How to plant peppers for seedlings at home

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

Pepper is a healthy and nutritious vegetable that can be added to salads and cooked. It comes in all sorts of varieties: from sweet Bulgarian, which everyone knows, to exotic and very spicy. Learn how to plant peppers for seedlings at home, and the photos will help you with this step by step.

How to choose a place for seedlings

A sunny windowsill is a good place to grow peppers. In fact, small varieties like chili peppers will grow easily indoors. The thicker and juicier the peppers are, the more sun and warmth they will need to grow properly.

If the window sill is not oriented to the south, then it is worth choosing a variety that needs less sun and less time to ripen.

How to grow peppers at home in containers or crates

Instructions on how to plant peppers for seedlings at home in stages:

1. Start by planting seeds in a growing container or bag between February and late April. Remember: Peppers love warmth and humidity, so keep them in a greenhouse or indoors until the weather is warm enough to plant outdoors.
2. Just before replanting seedlings, dig out the soil to aerate it and add fertilizer or compost to enrich it. Find a sunny spot as peppers need daylight.
3. When the seedlings begin to form leaves, transplant them into pots or garden beds. Pay attention to the quality of the soil: if it is poor, replace the top layer with nutrient-rich compost. When grown in containers from mid-May, plant in open beds at the end of the month.
4. Once the peppers are rooted, pinch off the side shoots if you don't want them to be too large.
5. Water regularly and harvest when full-sized, green and shiny. You can also leave them to ripen before harvesting, but this will yield a smaller yield.
6. Peppers are very sensitive to waterlogging or lack of drainage, which causes suffocation in compact areas and can cause root rot. You need to water infrequently and carefully.

Peppers are susceptible to pests such as aphids. They can be controlled using natural pesticides (use, for example, an aqueous solution of Castile soap).

You can plant peppers for seedlings at home without picking in small containers.

What are the problems of growing

It is not enough just to take into account all the rules on how to plant peppers for seedlings at home, you need to take into account that they suffer from many pests and diseases. Typically, signs of problems can be seen on the leaves.

What you should pay attention to:

1. Withering, twisted leaves without discoloration are a common reaction to cool, wet weather.
2. The leaves wither and turn yellow, and then turn brown - this is a sign of pest attacks. Spray with soapy water or sprinkle with diatomaceous earth.
3. Leaves with black spots on them are a sign of a fungal infection. It is necessary to water the plants only at the root and fight weeds in time, as they retain moisture.

By taking these tips into account, mistakes can be avoided. You can also see how to plant peppers for seedlings at home with pictures and videos.

How to choose a variety of pepper

There is a wide variety of peppers: Lamuyo, Italian, Piquillo, Padrone, California. You can choose the one that you like best, or the one that best suits your particular climate and soil. Keep in mind that this vegetable is sensitive to cold, so you should wait until late spring to plant outdoors if there is still a risk of frost.

What kind of soil is right

Peppers love well-drained soil, so potting soil is best when growing in containers. Some take vegetable soil, but it shrinks too much, and this puts a lot of pressure on the root system of the pepper. You need to look for soil with white minerals - they create voids that help the circulation of air and water.

Peppers need a lot of organic matter, so a little dung (chicken, goose or duck) is useful. However, raw will not work. You also need to make sure it has been composted for at least 1 year and mixed with at least 2/3 of the potting soil.

Interesting! How to plant cucumbers in open ground with seeds

How to water and fertilize peppers

Pepper loves water very much. It grows very well even if watered more than needed. But at least 2 times a week. In doing so, you need to take into account the type of soil, the amount of sunlight, moisture and much more.

The soil should not completely dry out between waterings.

Pepper loves organic matter like chicken manure compost and nitrogen. Water-soluble or liquid fertilizers are best suited.

How to deal with pests

Indoor growing conditions (heat, humidity and light) can provide ideal conditions for houseplant bugs to grow. Knowing how to identify common pests is the key to getting rid of insects quickly.

Proper care will help prevent the susceptibility of seedlings to pests. Houseplant bugs easily attack stressed crops. The result is poor growth, discoloration of leaves, spots or specks on the stems, membranes under the leaves, or wilting.

Because getting rid of pests is difficult, prevention is critical. There are many types of indoor plant pests, such as tiny aphids, which can be yellow, brown, red, green, white, or black.

Mealybugs are pests that look like little pieces of white fluff stuck to the stems and leaves of plants. Thrips are long insects with a pointed tail and can be green, black or brown.

The most common pests that can be found on plant leaves or in soil are fungal flies. They look like small, dark flies that look like fruit flies, and their larvae can damage the roots.

Aphids are tiny pests that are only 3 mm long. It is usually green in color, so it is difficult to spot the insect on plants.

The best way to get rid of midges, aphids and many other pests is Bti or H-14. It is a natural product designed to kill mushroom mosquito larvae in potting soil. It is the only effective natural insecticide against fungal midges.

Outcomes

Only proper planting and plant care will help you get a great harvest. The peppers will be smooth, tasty, and healthy.