Content
The homeland of sweet pepper is the same as that of bitter: Central and South America. There he is a perennial plant and weedessentially maintenance-free. In more northern regions, it is grown as an annual.
In the CIS, sweet pepper is called Bulgarian, although there is no such definition anywhere else in the world, even among the Bulgarians themselves. The secret of such a unique phenomenon is revealed simply: warmer Bulgaria was the main supplier of this southern culture to the USSR.
Over the past hundred years of active spread of sweet pepper in the world culinary, more than 1000 varieties of this vegetable have been bred. Moreover, a special variety of pepper varieties has emerged in the last thirty years. If back in the eighties of the last century, bell pepper was only yellow, red or green (technical stage of ripeness), now you can choose a pepper of almost any color.
The color of the peppers ranges from almost white to almost black. There are dark brown, lilac, purple, two- and three-color peppers.
According to the purpose, modern varieties of sweet peppers are divided into:
- for salad;
- for conservation;
- for salting;
- for drying;
- for freezing;
- for stuffing.
The best varieties of thick-walled peppers
For salads, juicy thick-walled peppers... There are a lot of varieties. Some of them in past seasons were recognized by gardeners as the best in terms of taste, resistance to diseases and adverse weather conditions, and yield.
Variety Fat
Mid-season variety with attractive bright fruits. It takes 120 days to harvest. Can grow in open beds and greenhouses.
Bush height 55 cm, semi-spreading. Form it by removing side shoots. The variety has bright green leaves and red fruits when ripe. The view is quite decorative.
The pepper is almost equal in size in length and base diameter. The length is 10 cm, the diameter of the base is 8 cm. The weight of the pepper is usually up to 130 g, sometimes it can reach 200 g. The thickness of the pericarp can reach 10 mm, usually about 8 mm.
The advantage of the variety is its excellent taste and good keeping quality.
The yield of the variety is 4-4.5 kg / m², subject to proper agricultural practices.
To obtain strong seedlings, the seeds of this variety are sown for seedlings in the last two weeks of February. A pick, if required, is carried out at the cotyledon stage. Seedlings are planted in a permanent place in May, after the onset of stable warm weather. They are planted according to the scheme 0.4x0.6 m.
Variety Siberian bonus
A very interesting variety of pepper, which has orange fruits at the stage of full ripening. You can joke about northern dwarf oranges, since the bush is only 80 cm high. At the stage of technical ripeness, the color of the pepper coincides with the color of the foliage. After the fruits ripen, the bush transforms, attracting attention with a combination of green foliage and large bright orange peppers.
One bush bears up to 15 large cubic fruits and almost the same size. The weight of the peppers reaches 300 g, the wall thickness can be up to 1 cm.
Peppers do not contain capsaicin, retaining a peppery flavor. The pulp is tender and sweet. The fruits ripen well, while maintaining their elasticity.
The average yield of the variety is 3 kg per bush. This significantly exceeds the indicators of many other varieties, the yield of which is preferred to be calculated per square meter.Bushes are planted at the rate of 6 plants per 1 sq. m. The variety can grow in open beds and in closed ground.
To increase the yield of the variety, it is necessary to observe agricultural techniques, apply top dressing on time, observe the irrigation regime and remove the fruits on time at the stage of technical maturity.
The "Siberian Bonus" variety is sown for seedlings in late March - early April. For seed germination, a constant temperature of + 27 ° C is required. They are transplanted to a permanent place at the end of May, when the frosts finally end and the earth warms up.
To accelerate seed germination and enlarge the ovaries, you need to use specially designed growth stimulants.
Variety Red giant
Contrary to the ambitious name, the fruits of this variety cannot be said to be very large... Rather larger than average. Their weight is 250-300 g. The fruits are somewhat similar to a crimson-red parallelepiped with dimensions of 20x10 cm and a pericarp thickness of up to 1 cm. Up to ten such peppers can be obtained from one bush.
The bush reaches a height of 120 cm. The best option for planting plants in the ground according to the scheme 0.7x0.4 m. The variety is adapted for open ground, but it can be grown in a greenhouse. Seedlings are planted in a permanent place 2.5 months after sowing the seeds.
Volovye ear variety
Based on the form, it would be more logical to give this variety the name "Horse Ear", but, probably, it seemed dissonant to the creators.
The variety is mid-season, bearing fruit one and a half months after planting the seedlings in a permanent place. The bush grows up to 70 cm. It can be grown in shelters and in open beds.
Fruits are long, conical, red when ripe. The length of the peppers is usually up to 12 cm. In favorable conditions, they grow up to 20 cm. The average weight of the fruit is 150 g. The thickness of the pericarp is 7 mm.
The advantages of the variety are good keeping quality and resistance to viral diseases.
