How to grow decorative peppers

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In order to plant plants at home in winter, you do not need to make a lot of effort. We will analyze how to grow decorative peppers and how to care for them.

Decorative pepper

Growing in containers and pots

If you plan to grow an ornamental plant in containers or pots, you can choose any type of plant. Capsicum, the second name for ornamental pepper, is usually sown at the beginning of March, and in the summer you can take the pots with the plant outside, for example, on the balcony.

As for the choice of the pot, it is worth taking a container with a volume of about 5 liters. Although, if you plan to grow vegetable or berry peppers, which are tall, it is worth taking a larger pot.

Landing features

Before planting hot indoor peppers in the ground, you need to prepare it in a special way for planting. You will need:

• Potted plant substrate
• Dolomite flour

It is desirable that the soil contains horn shavings, if it is not there, you can buy it separately. As for dolomite flour, it should be added to the ground every 7 days, the recommended amount is 1 tsp. for 5-6 liters of land.

Decorative indoor pepper does not grow in dense soil, since such soil does not allow air to penetrate into the soil. Many growers add humus to the soil to increase the nutritional value of the soil.

In order for the soil to be as prepared as possible for growing ornamental peppers in a pot, you can enrich the soil with vermiculite or agroperlite before planting. With these ingredients, you can maximize the moisture holding capacity of the soil.

Harvesting

The fruits of the decorative pepper will be appreciated by those who like to pamper themselves with something spicy and slightly bitter, like chili. When can you pick the edible fruits of the hot ornamental peppers?

If you see that the pepper has changed its color, turned yellow or red, depending on the selected variety, then the fruits are fully ripe and can be picked.

Which variety to choose

You can plant any variety of homemade decorative peppers at home. However, there is a list of varieties of decorative indoor peppers that are considered the least demanding to care for, they are most often eaten by others:

• Goldfinger
• Red rocket
• Jamaica
• Python
• Troll
• Black bride
• Pearl
• The Queen of Spades
• Filius
• Blue baby
• Jellyfish
• Aladdin
• Pearl
• Zorro
• Sirius
• Salsa
• Wushu
• Ampel mischievous

If you are growing decorative hot peppers for the first time, then you should start with these varieties.

Plant height

Different kinds

If a pepper bush grows in a natural environment, such as bell peppers, it manages to reach a height of 1 meter or even higher.As for indoor conditions, that is, growing on a windowsill, the plant can grow on average up to 30-60 cm, Aladdin is considered the highest variety. At the same time, the life span of the capsicum at home is not long, only 4-5 years.

However, even in such a short time, the bush will delight you with bright fruits more than once. Plus, you will be harvesting throughout the calendar year.

Lighting

The first thing worth saying is that the room should be bright enough and often ventilated, but drafts are categorically undesirable. It is better to choose window sills in the east or west, so you will take into account the lighting requirement.

Don't put pepper pots on the south side. The fact is that the plant can get burns on the leaves if it is in the sun for a long time.

However, you do not need to keep the plant in the shade all the time. At least 3-5 hours a day, the bush should be placed in direct sunlight. If the weather outside the window is cloudy, you need to organize an artificial light source. If the sun is not enough, you will notice this by the appearance of the bush - the branches develop poorly, flowering is worse, and the fruit is catastrophically small.

The most stressful period for ornamental pepper is considered to be the end of autumn - the beginning of winter, since this period is characterized by a short daylight hours. In order to maintain the growth of pepper, you need to organize additional lighting with phytolamps.

Temperature and humidity

The room should be 23-25 ​​degrees in the spring, in winter it is allowed to drop to 16-19 degrees.

An important feature of ornamental peppers is that the plant loves temperature changes, this concerns the difference between morning and night temperatures. For this reason, plant breeders recommend taking the pot out to the balcony.

To grow pepper on a windowsill, a moisture content of at least 60-70% is required. Exceeding normal values ​​is not stinging, besides this plant does not tolerate a dry period poorly. If the hygrometer shows less than 50% humidity, it is recommended, in addition to watering, to spray the bush with water from a spray bottle.

Preparing seeds for planting

Beautiful peppers

In order for the plant to take root better, it is recommended to sow not earlier than February. It is necessary to prepare ornamental pepper seeds before sowing. For this you will need:

• Disinfectant solution for seeds - Fitosporin or potassium permanganate
• Growth stimulant such as Epin

In the first case, the seeds are soaked, in the second, they are sprayed in accordance with the instructions for the preparation. If you are going to plant fresh seeds, then you can refuse stimulation.

Germinating seeds

During germination, the seeds should soak in water for at least 12 hours. In this case, it is important that they are located at least 2 cm apart from each other. This is necessary so that the sprouted shoots do not interfere with the growth of each other. After germination, you need to sprinkle them with earth, covering them 1 cm from above. Make sure all seeds are covered.

The next step is to sprinkle the germinated seeds with water from a spray bottle. It is important not to overdo it here so that the soil is not too wet, otherwise it can lead to mold and rot.

