Do I need to dive seedlings of pepper 

Pepper has taken one of the leading places in our diet. This is not surprising, it is very tasty, it has no equal in the content of vitamin C among vegetables. Anyone who has even a piece of land can successfully grow this wonderful vegetable in their own area. In this publication, we will analyze in detail the picking of pepper seedlings, how to sow and grow seedlings without picking, we will offer you a video on this topic.

What do peppers like and dislike?

Peppers and tomatoes are close relatives, but it would be wrong to grow both crops in the same way – their needs are very different. Their requirements for the place of growth, moisture, illumination are different, they need different amounts of nutrients.

So, pepper loves:

• Light fertile loams with a neutral reaction;
• Short daylight hours (no more than 8 hours per day);
• Not plentiful, but frequent watering with warm water (about 24-25 degrees);
• Potash fertilizers in high doses;
• Uniformly warm weather.

Peppers do not like:

• transfers;
• Deep landing;
• acidic soil;
• Midday direct sunlight;
• The difference between day and night temperatures exceeding 15 degrees;
• Fresh manure, excess nitrogen fertilizer;
• Water for irrigation with a temperature of less than 20 degrees;
• Ambient temperature exceeding 35 degrees.

The choice of pepper varieties and the timing of its sowing

First of all, hybrids and varieties of pepper are selected in accordance with climatic conditions. It would seem that residents of the southern regions have the largest choice, but they need to choose heat-resistant varieties. For the northern regions with a cool, short summer, hybrids and early-maturing, low varieties are suitable. Here sweet peppers of the Bulgarian selection will come to our aid. In order to grow late varieties, it takes about 7 months; in the North-West, they simply do not have time to ripen even when grown through seedlings.

But if you have a good greenhouse, you can plant more varieties. Pepper is loved not only by us, consumers, but also by breeders – many varieties and hybrids have been bred, just when buying seeds, you need to pay attention to which climatic zone they are intended for.

First of all, seeds of late thick-walled varieties and hybrids are sown for seedlings, which need 150 days to ripen the fruits.

In the south, for planting pepper seedlings, this is approximately mid-January, in the Middle lane and for the North-West – mid-late February.

Sowing pepper in seedlings

In this chapter, we will consider the rules for sowing pepper seedlings, followed by picking, we will offer you to watch the video.

Seed preparation

Unlike tomatoes, pepper seeds swell poorly and do not sprout well, they need help. To this end, soak the seeds for 20 minutes in a thermos with water heated to approximately 53 degrees. During this time, pathogens will die, and the seeds themselves will not have time to suffer.

Wrap the seeds in a damp cloth, put on a saucer, and soak on the shelf of the refrigerator under the freezer for several hours. Then, for 20 minutes, immerse them in a solution of “Epin” or a similar preparation, and then immediately plant them on seedlings.

Such seeds are sown dry for seedlings – the manufacturer has done all the preparatory activities for you.

Ground selection and preparation

Prepare your soil:

• 1 bucket of peat;
• 0,5 buckets of sand;
• 1 liter jar of wood ash;
• “Fitosporin” or “Agrovit” according to the instructions.

If you take purchased soil for seedlings, do the following manipulations with it before sowing seeds:

1. Place the soil bag in a galvanized bucket.
2. Fill the bucket with boiling water along the side of the bucket.
3. Cover the bucket with a lid.
4. Soak the bag with soil there until it cools completely.

Sowing seedlings of pepper seeds with subsequent picking

For planting pepper seedlings with subsequent picking, the depth of the dishes should be at least 12 centimeters. Fill it with a moist substrate to a height of 6-7 cm, gently compact. Spread the seeds after 2-3 cm, sprinkle with soil about 5 cm and lightly tamp again. It turns out that the seeds are covered with a layer of earth 3-4 cm.

Cover the crops with glass or transparent film, moisten and ventilate the soil from time to time.

Although some experts still advise germinating seeds, watch the video:

Try to sow part of the seeds as we advised, and germinate part, see what you can do better. Each gardener has his own little secrets and everyone deviates a little from the generally accepted methods of growing seedlings (which, by the way, also have several options).

Depending on the temperature of the soil, pepper sprouts:

• 28-32 degrees – Sunday;
• 25-27 degrees – two weeks;
• 22 degrees – three weeks;
• Above 36 degrees – most likely the seeds will lose their germination;
• Below 20 degrees – the seeds will rot.

