Pepper - plant of the sun
The decorative value of indoor peppers is not at all in the flowers, which look very much like tomato, potato, or nightshade flowers. It’s not for nothing that all these fruiting plants are part of the vast nightshade family! What makes it especially attractive are the fruits: bright, as if lacquered, in all the colors of the rainbow, they flaunt on one plant, like toys on a Christmas tree. It’s not for nothing that indoor peppers are often called Christmas peppers!
In color they are green, red, yellow, orange, purple and even white. It depends on the variety and degree of ripeness. It is interesting that one bush can be decorated with barely set fruits, already half ripe and completely ripe. They also vary in shape: round, oval, bell-like, or cones, some hanging down, others pointing upward, like candles.
photo by the author
Note: All fruits, regardless of color, are edible. But be careful, this pepper is for those who like it spicy! Moreover, on one plant, green fruits may have a subtle tang, but red fruits will have an “eye-catching” taste.
The decorative pepper we are familiar with came from a Mexican capsicum. The name of this species, capsicum annuum, comes from the Greek word "kapto", which means "to bite" and primarily refers to the pungency of the "biting" fruit. By the way, the substance that causes this pungency is called capsicin! The second word in the name “annuum” translated from Latin means “one-year-old”, which is actually wrong. After all, indoor hot peppers in suitable conditions can bloom and bear fruit for 5-6 years.
Golden Horn
Aladdin
Fireworks
In its homeland, Mexico, Guatemala and Cuba, pepper grows into a lush evergreen shrub up to 1 meter high. To the delight of flower growers, there are currently many varieties with a compact bush no more than 50 cm in height and miniature fruits up to 10 cm in length. Typically, such varietal peppers are prepared in advance for all indoor deprivations. Depending on the variety, the taste will be different: from sweetish to very hot.
Black Pearl
Habanero white
Habanero red
variegated fish
It is not entirely correct to call indoor peppers capsicums. After all, in fact, this name refers it to the legume family (peas and beans). Peppercorns, which are an evergreen vine up to 10 m long, have real pods. At the same time, the black “peas” familiar to housewives are obtained from unripe pods, and white peppers are taken from almost ripe ones. But the fruits of the Mexican pepper are more likely to be berries, like all its fruit relatives from the nightshade family.
Pepper contains a lot of vitamin C, as well as potassium, which is beneficial for the body. In the countries of South America and Southeast Asia, locals eat it as a snack with the main dish. For Europeans, unaccustomed to such spicy food, it is better to use ground red pepper as a spice when cooking, and consume unripe green fruits in dosed doses.
Interesting An interesting fact from biology says that microbes were discovered thanks to hot peppers. So, the inventor of the microscope, Dutch microbiologist Antonia Van Leeuwenhoek, decided to find out why peppers “bite.” Having put the pieces of pepper in water to soften, and then looking through the microscope, he was incredibly surprised. The scientist expected to examine thorns and thorns on the surface of the fruit, but discovered microbes...
Rules of care
If you love peppercorns, choose from many varieties and enjoy the beauty and taste of these specific plants. Plus, caring for them is easy! The website flowery-blog.ru will tell you about this.
Temperature and lighting
Pepper is a light-loving plant; for normal development it needs direct rays every day for several hours. However, be careful! Let these rays visit the pepper only in the before noon or afternoon hours. With too much light, chlorophyll is destroyed and the leaves turn yellow, growth slows down, and the pepper becomes more squat. Windows with a southeast and southwest orientation are suitable for growing, where the bush will not need to be shaded. Practice has shown that peppers develop no worse under lamps than under natural light. Therefore, in winter it is important to organize artificial lighting.
The optimal temperature in spring and summer should not exceed 25 degrees, and in winter it is better to keep your pet at a temperature of 10-12 degrees in a bright place. The resistant pepper will also tolerate temperatures above +18, but higher temperatures will have a negative effect on it.
Hot pepper in winter. In winter, a stage of relative dormancy begins. Watering at this time is reduced, and fertilizing is completely eliminated. But it’s better to continue spraying, given the dry air! It is important to maintain temperature conditions and maintain lighting. In spring, it is advisable to prune the shoots to 23 to form a beautiful compact bush.
Watering and humidity
You need to water indoor peppers depending on the availability of light: in bright light, moisture evaporation increases, so in hot weather you need to water at least once every 2-3 days. Keep an eye on the leaves - the pepper will indicate a moisture deficiency by the loss of their turgor! After watering, the leaves are restored, but prolonged drying is dangerous for the plant. In low light conditions, the earthen ball remains wet for a long time, so you need to water it as the top layer dries. 8 rules of watering.
Problems growing?
Peppers, which we've found to be easy to grow, can sometimes become a bit mopey. Moreover, the symptoms are similar to open ground plants.
photo by the author
- If the pepper drops flowers and buds...
This behavior may be a signal of a deficiency of microelements in the pot, be it due to a lack of free soil, or infrequent feeding. During the active growing season, the bushes quickly master the substrate in the pot, entangling it with roots and “sucking out” useful substances. This can be prevented by transplanting into new soil and a slightly larger pot, or by timely and regular fertilizing with organic matter and mineral mixtures. In addition, at home, many varieties require hand pollination. Don’t be lazy to devote a few minutes to this process, because the result will surprise you: the number of ovaries will increase significantly and the buds will stop falling off.
Also, the formation and even the taste of the fruit is affected by proper care: watering, fertilizing, temperature and light.
- If the pepper leaves turn yellow and fall off...
