Perhaps, every horticulturist has a piece of land where he plans to drop a sweet pepper - fragrant, tasty and incredibly useful. However, not everyone knows that there are often problems when growing sweet pepper seedlings, as this vegetable is quite capricious and even in southern regions it sometimes disappoints the owner. The correct preparation of seeds and planting them on seedlings will help to avoid this.
Preparation of sweet pepper seeds
Consider the cultivation of seedlings of sweet pepper on the example of the variety "Bogatyr", as it excellently rises and gives an excellent harvest.
So, you need to choose medium-sized and full seeds. If you buy them in bags, they are most likely already processed and disinfected, so you do not need to soak them in a solution of potassium permanganate . But if you have seeds of your own billet, they should be soaked for 20-25 minutes in a 1% manganese-potassium solution, then rinse thoroughly in melt water.
Further stimulation of seed growth is necessary. You can prepare the infusion of nettle (1 tablespoon of dry leaves per cup of boiling water) or use ready-made solutions of Emistim C or Ivin.
The seeds of pepper prepared in this way are germinated in a wet cloth at a temperature of + 25..28 ° C. On average, the seeds swell on begin to germinate on the 5th-7th day. After that, they are transferred to a prepared soil mixture for the further cultivation of seedlings.
When asked when to plant the sweet pepper on the seedlings, the answer will be 2-3 days of February, on the growing moon. The exact term of sowing varies from year to year depending on the lunar calendar.
How to sow sweet pepper on seedlings?
When the seeds swelled and sprouted, it's time to start planting them in the ground. This stage is the most responsible, since 80% of failures in growing seedlings are in non-compliance with technology.
Main rules:
- Seeds need to be sowed no deeper than 1 cm and provide them with sufficient watering, otherwise they simply will not ascend.
- The temperature of the contents of the box with sown pepper seeds should be kept at a temperature not lower than +20 ° C.
- Soil mixture for seedlings should contain a lot of humus. The content of peat only acidifies the soil, as a result of which the seedlings die. Ideal for pepper seedlings is the following mixture: "mole" and humus in a proportion of 1: 1 with the addition of wood ash (0.5 liters per bucket of soil) and river sand (1 kg per bucket). Before sowing seeds, this soil mixture must be poured with boiling water or steamed in the oven.
We pass directly to the process of sowing seeds of sweet pepper on seedlings. On the ruler, we mark in the soil grooves 1-1.5 cm deep with a distance of 5 cm between the rows. We need to make a distance of 1 cm between the seeds. We water the furrows and spread the seeds, sprinkle them and sprinkle a little with a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
We cover the boxes with the seeded film and put it in a warm place. After 3-7 days shoots will start to appear. At this time, the polyethylene is removed and put the boxes on the windowsill, periodically opening the window. During the day, the temperature of the content should be at + 14..16ºС, at night + 11-13ºС.
During germination of seeds is extremely important
2 weeks after sowing, it is necessary to thin the seedlings, removing the weak growths. In another 10 days, when the seedlings will be at the stage of 2 real leaves, it is again punctured, so that the distance between the shoots is 4-5 cm.
The grown up and strengthened seedlings are dived into a greenhouse, covered with polyethylene film at a distance of 30-40 cm between the rows and 20-30 cm between the bushes. A month later, the seedlings adapt well, and it can be transplanted to a permanently growing place.