Why peppers don’t grow in a greenhouse after planting: what to do, photo

Signs of poor seedling growth

When growing seedlings, you need to constantly monitor its appearance.
It is he who will give the first signal that the development of the plant has stopped. Signs of slow growth:

the stems elongate excessively in height, become weak and thin;
leaves become smaller and change shape;
fading and yellowness appears on the leaf blades;
brown or yellow spots on any part of the plant;
darkening of the root system;
crooked stems;
small number of sheets.

All of the above signs indicate that the seedlings are dying. Urgent resuscitation is needed. Because there is a chance of losing part of the harvest.

Main reasons for stunting

An analysis of the causes of this phenomenon will help you understand what to do if pepper seedlings grow poorly. A large number of factors can influence the development of young plants. The main ones:

the calendar date of planting is chosen incorrectly;
the sprouts themselves are not strong enough;
the soil has not warmed up well;
little light and cold;
the pick was made incorrectly;
lack or excess of minerals in the soil;
incorrect transplantation;
incorrect soil composition;
low-quality seeds;
the plant has become infected;
Pests attacked young peppers.

In greenhouses and in open ground, the reasons for impaired plant development are the same. A detailed examination of each point will help you find out exactly the reason why bell peppers do not grow.

Incorrect pick-up date

The time for sowing pepper seeds is determined according to the characteristics of the particular variety. In particular, these terms depend on the early ripening of pepper. There are three categories of varieties and recommended planting times:

early - sown 2 months before transplantation;
mid-season - 2-2.5 months;
late ripening - 3 months.

If you sow seeds earlier or later than the specified dates, it will be more difficult for the seedlings to adapt when transplanted into the greenhouse. It will slow down its growth and may even die. Transferring too early has a serious impact on the fragile plant. And too late occurs already at a time when all efforts are devoted to the formation of flowers.

On a note!

Picking seedlings allows you to shorten their growth time by about a week.

Unsuitable temperature

For full growth, the plant requires a temperature of about 24ºC during the day and 17ºC at night. When these values decrease, a slowdown in development is observed.

If the ambient temperature is higher than the specified limits, then increased evaporation of moisture from the soil occurs. Additional watering and access to fresh air are required.

Lack of light

Peppers wither in the greenhouse due to lack of light. For full development, the plant needs 10-12 hours to be in the sun.

In spring, this is an almost impossible condition, because daylight hours are still short. LED lamps can come to the rescue, which can be installed directly in the greenhouse.

On a note!

It is better to take lamps in which 2 red and 1 blue LEDs alternate on a strip.

Picking was carried out incorrectly

The procedure is difficult for plants to tolerate. The root system needs time to recover. If the picking is done with gross violations, then the young pepper may die.

It is important to observe the timing of the procedure - it begins no earlier than 2-3 weeks after the sprouts appear. Moreover, 2 true leaves should already appear on them. And they try to keep the main root intact during picking. The less the root system is damaged as a result of manipulation, the easier it will be for the pepper to recover from it.

Mistakes when watering seedlings

Pepper seedlings do not grow if they do not have enough moisture. Moreover, thoughtless flooding with water is unacceptable. Water the seedlings only with warm water. Moreover, it is better to give preference to spraying. And in order to prevent a lack of moisture, you need to control that the soil at the roots does not dry out.

Unprepared soil

The soil for peppers should be warm, loose and nutritious. Preparing the land for transplanting seedlings includes:

weeding and digging up beds;
construction of grooves to drain excess water;
treatment with copper sulfate;
hole preparation;
adding humus and mineral fertilizers to them.

Peppers should not be planted in soil in which tomatoes or potatoes grew last year. These crops reduce the nutritional properties of the soil and can transmit diseases to young shoots.

Deficiency of micro and macronutrients

A lack of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus can lead to weakening of the plant. The leaves are deformed and curled.

To prevent this from happening, these microelements are added as part of complex mineral fertilizers. After transplanting into the greenhouse, the seedlings will need at least two feedings with aqueous solutions containing potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus.

Incorrect transplant

The plant can survive transplantation to a new location with minimal losses only when the soil at a depth of 10 cm warms up to 15ºC. To reduce stress from new conditions, seedlings still in pots are taken outside during the daytime, initially for a short time. Gradually, the number of hours spent in the fresh air increases.

It is important to follow the landing pattern. Each plant should occupy a square area with a side of 30 cm. Row spacing is usually left at 65 cm. If this rule is followed, oxygen will freely penetrate to all parts of the plant, and it will be difficult for pests and fungal diseases to take root in the greenhouse.

On a note!

Deepening of sprouts leads to slower growth. Immerse pepper seedlings in the soil only up to the first pair of true leaves.

