Hot pepper Lamb's horn: reviews, characteristics of the variety, photos

Description and characteristics of the variety

Hot pepper Ram's horn is suitable for growing in greenhouses and open ground. However, most gardeners plant bushes in beds not only to save land in the greenhouse, but also because this spicy variety ripens well at any temperature.

The bush grows as a tree, with an average height of 60 cm, but under favorable conditions it can reach up to 1 meter.

Each pepper has an interesting shape: bent into a spiral or arc, which is clearly visible in the photo. Because of this feature, the name “Ram’s Horn” appeared. The fruits are long (20-30 cm), not fleshy, cylindrical, curved. The weight of one pod is 25-35 g. The taste is moderately spicy, spicy and aromatic.

The variety is classified as mid-season. From sowing to technical maturity (deep green pepper), the period is 100 -105 days. The fruits ripen evenly. But they are already green and ready to eat. The color changes from green to yellow, then turns red. A fully ripe fruit has a strong skin, so

Ram's horn is easy to transport and behaves well when lying down.

Productivity is high, from 1 sq. m. – 3-4 kg.

Advantages and disadvantages

Many vegetable growers fell in love with this pepper because it has:

• high productivity;
• extended period of harvest ripening;
• spicy taste, pleasant aroma;
• good transportability.

Disadvantages of culture:

• demands on soil type, light, care;
• does not tolerate excessively high or too low temperatures;
• if agricultural practices are violated, it is susceptible to disease.

Application

Lamb's horn pepper is not as hot as, for example, chili. Therefore, it is considered universal in use.

Ram horn is used for pickling, salads, and as a seasoning. The variety is very decorative, so the dried pods are used to decorate the kitchen.

Due to their small size, the fruits dry on their own without additional effort from the gardener. It is enough to arrange the pods in one layer or hang them tied at the bottom.

When dried and in an airtight container, Ram's Horn pepper can be stored for 2-3 years without losing its qualities. Then you can grind it in small portions, because grinding a lot of pepper is not easy for breathing.

Gardeners do not throw away even substandard fruits. They are ground and used for pest control. Hot pepper works great against slugs.

Prevention of diseases and pests

To prevent late blight and other fungal infections, it is recommended to treat Ram Horn pepper seedlings with a fungicide a few days after transplanting. To do this, you can use any of the following drugs:

• "HOM";
• "Quadris";
• "Fundazol";
• "Ordan".

If the disease appears during fruiting, it is advisable to use biological fungicides, for example, Respecta 25 or Fitosporin.

To protect bushes from insects, insecticides are used:

• "Biotlin";
• "Aktara";
• "Decis";
• "Confidor" and others.

During fruiting, biological preparations (Fitoverm, Vertimek) or folk remedies (infusion of tobacco dust, wood ash, wormwood, celandine and others) are used.

During the fruiting period, plants are treated with biological preparations or folk remedies

Important! Spraying should be done in the late evening.

If peppers are grown in open ground, processing is done in dry and windless weather.

Planting dates and care features

Hot pepper Ram's horn is planted using the seedling method. It is better to sow seeds for seedlings in the middle, end of February or beginning of March.

Preparing seeds and soil

Pepper needs soil with a high proportion of humus, but not heavy. Gardeners use a mixture of garden soil, humus and sand - all in equal proportions.

The soil mixture is disinfected with a solution of potassium permanganate or spilled with boiling water. The use of Fitosporin solution (according to the instructions) gives a good effect.

The seeds are pre-treated with potassium permanganate. Plant in rows in boxes or individual cups, deepening them to 1 cm.

The containers are covered with film or glass and placed in a dark, warm place until the first shoots appear. Ventilation is carried out 2-3 times a day, irrigated with water as the soil dries.

After germination, the film is removed and good lighting and warmth are provided.

Growing seedlings

Moderate watering, plenty of light, fertilizing are the basic principles of caring for seedlings.

Seedlings are watered depending on the condition of the soil. The main thing is to avoid overmoistening and the appearance of crusts. Settled tap water is suitable for irrigation.

Feed the seedlings 3 times:

1. 2 weeks after germination.
2. After the pick. If diving was not carried out, then after the appearance of 4 leaves.
3. 5-6 days before planting in the ground.

Fertilizing with nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus is best for peppers. These elements are contained in complex in such mineral fertilizer as nitrophoska.

Picking is carried out when the first true leaf appears. This is done by transshipment so as not to damage the roots.

Planting and care

The characteristics and description of the variety inform about the complete versatility of Ram's Horn when grown. Even a bush planted in a pot will produce a harvest. Moreover, at home, pepper bears fruit for 2-3 years in a row.

