When can you plant sweet peppers? When to plant pepper seedlings - which month is best. Disinfection from pathogens

To obtain excellent harvest sweet pepper, you need strong and healthy seedlings. Growing it at home is not difficult if you know some rules of this process. Every vegetable grower will need information about when and how to plant pepper seedlings, how to do it correctly and properly care for the resulting seedlings.

There are no clearly defined dates for when exactly it is necessary to sow pepper seedlings. It all depends on the region where the plants will grow, the climate of the area, the timing of ripening and the age that the seedlings have reached by the time they are transplanted to the main place, growing conditions (beds open type or greenhouse). But you can still focus on the following several criteria.

Each production package of garden plant seeds, including pepper, contains information about when to carry out basic agrotechnical measures with them. It is on the back of the packs. Information is presented in text or graphically. Even if it is not indicated exactly when to sow pepper seedlings, the date can be calculated by simple arithmetic calculations. For example, if you add 10 days to the time of fruit ripening, which are needed for seed germination and recovery of peppers after picking, then you can determine the date when you can start working.

The approximate dates when pepper reaches technical ripeness are:

for early ripening varieties and hybrids – 90-120 days;
for mid-season – 125-135 days;
for late ripening – 140-150 days.

It should also be taken into account that seedlings of early and mid-season varieties are planted in the ground at permanent place possible at the age of 2 months, and late ripening - 2.5 months. Therefore, the optimal sowing time for the former will be in the 3rd decade of February or the 1st decade of March, and for the latter - in the 1st-2nd decade of February.

According to the lunar calendar

Some gardeners attach importance to the influence of the phases of the moon on cultivated plants, so they try to stick to the lunar calendar. According to him, there are favorable and unfavorable periods when it is desirable or undesirable to carry out gardening work. Sowing seeds should be carried out on the waxing Moon, when the processes of plant growth and development are activated.

In 2018, it is permissible to sow or plant crops:

February 18-23 and 25-27;
March 8-11 and 20-23;
April 7-11, 22-23 and 25-26;
May 8-11 and May 20-25;
June 5-9 and 19-25.

The same lunar calendar indicates that it is undesirable to sow seeds or plant seedlings on such days:

February 14-16;
March 1-3, 16 and 30;
April 15-17, 29 and 30;
May 14-16 and 28-30;
June 12-14 and 29.

And it is completely unacceptable to carry out such work on a new or full moon, which also needs to be taken into account when choosing the date for sowing pepper seedlings. Based on the recommendations of the lunar calendar 2018, any gardener will be able to sow seeds at the most appropriate time.

Depending on the climatic conditions of the region

When starting to sow pepper seeds for seedlings, it is especially worth considering the climatic conditions of your area, because this crop is heat-loving and reacts very poorly to cold weather. Prematurely planted seedlings, forced to sit in cold soil (below 10-15 ° C), grow poorly, and if frosts occur, they may die.

You can sow pepper seedlings in areas belonging to the Middle Zone, including in the Moscow region:

in mid-March - early varieties and hybrids;
in mid-February - late.

In the Volga region, sowing needs to start earlier. For early peppers, the optimal time for such an event will be the 3rd ten days of February - the 1st ten days of March, for late peppers - the beginning of February. In Siberia and the Urals, on the contrary, you need to wait until the end of March - the beginning of the next month (for early varieties) and until the beginning of March (for late varieties) with sowing.

Selection of capacity

What to plant in Bell pepper for seedlings, each vegetable grower decides independently, based on personal preferences, advantages and disadvantages of a particular container.

Cassette

If you plan to do without picking, then it is better to plant pepper seedlings in special plastic cassettes. They can be fine- and coarse-mesh; large-mesh ones (9 horizontal cells per 6 vertical ones) are suitable for this crop. The cassettes are lightweight, they can be easily carried even with plants, they already have holes for water drainage. But their most important advantage is that each bush can be removed from the cell along with the soil without damaging the roots. The only drawback is its fragility.

Plastic cups

Regular food cups with a volume of 150-250 ml are also suitable as containers for pepper seedlings. Before filling them with soil, you will need to make 2-3 drainage holes in each. You can pierce them with an awl. The good thing about cups is that they are cheap, lightweight, can be used for several seasons, and also because when plants are removed from them, their roots remain intact. The disadvantages of this container are that the cups are unstable, you need to look for a pallet for them, transport them on country cottage area uncomfortable.

Peat cups and tablets

It is very convenient to grow sweet pepper seedlings in them. These types of containers are for garden crops made from compressed peat, therefore environmentally friendly and extremely useful. Their advantages are that when planting, they are buried in the ground along with the plant, as a result of which its roots are not injured at all. Subsequently, they gradually dissolve in the soil, feeding the growing bushes. The disadvantages of peat tablets and cups are that they are expensive, it is not always possible to purchase them, and you will have to water the seedlings more often due to the rapid evaporation of moisture.

Wooden box

If further picking is expected, then pepper can be sown in wooden box- the most suitable container for this. It is easy to use, does not take up much space and can be easily carried or transported if necessary. The disadvantages of this container are its rather large weight and the fact that when transplanting seedlings it is impossible to remove it without damaging the roots.

Preparing the soil for sowing seedlings

The soil for sweet peppers should be fertile, light, air- and moisture-absorbing, neutral or slightly acidic. It should not contain pathogens or pests.

You can buy soil for seedlings of tomatoes and peppers at gardening stores or prepare it yourself. It’s better to stick with the first option, since the composition of the finished soil is well balanced and all the components in it are in the correct proportions.

If you prepare the soil mixture yourself, you will need:

2 parts of land from the garden;
1 part compost (can be replaced with humus);
ash (200-300 g per 1 bucket of humus);
1 part each of peat and sawdust (coarse sand).

To disinfect the mixture, it must be poured with boiling water, a solution of potassium permanganate or a fungicide. That's all, the substrate for sowing peppers is ready.

Seed preparation

If pepper seeds are purchased in a store, then most likely they have already been treated with protective substances. In this case, no preparation is required: they are not soaked and are sown dry. If the seed material was collected from your own beds, then preparing the seeds for planting is necessary.

