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Delicious, sweet, fragrant pepper, which is suitable for many salads, preservation, stuffing, etc., can be grown simply in your country house in the open field. Gardeners have long proven that rather heat-loving crops, such as peppers, can grow in more severe conditions if certain rules are followed and appropriate care is taken. In our article we will talk about how to grow peppers in open ground.
Growing conditions
Before you start growing peppers, you need to prepare open ground. In regions where the climate is mild, sweet peppers grow well outdoors in areas protected from the effects of the wind, provided there is sufficient sunlight. These requirements are met by the site, which is located next to the southern wall of the house. If wind protection is not provided, you can build a rocker protection consisting of plants or create a windproof fence in the form of a wattle fence.
It is worth saying that the cultivation of peppers cannot be done earlier than 3 years after the growth of nightshade crops on the ground (for example, tomatoes, eggplants, potatoes). A large number of diseases of such plants can be transmitted through the soil. Before planting, you can grow cabbage, zucchini, cucumbers, other pumpkin and legume crops, table root crops.
The soil in the area where you are going to grow pepper should be well-drained, fertile, and retain moisture well. The preparation of the site must be done in the fall. After the previous crop is harvested, it is necessary to completely free the soil from the remains of plants and dig up the soil.
It should be noted that from 1 to 2 grams of superphosphates, from 30 to 50 grams of wood ash and from 50 to 80 kg of humus or manure are applied per 5 m10. At the same time, I would like to focus your attention on the fact that you should not plant peppers on the ground, where fresh manure has just been added. An excess of soluble nitrogen adversely affects the preservation of the ovaries, as well as the ripening of the fetus.
In the autumn, you need to carefully dig up the area where you are going to grow peppers. In the spring, it is necessary to loosen the soil, add 1 to 2 grams of fertilizers (potash and phosphate) and 30 to 40 grams of nitrogen fertilizer per 20 m30.
Rules of landing
To get a really great harvest, planting must be done according to certain rules.
Pepper cultivation in open ground is usually carried out in the last days of May. At this time, the risk of frost is minimized. Pepper is planted according to the scheme 60-70 x 20-30 cm. Before planting, you need to water the seedlings abundantly so that during the planting process your pepper does not look wilted, can take root better, grow faster.
When planting peppers in the heat, it is better to choose the second half of the day to allow the plant to get stronger overnight. When the weather is cloudy, the landing can be made in the morning.
Prepared wells should be poured abundantly with water: at the rate of 1-2 liters per well. In this case, it is better to use water heated in the sun. Gently pulling the seedlings out of the pots, they must be placed in the holes in an upright position and planted a little deeper than they grew in the pots. This is necessary to provide your pepper with additional nutrition, which will help the adventitious roots that appear on the stems covered with earth.
What should care include?
To grow a good crop of pepper, it is necessary to carry out certain care, which consists in ensuring proper watering, weeding, top dressing, garters and other actions.
When growing, the optimum temperature should be between +20 and +25 °C. If the temperature is below +13°C, you need to cover the peppers with a special material or film. If you see lilac shades on the fruits, this will indicate a violation of the temperature regime.
It is better to water your peppers with water that has settled, or rainwater. The optimum water temperature for irrigation is from +24°C to +26°C. Before flowering, you need to water once a week, and in the heat – 2 times. The rate for irrigation is up to 12 liters per 1 m2. During flowering and fruiting, it is worth watering 2-3 times during the week. At the same time, the irrigation rate is up to 14 liters per 1 m2.
The first feeding should be done when 1-2 leaves appear on the pepper seedlings. You need to mix 3 grams of superphosphates, 1 gram of potash fertilizer and 0,5 grams of ammonium nitrate in one liter of water. After 14 days, you need to re-feed your pepper. In this case, the dose of mineral fertilizers should be doubled.
The soil under the pepper needs to be loosened. Loosening is carried out to a not very great depth (up to 5 cm), since the roots are located in the upper layer. In addition, it is necessary to hill and weed the plants.
Pepper shoots are very fragile, break easily, so they must be tied to pegs. And in a circle of beds it is better to plant tall crops that will protect your planting from the winds.
Cold protection
As soon as you plant pepper seedlings in open ground, care must be taken to protect the plants from frost. As an excellent protection from the cold, it is recommended to use tents that are made of wooden blocks, cardboard, burlap and other materials. Peppers should be covered with such tents in the evening, and opened in the morning. If the cold snap drags on, it is better to use a portable temporary film shelter.
Another long-known means for protecting plants from frost is sprinkling and smoking. The material for burning is better to choose one that can provide thick smoke. The sprinkler should provide a fine mist of water. This will give you the greatest effect.
Pest and disease control
Peppers can be susceptible to the same diseases as other vegetables from the nightshade family. The causative agents of diseases can serve as a variety of viruses, bacteria and fungi. The most famous diseases of peppers are wilting and blackleg. “Black leg” is associated with the defeat of pepper seedlings. To solve the problem of this disease, you need to adjust the temperature and humidity. Adult crops are susceptible to wilting. The manifestation of this disease occurs in a change in the color of the leaf blades, dropping the leaves and browning of the vessels on the stems. In the end, all this leads to the death of plants.
Disease control and prevention measures are primarily the purchase of quality seeds and seedlings, the elimination of pests and weeds, crop rotation and the removal of diseased plants. The main pests for peppers are mites, slugs and aphids. To deal with them, the good old proven folk methods are suitable. This solution will help to overcome aphids: 50-200 grams of wood ash is taken per bucket of water (+ 250 ° C). To protect peppers from spider mites, you can use chopped onion or garlic (200 grams), as well as dandelion leaves (200 grams) in a bucket of water. The above solutions must be infused for at least a day. Before use, they must be mixed and filtered. To increase the effect, you can add a little liquid soap to the solution (30-40 grams). Regular loosening and soil treatment with dry mustard or crushed red pepper (one teaspoon per 1 m2) will save you from slugs. Straw mulch can also help.
As you can see, growing a good quality pepper crop outdoors is quite simple. You just need to follow the recommendations in this article. We wish you a rich harvest.
Video “Growing peppers in the open field”
Secrets from an experienced gardener. She will tell you how to care for pepper, what top dressing to use and how to determine the missing trace elements by the appearance of pepper.