Ram's horn should be planted in open ground in mid-June, in a greenhouse - in mid-May. However, dates may change depending on the weather. The main thing is that there is no frost. In the southern regions, seedlings are planted on the site in mid-April. Planting pattern 50 by 60 cm.

It is better to plant peppers in the area where carrots and onions used to grow. It is not recommended to plant in potato and tomato areas.

Caring for this variety is standard:

• Watering - 2 times a week. Approximate consumption is 1.5-3 liters per root.
• Feeding – up to 4 times per season.
• Formation is not required.

Fertilizing plays a significant role in obtaining a decent harvest. The following elements are important for hot pepper:

• Nitrogen. Used throughout the entire growing period. From a lack of nitrogen, the lower leaves turn yellow and dry out, and the rest of the foliage wrinkles. Ammonium nitrate and urea are suitable. The first time is fertilized with nitrogen 2 weeks after planting in the soil.
• Potassium and phosphorus. Fertilizers are responsible for the growth and development of fruits. Potassium improves the formation of ovaries. It should be used especially if cloudy weather persists for a long time. You can use any potash fertilizer. If this is not possible, ash and dried banana peels are a good substitute for potassium. Potassium-phosphorus fertilizers can be applied from the appearance of the first leaves to fruit set. Experienced gardeners recommend carrying out the second fertilizing with potassium and phosphorus 2-3 weeks after the nitrogen fertilization. Then alternating fertilizing is carried out at the same interval.
• Calcium. With a lack of calcium, blossom end rot develops. White spots appear on the tops of the fruits. Also, with a deficiency of this element, the stem and shoots become thin, sluggish, and growth slows down. Calcium chloride solution can be purchased at a pharmacy. 1 ampoule is diluted per 10 liters of water. A good solution substitute is an infusion of wood ash.

Features and Characteristics

Lamb's Horn pepper, as it is sometimes called, is popular due to a number of its features:

• The taste is spicy, with a slight sweet note, aromatic. Due to such properties as moderate pungency, it can be used by those people who have contraindications to peppers with high pungency.
• A distinctive feature is the ability to regulate the degree of pungency by reducing or increasing watering.
• Abundant and long-lasting fruiting.

Additional Information! Pepper is unique in that in the fall it can be transplanted into a pot and kept in the house - it will continue to bear fruit.

Agrotechnics of cultivation and care

In order to grow a rich and plentiful harvest of Lamb Horn hot pepper, it is important to know the conditions, rules for growing the crop and strictly follow them. Before sowing, pepper seeds must be disinfected by soaking them for 30 minutes in a concentrated solution of potassium permanganate.

After this, rinse with cold running water. Then soak in a nutrient solution. It’s easy to prepare – you’ll need 1 tsp for 1 liter of water. wood ash, sodium humate (liquid) or Nitrofoxy. The seeds are placed in a fabric bag and dipped into the solution for about a day. This is necessary so that they germinate faster and more friendly

Before sowing, pepper seeds must be disinfected by soaking them for 30 minutes in a concentrated solution of potassium permanganate. After this, rinse with cold running water. Then soak in a nutrient solution. It’s easy to prepare – you’ll need 1 tsp for 1 liter of water. wood ash, sodium humate (liquid) or Nitrofoxy. The seeds are placed in a fabric bag and dipped into the solution for about a day. This is necessary so that they germinate faster and more friendly.

The root system of the Ram's Horn variety is very sensitive, especially to transplantation, so the seeds should be sown separately in individual containers.

Sowing is carried out in mid-March in moist soil to a depth of 1-1.5 cm and the containers are covered with film. Seeds germinate well at a temperature of +25 °C. After the seedlings emerge, the film is removed and the temperature is lowered to 18 °C for about a week.

A decrease in temperature will somewhat slow down the growth of seedlings, but this is not scary; during this period, a good root system will develop. The seedlings will end up healthy, strong, hardened, and hardy.

Growing healthy seedlings is impossible without adequate lighting. In order for seedlings to develop well, they need to create at least 16 hours of daylight. Since daylight hours are still short in spring, pepper seedlings should be illuminated with a fluorescent lamp.

You should not let the soil dry out completely, but it is also not recommended to over-water the soil when growing seedlings.

Plants must be watered in a timely manner, moderately, very carefully, at the root. It is recommended to use a small watering can for this.

Complex fertilizers are considered the optimal, useful fertilizing. The frequency of use will depend on the product chosen according to the manufacturer's instructions. Excessive feeding will not bring good results (the plants will become elongated, weak, skinny, painful).