Poor quality seeds

The shelf life of pepper seeds is 2-3 years. Seed material that has been stored longer than the specified period almost completely loses the ability to produce healthy seedlings.

Before sowing, the seeds are checked and unsuitable ones are rejected. To do this, they are soaked in a saline solution. Empty ones float to the surface. They are removed with a strainer, spoon or other device. The seeds that have settled to the bottom are subjected to further processing. To obtain high-quality seedlings, seeds need to be disinfected and hardened.

Optimal soil

To obtain the best result, use purchased soil, which is designed specifically for vegetable crops. You need to take it after carefully studying the composition and only from trusted manufacturers.

If it is not possible to purchase a ready-made option, then take soil from those areas in the garden where cucumbers or legumes grew last year. But the land needs to be disinfected. To do this, pour boiling water over it or heat it in the oven.

Infections

Fungal infection of a plant can significantly slow down its growth. Among the most common diseases are white and gray rot, Alternaria. They appear in the form of mold and brown spots on the leaves.

At the first symptoms of infection, diseased plants are removed from the soil and burned. The remaining plantings are treated with industrial or home-made compounds.

Insects and parasites

Young peppers are especially attractive to parasites. Aphids, spider mites and other pests can settle on leaves and shoots, significantly slowing down the development of the plant.

To prevent pest invasions, seedlings are treated with homemade solutions based on onions, garlic or calendula. If parasites have already appeared on the seedlings, you will have to use industrially produced insecticides.

Diseases

Late blight is a disease that can cause leaves to turn pale

Sometimes pale spots on the foliage appear due to disease. Common pepper diseases include:

Late blight. A fungal disease that can significantly reduce yield. When the disease appears, the foliage becomes covered with brown and white spots. If late blight is not treated, fruit damage will begin.
Fusarium. This is a very dangerous disease that affects blood vessels and clogs them. As a result, the plant’s nutrition is disrupted, which leads to foliage withering.
Spotted wilt. A viral disease that often appears in vegetables grown in a greenhouse. When spotted wilt appears, pale spots with a purple tint form on the leaves. Over time, spotting may appear on the fruits.
Cladosporiosis. This disease often affects greenhouse peppers that are grown in high humidity conditions. The main symptom of cladosporiosis is leaf spotting. It first appears on the lower leaves. Over time, the spots spread throughout the plant.

Ways to solve the problem

Before taking any action to resuscitate the seedlings, it is necessary to determine the factors that caused its slow growth. This is usually done by elimination. The first step is to check the possibility of developing disease or pest damage from insects. Then the growing conditions are adjusted. The problem solves itself as soon as all the conditions for proper growth of the pepper are created.

Agrotechnical techniques

The following sequence of actions will help bring the seedlings back to life and stimulate their growth:

Dead plants are removed as quickly as possible. If there are signs of disease, treat all surviving plantings with special agents.
Restore the correct temperature regime for peppers. It should be between 23 and 25ºС.
Stop exposure to drafts. Ventilate the greenhouse through the window.
Regulate the watering regime.
For thickened plantings, thin out.
If necessary, mulch the soil.

Establishing the correct microclimate in a greenhouse and creating favorable growing conditions in open ground can quickly bring seedlings back to life.

Features of protecting seedlings in open ground

In central Russia, it is recommended to plant peppers in a greenhouse. If this is not possible, it is placed in open ground. In this case, care should be taken to protect the seedlings, otherwise they will stop growing or die.

Before planting peppers in the soil above the garden bed, create a small greenhouse. To do this, install arcs along its entire length. A film is subsequently placed on them, which will protect the peppers from bad weather conditions and sudden spring frosts. Remove the film no earlier than mid-June, when warm and pleasant weather sets in.

On a note!

During the daytime, the film is removed to provide access to fresh air and prevent overheating of the plants.

Nuances when growing vegetables in greenhouse conditions

Only pepper seedlings will guarantee that growing vegetables in the ground will give good results. It is best to plant vegetables in the place where cucumbers, carrots, onions or cabbage were previously grown. The soil on which potatoes or tomatoes were previously grown will not produce satisfactory results. It is worth planting the plant in places where their closest relatives used to grow.

It's important to understand

There must be a distance between representatives of different varieties. Plants need protection from self-pollination. There are different ways to get out of this situation. For example, using a natural wall could be planting corn.

Applying fertilizers to the soil

It is important not only to feed the seedlings on time, but also to feed them correctly in order to ensure normal development of the plant. Enter it in the following scheme:

14 days after planting in the ground, the beds are fertilized with organic matter. To do this, mullein or bird droppings are bred and infused in water, and then the plants are watered with it. This should be done in the evening so that the sun does not burn the peppers.
After waiting another 14 days, mineral fertilizers are added to the soil. They use purchased complex preparations or prepare them themselves. For example, 40 g of superphosphate, 40 g of ammonium nitrate and 20 g of potassium sulfate are dissolved in 10 liters of warm water.

