How to hill peppers in open ground and greenhouses and is it possible to do this?

The benefits of hilling

Hilling can be shallow and high. The main link in the process is loosening the crust and destroying the capillaries in it to prevent moisture loss. Many people prefer to hill up seedlings because this measure:

protects roots from the negative effects of the sun;
promotes the growth of new roots in plants with superficial rhizomes.

Hilling stimulates the formation of fresh roots, which will then provide water and beneficial microelements for the plant crop. The procedure is especially useful for bell peppers grown in the garden under the open sky.

Note! Rainfall can wash away the soil and expose the rhizome, and neat earthen mounds around the trunks of the seedlings prevent this. Hilling also helps enrich the roots with oxygen.

Possible risks

Hilling peppers in a greenhouse or in open ground carries with it certain risks. When processing adult seedlings, a gardener can damage the overgrown roots of the crop with a tool. Covering the root neck of a pepper with soil or excessive watering in a greenhouse can cause rotting. Problems can be prevented if you follow the time and rules for hilling seedlings. Advice from professionals will help increase the amount of harvest without harming its resistance to specific diseases.

Despite all the advantages of processing, among gardeners there is no exact answer to the question of whether peppers need to be hilled. Summer residents are divided into 2 camps:

some believe that there is no need to hill up pepper seedlings;
others do not doubt the need for the event.

Each opinion is supported by arguments that make it possible to draw a conclusion about in what situation it is necessary to hill up, and when processing should be abandoned.

A certain part of gardeners argue that hilling is a worthless idea. This is due to the fact that the rhizome is located close to the soil surface, as a result of which it can easily be injured during loosening. Another argument against: the roots of the seedlings have a neck; bell peppers do not need the growth of additional roots to perform the nutritious and fixing function of the seedlings in the soil.

On a note!

Extending the period of moisture retention in the substrate can provoke the formation of rot on the rhizome or stem part of the plant.

But everything is very, relative. The second part of vegetable growers have seen in practice that pepper responds positively to loosening, so they carry out this care procedure regularly. This is explained by the fact that, thanks to the roots located close to the surface, there is an influx of oxygen masses during loosening. Such saturation:

triggers the growth and development of seedlings;
enhances the biological functionality of soil beneficial microorganisms;
improves nutrition.

Which varieties require shaping?

For some varieties of pepper, shaping is necessary, for others it is desirable, and others are left to grow as is.
It's not difficult to understand them. No need to form:

All hot peppers are both small and long. A decrease in the volume of vegetative mass leads to yield losses.
Low-growing and dwarf sweet varieties.
Bouquet-type peppers, ripening together. It branches little anyway, and produces exactly as much fruit as the bush can feed. If you remove anything else, the yield will decrease significantly.

You just need to form the sweet pepper:

Indeterminate and high determinate varieties. Otherwise, they will continue to form flowers and new ovaries until the bush dies from low temperatures. Nutrient and plastic elements will be distributed throughout the entire plant. The ripening of the lower fruits will be delayed, and their consumer and commercial qualities will be worse.
Thick-walled with large cube-shaped pods, which include almost all Dutch hybrids. Of course, if the owners want to get large sweet fruits, and not a lot of deformed bitter fliers the size of an apricot, with a pulp of 3-4 mm instead of 8-10 mm, and a hard, dry peel.

It is impossible to pick thick-walled sweet peppers at the stage of technical ripeness - they simply will not ripen. It is picked only when the first strokes of the main color appear on the surface of the fruit. It’s even better to wait until the pods are completely colored - this way they will gain flavor and the walls will become thick. But only a limited number of fruits can feed the bush.

The last group includes cone-shaped early ripening varieties with thin walls. The pods can be picked at the stage of technical ripeness - they ripen well. Traditionally, in Russia and neighboring countries, such varieties are called bell pepper. It can be:

leave without formation;
remove vegetative organs to a minimum - only with very thick plantings or to lighten the inside of the plant;
form like thick-walled varieties.

It all depends on the size of the bush and the manufacturer’s recommendations. And also whether the owners want to get a few large pods or a lot of medium or small ones. Large fruit size is not always an advantage for bell peppers. Huge pods are inconvenient to preserve or stuff, although they are easier to cut for fresh or winter salads.