You can plant peppers in a greenhouse or in open ground when the plants grow to 15 cm in height and the air temperature allows this. In the first option, the crop will grow better and faster, since in greenhouse conditions it is very easy to create optimal conditions for the development of plant bushes, and the yield, accordingly, will be higher. Planting is carried out according to a 50 by 50 cm pattern.

When growing this pepper in a greenhouse, it is very important to ventilate it from time to time, this will prevent the formation of fungus on the crop. During hot periods, do not allow the temperature inside the greenhouse to rise to 40 °C or higher

Otherwise, it will stop setting, which means the yield will decrease significantly.

Watering is carried out approximately once every 7 days, followed by loosening the soil. Complex fertilizers are used for feeding.

Pests and ways to combat them

Various insects, worms and larvae can ruin a significant portion of the crop. In order to understand how to fight the enemy, you need, first of all, to understand who they are and find out their weaknesses.

The main enemy of any plant in the nightshade family is aphids. This pest sucks juice from peppers, stems and leaves. After this, the plant dries out and withers. Products such as insecticides work very well against aphids. After spraying the bush, this pest dies.

Spider mites also suck sap from the plant, but the main distinguishing feature of this particular pest is the presence of cobwebs on the leaves and stem. The drugs Actellik, Karbofos, Fosbecid, Fufanon successfully fight spider mites.

One of the pests of the root system of pepper is wireworm. This worm belongs to the larva of the click beetle. The fight against this pest involves digging up the soil in the autumn, since the larvae of this pest remain in the ground for up to 5 years. In order to destroy all wireworms, a few weeks before planting peppers, bait in the form of a sweet piece of fruit is immersed in the ground. When the larvae collect on the bait, it is removed and the wireworm is destroyed. This procedure is repeated several times.

The appearance of slugs can cause great damage to most of the crop. To combat this type of pest, grooves are made around the bushes, approximately 2 cm deep, and a solution of nitrate is poured into these grooves. You can also sprinkle the soil around the plant with hot pepper or dry mustard. The substance Strela is actively used.

Ram's Horn - bitter pepper: description of the variety, characteristics, cultivation

Lamb's horn is a pepper for those who like something spicy and fiery. But unlike the hottest ones (for example, Chili), it can be consumed fresh, placed on top of a sandwich. The sensation is incredible - a furious fire ignites in the mouth, but, fortunately, it goes out very quickly, leaving a soft, persistent aftertaste.

Red peppers, curved like a ram's horn, ripen on the bushes, hanging next to the green ones. The variety is unpretentious in cultivation, and if agricultural techniques are followed, it produces an excellent harvest.

The variety owes its origin to Italy (according to other sources - Hungary). Breeders began working with it at the beginning of the twentieth century.

The amount of capsaicin in peppers on the Scoville scale

Hot pepper Lamb's Horn is traditionally not one of the hottest peppers. The pungency in them is due to the presence of a special substance in them - capsaicin.

Back in 1912, the American chemist William Scoville, while conducting experiments in one of the pharmaceutical companies in Detroit (USA), developed a “pepper hotness scale” based on alcohol extracts.

She compares hot pepper varieties with natural chemicals based on their heat level.

units on this scale (some Russian producers offer not very hot seeds of hybrids of this variety, containing only up to 10,000 Scoville units). For comparison: pure capsaicide - 15 million.

units, gas cartridges - from 2 to 5.3 million units, the variety of Habanero pepper known in the Russian Federation - from 100 to 300 thousand units.

The substance capsaicin is used in pharmacology for warming patches, ointments, and tinctures. Pure capsaicin is a very hot substance; one milligram of it is enough to cause a severe burn, as if from a hot iron.

Growing in open ground

Plants should be planted when the soil temperature at night does not drop below 15-18 degrees; it should not be earlier - the plants will begin to be susceptible to all known and difficult to identify diseases.

The soil requirements are similar to those in greenhouses, but the covered surface under the bush requires a special approach: it needs to be mulched with hay, mown grass, and rotted leaves. Under a layer of mulch, the root system does not dry out, and weeds do not even sprout without light.

The formation of a bush is not required, the plant is standard. The height of pepper of this variety can reach up to 50 cm. The planting pattern is 50x50 cm.

Fruiting occurs at the end of July, beginning of August.

At the end of August-beginning of September (without waiting for low night temperatures), the plants can be removed from the soil with their roots. If there are unripe fruits left on them, the peppers are turned over and hung under canopies (the main part of them will ripen without shrinking).

Description

Spicy, mid-late variety. The duration of the growing season is 130–145 days. The bush is compact, branched. Plant height is 50–60 cm.

The culture prefers to grow on aerated fertile soils and does not respond well to temperature changes and stagnant water. The Ram's Horn variety is intended for growing in beds and in film shelters. The yield of pepper in greenhouses is 3 kg per 1 sq. m.

