Content
Pepper is a thermophilic nightshade crop. We grow it everywhere, in the southern regions - in the open field, in the north - in closed polycarbonate greenhouses. Pepper is in high demand not only because of its excellent taste, but also due to its high content of vitamins, trace elements and other useful substances. Suffice it to say that it contains more vitamin C than lemon, and vitamin A - no less than carrots. In addition, pepper can be called a dietary product - 100 g of a vegetable contains only 25 kcal.
Although this crop is quite demanding on growing conditions, if desired, you can harvest a good harvest even in regions with a cool climate. True, for this you need to observe agricultural techniques, feeding schedules, and fight pests in time. Top dressing of peppers in a greenhouse is not very different from its fertilizers in the open field, but it has its own characteristics.
Pepper requirements for growing conditions
Creating suitable conditions for the pepper is half the battle for a high yield. What does he need for a successful vegetation?
- The soil should be light, fertile, with a slightly acidic, close to neutral reaction.
- Daylight hours for pepper should be no more than 8 hours. It requires warm soil with a temperature of 18-24 degrees and well-warmed air - 22-28 degrees. If it drops to 15, the pepper will stop developing and wait for more favorable weather.
- It is advisable to water the pepper often, but little by little. If possible, install drip irrigation. Water for irrigation needs warm, about 24 degrees, but not lower than 20.
- Top dressing should be regular, with a high potassium content.
It is equally important to know what conditions will inevitably lead to failure when growing pepper:
- Dense soil is contraindicated for this culture - its roots do not like damage, it takes a long time to recover, it is advisable to mulch the earth and not carry out loosening. In order for the root system of the pepper to receive the amount of oxygen necessary for life, the soil must be water and air permeable.
- When planting seedlings, you can not bury it or transplant it from place to place.
- Temperatures above 35 degrees, differences between day and night temperatures of more than 15 degrees also do not contribute to the normal development of pepper.
- Acidic soil, fresh manure, high doses of mineral fertilizers, especially nitrogen fertilizers, are guaranteed not to give you a good harvest.
- Long daylight hours depress peppers, and direct sunlight can cause fruit burns.
Thickened planting is a difficult question. In the open field, they make sense, since the bushes mutually shade each other and protect the pepper from sunburn, but contribute to the development of diseases - here it is important to maintain the correct distance.
Features of growing pepper in greenhouses
Of course, the most delicious peppers grow in the fresh air, under the real sun, and not under artificial lighting. But our cool climate limits the choice of varieties that can bear fruit outdoors.
Variety selection
We grow bell peppers and Dutch hybrids. Bell pepper is quite edible at the stage of technical ripeness, it is able to ripen and color in its inherent color while in storage.Dutch hybrids do not ripen well, at the stage of technical ripeness they have a bad taste and it is impossible to remove them before the first smears of varietal color appear.
For pepper to reach technical maturity, it needs 75-165 days from germination, and biological ripeness occurs in 95-195 days. Naturally, outside the greenhouse in the northwest, only early ripening thin-walled varieties of Bulgarian selection and only a few Dutch hybrids specially bred for these conditions can mature.
Polycarbonate greenhouses with artificial lighting, irrigation, and heating make it possible to significantly expand the list of cultivated varieties and get a harvest of even late hybrids, which are particularly large in size and thick walls. The main thing is that these varieties and hybrids are suitable for cultivation in greenhouses.
Benefits of growing peppers in greenhouses
In the northwest, when planting seedlings in a greenhouse, you no longer have to worry about temperature fluctuations or daylight hours - all the conditions necessary for pepper can be created artificially, if necessary. It is easier to deal with pests or create the necessary moisture here.
Feeding peppers in a polycarbonate greenhouse is not too different from fertilizing this crop in the open field, if you are used to following the requirements of agricultural technology. A plant needs the same nutrients at certain stages of development, regardless of where it grows. It is necessary to draw up a feeding schedule and strictly follow it.
In polycarbonate greenhouses, pepper begins to yield earlier and ends later; it makes sense to grow tall varieties with long fruiting periods there. The yield that can be harvested from one square meter in the open field is much less than that obtained in greenhouse cultivation, where 10-18 kg of fruits are often harvested from a bush, depending on the variety.
