Seed treatment before planting
To quickly grow peppers, you need to use seeds from last year's harvest, since aging for more than a year worsens the seedlings of peppers. Seeds should be planted in boxes with black soil at the end of February. To implement this technique you will need:
- - dried pepper seeds;
- - potassium permanganate;
- - several nettle leaves (can be dried);
- - crushed wood ash;
- - UV lamp;
- - polyethylene and a box for seedlings.
Before planting, it is necessary to disinfect and provide the missing nutrients. To do this, the seeds are wrapped in gauze and immersed in a solution of potassium permanganate for 20 minutes.This will protect the seedlings from various diseases and fungi. To obtain a solution, dissolve 5 g of potassium permanganate in 500 ml of water.
It is also necessary to provide the seeds with growth stimulants. Nettle infusion acts as an effective stimulant. To do this, brew a tablespoon of nettle in a glass. After cooling to room temperature, place dry seeds in gauze into the infusion for 30 minutes.
Next, you can begin planting the treated seeds. To do this, furrows are made in a box with black soil at intervals of several centimeters. The seeds are laid out in the furrow and covered with a few centimeters of soil on top.
Now the crops need to be watered and supplied with nutrients. These procedures can be combined, which will make the rapid cultivation of pepper even more intense. To prepare a nutrient solution, 20 grams of crushed wood ash is soaked for 5 hours in a liter of warm water. This must be done in advance so that immediately after planting, water the seeds with the solution.
Wood ash contains up to 30 nutrients necessary for the rapid growth of peppers. The seeds are kept warm (about 25 degrees Celsius) until sprouts appear.
Special conditions for rapid growth
Thanks to this technique, pepper seeds germinate within two weeks. After germination, young shoots need ultraviolet light and additional heat for intensive growth. To do this, you will need an ultraviolet lamp, which can be purchased at a specialty store.
It will serve the pepper sprouts as an artificial substitute for the sun at night. On a sunny day, you can place young seedlings on the windowsill, but you should make sure that cold air does not enter from the window.In cloudy weather, it is necessary to leave the seedlings under the lamp around the clock.
The ultraviolet lamp, depending on the power, is installed at a certain distance from the shoots. This should be done in such a way that it provides the necessary heat, but does not burn the sprouts. For a standard 60 W lamp, the distance from the sprouts should be about 25 cm.
After four or five leaves appear, a dive should be made. In this case, each pepper sprout is transplanted separately, after which the boxes with picked seedlings are placed in a greenhouse under polyethylene. Diving is necessary to strengthen the root system, which will ensure the rapid growth of peppers and large fruits. Freely planted shoots strengthen faster, and their intensive growth also occurs.
Transplanting into a greenhouse and hardening off seedlings
After a couple of weeks, you can transplant the sprouts from the boxes into greenhouse soil. Young seedlings should be hardened off periodically. To do this, in warm weather, open the polyethylene for 15 minutes every day. After a few days, the greenhouse is opened for 30 minutes and an hour. Next, hardening is carried out during half daylight hours. In cloudy and warm weather, seedlings can be left in the air all day. The optimal temperature for pepper is 22 – 25 degrees Celsius.
At the same time, we must not forget about regular watering, which should be done as the soil dries. Approximately, it is necessary to water once every three days. After a month of regular hardening, the pepper can be left outdoors around the clock if the nights are warm and there is no frost. Thus, at the age of 60 days, strong pepper seedlings are planted in open ground in early May.
Thanks to this technique, you can quickly grow peppers of any variety, as well as achieve maximum yield per season. It should be remembered that pepper is susceptible to cold snaps, requires heat, and is also responsive to frequent watering at the seedling and ripening stage. You cannot plant hot pepper varieties next to sweet ones, as pollination will not allow you to achieve the desired result.