First, you need to calibrate the seeds, for which you need to fill them with warm water, then separate the floating ones (they are not suitable for planting). The rest, full-bodied ones, should be pickled in a solution of potassium permanganate (2%) for 30 minutes, rinsed in cold water. You can use solutions of fungicides Fitosporin, Vitaros, Maxim, etc. After this, it is advisable to soak the seeds in growth stimulants, for example, Epine or Zircon. Exposure time is according to the instructions for the preparations.

Sowing peppers for seedlings

To avoid picking, it is better to sow the seeds immediately in individual containers. There are several options for such containers.

They should first be soaked in warm water. To do this, the tablets need to be placed in rows in a tray with high walls and filled with warm water. When they swell, and this will happen very quickly, you need to place a seed in the recesses on the upper surface of each tablet. Sprinkle a thin layer of peat on top.

In peat and plastic cups

First in every plastic cup you will need to pierce a few holes for drainage excess liquid. Then fill the containers with soil to the top, but not tightly. Water them with warm water. Place 1 pepper seed in each glass and sprinkle a thin layer of dry soil on top. It is important to ensure that the seeds are not buried lower than 1-1.5 cm. If you lower them lower, the formation of sprouts will be delayed. After sowing is completed, place the containers on a pallet and cover with film.

To cassettes

Sowing seeds in plastic cassettes for vegetable seedlings no different from sowing in cups. They are also filled with soil, cell by cell, moistened, and sown 1 at a time. seeds in each, sprinkle with dry soil and cover with film.

Twist landing in Moscow style

In addition to the traditional ones, you can use another method of planting seeds - in paper rolls. To do this you need:

Cut strips toilet paper 45-50 cm long and 10 cm wide and strips of thin film of the same size.
Place paper on 1 layer of film and moisten it with water from a spray bottle.
On its upper edge, retreating approximately 1.5 cm from the top, place the seeds at a distance of 4-5 cm from each other. For convenience, you can use tweezers.
Cover the top of the paper with another film. Then roll everything into a roll and secure it with an elastic band.
Place the roll in a glass and pour about 4 cm of water. Cover with film.
After the seedlings emerge, feed the peppers with a solution of complex mineral fertilizers, reducing their concentration by 2 times. Add water to the glass regularly to the previous level.

In phase 1 of the true leaf, the seedlings from the roll need to be planted into pots with soil. To do this, you need to roll it out, cut off each pepper with scissors and plant it directly in the ground with the paper.

Picking seedlings

Peppers are picked at the age of 3-4 weeks. At this time it should have 2 true leaves. Seedlings are picked into cups with a volume of 150-200 ml. The plants are watered, then carefully removed from the common container, trying not to tear the roots too much, and placed in individual containers. They need to be buried no deeper than 0.5 cm. After that, water the plants, sprinkle soil on top and compact it a little.

Features of further care

For the normal development of this culture, certain conditions are necessary. The set of measures for caring for pepper seedlings includes: watering, organizing a certain temperature and light regime, and feeding.

Content temperature

After sowing the pepper seeds, the containers are placed in a warm place where the temperature will not drop below 25-30 °C. When the seedlings appear, the temperature must be reduced to 16-18 °C and maintained at this level for a week, then increased again and the rest of the time the seedlings must be grown at 21-25 °C during the day and 18-20 °C at night.

Lighting

Before the sprouts appear, peppers don’t really need light; at this time, the main thing is that it is warm, so you can keep the container with it in a place that is not very well lit. From the moment the first shoots form until planting in the ground, there should be at least 10-12 hours of daylight. In the first stages of growing pepper seedlings at home, additional illumination with phytolamps is used to extend the short spring day.

Watering and humidity

Pepper seedlings should be watered in such a way that the soil is always slightly moist, but not wet or dry out. You need to focus on the condition of the top layer of soil: if it is dry, then you can water it. The water should be warm, free of chlorine. Cold cannot be used.

Fertilizing

The seedlings are fed with liquid or water-soluble complex fertilizers, which include all the macro- and microelements necessary for vegetables. The first feeding of seedlings is carried out in the phase of 2 leaves, the next ones - after 1.5-2 weeks, dissolving the preparations according to the dosages specified by the manufacturer.

When and how to plant pepper seedlings: planting seeds, timing rules, preparing seeds and soil, caring for seedlings, which is described in this article, must be carried out according to all the rules. To get healthy and high-quality pepper seedlings, experienced gardeners They recommend growing it yourself. Therefore, summer residents have many questions about how to properly grow seedlings at home. bell pepper.

Before you start planting sweet pepper seeds, first of all, it is necessary to study information about what the soil should be like, landing dates, rules for seed preparation, proper care, etc. This is discussed in detail in this article.

Planting seeds directly in open ground: pros and cons

Sometimes gardeners do not want to spend time growing seedlings. With the onset of spring warmth, they plant seeds immediately V open ground . In this case, there is a certain risk. Pepper is a heat-loving plant, so if frost occurs, it may die.

Only gardeners in the southern regions or central Russia can try to plant pepper seeds immediately in a permanent place. Do not plant seeds directly in open ground in the Urals, as well as residents northern regions, especially those included in the list of risky farming. There is no chance that the seeds will germinate and the plant will survive.

There are early ripening varieties that can be planted in open ground, while the rest do not have time to start bearing fruit before the weather gets colder. Seeds of early varieties of pepper, as a rule, begin to be sown in the ground from mid-May to early June. At the same time, according to forecasts there should be no frost. This method of planting a crop has its own advantage: time is not wasted on growing pepper seedlings at home.

Disadvantages of growing seeds in open ground:

With this method, only early ripening varieties can be used.
In the event of a sudden cold snap, the plant may die or its development will be greatly retarded.
Peppers may not fully ripen before cold days arrive, even in southern regions.
It is necessary to constantly monitor changes in weather conditions, and when it gets colder, cover young shoots with covering material in a timely manner.