Fruit characteristics:

• The shape of the peppers is cone-shaped, elongated. Peppers bear a strong resemblance to ram's horns.
• The length varies in the range of 25–35 cm, and the weight is 30–40 g.
• In technical ripeness the fruits are light green, in biological ripeness they are red.
• The taste is sharp with a soft aftertaste, the smell is rich.
• About 60 peppers are tied on one bush.

The fruits can be eaten fresh or used for canning. It is best to pickle or ferment vegetables when they are technically ripe, since at this time the skin is not as thick as after ripening.

Storage and transportation

In order for bell pepper to be stored for a long time and not lose its beneficial and tasteful qualities, it should be properly prepared for storage. After harvesting, you need to rinse the pepper well and dry it. It should be noted that fresh pepper fruits are stored for a long time - fully ripe - about a month in the refrigerator or basement. If you pick unripe peppers, the shelf life increases to 4-5 months, and it can reach full ripeness.

For longer storage, many people use freezing peppers. It can be pre-cut, or frozen whole. The shelf life of frozen peppers is very long - several years.

It is also possible to dry the fruits of hot peppers. To do this, it is tied into bundles and hung until completely dry. Eastern cuisine loves spicy food, so dried pepper is ground and prepared as a seasoning, which is added to a variety of dishes.

Since ram's horn pepper has dense walls and can be stored for a long time, transporting this vegetable does not bring much trouble. It can be transported over long distances for further sale. The presentation is not lost.

Reviews

Stanislav, Moscow region I really love spicy food, so I started growing “Ram’s Horn” pepper in my garden for this purpose. The unusual shape and fairly large size pleasantly surprised me. There were no problems with growing.

Marina Aleksandrovna, St. Petersburg I have been growing the “Ram’s Horn” pepper variety for several years now, it is very unpretentious in cultivation, the main thing is to choose high-quality fertilizers. In order to produce a good harvest, they need to be planted at a distance of about half a meter from each other, since the bush is spreading and densely dotted with fruits.

Yuri, Ukraine I grow “Ram’s Horn” pepper on my plot. A very good variety, the main thing is to water it on time and spray it against various pests. The taste is moderately spicy, very pleasant aroma.

Features of cultivation and care

Seeds are sown for seedlings 60–70 days before planting in the ground. Small peat pots are suitable as a container for sowing. If there are none, you can use plastic cups. Due to the sensitive root system, which is endowed with all types of crops without exception, it is not recommended to use large containers for growing seedlings. There is a high probability that the picked plants will not take root in the new location.

Growing seedlings is carried out according to the following scheme:

• During germination, the temperature in the room is kept at +23–25 ⁰С, and as soon as the shoots appear, it is reduced to +15–18 ⁰С. Place containers on eastern or southern windowsills. Since the daylight hours should be 14–16 hours, if necessary, the seedlings are illuminated with fluorescent lamps. Depending on environmental conditions, the germination process lasts from 1 to 3 weeks.
• Water the hot peppers with slightly warm water. To strengthen the root system, after the plants have grown stronger, water is added to the pan.
• 2 weeks before the second picking, the pepper seedlings are hardened off. The seedling containers are taken outside and left for half an hour under a tree or in any other semi-shaded place. In subsequent days, the length of stay of the containers is increased. Acclimatized pepper bushes take root better and faster.

Please note that you cannot place sweet peppers and hot peppers on the same bed, as as a result all the fruits will be spicy

In order for the Ram's Horn pepper bushes to bear as many fruits as possible, care should consist of the following manipulations:

• Watering. Bushes of the Ram's Horn variety are watered abundantly and regularly. To avoid the development of fungal diseases and rot, the water should be slightly warm. If the soil in the garden bed is not moist enough during the planting period, the fruits will form wrinkled.
• Feeding. The bushes are fed with organic solutions or solutions based on complex mineral mixtures. Top dressing is applied at the root once every 1–2 weeks.
• Weeding and loosening. Like any other crop, hot pepper grows well in loose soils. Therefore, as soon as the soil in the bed becomes compacted, it is carefully loosened with a hoe. Weeds are destroyed as they appear. There is no point in putting off the next weeding for a long time: weeds compact the soil and suck out nutrients from it.
• Unlike many other species, bushes do not require shaping. To prevent the stems from breaking under the weight of the fruit, they are attached to pegs using elastic twines or pieces of nylon fabric.

As you can see, caring for a high-yielding plant is very simple. Even a novice gardener who has no experience in growing peppers can grow the crop. However, in many cases theory and practice are at odds. Does the presented description of the variety and the rules of care in this case coincide?