more than 6 pieces, they have become large seedlings and can be transplanted into pots.
Peppers do not choose the soil quality, but are afraid of drought and flooding, and like the soil is fertile and breathable. It is best to use clean humus soil or garden soil, add some breathable materials, mix some cake fertilizer or manure and the like, as the bottom fertilizer.
The size of the pot is determined according to the variety of chili peppers. Ordinary ornamental small peppers, with two or three gallons of pots is enough. Some large varieties require larger pots or planting boxes.
Because peppers usually have only one or two backbones, the pot caliber doesn't actually need to be too big. However, because the root system is more developed and the water absorption ability is strong, the soil layer must be deeper and cannot use shallow pots. When going to the pot, add a little root promoter to the root water, which is conducive to serving the pot. Place outdoors for the first three days of transplanting, but with a little shade.
Fourth, rapid development period maintenance
Since the success of transplanting pots, peppers have entered an explosive full-growth stage, developing at several times the same rate as before.
At this time, it is very light-loving and has a great demand for water and fertilizer. We need to provide it with an outdoor all-day environment, master the watering time, and avoid drought and flooding. Although there is a bottom fertilizer in the soil, in order to be more nutritious, it is necessary to add meals from time to time. You can often add some general-purpose or fruit and vegetable type organic liquid fertilizer, water-soluble fertilizer and the like when watering, which can make the pepper grow more robust. And prevent fungi and insects.
5. Flowering care
When the pepper grows to a certain height, it begins to bud. But this first wave of flowers, we usually do not let it bloom, so as not to marry early and have children, which is not conducive to physical and mental development. You can pick the heart of it and cut off the first flower along with the next one or two. After the pepper loses its first flower, the plant's apex advantage is curbed, and it will develop around and grow more branches.
The large number of branches is extremely beneficial to increase yields, as each branch can bear fruit. This kind of heart-cutting treatment can be repeated, and varieties with weak branching ability usually have about twice. However, there are some ornamental varieties of small fruits that have strong branching ability and can be plucked without the need for heart.
While picking the toppings, we will continue to apply general-purpose or fruit and vegetable liquid fertilizers. Soon, the pepper will become multi-branched and plump! At this time, it has reached the standard of marriage and childbearing, and it can begin to induce flowers. Spray the leaves with potassium dihydrogen phosphate several times and bury some bone meal in the soil. Soon, the flower buds will appear in large numbers.
Peppers are wind-borne, insect-based pollination, and should be lived outdoors during flowering. Dutiful winds, and all kinds of pollinator bees, will take care of them every day. Even if it had to be planted on a closed balcony, it was necessary to open the window for ventilation. Avoid waterlogging and excessive rain during flowering.
Sixth, fruit period management
The most exciting moment has arrived! The peppers are pollinated smoothly, and the small fruits of the dense turns have hung all over the branches, and a good harvest is in sight.
But we still can't slacken off. Bone meal, fruit and vegetable type or general-purpose liquid fertilizer should still be applied regularly, and the water control is moderate. Eat well, drink well, and be healthy, so that you have the strength to set fruit firmly.
If it is a pepper variety with larger fruits, some stunted embryos can be removed, leaving only those that are full to improve fruit quality. It doesn't matter if the ornamental pepper of the small fruit type is greater than the edible value, and the more the number of hanging fruits, the better.
(Bee's medium-fruit type pepper "red cone", ornamental and edible)
In this way, with just one pot container, your beloved peppers will provide a steady stream of surprises from summer to autumn. Not only does it add nutrition and flavor to the table dishes, it also greatly beautifies your growing space.
Peppers are not actually annual plants, but they are afraid of cold and have new branches and fruits. As the weather gets colder, its leaves begin to turn yellow and fall off. If we can't bear to abandon it, we can move it to a warm room for the winter. In the spring, pruning and fertilizing, sprouting new shoots, and will also be grateful, continue to supply fruit, and give back to your kind love.
(This article and Figures 1, 2, 8 and 9 are original, and the rest of the pictures are from the Internet.) Thanks to the photographers, invasion and deletion. ）