The lower leaves may turn yellow as a result of a natural process as new ones grow. However, indoor pepper does not like excess light and fertilizer. Healthy and young leaves may lose color in the hot midday sun or in a stuffy room (in this case they also quickly lose moisture). This can be the result of overfeeding, which is actually dangerous for plants! Heavy leaf fall can occur in winter, especially if peppers are kept in conditions of low light and high temperature. By the way, this kind of wintering will most likely lead to deformation: by spring the bush will grow long and sparsely leafed.
- If the tips of the pepper leaves darken...
The leaves of ornamental pepper are quite delicate and quickly respond to changes: excessive or insufficient watering, changes in temperature, light, mineral content in the soil, and the quality of water for irrigation. Therefore, the cause can only be determined by analyzing the conditions: perhaps you often let the soil dry out completely, or at night the temperature on the balcony dropped to its minimum values, or you use unsettled water for irrigation.
First signs and symptoms
Any changes or uncomfortable conditions in the greenhouse or outdoor beds are reflected in the appearance of the pepper. If you do not pay attention to the obvious symptoms of the problem, the harvest will be significantly reduced.
If the pepper blooms, but most of the ovaries fall off, you should sound the alarm. First you need to determine the cause of this condition, and then save your plantings as soon as possible. The problem can appear at any period of vegetation development.
On a note! It is no less dangerous when the pepper does not bloom or the ovary does not form at all. If you don’t help the peppers, there may be no harvest.
Features of growing sweet peppers
Sweet peppers are native to Central America. This is a southern vegetable that prefers a warm climate, so in the middle zone it is usually grown using the seedling method in greenhouses.
This plant is quite capricious; it does not like either excessive watering or drying out of the soil, so it is necessary to maintain the golden mean, moistening the soil very carefully. Pepper is also demanding of light - in February (during the development of seedlings) and during further development it requires at least 12 hours of full lighting.
The growth process can also be affected by the onset of frost - if the temperature drops below one degree below zero, there is a risk of being left without a harvest.
The crop is planted in the soil in May-June, and in the greenhouse a little earlier - in early April. To grow a high-quality crop, you need to choose the right soil. It is prepared in advance, about a year in advance, using organic matter, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers; in the spring, ammonium nitrate is additionally added to the top soil layer.
Since the crop is susceptible to disease, the soil is disinfected using a solution of copper sulfate. Experienced gardeners do not advise planting the plant in open soil in cold and even warm climate zones, since in such conditions the pepper grows slowly and bears fruit late.
When faced with such an unpleasant phenomenon as ovary drop, the reasons must be sought in improper preparation of seedlings, soil and illiterate care.
Prevention
Not all factors influencing the shedding of flowers and ovaries by pepper can be foreseen in time, so preventive measures are very important. Of course, you need to follow all the rules of agricultural technology and crop cultivation, and you can additionally treat the plants with drugs that stimulate flowering and fruit formation. Such products have an additional function - preventing the fall of buds and young ovaries when grown in unfavorable conditions. The most popular and reliable stimulants are Ovary and Bud.
Reasons for the fall of the ovary of peppers
Pepper is extremely demanding of light - it needs abundant sunlight from the moment of germination until the end of the growing season. Insufficient lighting during the seedling period adversely affects not only the quality of the seedlings, but subsequently the growth and development of vegetative and reproductive organs, and ultimately the harvest. This is the first reason for the fall of the ovaries.
Pepper needs water in the greatest quantities during the fruiting period. During the growing season, it is demanding on the availability of water and at the same time does not tolerate its excess. If there is a lack of moisture in the soil, some of the buds and ovaries fall off, and the yield decreases. When there is excess moisture, the root system experiences air deficiency. As a result, the growth and development of the plant is suspended.
Pepper is also very picky about air humidity. The optimal humidity for it is 60-70%. Higher or lower humidity, accompanied by increased temperature, causes flowers and ovaries to fall off. It is necessary to monitor the level of humidity, not allowing it to rise above the optimal level, for which purpose the greenhouses are ventilated. To increase air humidity, you can spray water with a sprayer or pour the soil and adjacent paths with a watering can.
Pepper is especially demanding on the structure and fertility of the soil. It grows and bears fruit well on light, humus-rich soils containing nutrients in an easily accessible form. Nitrogen plays an important role in nutrition, which improves the growth of vegetative organs - roots, stems, leaves. With its deficiency, growth slows down. Excess nitrogen causes vigorous growth of stems and leaves to the detriment of the formation and ripening of fruits. Phosphorus has a beneficial effect on the growth of the root system, accelerating the formation of ovaries and fruits. Potassium is necessary during the entire growing season of the plant; it increases the plant's resistance to cold and accelerates the ripening of fruits.
Dropping of ovaries in pepper may occur due to insufficient activity of pollinating insects in unfavorable weather. To prevent this from happening, there is such a simple agricultural technique as forced pollination by shaking the plants in the first half of the day.
High temperature
Flowers fall and peppers turn black
In summer, the crop may experience too hot weather, during which the flowers will fall off the peppers. This is especially dangerous for plants grown in greenhouse conditions. Temperatures above 30˚С are harmful to pollen, and above 35˚С - to flowers.
To establish the optimal level of heat, grass clippings are laid between the rows in July. Advantages of the method:
- prevents the earth from overheating;
- promotes moisture retention;
- serves as additional nutrition.
You should not carry out the procedure in June: by this time the soil may not have time to warm up to a sufficient depth.
Overheating of air and soil can be prevented by shading the greenhouse. The windows are opened during the day and closed in the evening (and the doors too). On warm nights they are left unlocked.