Hilling technology

Bell peppers absolutely do not tolerate crust on the ground, so the gardener must monitor its formation and promptly eliminate dryness. However, hilling the peppers must be done very carefully so as not to touch the roots. To do this, it is important to follow the loosening technology:

One of the features of pepper is slow growth in the first one and a half to two weeks after transplanting. What is associated with strengthening the root. At this time, loosening is contraindicated.
You can hill up for the first time a day or two after the second watering. The depth of loosening should not be more than 60-80 mm.
During the period of mass color, you need to perform another hilling. Loosening is allowed to a depth of 80-100 mm.
The third time they are spudded during the formation of pepper ovaries. You can loosen to depths of 140-160 mm.
During the phase of mass fruiting, hilling can be done to a depth of 60-80 mm. If the soil has a heavy structure, you need to loosen it a little deeper to ensure proper heating and ventilation of the soil. But this must be done very carefully so as not to harm the root system.

In addition to these cases, surface hilling should be performed after each watering or natural precipitation. During the treatment period, it is necessary to remove weeds. Seedlings in a greenhouse or garden can be spudded only after 4–5 true leaves have formed. After such treatment, it is important to mulch the soil with compost and cover it with straw or other materials. When growing pepper seedlings in the garden, you also need to loosen them between the rows. In order not to harm the seedlings, it is important to follow a number of recommendations:

Inter-row hilling during the period of mass color is carried out at a depth of 100-120 mm.
During the formation of ovaries, earth up at a depth of 150 mm.
During the period of mass fruiting, they are processed at a depth of 220-250 mm.

When the space between the rows is narrow, do not treat during mass flowering. Wide paths between the rows cannot be loosened after the pepper reaches the height of the mounting of mini-processing machines or modern tractors. During the growing season, it is necessary to hill up the plant crop 2-3 times in order to remove weeds.

For pepper seedlings, hilling is carried out at the beginning of the growing season - approximately 14 days after planting the seedlings in open ground. During this time, it will take strong roots.

Attention!

Loosening at a later date is irrational; there will be no effect, since the stem becomes woody.

When loosening, it is correct to use a hoe with a long handle. This will make it possible to take soil from the far ends of the garden and neighboring rows. The soil is hilled up to a depth of 60-80 mm and raked onto the stems with a roller no more than 40 mm high. If the bushes are not planted often, you can rake the soil around each plant separately. Weeds should be removed and, if possible, not buried.

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In such a plant, appendage roots are formed exclusively on the green stem. The process occurs before the formation of 7-lobed leaves, so the question of whether it is necessary to hill up does not arise; thanks to loosening, the peppers receive growth stimulation. This agricultural process should not be carried out after the stem part of the plant has already become woody. When filling the soil, the neck of the root deepens. Vegetables react negatively to hilling. There is a high probability of damage to the rhizome. There is also no need to carry out hilling after planting the seedlings in a permanent place. Pepper stops development until about 14 days. During this period, the root system is strengthened.

If a gardener chooses hilling, it is carried out with the utmost care. Sensitive roots should not be touched, otherwise the pepper will die or fly off. Use a special tool to form a dry crust, which peppers do not like. Loosening must be done smoothly and step by step:

2 days after the second watering, the soil is buried to a depth of less than 60-80 mm.
When flowering - no more than 100-120 mm.
During the formation of ovaries - up to 140-160 mm.
When the pods form - at 60-80 mm.

On a note!

The depth of hilling can be increased if peppers are cultivated on heavy soils. Thanks to the procedure, the soil is warmed up and ventilated. Hilled up plantings can be watered.

When loosening bell peppers, slightly raise the soil every time after rain. The weeds are also removed immediately. After hilling, add mulch.

Harvesting sweet peppers

Harvesting is the most enjoyable activity and, it seems, not at all difficult. But there are rules here too.

There are two stages of pepper maturity:

Technical – occurs 45 days after flowering; the fruits reach their maximum size, but remain green. Pepper can be eaten, but the fruits are not juicy or have a delicious taste.
Biological - the fruits have not only reached the required size and acquired a bright color, but also the seeds inside them have ripened well.