When applying fertilizers, organic and mineral solutions alternate.

Why are fertilizers needed?

In addition to the above reasons, pepper bushes grow poorly in closed ground in the absence of important nutrients. Without fertilizers, as well as their correct application, the plant will not grow green mass, the fruits will not set, and those that do set will fill and ripen. Therefore, you should learn how to properly fertilize the soil for the normal development of this crop.

Traditional methods of helping weak pepper seedlings

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You don’t always want to water vegetables grown at your dacha with chemicals. When the growth of seedlings slows down, folk methods of resuscitation can come to the rescue.

Tea brewing is good for activating plant growth. To prepare the drug, take 250 ml of used tea leaves, fill it with 3 liters of boiled water and leave for 5 days. The prepared solution is watered over the plantings.

Yeast can stimulate seedlings to develop. For feeding, dilute 30 g of yeast and 60 g of sugar in 1 liter of warm water. Water the seedlings with the solution at the root. Within two days the plant should respond.

Ash helps fight pests and level out soil acidity. They simply sprinkle it on the plantings.

Improper watering

Peppers need constant moderate soil moisture, otherwise they stop growing, and sometimes wither and even die. Root hairs gradually die off from cold irrigation water, drying out or waterlogging of the soil.

What to do:

dried soil is immediately watered with slightly warm water, the temperature of which is not lower than +20 degrees;
plants are sprayed with Zircon and complex fertilizer with macro- and microelements (Agricola, Zdraven, Sudarushka), and after a few days they are watered with Kornevin;
In the future, make sure that the soil under the peppers is always moderately moist.

Prevention measures

To avoid wasting time when seedling growth slows down, and also to protect yourself from crop loss, preventive measures should be taken. In general, they represent the correct care for peppers. By growing strong seedlings from quality seeds, as well as transplanting them into the soil correctly, you can avoid many diseases and problems.

Basic principles of preventive care:

Only high-quality seeds are selected for sowing.
They undergo pre-sowing preparation, which includes culling, soaking, bubbling, disinfection and hardening.
Planting patterns are strictly observed, avoiding their thickening.
Control the microclimate in the greenhouse.
Pay attention to the timing of transplanting seedlings to a permanent location.
Select the optimal soil composition for growing. The soil from the garden is disinfected.
Make sure there is sufficient illumination for the seedlings. If necessary, LED lamps are installed in the greenhouse.
Infected plants are promptly removed from the greenhouse and the remaining healthy plants are treated.
Fertilizing is carried out only in moist soil. Two days before applying fertilizer, the beds are watered. Alternate organic and mineral fertilizers.

On a note!

In order for the seedlings to grow strong and not be susceptible to diseases and pests, you need to carefully select the seeds. Weak and non-viable ones are hardly able to develop into full-fledged plants.

Pepper seedlings may stop growing after being transplanted into a greenhouse. In order not to lose precious time and the entire harvest, you need to find out the reason for the delay in the development of the plant. It is necessary to follow all the rules for growing crops in advance. If the peppers are already drying, then a planned analysis of all factors and their subsequent elimination will help.

Unsuitable land

Peppers have small roots, so they are sensitive to the quality of the soil in the root area.

Dense soil

Seedlings placed in heavy soil cannot develop. The roots are not able to penetrate beyond the dense walls of the hole.

What to do:

Only quick transplantation of plants into light soil will help.

High soil acidity

Pepper needs neutral soil (pH 6 - 6.5). On lands with high acidity, plants cannot absorb nutrition and therefore do not develop.

What to do:

spray and water the bushes with calcium nitrate (10 g per 5 liters of water);
Repeat the procedure every 7 – 15 days.

Uncomfortable temperature in the root zone

Growth directly depends on the condition of the underground part of the bush. After planting, peppers “stand still” when the roots are too hot or cold. Low temperatures are observed in outdoor beds, especially if they are not raised above ground level. Excessive heat is caused by the “burning” (discussion) of fresh organic matter (manure, grass) in greenhouses arranged according to the principle of a cucumber ridge. Comfortable soil temperatures for peppers are determined in the range of no lower than +20 and no higher than +28 degrees.

See also Features of planting peppers and eggplants in the same greenhouse or in the same bed

What to do:

if the ground under the peppers is too cold, then you need to organize additional cover for the bed (film retains heat better than covering material);
when the hot soil continues to heat up, it is better to urgently replant the plants; if there is a tendency for the soil to cool, then living bushes will soon begin to grow;
Spraying with Epin will help reduce stress from cold, and spraying from heat with Zircon.