Feeding pepper seedlings at home

When to Fertilize Pepper Seedlings

While the seedlings are small, they have enough reserves of nutrients that are in the soil. Therefore, it is impossible to feed them before picking – an excess of fertilizers during this period is very harmful for pepper.

The first top dressing will have to be given 10 – 15 days after picking (1). If you grow pepper without a pick, immediately in separate cups, then focus on the number of leaves: as soon as 4 true leaves appear, it’s time to feed. By the way, experts do not advise diving peppers – they do not tolerate picking, transplanting, so they need to be sown in separate cups (2).

Further feeding depends on the soil in which pepper seedlings grow.

If the seeds are sown in self-prepared soil – a mixture of garden, leaf soil and humus, then pepper seedlings should be fed once every 1 weeks. If it grows in peat soil from the store, then it is necessary to fertilize once a week.

How to fertilize pepper seedlings

In no case should you feed seedlings with simple mineral fertilizers – small doses are very difficult to measure and can easily be overdone. And the volume of the pot is limited, they will have nowhere to go. So not long and burn the plants!

Therefore, it is best to use ready-made liquid organic fertilizers – they are usually sold in bottles as a dark liquid. In addition to the main set of nutrients, they also contain humic additives that increase plant immunity. In general, always try to choose fertilizers that have a high content of potassium – it increases the resistance of peppers to cold snaps and accelerates the ripening of fruits (3).

When feeding seedlings, strictly follow the dosage indicated on the bottle. If it is not indicated there how to water the seedlings, then look at the dosage for adult peppers and divide it by 2 – you will not be mistaken.

How to fertilize pepper seedlings

When feeding seedlings of peppers, it is important to follow 3 rules:

• feed the seedlings only in the morning so that the earth dries out a little by evening – if you water the plants in the evening, they can get sick: pathogens of fungal diseases actively develop when it is damp and cool, that is, at night;
• water the seedlings before feeding – the soil in the pot should be moist, if you pour dry soil immediately with fertilizers, you can burn the roots;
• an hour after watering, loosen the soil in pots with seedlings – in order for fertilizers to be absorbed, the roots need not only water, but also air.

Popular questions and answers

We talked about feeding seedlings of peppers with agronomist-breeder Svetlana Mikhailova.

Sources of

1. Shuin K.A., Zakraevskaya N.K., Ippolitova N.Ya. Garden from spring to autumn // Minsk, Uradzhay, 1990 – 256 p.

2. Panteleev Ya.Kh. ABC vegetable grower // M .: Kolos, 1992 – 383 p.

3. Shuvaev Yu.N. Soil nutrition of vegetable plants // M.: Eksmo, 2008 – 224 p.