When to sow pepper seeds: optimal sowing dates

This culture has too for a long time germination. After planting pepper seeds seedlings should stand for 90-100 days and only after that it is transferred to a permanent place. Young shoots of early ripening varieties grow to the right size within 3 months. After the earth warms up to a temperature of 16-18 degrees, they are planted in a permanent place.

The plant is transferred to the greenhouse a little earlier, and to open ground with shelter - later. Disembarkation time largely depends on climatic conditions region. Usually, planting pepper seeds is determined taking into account the day of future planting of seedlings in the ground.

IN Central Russia seeds begin to be sown in late February - early March.
In the southern regions You can plant seeds as early as January, and at the end of April the seedlings are ready for planting in a permanent place.
In the cold regions of Russia on Urals and Siberia and North-West seeds are planted in trays in the last ten days of March. It is better to place the plants in a greenhouse with good heating, then all the fruit ovaries will have time to ripen.
The crop is planted in a greenhouse with year-round heating twice a year: at the end of January-beginning of February, and then at the end of September.

Gardeners often start sowing peppers based on data lunar calendar. The best time Planting a crop is considered when the Moon is under the influence of Libra, Aries, Scorpio, Sagittarius. These dates change every year, so there is a special calendar in which you can find exact days. Not only favorable dates for sowing pepper are indicated here, but also unsuitable days. These dates change every year, so the 2017 or 2020 calendar will not work for 2019.

The packages with seeds also indicate landing dates.

Varieties with early development can be planted in the third ten days of February.
Late varieties should be sown as early as possible.

Important! Seedlings that were sown back in January require additional lighting. The fact is that for the normal development of shoots, more daylight hours are needed than at this time.

Peppers, even the earliest ripening varieties, have such a feature as a vegetative development time of up to 140 days. After the sprouts appear, 90 days pass when the fruits begin to ripen. Seeds can germinate within 10 days to 30 days.

Therefore, it is recommended to sow seeds of early and mid-season varieties in the northern regions no later than mid-February, and in warmer areas - in early March.

The germination rate of bell pepper seeds depends on the air temperature:

26-28 ºC – 8-10 days.
20-24 ºC – 13-17 days.
18-20 ºC – 18-20 days.
14-15 ºC – up to 30 days.

In order for pepper seeds to germinate in a shorter period of time, they must undergo a special preparation procedure. To do this you need to prepare in advance:

Planting pepper seedlings at home

To grow healthy and strong seedlings, you should follow some rules.

Which substrate to choose

The soil for planting seeds is prepared in advance. Pepper loves loose soil, well fertilized with neutral or weak acidity (pH 6-6.5). In addition, the soil must be sterile. It is best to use a ready-made substrate purchased at a specialty store. But you can prepare the desired mixture yourself.

So, several of these recipes that do not require special costs, can be prepared at home. To do this, take:

Composition No. 1 - the following components in equal proportions: leaf soil, peat and sand. To obtain the required soil acidity, lime fertilizers are introduced;
Composition No. 2 - turf soil, compost, sand in a ratio of 2:1:1;
Composition No. 3 - 2 parts each of humus and peat, 1 part washed river sand, then pass the mixture through a sieve;
Composition No. 4 - humus, meadow sandy loam soil and turf soil in (1: 2: 2). A handful of potassium sulfate and two handfuls of superphosphate are added to the resulting mixture per 10 liters of the finished mixture.

Important! Before introducing fertilizer into any soil mixture, it must first be disinfected.

One way:

steam in a steam bath;
calcine by placing the soil in the oven for half an hour at a temperature of 150 degrees;
pickle by treating the mixture with a strong solution of manganese.

How to prepare seeds for planting

Dried seeds contained in capsules do not need special preparation for sowing, since they already contain a growth stimulator and all the necessary nutrients.

Such seeds cannot be soaked, otherwise their capsule will become unusable.

For the purpose of disinfection, ordinary seeds are placed for 20 minutes in a solution of potassium permanganate:

per 100 g of water;
1 g crystals.

After this, the seeds are dried and treated in a growth stimulator. You can also place the seeds in a solution of mineral fertilizers for 4-5 hours. After completing all the procedures, the seeds are washed well in running water and immediately sown in the ground.

Sometimes vegetable growers prefer to bubble the seeds. They are placed in gauze and lowered into a jar of water. Air is passed through there using a compressor for 4-5 hours.

Most gardeners follow the more common procedure of germinating seeds. They are placed in a light cloth moistened with water and kept warm on a plate. To prevent the gauze with seeds from drying out, it is covered with film. Planting material should not be completely in water, as it also needs air.

Seeds sprout best when room temperature at 20-23º C. However, pepper sprouts are too fragile and can be easily damaged during sowing. In case of use this method When preparing seeds for sowing, be sure to treat them with a growth stimulator after disinfection.

Sowing pepper seedlings

Because after picking this culture long term recovery, gardeners advise sowing pepper seeds immediately into small containers with a diameter of 10 cm and a depth of no more than 12 cm. If this method is inconvenient to use, you can take spacious trays for sowing seeds.

In this case, when picking, the seedlings can be transferred to individual cups With big lump soil. The depth of the container should be about 5-6 cm, and the soil should not be filled to the very edges of the container, but 2 cm should be left.

Important! The trays must be washed and treated with a solution of potassium permanganate.

To sow seeds, you can use tweezers, with which they are laid out on the surface of the ground. The seeds are slightly buried in the soil at a distance of 1.5-2 cm from each other. After this, the surface is moistened with water from a spray bottle and sprinkled with a 1 cm layer of soil. The substrate is lightly compacted and covered with film.

When sprouts appear, the trays are placed on a warm windowsill for 1-2 days. After the sprouts turn dark green and the first leaf appears, the plants need to be pruned immediately.

The depth of the container into which the seedlings will be transferred should be about 12-15 cm deep. A few hours before transplanting, young plants need to be watered well. It is advisable to plant seedlings in a checkerboard pattern at a distance of 10-15 cm.

Picking

When the pepper sprouts have 2 good leaves, carry out the picking procedure.

Interesting! Some experts believe that it is best to pick when the cotyledons appear.

Seedlings in trays are first watered and wait for excess moisture to drain. Then they are transplanted into separate cups (100-150 ml).