Try to organize conditions that will resemble greenhouse as much as possible. To do this, cover them with foil, then put them in a warm place with good lighting. For the seed to germinate, a temperature of at least 23 degrees is required.

In no case should you put the seed pot in the sun, so you risk creating a greenhouse effect under the film, after which the seeds will cook.

As soon as you see the first small shoots, you must immediately remove the film. This usually takes about two weeks. However, it can take longer under some conditions, for example, if you did not prepare the seeds before sowing.

Transplanting seedlings

When several leaves have appeared on the seedlings, the seedling is ready to be transplanted to a permanent place of growth. Each seedling must be placed in a separate container for growing ornamental peppers. Otherwise, if there are 2 or more shoots in the pot, the plant will become weak, you may not wait for the fruit.

It is worth taking a pot of about 300 ml in volume. If the volume of the pot is larger, then the root system of the bush may oxidize after several waterings.

It is important during transplantation to place the shoot at exactly the same depth at which it was located at the germination stage. Do not deepen the plant too deep into the soil, as this can lead to rotting of the root system.

It is important to place a drainage layer on the bottom of the new pot. It must be laid carefully so as not to close the holes in the bottom.

It is necessary to select the land for potted plants. You can slightly press down the soil around the sprout itself, and then water it well. During rooting, it is recommended not to water the bush for at least a week.

During the transplant, it is necessary to pinch the most important root. In this way, the lateral processes of the roots will develop, and the root system will be stronger.

Growing pepper from a cutting

In summer and spring, decorative peppers can be grown by cuttings. To do this, you need to cut off the lateral process, after which the resulting cut must be treated with a special growth stimulator. Next, the shoot must be placed in a mix of soil and sand, the components are taken in a ratio of 1 to 1. It is necessary to ensure maximum watering of the cuttings, and then cover it with a plastic or glass cap. Place the stalk where it will be warm and light enough.

It is important to periodically ventilate the root; this should be done at least once a day.

You can pinch the top to speed up the rooting process. It is worth making sure that the cutting grows in soil suitable for potted plants. If you chose sandy-earthen soil for it at the rooting stage, you should give preference to the same mixture at the transplant stage.

Ornamental pepper care

Pepper care is essential

After the sprout has successfully rooted, it is important to provide the future bush with proper care, which consists of the following steps:

• Watering
• Periodic spraying
• Top dressing
• Crown formation

Watering the plant

In summer and spring, the plant is watered as needed, that is, when you find dry soil in a pot. It is worth using only settled water, its temperature should be room temperature.

In no case do not allow a situation with drying out of the earth. If the bush has withered, its leaves will soon fall off, there will be no more fruits on it.

Spraying the bush

If the temperature to the room is above 25 degrees, spray the bush at least 2-3 times a day.

Top dressing

Feeding is considered an integral part of caring for ornamental peppers, the plant reacts sharply if there is a lack of certain nutrients in the soil.

If the color of the leaves turns purple, then there is not enough phosphorus in the soil. An excessively light color of the foliage can say about the lack of nitrogen.

Top dressing should be applied at least once every 10-14 days. At the same time, it is important to follow the application rules: potash and phosphorus mixtures should be applied strictly at the root, nitrogen fertilizers are applied directly to the leaves.

We form the crown

The crown formation procedure, that is, trimming the top of the foliage, is a procedure that cannot be neglected. The fact is that the formation has a positive effect on the indicators of fertility, and also gives the tree a beautiful and well-groomed appearance.

It is important to pinch each shoot before the first shoots are formed. The most important branch, namely its crown, is pinched at the moment when the first flowers appear on it. This will contribute to the development of lateral shoots. All leaves and branches that are knocked out of the general crown are subject to pruning.

We transplant decorative peppers

It is recommended to transplant decorative peppers at least twice a year, while partially changing the soil. This is done to improve the quality of the soil.

It is important to carry out the procedure as carefully as possible so as not to injure the root system of a houseplant such as ornamental pepper. In order not to stress the plant, you can limit yourself to partial replacement of the soil in the pot without removing the pepper.

Diseases and pests

Most often, an ornamental plant suffers from spider mites and mealybugs. The first disease affects only the roots, therefore, it is not possible to detect the problem at the initial stage. It is quite difficult to fight a spider mite, so it is better to do prevention, that is, disinfect the ground in time.

With poor care, the risk of damage to the bush by mealybugs increases, especially deviations from the norms of humidity and temperature have a detrimental effect on the condition of the plant.

In winter, when the centralized heating system is working, containers with water are placed next to the pots to fill the liquid deficit.

If the soil is too moist, then the bush can get sick with late blight or root rot. If you notice brown or black spots on the foliage, it is worth immediately treating the leaves with a preparation with copper. Another sign of the disease is leaf wilting. You can help ornamental peppers by removing the plant from the ground and replanting it completely.

Difficulties in growing

When growing ornamental peppers, much attention should be paid to the organization of lighting in the room.

A small number of fruits can also be called a problem. In order to solve this problem, periodically shake the plant a little, this is especially effective during flowering. For the same purpose, it is possible to carry out a brush over the pepper flowers every two to three days in order to accelerate reproduction.