Seedling care after germination

When the first shoots appear, remove the glass, lower the temperature to 18 degrees and put the seedlings under the phytolamp, without waiting for the rest of the plants to sprout. After about five days, you need to raise the temperature to 22-25 degrees and feed the pepper for the first time.

How to dive pepper seedlings

The most important thing when picking pepper seedlings is not to damage the fragile root.

Container for picking

First, prepare a container in which you will dive seedlings of pepper. Immediately make a reservation that peat pots are not suitable for pepper. This is due to the fact that their walls do not retain constant moisture well – they take moisture from the soil, and then quickly dry out. And the advantage that we plant a plant in the ground along with a glass, without injuring the root, turns out to be illusory.

Practice has shown that plants from peat cups develop worse than peppers grown in other containers. If you dig such a bush, it turns out that the roots grow very poorly through the peat walls, which greatly inhibits development.

Pots or cups for picking pepper seedlings should contain drainage holes and holes in the lower side surface so that the roots receive not only moisture, but also air.

It’s even easier to make pots out of newspaper:

• Fold the newspaper in 3-4 layers;
• Wrap it around a half-liter bottle;
• Secure the top and bottom of the resulting tube with an elastic band or paper clips;
• Arrange newspaper cylinders close to each other in a shallow container;
• Fill them with soil and water.

Subsequently, the peppers will land directly with the newspaper – it will simply get wet and spread in the ground. The newspaper should be plain paper, not colored or glossy.

You can dive seedlings on peat blocks, when they are planted in the ground, the roots are not damaged. You can use an iron, a soldering iron or the same hot nail to make a pipe about 12 cm wide from a film, cut it into pieces 10 cm long, and install it close to each other. When landing in a permanent place, it will be necessary to install film pots in the hole and cut right there.

Picking pepper seedlings

Before diving pepper, first water it well so as not to damage the root and discard weak or deformed plants – there will still be no sense from them. Fill containers with potting soil, compact and water. Then make a recess, carefully remove the young plant with a spoon and place it in the hole, being careful not to bend or injure the root.

It is undesirable to deepen the pepper, it must be planted in the same way as it grew earlier, to the same depth. If the seedlings are very stretched out, it is permissible to deepen the leg by a maximum of a couple of centimeters. Now it remains only to crush the earth around the seedlings and carefully pour from a spoon. For the first three days, pepper needs shading, then we highlight it up to 8 hours a day, no more, since it is a short-day plant. Watch a video about picking pepper seedlings:

Picking seedlings according to the lunar calendar

Those who are guided by the phases of the moon when carrying out garden work argue that it is best to pick pepper seedlings on the growing moon when it arrives in Taurus, Libra or Scorpio. You can dive seedlings of pepper during the waning moon and in no case dive into the new moon and full moon, especially when the Moon is in Pisces, Sagittarius, Aries, Gemini and Virgo.

Everyone can believe in anything, the main thing is that it does not bother anyone. But it would not be superfluous to note that if everyone planted food plants in accordance with the phases of the moon, we would die of hunger.

Sowing peppers for seedlings without picking

Picking seedlings of peppers is a responsible matter, damage to the roots must not be allowed, because then all our work will be lost. Often gardeners ask the question: “Should I dive seedlings of pepper?”. If we grew it, as indicated above, then a pick is needed. But it is possible to sow seedlings so that picking is not required.

One of the options on how to grow good seedlings of pepper without picking, see the video:

Prepare the pepper seeds as described above. A glass or pot for planting should be no less than 0,5 liters, it is even better to take a liter container. So, the root system will develop freely and will grow well by the time it is planted in a permanent place. In a small volume, it will twist and after transplantation it will take a long time to grow as expected. And the time for pepper, especially in the northern regions, is very important.

If the containers do not have a drainage hole, we will make it with a hot nail, we will also make holes in the lower side plane with it. Fill them with soil, pour well with warm water and lightly tamp with a spoon.

We plant three seeds of pepper in a triangle at a distance of about 2 cm from each other in each vessel, as indicated above. Seeds do not germinate very well, and if more than one seed has sprouted, leave the strongest pepper, the rest are cut off at the surface of the ground. But it happens that not a single plant has risen in the container, or one has risen, obviously weak and unviable.

The question arises, is it possible to plant peppers from a pot where several good plants have appeared? Don’t do it, no matter how you feel like it! When transplanting, the plant that you transplant and what remains will be damaged. It is better to get one healthy plant than two oppressed ones.

As you can see, it is not only possible, but also easy to grow seedlings without a pick, and besides, you save time on picking pepper itself.