In order not to damage the roots, the seedlings are transferred together with a ball of earth into pre-prepared holes in the ground. The hole is sprinkled with substrate and lightly pressed down. When replanting, it is important to deepen the root collar of the plant into the soil only 5 mm.

The next step will be watering the seedlings. If the soil settles, you need to fill the cups with soil. The first days for seedlings it is necessary to create a temperature regime of at least 15 ºC and protect it from direct rays of the sun.

Important! At a temperature of 13 ºC, peppers stop developing.

Pepper seedlings in peat tablets

Pepper seedlings are painful to pick and may not grow for a very long time. Therefore, you can use the method of growing seedlings in peat tablets. Several tablets with a diameter of 3 cm are placed in a transparent container, filled with warm boiled water and keep until they gain moisture.

After the tablets swell, the remaining liquid is poured out of the container. In the upper part of the capsules, holes are made up to 1-1.5 cm deep. Prepared seeds are carefully placed in them and covered with nutritious soil. The dishes are covered with plastic wrap or other transparent object.

For rapid germination, the seeds are provided with a temperature of at least 25 ºC. After 7 days, you can see the first shoots, and then the greenhouse cover is removed from the trays and placed in a bright place. At the same time, during the daytime the air temperature is maintained at 25-27 ºC, and at night – within 11-13 ºC.

After some time, the seedlings will have 2-4 strong leaves, and through the mesh you can see the sprouted roots. At this time, the seedlings in tablets are planted in separate cups, which already contain the nutrient soil prepared according to the recipe.

Watch the video! How to use peat tablets for seedlings

Growing pepper seedlings in cassettes

Nowadays, special plastic cassettes are produced for growing pepper seedlings from seeds. Available on the market big choice products with different sizes. So, there are cassettes measuring 18x13.5x6 cm, which have 4 cells for seedlings, each of them has dimensions of 8x6 cm and a volume of 240 ml.

You can also purchase boxes of the same size, but with a larger number of cells: 6, 9, 12. There are cassettes placed in boxes with a lid through which daylight passes, and at the same time, it does not allow liquid to evaporate. Gardeners often use such cassettes as mini-greenhouses.

The cells are filled with the desired substrate or peat tablets are placed in them. Pepper seeds are sown in them and covered with plastic wrap or glass. The cassette is placed on a special tray and kept in a warm room at a temperature of 25 º C. It is important to maintain the humidity level by regularly adding water to the tray.

Twist landing (Moscow style)

It was recently invented new way germinating seeds using toilet paper. Some gardeners like this method, but there are also its opponents. The main thing in this method is compactness. The technology here is not complicated:

When the sprouts break through the paper, the twist is placed in a bright place. After 2 developed leaves appear, the roll is unrolled and cut into pieces containing crops with sprouts. They are planted in trays for further development. After the seedlings have grown stronger, they are transferred to the site.

Caring for pepper seedlings after sowing

Growing conditions

When growing pepper seedlings at home, it is quite difficult to maintain the correct temperature conditions. It can be noted that the air under the ceiling is much warmer (by 2-3 degrees). But on the floor it is 2-3 degrees lower.

In a residential building, the window sill is the brightest place, but it is the coldest, so it is not suitable for growing pepper seedlings. Seedlings should be deepened into the middle of the room, where it is warm, and provided with artificial lighting.

The seeds will begin to sprout on 8-12 days at a temperature of 26-28 ºC.
At an air temperature of 20-26 ºC, crops will appear in 13-17 days.
At room temperature around 18-20 ºC, the sprouts will hatch on day 18-20.
If the room temperature is 14-15 ºC, then seedlings may appear in 30 days.

After the sprouts appear, the trays are immediately transferred to the windowsill at a temperature of up to 15-17 ºC. After 7 days, the temperature is increased in the daytime to 22-25 ºC, and at night - to 20 ºC. At the same time, try not to expose the seedlings to drafts. Also, pepper needs Fresh air, but not cold.

Watch the video! How to grow healthy seedlings pepper

Watering seedlings

After the young shoots appear, they are not watered for 2-3 days. If the soil is too dry, it can be lightly moistened with water from a spray bottle. Seedlings begin to be watered after the first couple of leaves appear. In this case, the water temperature should not be lower than 30 degrees.

Feeding seedlings

In order for the root system to develop well, it is fed with potassium humate. To prepare fertilizer take:

2 liters of water;
dilute 5 ml of the product in it.

Important! Pepper seedlings develop too weakly before flower buds form. After this, it grows more intensively.

When the flowering period begins, the plant requires feeding. The fertilizer is prepared in the following composition for 10 liters of water:

1 g each of manganese sulfate and iron sulfate;
0.2 g each of zinc sulfate and copper sulfate;
1.7 g boric acid.

Pinching seedlings

Pepper seedlings grown at home require pinching the ends of the shoots, that is, removing the growing point. In this case, the root system develops better, and also, the buds awaken in the internodes, from which the ovaries are formed. This procedure is carried out at a time when crops increase their growth rate.

By using sharp knife or scissors, cut off the part of the shoot that is located above the 4-6th internode. After some time, the plant begins to sprout shoots. Of these, 4-6 stronger stepsons are left, and the rest are removed. It is recommended not to touch the shoots in the lower internodes.

Seedling lighting

Peppers have such a feature as a long growing season, so their seeds begin to be planted at a time when daylight ends too early.

Advice! When growing pepper seedlings, it is necessary to provide additional lighting, since the shoots need up to 12-14 hours of light per day.

When the seedlings have their first strong leaves, you need to increase the lighting time to 14-16 hours a day. Otherwise, the seedlings will be too weak, the stems will be long and thin, and the internodes will be located on long distance from each other.
Since February, the plant has been provided with artificial lighting constantly from 7-8 a.m. to 7-8 p.m.
In spring and April, additional lighting is left in the morning from 6 to 12 o'clock, and then turned on in the evening from 16 to 19 o'clock.