Harvest as the fruits ripen, from early July until September. Under no circumstances should peppers be picked: they must be trimmed with pruning shears along with the stalk.

Peppers collected at the stage of biological ripeness are the most delicious and juicy

Feel free to send poorly ripened peppers to the refrigerator for ripening - store them in an open plastic bag for a month. Uproot the bushes immediately after you remove the last fruit from them.

Dispose of the harvest at your discretion: eat the pepper fresh, stuff it, or store it for the winter. Bon appetit!

Is it necessary to hill peppers in open ground and greenhouses?

To understand whether seedlings need loosening, you need to carefully study the substrate in the garden and carefully approach the preparation of the site for planting a useful vegetable crop. Heavy clay should be diluted by adding sand, and light clay should be added. In all cases, it is necessary to add peat and a large number of organic substances in the form of compost mass or humus. So, 20-30 kg of humus is scattered per 1 m² of beds. The positive effect of loosening is as follows:

Moisture is retained in the soil.
The supply of oxygen to the rhizome increases.
At the same time, weeds are removed.
When adding minerals and organic matter, they are sealed.
Activate beneficial microorganisms.
During returning spring frosts, the rhizome will be protected from damage.
In a situation of strong wind, the seedlings will survive in the ground. The garden where peppers are planted looks more well-groomed, with high agrotechnical culture.

On a note!

The difference in growing bell pepper is that the plant quickly forms adventitious roots exclusively on green stems and before the formation of 7-lobed leaves. Loosening will stimulate this process and help the seedlings to grow fully.

It is not necessary to hill up peppers in a greenhouse. This is due to the fact that new roots do not form in planted crops, and this is precisely the main task of loosening. However, since peppers do not tolerate crust formation on the soil, it is important to loosen it to a shallow depth. This measure will be preventive, protect against many diseases, enrich the roots of the plant crop with oxygen and prevent rotting. The procedure for loosening the soil in a greenhouse should be properly combined with ventilation.

Disembarkation scheme

To know exactly at what distance you can plant peppers in a greenhouse, you need to follow the bush planting pattern. Gardeners use different methods:

Rassadny

It is considered the most popular and convenient. The distance between rows is 70-60 cm, between seedlings - from 30 to 40 cm. The taller the plant, the more space it needs. As a result, it turns out that for 1 sq.m. will accommodate from 3 to 5 bushes.

The hole is dug deep so that seedlings with a lump of earth can fit into it.

Before planting, pour 1 liter of water into the hole, wait for absorption and place the finished bush in the hole. You can put a piece of peat or humus inside the hole.

Seedless

Seeds are planted in the ground. They first develop a root system. The seeds are pre-soaked in water with fertilizers. Ash, peat, and nitrogen are added to the hole. Maintain sowing density (6 cm by 6 cm) and depth (no more than 1 cm). Shoots will appear in 14 -16 days.

For the seedless method, prepare the soil in advance, in October. Warm the soil to 22 °C.

Bush

This is a method of planting two bushes in one hole. Not suitable for greenhouses and cold climates. Plants become infected with fungi from each other and produce a reduced yield.

How to care for plantings after hilling

When the peppers begin to ripen, you need to continue watering in the required volume, since the Bulgarian loves moisture. For each m² of bed you need to spill 40-50 liters of water. After watering, peat mulch is useful. Pepper is responsive to foliar fertilizers with simple or complex formulations. Excessive enthusiasm for organic matter, for example, fertilizing with bird droppings, leads to the fact that seedlings grow greenery, to the detriment of fruiting. When growing tall varietal species, it is important to tie them to pegs. If there is thickening, leave 2-3 stems.

The procedure has a positive effect on many plants. If you hill the pepper according to the rules, this will lead to active growth and good nutrition of the vegetable. By combining the action with other care measures, you can reap a rich harvest.

Features of care

As mentioned earlier, it is important to pinch the top of the plant so that the bush becomes compact, then shoots will grow on the sides. This will ensure a good harvest.

Hot peppers are believed to be an annual plant, but there is no need to rush to throw away the peppers after harvesting. If you dig up a pepper bush in the fall and transplant it into a spacious container (even an old enamel pan will do), then the pepper will bear fruit until spring, and maybe longer.