Pepper Nutrients
Like all plant organisms, pepper needs nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and trace elements. He needs the largest doses of nitrogen during the active growth of green mass, then, during flowering and fruiting, its introduction is somewhat reduced.
Phosphorus and potassium are essential for flowering and fruiting peppers, they are consumed by the plant throughout the growing season. But this vegetable needs a little phosphorus, and it consumes potassium in rather large doses, and prefers chlorine-free compounds.
Of the trace elements, pepper especially needs magnesium and calcium, they are given throughout the growing season. Trace elements are poorly absorbed when applied at the root. Pepper takes them best when foliar feeding.
Organics are useful for the plant throughout the season, but it is better to give it in small doses. You just need to remember that pepper does not take fresh manure well and should be given in the form of infusions.
Top dressing of peppers in greenhouses
Top dressing is applied during the preparation of the soil, during the growing season under the root and on the leaf by spraying.
Soil preparation
In polycarbonate greenhouses, soil feeding should be started in the fall - for each square meter, at least 0.5 buckets of compost are added for digging, and before planting seedlings on the same area:
- potassium sulfate or other chlorine-free potassium fertilizer - 1 tsp;
- superphosphate - 1 tbsp. the spoon;
- ash - 1 glass;
- well-rotted humus - 0.5 buckets.
Better yet, replace fertilizers from the above list with a mineral complex designed specifically for growing peppers, adding it according to the instructions. After that, you should dig up the bed shallowly, spill it with warm water and cover with a film, which must be removed only before planting the seedlings.
Root dressing
It is best to feed the pepper with organic fertilizers - this will make it possible to get environmentally friendly products.
Organic fertilizers
If you can, dilute the mullein bucket with 3-4 buckets of warm water and let it brew for a week. In the same way, you can prepare an infusion of bird droppings or green fertilizer.
Further, when feeding pepper, the prepared infusions are diluted as follows:
- mullein - 1:10;
- bird droppings - 1:20;
- green fertilizer - 1: 5;
add a glass of ash to a bucket of solution, stir well and water at the root.
The first feeding is given about two weeks after planting seedlings in the greenhouse, when new leaves appear, spending 0.5 liters per bush. Then the pepper is fertilized every 2 weeks, increasing the amount of fertilizer to 1-2 liters.
Mineral fertilizers
If it is not possible to use organic matter, you can dissolve special fertilizers for peppers and tomatoes with water according to the instructions. Take on a bucket of water:
- 40 g superphosphate;
- 30 g of potassium sulfate;
- 20 g of ammonium nitrate.
During the growing season pepper fed mineral fertilizers 3-4 times.
- First feeding. Two weeks later after disembarkation seedlings under each bush apply 0.5 liters of fertilizer.
- Second feeding. At the time of mass fruit setting - 1-2 liters under the root, depending on the size of the bush.
- Third feeding. Simultaneously with the beginning of the collection of fruits - 2 liters of fertilizer at the root.
If there is a need or the period of fruiting is delayed, it is advisable to give a fourth feeding.
Foliar dressing
Trace elements are not vital nutritional components for peppers grown as an annual plant, their deficiency simply does not have time to become critical in one season. But the health of the plant, the duration of fruiting and the taste of the fruit depend on them.
Trace elements are poorly absorbed when fertilizing the soil, they are given with foliar dressing. It is best to buy a chelate complex and apply it according to the instructions.
Foliar dressing is also called fast fertilization, if you notice a shortage of some kind of food element and you need to urgently correct the situation, spraying will help. In the greenhouse, foliar dressing can be done every 2 weeks, combining them, if necessary, with preventive treatments for pests and diseases. It is useful to add an ampoule of epin, zircon or other natural stimulant to the working solution.
If you grow environmentally friendly products, as a foliar feeding, you can use an ash extract, in which, in addition to phosphorus and potassium, all trace elements are present. Pour a glass of powder with 2 liters of boiling water, let it stand overnight, then add up to 10 liters, strain and you can spray.
Conclusion
Fertilizing pepper in a polycarbonate greenhouse is not too different from dressing in the open field, just with the correct organization of the work process, everything can be done here faster, and the effect can be obtained better. Have a nice harvest!