Diseases and pests on seedlings and treatment

Sometimes vegetable growers are faced with the following problem: when the cotyledon leaves appear, the plant begins to turn yellow, and the subcotyledonous stem near the ground darkens. As a result, the stem becomes overstretched and the seedlings die. The cause of death is infection of the bush with a disease such as blackleg.

Its fungus is mainly found in the soil. It happens that the causative agent of blackleg is in seeds or dirty dishes. That is why, before sowing, it is imperative to disinfect everything. The fungus is activated when:

poor watering;
excess moisture;
incorrect temperature conditions;
densely sown area.

To prevent infection of the entire crop with a fungal disease, sick plant immediately deleted. The rest of the seedlings are treated with preparations that contain copper. In addition, seedlings need to be provided with good lighting.

Peppers can also become infected with a fungal disease such as fusarium. The signs of this disease are:

shoots that already have 2 pairs of leaves suddenly begin to fade, and sheet plates do not change color;
seedlings noticeably slow down their growth;
drooping leaves turn yellow from bottom to top;
a dark ring forms inside the stem.

Fusarium is serious illness vegetable crops. The fight against it is carried out in the same way as with the black leg. In order to prevent seedlings from becoming infected with this disease, before sowing, the procedures for preparing the soil, dishes and seeds should be carried out according to all the rules.

If gray fluff is visible on the walls inside the container, on the surface of the soil, and also at the base of the shoots, then the seedlings are infected with gray rot. To prevent the disease, it is necessary to spray the seedlings with a solution of potassium permanganate of medium consistency (bright pink) every 10 days.

If signs of gray mold infection appear, diseased bushes are removed. Crops are treated with copper or bacterial fungicides.

Adult seedlings can become infected with late blight. Its pathogens usually live in the soil. The stems of the plant are covered with dark stripes, and on the leaves located closer to the ground, light spots appear, which darken over time.

When the first signs of the disease appear, seedlings are treated with the following solution:

for 1 liter of water;
5 ml iodine.

A later stage of the disease requires the use of fungicides; all infected specimens must first be removed.

When you are infected with powdery mildew, light plaque and spots appear on the stems and leaves. The growth of peppers stops and the leaves begin to turn yellow. Both seedlings and mature plant. During treatment powdery mildew use a bright solution of manganese or bacterial fungicides.

There are cases when seedlings suddenly die without any signs of disease - hurricane wilting of seedlings. Most often, this disease affects crops grown in the southern regions (nightshade and sunflower). Unfortunately, this disease cannot be cured, so the pepper seeds will have to be sown again.

When and how to plant pepper seedlings in open ground: optimal timing

When 7-8 leaves and large buds appear, and the stem grows to 20-25 cm in height, the plant needs to begin to harden. The seedlings are kept at a temperature of 16-18 ºC for 7-10 days, and it is gradually reduced to 12-14 ºC.

Trays with seedlings are taken out onto the balcony or into a well-ventilated room with access to direct sunlight. The time of such procedures is increased daily. 2-3 days before planting in a permanent place, the peppers are taken out into fresh air and kept there all night. If the nights are still cold, the seedlings need to be protected from the cold.

When planting plants in open ground, average temperature air should be below 15-17 degrees. At this point, the seedlings have already formed 8-9 leaves and several buds. The peppers should be transferred to an already prepared area. It needs to be dug up well and leveled. If the soil has a clay structure, peat and humus are added to it.

The holes are dug at a distance of 50 cm from each other, and about 60 cm are left between the rows. Add 1 tbsp to the holes. spoon mineral fertilizer(superphosphate) and mix it with soil. The holes are made spacious so that the roots of the bush fit freely in it. When filling the hole, make sure that the root collar is level with the surface of the area.

Pepper seedlings are transferred to a hole with a clod of earth. Then the soil is poured so that most of the roots are covered. Almost a third of the bucket is poured into the hole and wait for it to be absorbed. After this, the hole is completely filled with soil.

Sweet pepper is a heat-loving crop. Growing a full-fledged pepper by sowing seeds directly into open ground is problematic even in the southern regions. The plant has a long growing season, so to harvest a good harvest it is necessary to grow seedlings.

We cannot control the weather outside the window, but we can create it. optimal conditions Anyone can grow seedlings. After transplanting, the peppers successfully take root in the open ground, fruiting begins a month earlier - you are guaranteed to have time to harvest.

How to choose a sweet pepper variety

When choosing a variety, consider a number of parameters:

Length of summer in your region. Choose early and mid-season varieties if the summer is short. If warm weather is guaranteed for 2-2.5 months, varieties with an average ripening period are suitable. In the southern regions it is possible to grow late-ripening varieties.
The shape of the fruit is also important. Cylindrical and cone-shaped peppers with thick walls are good for salads, cubic ones are best for stuffing, small peppers are best for pickling.
Fruit color: the darker the color, the sweeter the taste.
Bush height. Low and medium-sized ones are planted in beds under film cover, tall ones are usually grown in greenhouses.

Timing for planting sweet pepper seedlings

To get good planting material timely is necessary . If you sow too early, the young peppers will overgrow in the pots, then the lower fruits will begin to set. This takes away the strength of the plant, they may not take root in open ground, and normal fruiting will be delayed.

How to calculate the time of planting sweet pepper seedlings:

Varieties early date ripening should be sown 60 days before the intended transplantation into open ground,
later ones - 70-75 days.
The best time to sow sweet peppers for seedlings is late February-early March, if you plan to plant them directly in open ground.

Take into account the subsequent place of growth. In a heated greenhouse, young seedlings are planted by the end of April, in greenhouses and film greenhouses - throughout May, and planting in open ground should be carried out in the first ten days of June.

Also keep in mind that without picking, the peppers will be ready for planting two weeks earlier.

Can be done in early February, but sweet pepper seedlings will require additional lighting. Use LED or phytolights. Daylight hours should be 12 hours.

Preparing sweet pepper seeds for seedlings

To soak or not to soak, to process or not to process sweet pepper seeds before planting, everyone decides for themselves. But experienced vegetable growers recommend showing a little patience to speed up germination and choose the best quality seed. Unfortunately, to increase shelf life, sweet pepper seeds are often overdried - but this must be indicated on the packaging.

