Secrets of growing pepper in the open field

Delicious, sweet, aromatic pepper, which is suitable for many salads, canning, stuffing, etc., can be grown simply in your country house in the open field. Gardeners have long proven that fairly thermophilic crops, such as peppers, can grow in more severe conditions, if certain rules are followed and appropriate care is taken. This article will discuss how to cultivate pepper in the open field.

Growing conditions

Before you start growing peppers, you need to prepare open ground. In regions where the climate is mild, sweet peppers grow well in the open field in areas protected from the effects of the wind, provided there is enough sunlight. These requirements are met by the site, which is located next to the southern wall of the house. If wind protection is not provided, you can build a curtain shield consisting of plants or create a windbreak in the form of a wattle fence.

It is worth saying that the cultivation of peppers cannot be carried out earlier than 3 years after the growth of nightshade crops on the ground (for example, tomatoes, eggplants, potatoes). A large number of diseases of these plants can be transmitted through the soil. Before planting, you can grow cabbage, zucchini, cucumbers, other pumpkin and legumes, table roots.

The soil in the area where you are going to grow the pepper must be drained, fertile, and retain moisture well. Site preparation must be done in the fall. After the previous crop has been harvested, you need to completely free the soil from plant residues and dig up the soil.

It should be noted that from 30 to 50 grams of superphosphates, from 50 to 80 grams of wood ash and from 5 to 10 kg of humus or manure are introduced per 1 m2. At the same time, I would like to focus your attention on the fact that you should not plant peppers on the ground where fresh manure has just been added. An excess of soluble nitrogen negatively affects the preservation of the ovary, as well as the ripening of the fetus.

In the autumn, you need to carefully dig up the area where you are going to grow the peppers. In the spring, it is necessary to loosen the soil, add 30 to 40 grams of fertilizers (potash and phosphate) and 20 to 30 grams of nitrogen fertilizer per 1 m2.

Landing rules

To get a really great harvest, planting must be done according to certain rules.

The cultivation of peppers in the open field is usually carried out in the last days of May. During this time, the danger of frost is minimized. Peppers are planted according to the scheme 60-70 x 20-30 cm. Before planting, you need to water the seedlings abundantly so that during the planting process your pepper does not look wilted, it can take root better, and grow faster.

When planting peppers in the heat, it is better to choose the second half of the day to enable the plant to grow stronger overnight. When the weather is cloudy, disembarkation can be done in the morning.

Prepared holes should be poured with plenty of water: at the rate of 1-2 liters per hole. In this case, it is better to use water heated in the sun. After carefully pulling the seedlings out of the pots, they must be placed in the holes in an upright position and planted a little deeper than they grew in the pots. This is necessary to provide your pepper with additional nutrition, which will help the adventitious roots that have appeared on the stems covered with earth.

What should the care include?

To grow a good crop of pepper, it is necessary to carry out certain care, which consists in ensuring proper watering, weeding, feeding, garter and other actions.

When growing, the optimum temperature should be between +20 and +25 ° C. If the temperature is below + 13 ° C, cover the peppers with a special material or film. If you see lilac shades on the fruits, this will indicate a violation of the temperature regime.

It is better to water your peppers with water that has settled, or with rainwater. The optimum water temperature for irrigation is from + 24 ° C to + 26 ° C. Before flowering, you need to water once a week, and in the heat - 2 times. The irrigation rate is up to 12 liters per 1 m2. During flowering and fruiting, it is worth watering 2-3 times throughout the week. In this case, the irrigation rate is up to 14 liters per 1 m2.

The first feeding must be done when 1-2 leaves appear on the pepper seedlings. You need to mix 3 grams of superphosphates, 1 gram of potassium fertilizer and 0.5 grams of ammonium nitrate in one liter of water. After 14 days, you need to re-feed your pepper. In this case, the dose of mineral fertilizers should be doubled.

The soil under the pepper must be loosened. Loosening is carried out to a not very great depth (up to 5 cm), since the roots are located in the upper layer. In addition, it is necessary to huddle and weed the plants.

Pepper shoots are very fragile, break easily, so they must be tied to pegs. And it is better to plant tall crops around the garden bed, which will create protection for your planting from the winds.

Cold protection

As soon as you plant pepper seedlings in open ground, you need to take care to protect the plants from frost. As an excellent protection from the cold, it is recommended to use tents, which are made of wooden blocks, cardboard, burlap and other materials. Such tents should be covered with pepper in the evening and opened in the morning. If the cold snap lasts longer, it is better to use a portable temporary film cover.

Another long-known means for protecting plants from frost is sprinkling and fuming. It is better to select a material for combustion that can provide thick smoke. The sprinkler must be capable of fine atomization of water. This will have the greatest effect.

Pest and disease control

Peppers can be susceptible to the same diseases as other vegetables from the nightshade family. Diseases can be caused by a variety of viruses, bacteria and fungi. The most famous diseases of peppers are wilting and blackleg. "Black leg" is associated with the defeat of pepper seedlings. To solve the problem of this disease, you need to adjust the temperature and humidity. Adult crops are prone to withering. The manifestation of this disease occurs in a change in the color of the leaf blades, the shedding of leaves and the browning of the vessels on the stems. In the end, all this leads to the death of plants.

Disease control and prevention measures are primarily the purchase of high-quality seeds and seedlings, the elimination of pests and weeds, the observance of crop rotation and the removal of diseased plants. The main pests for peppers are mites, slugs and aphids. Good old proven folk methods are suitable for dealing with them. Such a solution will help to overcome aphids: 200-250 grams of wood ash is taken in a bucket of water (+ 50 ° C). To protect peppers from spider mites, you can apply chopped onions or garlic (200 grams), as well as dandelion leaves (200 grams) in a bucket of water. The above solutions must be infused for at least a day. Stir and strain before use. To increase the effect, you can add a little liquid soap to the solution (30-40 grams). Regular loosening and processing of the soil with dry mustard or crushed red pepper will save you from slugs (one teaspoon is false per 1 m2). Straw mulch can also help.

As you can see, it's pretty easy to grow a good quality pepper crop outdoors. You just need to follow the recommendations outlined in this article. We wish you a rich harvest.

Video "Growing pepper in the open field"

Secrets from an experienced gardener. She will tell you how to care for peppers, what top dressing to use and how to identify missing trace elements by the appearance of the pepper.