Growing pepper seedlings: Part 2

Growing pepper seedlings: caring for seedlings

When the seeds germinate, From the pots remove the film and put them in a well-lit place. Best of all, on a window that faces south orsouthwest. In this case, the seedlings will receive a sufficient amount of light. If your windows are facing north, you can do artificial lighting. In this case, the seedlings are left under a fluorescent lamp from such a calculation that a light day for plants should last 13-14 hours. Do not forget to take into account also natural lighting!

When the seeds come up, they are not watered for the first 3-5 days. The abundance of water accelerates the development of green mass, andnot roots. At this stage, we need the plants to develop roots. Water the pepper seedling with tap water at room temperature. Usually, the pepper is poured once every 5-7 days so that the water passes through the entire depth of the pot. But do not over-moisten the soil, otherwise the roots of the plant will rot. Also, due to frequent watering, the soil can become compacted, which will negatively affect its aeration. Because of this, pepper can linger in development. To prevent this from happening, never zealous with watering.

To the roots of plants received the right amount of oxygen, the soil should be loosened. This should be done very carefully and only inIf the seedlings have stopped growing. After a while after watering, loosen the soil. But do it very carefully so as not to damage the roots of the pepper.

Growing pepper seedlings: picking

Plants dive to better develop the rootsystem. Also, during the dive, the seedlings are transplanted into larger containers, where the plants can further develop well. As practice shows, Pepper after picking a little slows its growth. You can dive the pepper or simply transplant it using the way of transshipment.

If you decide to pick up sprouts of pepper, then this can be done when the plants have two real leaves with a length of at least 5 mm. At this time, the root system is not yet verystrongly branched. If you missed this time, and the seedling leaves grew 2 cm long, you can also transplant your pepper. In such plants, the root system is already sufficiently branched, so when transplanting it is not necessary to pinch the central rootlet. Violation of the integrity of the roots of seedlings will occur in any case.

Growing pepper seedlings: top dressing

To ensure that your pepper seedling grows well at home, it needs to be fed. Top dressing is very important in growing pepper seedlings. Even if you do not take into account that afterdiving or transshipment seedling begins to grow and develop in a good substrate, plants can not always get the right amount of nutrients from the soil. Therefore, it is recommended to fertilize the seedlings with phosphorus and nitrogen fertilizers.

Phosphorus is needed by the plant for good growth and development of the root system. But nitrogen is needed to build up the green mass. But remember that pepper does not tolerate too frequent or abundant fertilizers, so do not be too zealous.

The first top dressing spend two weeks after the appearance of 3 of these leaves. Second feeding spend 10-12 days after the first. During this time, the pepper should appear already 4-5 real leaves. The third top dressing It is necessary only if your seedlings are still too badly developed. In this case, the seedlings are fed only before landing on a permanent place.

For top dressing of plants you can use dry bird droppings, liquid organic and dry mineral fertilizers. It is best to alternate fertilizing with organic and mineral fertilizers.

Growing pepper seedlings: hardening

Pepper is a very thermophilic plant, so before disembarking for a permanent time it should be hardened. So the sweet pepper seedling will get used to sunlight, wind and cool air.

The hardening should be started two weeks before the pepper is planted in the open ground. To do this, the temperature in thethe room where your seedling grows, up to 17-18 ° C. Take out your seedlings on the balcony. You can also open the window if it's warm enough in the street. But do not allow drafts! Start tempering plants from 1 hour. Then gradually increase the time staying in a cooler room until 8-12 hours. Do not forget that at night the seedlings should be brought back into the room.

Now your seedlings are completely ready for planting in the ground. It happens that the seedlings are already appearingbuds even before planting them in the soil at the dacha. The transplant will adversely affect the plant, so flowers or buds can fall away. To prevent this from happening, sprinkle the seedlings with a solution of boric acid (1 tsp for 1 liter of hot water). Spray the seedlings with only cooled water. Also for the prevention of late blight it is recommended to spray the plants with Bordeaux liquid, copper chloride or any drug that you can buy at a special store. It is possible to spray the plants already after transplanting the seedlings permanently.