To get healthy shoots, it is necessary to select and process the seeds.

How to select the best seeds

Prepare a saline solution (30 g of table salt per 1 liter of water), immerse the seeds in it and stir well. See what happens in 5-10 minutes. Weak seeds will float to the surface, while high-quality, healthy seeds will sink to the bottom. The latter should be rinsed well with water, laid out on paper and allowed to dry.

Disinfection from pathogens

The next stage is disinfection. You will need a weak solution of potassium permanganate (1 g of powder per 1 liter of water), in which the seeds should be kept for 15-20 minutes. Then rinse and dry slightly.

Increased germination

Can be used folk remedies: take 2 g per 1 liter of water wood ash. Infuse the solution for 24 hours, then keep the bag of seeds in it for about 3 hours.

Soaking can be replaced by bubbling - treating seeds in water saturated with oxygen. For this you will need an aquarium compressor. You need to take a large glass container and fill it 2/3 with water (temperature about 20 °C). Lower the compressor so that its tip is at the bottom and turn on the device. When bubbles appear, place a bag of seeds there and leave for a day.

Hardening of seeds

The seedlings must have good immunity. Resistance to changeable weather conditions, diseases will be helped by increasing seed hardening. Keep the seeds in warm water until they swell, then move them to the bottom shelf of the refrigerator and leave for a day, then start sowing.

Preparing the soil for sowing sweet peppers

The soil needs to be nutritious.

The following options are suitable:

The most reliable option is a special mixture for growing pepper seedlings. Such soil has already been treated against diseases and pests.
You can prepare the soil mixture yourself. Take 4 parts of peat, 2 parts of turf soil, 1 part of humus and rotted sawdust, 0.5 parts river sand and add 2-3 tbsp. spoons of wood ash.
Coconut substrate - can be easily found in flower shops.
Soil with hydrogel. Hydrogel balls are perfect for retaining moisture in the soil. Place them in a swollen state.
Peat tablets are very convenient option. For subsequent transplants, simply transfer the seedling along with it to a container of larger diameter.

It is recommended to add a little soil from the area where the pepper will grow in the future. This contributes to the successful adaptation of seedlings after transplantation into open ground. Before adding this soil to the soil mixture, it is necessary to shed it with a solution of potassium permanganate or calcine it in the oven for 30-40 minutes.

Which container is best to plant in?

It is best to use individual cups with a volume of about 100 ml as a container. It is advisable that they are not transparent - exposure to sunlight negatively affects the development of the root system. You can make homemade cups, as shown in the video above.

Growing sweet pepper seedlings at home

How to sow sweet pepper seedlings correctly?

The main condition is to plant immediately in separate cups so as not to disturb the fragile root system by picking. After picking, peppers become very sick and are stunted in growth, and fruiting is delayed.
Planting depth 0.5-1 cm.

Preparing containers and soil for seedlings

Place at the bottom of the container drainage layer(pieces of foam, broken bricks, expanded clay).

Fill the cups ¾ full with soil, compact them a little, and water. Make a groove about 1 cm deep and place 1 seed in each cup. Cover lightly with soil.

Lighting and heat

For healthy growth it is necessary to ensure optimal microclimate: Cover the crops with glass or film. To protect the seedlings as much as possible from drafts, place the containers in a box, install thick wire along its edges, and stretch plastic film on top so that it completely covers the soil with the crops.

The cold will destroy the plants; they vitally need direct Sun rays. Southern window sills flooded with sunlight - perfect place for growing bell pepper seedlings. When the days are warm, you can take the seedlings out onto an insulated balcony or loggia. Be sure to place insulation under the cups with seedlings.

How many days does it take for sweet pepper seedlings to germinate? Maintaining the correct temperature

Compliance with the correct temperature regime – important condition growing seedlings:

Before the first shoots appear, it is necessary to maintain the air temperature within 25-27 °C.
Sprouts will appear in 7-14 days (depending on the variety). During this time, ventilate the greenhouse every 2 days and spray the soil with a fine spray.
The cover can then be removed. Maintain the daytime air temperature at 23-25 °C, and the night temperature at 16-18 °C.
The air temperature should not fall below 12 °C, otherwise the plants will lose leaves and may die.

Due to lack of lighting, seedlings begin to reach out to look for a light source. Older specimens slow down their growth rate, and the root system may begin to rot. The optimal length of daylight for pepper is 9-10 hours. Provide additional lighting during the daytime (from 8.00 to 20.00).

How to water

Abundantly, but not often. The soil should be slightly moist, do not allow water to stagnate. Watering is best done in the morning. Use softened water (melt, rain, or tap water that has been standing for 24 hours), heat it to room temperature.

The roots need to receive oxygen - after each watering, loosen the soil with a clove or match, only slightly disturbing the crust on the surface. Do this very carefully, since damage to the root system leads to growth inhibition and fruiting may not occur.

How to prepare sweet pepper seedlings for planting in the ground

Strong seedlings need to be hardened off. 10-12 days before transplanting into open ground, take it out into the fresh air for a while or set it aside. open window in room.

It is useful to spray the seedlings with herbal infusion (use onions, garlic, pine needles, marigolds, calendula flowers for infusion).

Thus, the seedlings will become more resistant to diseases and pests.

Immediately after spraying, the seedlings should not be taken out into the sun; let the leaves dry. Droplets of water on the leaves can cause sunburn.

Feeding

Sweet peppers need to be fed. Do this twice: apply the first fertilizing at the stage of appearance of 3-4 true leaves, the second - when 5-6 leaves appear.

You can add organic matter under the root: a mullein solution (1 part humus to 10 parts water) or an infusion of chicken manure (1 part dry manure to 20 parts water). For foliar feeding use complex mineral fertilizers.

How to sow sweet peppers for seedlings video

Protection from diseases

A slowdown in growth rates is a phenomenon possible for 2 reasons:

The roots are damaged after picking. If you are a beginner gardener, it is better to avoid this procedure.
Lack of fertilizers. In addition to stunting of growth, in this case, paleness of the leaves is observed. It is important to feed the seedlings so as not to destroy them.