The methods of growing seedlings of the Ox's ear are the same with other varieties. Some differences exist already during the growth of the pepper in a permanent place.
Features of agricultural technology
Being a large-fruited variety, Cow's ear requires increased soil fertility. Agricultural firms that produce seeds recommend additional measures to improve soil fertility. In particular, plant peppers in areas where carrots, cabbage, beets, pumpkins, or legumes, other than beans, were previously grown. You cannot plant peppers where other nightshades grew before, since plants of the same family need the same microelements. The composition of the soil after the nightshade will be depleted.
It is recommended to plant a cow's ear according to the scheme of 40x40 cm. Rotted organic matter is placed in the holes during planting. Without the addition of organic matter, the fruits will grow small. Two weeks after planting, during budding and ripening of the fruits, the bushes are fed with special fertilizers or organic solutions. Can be applied potassium sulfate, urea and superphosphate in an aqueous solution at the rate of two teaspoons of each element per bucket of water.
Bushes should be protected from the summer midday sun. Watering should be regular and abundant. Do not forget about weeding and loosening the soil. Subject to agricultural technology, up to 3 kg of peppers can be collected from one bush of the Volovye Ukho variety.
Alba variety
A variety of Moldovan origin, excellent heat tolerance. Ripe orange-red fruit weighing up to 200 g. Wall thickness 7 mm. Conical shape. The fruits are distinguished by good keeping quality and excellent taste.
Shrub up to 70 cm in height with a very high yield. With proper care, it gives up to 8 kg / m².
Belozerka variety
The homeland of the variety is Bulgaria. Medium early. The growing season is 4 months. Recommended for open beds and greenhouses. Standard bush, up to 60 cm high.
At the stage of technical ripeness, the cone-shaped fruits have an interesting light yellow color. They turn red as they ripen. Fruit length 12 cm, base diameter 6 cm. Pepper weight 100 g. Pericarp thickness 7 mm.
The advantages of the variety include: resistance to the most common diseases, good keeping quality of fruits, excellent taste, stable high yield, regardless of weather conditions. 8 kg of fruits are harvested from one square meter.
Shorokshary variety
An early ripening variety that fully ripens in 120 days. Ripe peppers of red color, in the form of a quadrangular truncated pyramid with smoothed corners. Weight up to 150 g. Pericarp 7 mm. The main advantages of the variety are top rot resistance and high yield.
Top rot
On pepper, this disease does not appear on the top, like in tomatoes, but on the lateral surfaces of the pod. Liquid-filled areas appear first, later these areas enlarge, becoming black / brown, leathery and dry. Gradually, the affected surface becomes concave. Sites can be up to 8 cm in size. Diseased peppers ripen prematurely and can be re-infected with pathogenic fungi.
Reasons for the appearance
The disease occurs when there is a lack of calcium in the fruit. The plant cannot provide the fruits with a sufficient amount of calcium with sharp fluctuations in soil moisture (drought / waterlogging), with an excess of nitrogen in the soil, or with damage to the roots during loosening.
A combination of too high temperature (more than 25 degrees) and low air humidity (less than 50%) is also very undesirable. This combination usually occurs in early spring, when monthly peppers are very sensitive to these factors, and the daily temperature drops are very large.
Protection
- Temperature and humidity control in greenhouses.
- Regular watering to prevent the soil from drying out, but without waterlogging.
- Spraying plants with calcium nitrate.
The benefits of bell pepper
Bell peppers are a storehouse of vitamins and minerals. The content of vitamin C in it is higher than in black currant. Lemon, inferior in content of this vitamin even to an orange, is at the bottom of the list.
The main advantage of bell pepper is the combination of vitamin C with vitamin P, which reduces the permeability of the walls of blood vessels.
Forty grams of pepper is enough to get your daily beta-carotene intake.
Pepper is rich in B vitamins.
The mineral composition of the pepper is even more impressive. It contains all the trace elements necessary for life.
Sweet peppers are recommended for people engaged in intellectual work and the elderly. It is useful for those suffering from diabetes mellitus.
The harm of sweet pepper
But you shouldn't get carried away with the medicinal properties of pepper either. Vitamin C does not accumulate in the human body. Its excess is excreted in the urine during the day. With the constant intake of large doses, the body gets used to dumping vitamin C. After stopping the intake of this vitamin, the body continues to excrete the same amount. The result is hypovitaminosis.
An excess of vitamin A is bad for the liver. An overdose of B vitamins leads to fatty degeneration of the liver and impaired renal function. An overdose of B vitamins also causes allergies.
Pepper is harmful to people with stomach or duodenal ulcers. It should not be consumed by those who have low blood pressure, as the pepper dilutes the blood and the pressure drops even lower.
The old truth "everything is good in moderation" is very true for pepper.
