Peppers love abundant light and warmth, so they should be planted in the sunniest spot in the garden. In the shade, peppers develop fragile shoots and do not flower.

Planting Peppers

Since peppers are heat-loving crops and take a long time to ripen, they are only cultivated through seedlings. The optimal age for pepper seedlings is 55-60 days.

This should be taken into consideration when determining the sowing date. There is also another parameter – the seeds for seedlings are sown in two terms, depending on the ripening time:

-Late varieties – at the end of February – beginning of March;

-Mid-season and early varieties – in the middle of March.

Before sowing, it is useful to soak the pepper seeds in warm water (about 40°C) for 20 minutes, and then plunge them into cold water for a few minutes. This will strengthen the future plants and help eliminate viruses.

The seeds can be sown immediately, but it is safer to germinate them – wrap them in a damp cloth and place them in a warm place. Once the roots have sprouted, you can sow them. At the same time, discard the seeds that do not germinate.

Peppers are sown at a depth of 1-2 cm directly into separate cups – they do not like transplanting.

• There is no need to rush with planting the seedlings – for good growth, a temperature of about 20-25 °C is required.

When planting, it is important not to bury the stem – it should remain at the same level as it was in the pot. It is necessary to replant carefully so that the soil ball does not crumble and the roots are not damaged – peppers do not like this very much.

The distance between plants should be 25 cm – both in rows and between rows. This is necessary so that the plants do not shade each other. Remember that peppers love abundant light.

Caring for peppers in the open field

Watering: Peppers like to keep the soil moist all the time – the leaves wilt due to drought. You can water them once a week, and it is better to spray them with a hose and sprayer so that the water reaches the leaves. The norm is 30-40 liters per 1 sq meter (4 liters per plant).

Fertilizers

• 2 weeks after planting the seedlings: 2 teaspoons of urea and double superphosphate in 10 liters of water – 1 liter per plant;

• When the leaves form: 2 teaspoons of ammonium nitrate, 5 teaspoons of double superphosphate, and 4 teaspoons of potassium sulfate in 10 liters of water – 1 liter per plant.

Peppers love well-aerated soil – when their roots breathe, the plant absorbs nutrients better and produces abundant crops.

Harvesting peppers

Peppers have two degrees of maturity:

• Technical – when the fruits have reached the typical size of the variety but have not yet been colored;
• Biological – when the fruits are fully ripe and colored in their varietal color.

Biological maturity usually occurs one month after technical maturity – this is a very long period in which the plant expends a lot of energy to ripen the fruits.