The plant loves moisture, but do not overdo it with watering. Excessive watering leads to infection with blackleg: the root collar becomes soft, darkens, the sprout withers and falls. The causative agent of the disease may be initially infected soil.

To prevent this from happening, it is necessary to provide proper care:

When watering, water should not get on the stems. While they are very tiny, add water through a pipette or syringe into the rows.
Do not keep under cover for long. Before germination, regularly ventilate the greenhouse. Make sure there is no dampness around the stems.
Provide warmth: harmful fungal spores become active in cold, damp soil.
There should be no sudden temperature changes, so as not to weaken the immunity of the seedlings.

External characteristics of good sweet pepper seedlings

Young peppers are ready for transplanting to a permanent place of growth in 60-80 days. Their height should be 17-20 cm. The thickness of the strong stem at the root should be 3-4 mm. Healthy plant should have 7-10 well-developed leaves, buds may be present.

Replant in open ground once warm temperatures have established (late May-early June).

Follow the planting pattern of 40x50 cm; you can plant seedlings of two plants in one hole if you want to use the land more economically.

When and how to plant sweet pepper seedlings in the ground, look at the video for planting diagrams:

To grow good harvest the first thing you need to get is sweet salad peppers strong seedlings . In our climate, summer is short and such a heat-loving crop as pepper will have time to produce a rich harvest only if it is sown early.

Gardeners calculate when to plant pepper seedlings based on several factors:

1. Possibilities of planting seedlings in the ground . Pepper is demanding of heat; it will not survive even a short-term cold snap down to zero degrees; at temperatures less than +13 degrees, plants stop growing, so it makes no sense to plant seedlings early in open ground without shelter. In each region, spring comes differently; usually, pepper seedlings are planted in open ground without shelter from June 1 to June 10, when the threat of frost has passed. If it is possible to plant peppers under cover with a film that will protect the plants from short-term cold snaps at night, then seedlings can be planted two weeks earlier. Pepper seedlings are planted in the greenhouse from May 1 to May 15.

Of course, these dates may change depending on the time of arrival of spring and the weather forecast. In addition, not everyone has the opportunity to install additional heating in the greenhouse and control the temperature in it every day.

2. Pepper varieties are divided according to ripening time and, depending on this, pepper seedlings are planted at different ages.

- In our climate with short summers early varieties peppers begin to sing 90-100 days after germination. This means that when sowing seeds in February, the first harvest can be obtained in June. Seedlings early pepper grown 55-60 days from sowing to planting in the ground.

- Mid-season peppers produce fruits ready for harvest in 110-120 days, i.e. when sown in mid-February, you will taste it in the first half of July.

- Late pepper gives harvest in 130-140 days, so the first harvest from it will only be harvested by August. Pepper seedlings late varieties Grow 75-80 days after germination before planting in the ground.

3. The last thing that needs to be taken into account when calculating the sowing of pepper for seedlings is that the seeds of this crop are slow to germinate and take a long time to germinate . At normal room temperature +20...+23 degrees, pepper seedlings will have to wait 10-14 days; if the temperature for sowing is maintained at +24...+26 degrees, then the seeds will germinate in 8-10 days. Pre-soaking the seeds in a warm place for two to three days reduces the germination time to 5-7 days.

First of all, we sow seeds for seedlings for planting in the greenhouse, but for accurate calculation you need to take into account the selected pepper variety. Let’s equate the time for emergence of seedlings to 10 days; if you pre-soak and germinate the seeds, you can change this indicator.

Early pepper seedlings can be planted in a greenhouse at the age of 55-60 days after germination + 10 days for seed germination, which means sowing the seeds must be done from February 20 to March 2.

Mid-season peppers in seedlings are grown for 65-70 days + 10, it turns out that you need to sow the seeds of these varieties from February 10 to 20.

Late varieties of pepper seedlings are grown for approximately 75 days from germination to planting in soil +10, which means that for planting in a greenhouse, sowing is carried out from February 5 to February 15.

Calculation: when to plant pepper seedlings for planting in open ground without shelter from June 1 to June 10.

Early pepper seedlings for planting in a bed without shelter 55-60 +10 will be ready if sowing is carried out from March 15 to 25.

Mid-season peppers for planting in a bed without shelter are grown for 65-70 days +10, so sowing is carried out from March 5 to March 15.

Late pepper 75 days + 10 must be sown for seedlings from February 23 to March 5, while the harvest of these varieties will begin to ripen only in August.

Pepper has a long ripening period, and summer in mid-latitudes may not be enough for this crop to fully bear fruit. Not knowing in which month pepper should be planted, some gardeners sow it too early.

But the desire to get early harvest may negatively affect the development of seedlings. How to correctly calculate the timing of planting sweet pepper seedlings in order to get the harvest on time and provide the plants with normal conditions development?

Article outline

Classification of peppers by ripening time

Pepper is annual crop preferring warm climates. It is impossible to grow peppers by direct sowing into the ground, not only because of the plant’s love for heat, but also because of the long ripening period. Therefore, there is a need to grow pepper in seedlings.

On average, the growing season of bell pepper is 120–140 days, but today, thanks to the efforts of breeders, ultra-early hybrids have appeared that begin to bear fruit 85–90 days after sowing the seeds in the ground. According to the ripening period, all varieties of pepper are classified into the following groups:

Ultra-early varieties with a ripening period of 85 - 105 days.
Early ripening period: 105 – 125 days.
Mid-season varieties: 125 – 140 days.
Late-ripening varieties: 140 – 160 days.

In the northern regions, it is better to choose ultra-early and early-ripening varieties, which will have time to ripen even under unfavorable weather conditions.

In the hot climate of the southern regions, pepper of any variety will have time to go through all stages of development and produce a harvest. IN middle lane farmers prefer ultra-early and early-ripening varieties for open ground, while mid-ripening peppers are usually grown in greenhouses.

How to calculate planting dates for peppers

In order to correctly calculate when to plant pepper seedlings, it is necessary to take into account the duration of the growing season of a particular variety. Pepper seedlings are usually planted in unprotected soil when the risk of return frosts has completely passed. In the middle zone, this time occurs approximately at the end of May - early June. In the northern regions, the planting date is delayed by several weeks.

