Pepper care in August

Pepper grows poorly in August. Why?

Often in August, gardeners complain that the pepper has completely stopped growing, and they begin to intensively feed it. But usually this is not due to a lack of nutrients in the soil, but due to a lack of heat, because it comes from tropical Central America.

The fact is that while the weather is cold, fertilizing is not available to plants. Mineral substances accumulate in the soil and can reach a concentration dangerous for plants there. But if the daytime temperature is 26-28 ° C, at night it is not colder than 18 ° C, and the soil is moderately moist, then the plants need to be fed - better with complex fertilizer.

Therefore, it should always be firmly remembered that when growing peppers, the best nutrition cannot replace a lack of heat.

And further. Fertilizers containing chlorine, which the pepper does not tolerate, should not be used in the pepper greenhouse. The fact is that in the open field, chlorine is gradually washed out by rains from the arable layer and goes into the deep horizons of the soil. And in greenhouse soil this practically does not happen, and chlorine gradually accumulates in the arable layer.

Foliar dressing, which should be carried out only in cloudy weather, in the morning or in the evening, is also effective at this time. In this case, the concentration of the nutrient solution should not exceed 0.25%. And, of course, numerous growth stimulants based on organic acids will also help plants recover from a stressful state.

The formation of plants must be continued

Pepper stems have lignified stems. At the same time, they are very fragile and easily break from the load of fruits and careless touch. Therefore, tall varieties must be tied to a stake or trellis within 10-12 days after transplanting.

For this, the plant is loosely tied under the first branch with the lower loop of the twine, and the main 2 stems are tied to the trellis into separate twines.

After the formation of 9–11 leaves, 2–4 lateral shoots of the first order appear on the plant. Of these, you need to choose 2-3 of the strongest shoots that will create the skeleton of the plant, and pinch the rest, weaker ones, onto one leaf (one fruit). In the future, the stalks of the pepper are formed vertically or along the "V" -shaped system.

Attention! Each skeletal branch is tied up separately, and then gently twisted as necessary. And dwarf varieties are tied to pegs once or left completely without a garter.

A flower bud is formed between the skeletal shoots at the separation point, from which a flower develops. This flower, like the buds on subsequent forks, should be removed as early as possible so that they do not interfere with the development of the plant.

When skeletal shoots begin to branch, it is necessary to select the strongest shoot at each subsequent branching point and leave it as a replacement shoot. Another, weaker shoot, must be pinched after the first leaf, leaving one fruit on it. This should be done further with all subsequent ramifications.

In addition, every 3-5 days it is necessary to remove all sterile shoots, leaves and side shoots growing below the branching point of the main stem. As the shoots grow, they are regularly twisted gently around their twine. It is also necessary to remove all flowers and ovaries that form before the first branching of the main stem.

Do I need to remove the growth point?

In the periodicals on the cultivation of pepper, sometimes there are tips for the formation of a compact bush with well-developed shoots to remove the top of the main stem from the seedlings when the seedlings reach a height of 20-30 cm. In the opinion of the authors of these publications, the pinched plants begin to actively branch.

But there is another point of view that plants should not be pinched at the seedling stage.Pinching the top is only necessary if you see that the fruits set on the plant will not have time to ripen by the end of the growing season. Then, to accelerate the ripening of pepper fruits 4–5 weeks before the end of the growing season, the tops of the skeletal shoots are pinched, stopping their growth. After that, the plant redistributes the flow of juices to the fruit filling.

Removal of lower leaves and part of flowers

The size and quality of the harvest is favorably affected by the regular removal of the lower aging and especially yellowed or diseased leaves, because they become parasitic. It is better to do this on a sunny morning, so that the wound on the stem dries up quickly.

The leaves on the plant begin to be removed when the first fruits on the first cluster reach the stage of technical ripeness. And by the time the first fruit reaches this stage on the second brush, all leaves up to the first brush must be completely removed and the removal of leaves under the second brush must be started. You can remove 1-2 sheets at a time. The last removal of leaves is carried out 5-6 weeks before the last harvest of fruits.

Removing many leaves at the same time can lead to severe cracking of the fruit due to a sharp decrease in moisture evaporation.

By the way, one of the main reasons for a poor pepper ovary on the first brush, even with abundant flowering and plant nutrition, may be a lack of light caused by an abundance of leaves on the plant ...