The seedlings are ready for planting in the ground no earlier than 55 - 70 days after sowing the seeds. It turns out that you need to plant pepper seeds in the second half of March. But in this case, even ultra-early peppers will ripen only by the end of August - beginning of September. Early and mid-season varieties simply do not have time to bear fruit.

It is for this reason that amateur farmers begin seedlings a month earlier - in February, and plant peppers in open ground at the stage of bud formation.

Note! Pepper stops developing at temperatures of +15°C and below. When late landing Pepper fruiting will coincide with the arrival of low temperatures in the fall. In case too early landing young seedlings will be stunted in growth and absorb nutrients less well.

Sowing pepper seedlings in January

Having missed working with the soil over the winter, some summer residents plant pepper seedlings already in the last ten days of January. However, January planting is only indicated for further cultivation of pepper in greenhouse conditions.

Seedlings sown in January are planted in the greenhouse around April. As already mentioned, peppers are planted in open ground only in May - June. By this time, the seedlings may have already bloomed and will not take root well in the beds.

At the stage of ovary formation, plants devote all their energy to this process; adaptation to new conditions leads to stress and negatively affects the number of ovaries and future fruiting in general.

Note! Daylight hours for normal development of pepper seedlings should be about 12 hours. In January and February, it is necessary to supplement the seedlings with phytolamps twice a day.

In February and March

The optimal time for sowing pepper seeds in the middle zone is considered to be the second half of February and the first week of March. In the northern regions, this period shifts to the middle - the second half of March; in the southern regions, seed planting can be carried out in the first half of February.

Seedlings planted at the end of February will be in the budding stage by May. Nutrients introduced into the starting digging or into the holes immediately before planting the seedlings will help to undergo normal adaptation during this period.

Sowing seedlings in April

In April it is too late to plant seeds for seedlings, but you can still sow peppers in a greenhouse. In this case, the pepper is grown without seedlings. Consumption seed material when using this method, it is usually increased by 30% in order to further cull weak or diseased seedlings.

Preparing pepper seeds for planting

Pepper seeds germinate slowly and unevenly. From the moment of sowing, the first shoots usually appear within two weeks. To speed up the germination process, and therefore shorten the ripening time, it is necessary to prepare the seed material for planting.

Since pepper is a heat-loving crop, good results gives warming up the seeds and soaking them in biostimulants.

The preparation process consists of the following stages:

Seed calibration.
Disinfection.
Soaking in biostimulants.
Bubbling.
Hardening.
Germination.

Note! Warming up of the seed material is carried out at the soaking stage.

Seed calibration

During the calibration process, it is necessary to select large and undamaged seeds. The viability of the seeds is checked using a 3% saline solution.

To do this, the selected material is placed in the solution for 10 minutes and the seeds that float to the surface are discarded. The seeds that have sunk to the bottom are suitable for sowing.

Disinfection

The purpose of this stage is to protect future plants from diseases. To treat seeds, a solution of potassium permanganate is used in a 1% concentration. The seeds are soaked in the solution for 15–20 minutes, then washed with water at room temperature.

Treatment with biostimulants

Soaking in biostimulants promotes rapid and uniform emergence of seedlings. ““, “” and other means are used for the procedure industrial production similar action.

At the same time, the seeds are heated. To do this, the biostimulator solution is heated to a temperature of +30°C – +50°C. Soaking lasts 12 - 24 hours, during the process the floating seeds are discarded.

Bubbling

Sparging is the enrichment of seed material with oxygen. To do this, a gauze bag with seeds is placed in a container with warm water, in which a compressor for a home aquarium is installed. The duration of the procedure is 8 – 12 hours.

It is believed that bubbling increases the immunity of future seedlings. However, it is not always possible to carry out this procedure at home, so many summer residents skip it and germinate the seeds immediately after soaking in biostimulants.

Hardening

Hardening of seed material is rarely carried out by farmers, since it is easier to increase the cold resistance of already grown seedlings. For hardening, the seed material is kept three times at a temperature of +10°C – +15°C for 8 – 10 hours.

Note! Dried seeds are not prepared for planting, but are immediately planted in containers. If you plan to plant on peat tablets, the stage of treatment with biostimulants can be skipped. It is enough to soak and germinate the seeds.

As a rule, manufacturers impregnate peat tablets with fungicides and stimulants during the manufacturing process. Preparing seeds for planting becomes less labor-intensive, but when cultivating large batches of seedlings, it will require financial investments.

Germination

Germination promotes the appearance of friendly shoots in a shorter time. To carry out this stage, the previously soaked seeds are placed in one layer on a damp cloth. The seeds are also covered with material on top and laid out on a flat surface, for example, on a saucer. The saucer is covered with polyethylene and the seeds are kept at a temperature of +25°C for a week. By this time, about 5% of the seeds should hatch.

Proper preparation of planting material will shorten the period before fruiting begins, and you will have time to harvest before the autumn temperature drops.

Planting peppers according to the lunar calendar

Astrologers advise planting peppers only on a waxing moon. In February, the following numbers will be favorable for pepper: 17, 18, 21, 22, 25, 26. The days of February 19 and 20 are marked as unfavorable.

In March auspicious days there is much more for planting pepper, and if you did not have time to plant seeds for seedlings in February, it will not be difficult to choose a day in March. Have a good day will be: March 3 – 7, March 20 – 22, March 24 – 26. On these same days you can carry out picking.

Usually pepper picking occurs in the month of April. The procedure is carried out with the appearance of the fourth true leaf of the plants. In April 2018, peppers can be picked on April 12, 13, 17, 18, 21 and 22.

In May, peppers are planted in the beds, and astrologers consider the best days for this to be May 18, 19, 24 - 28, 2018. In June, the following numbers are suitable: 1, 2, 6, 7, 10, 11.

Plan your pepper planting correctly, take into account the varietal characteristics and growing season, do not forget to prepare the seeds, and you will receive a bountiful harvest of unusually tasty and very healthy fruits.