Content
Pepper is one of the most common garden crops. This is quite justified, it is tasty, it can be canned, dried, frozen. Pepper is very useful - it contains a lot of potassium, in terms of vitamin C content, it surpasses all vegetables and even citrus fruits.
Peppers are cultivated exclusively through seedlings, they are often grown independently. This is not to say that this is a complicated matter, but if certain rules are not followed, you can lose seedlings even before planting them in the ground. In this article, we will look at why pepper seedlings are falling and how to avoid this trouble.
What you need to successfully grow pepper seedlings
Each plant has its own requirements for keeping conditions, lighting, temperature, humidity. Pepper is no exception, its seedlings are especially vulnerable. To avoid problems when growing it, let's see what pepper loves:
- Uniform warm temperature throughout the day;
- Daylight hours no more than 8 hours;
- Watering with warm, about 25 degrees, water;
- Uniform hydration;
- Drained fertile soil with a neutral reaction;
- Increased doses of potassium.
Pepper is bad:
- Hot weather exceeding 35 degrees;
- Watering with water below 20 degrees;
- Root transplants;
- Recessed landing;
- High acidity of the soil;
- Increased doses of nitrogen fertilizers and fresh manure;
- Direct sunlight.
The reasons why pepper seedlings fall
It is very unpleasant when carefully planted pepper seedlings fall. There may be several reasons for this:
- Landing errors;
- Care errors;
- Unsuitable conditions of detention;
- Blackleg;
- Fusarium.
All of this can be avoided. Let's see what to do now and how to avoid mistakes in the future.
Mistakes when planting peppers
In open ground, pests and pathogens live, they often cause the death of adult plants, while delicate seedlings with a thin root and a weak stem are much more difficult to cope with. Prepare the soil yourself using the following ingredients:
- Peat - 10 l;
- Sand - 5 l;
- Wood ash - 1 l;
- "Fitosporin" or "Agrovit" - according to the instructions.
The sand must be pre-calcined in the oven before use. Mix all ingredients and use when growing seedlings. In no case do not exceed the recommended dose of "Fitosporin" or "Agrovit", it is better to use less.
If you use purchased soil, do not take the one that remained after planting indoor plants - fertilizers are added to it in a concentration suitable for growing an adult plant with specific needs, exclusively special soil for seedlings is suitable. But it also needs to be prepared as follows:
- Without opening, put the package with the substrate in a galvanized bucket;
- Carefully, so as not to melt the bag, pour boiling water over the side of the bucket;
- Cover the bucket with a lid;
- Leave a bag of soil in the bucket until the water cools completely.
Thus, you will destroy all possible pests and pathogens that can cause seedlings to fall.
Whether you've picked your seeds from a pepper that looks healthy, or you've purchased seeds from a reputable manufacturer, there is no guarantee that they are not contaminated with pathogens.
This will destroy the possible pathogens of the disease, but the seeds themselves will not have time to suffer. Pre-sowing preparation of seeds covered with a colored shell is not necessary.
Plant pepper seeds correctly - to a depth of 3-4 cm, and be sure to compact the soil so that they do not fall through. Seeds planted too deep or shallow will not develop normally, and a weakened plant is more likely to get sick and die.
You can't sow the seeds too thick, take a little time and just spread them. Then you will have fewer problems - they will not stretch out, they will not fall, and the trauma of the roots during the dive will be less.
Seedling care errors
Excessive doses of fertilizers will certainly cause the pepper seedlings to pull out, and this, in turn, can lead to the fact that they fall. Excess nitrogen is especially dangerous.
Water the pepper seedlings evenly. From frequent spraying, the soil turns black and it seems that there is enough moisture in it. In fact, it may turn out that the soil is dry and the seedlings have died because they have nothing to drink. When in doubt if watering is needed, take a match and pierce the ground further away from the plant. Water immediately if necessary.
Overflow is no less dangerous. The root from excess moisture and watering with cold water can very easily rot and the plant will die, and the overflow also blocks the access of oxygen to the roots. The drain hole may be clogged. If this happens, urgently save healthy plants - transplant them into another soil. It is better not to use an old pot, if there is nothing more suitable, wash it with a brush and pour boiling water over it. After transplanting, treat the peppers with a solution foundazola, moisten the soil with it.
Too dry air can also cause seedlings to lodge. If, after picking, you deepen the pepper seedlings, most of the plants will most likely fall and die - do not do this.
Unsuitable conditions of detention
High temperature is required for seed germination. For seedlings, it can be disastrous. As soon as the first loop of seedlings appears, the temperature is immediately reduced, and the plant begins to light up.
And although pepper is a plant of short daylight hours, it cannot live without light at all, light is necessary for photosynthesis, which is the basis of the life of almost all plants (with the exception of insectivorous species). The seedling reaches for the light source, spending all its strength on it, stretches out, falls and dies.
Excess light, like the cold temperature of the content, also does not benefit the seedlings. Low temperature, coupled with overflow, is especially dangerous - this is a direct path to the death of a small plant.
Black leg peppers
Blackleg is one of the most common causes of lodging in pepper seedlings. This disease causes several types of fungal pathogens. They are always found in the soil, but they affect only weakened plants. Fungi are especially dangerous for seedlings - they always die - first, the hypocotal knee rots, turns brown and becomes thinner, then the tissues soften and become watery.
The use of contaminated soil, poor ventilation, overflows, poor-quality planting material, thickened plantings and improper care of seedlings, which causes weakening of the plant, contribute to the disease. Often the cause of blackleg is that the soil is constantly crusty.
We offer you to watch a video about the folk way of fighting black leg on tomatoes... This method works for peppers as well.
Fusarium peppers
Basically, the disease manifests itself in adult plants. But it happens that seedlings get sick with it - it just withers and falls. There is no cure for it, you need to destroy the plant.
Treatment of lodging pepper seedlings
What to do if pepper seedlings have fallen? If the cause is blackleg or fusarium, diseased plants must be immediately destroyed, and the surviving ones must be immediately planted in separate cups in new soil. Thus, if one or more plants fall ill, the others will be less likely to become infected.
If the reason for the lodging of the seedlings is different and only a few plants are affected, find the source of trouble, create the conditions necessary for the normal development of the pepper. When overflowing, if the soil has not had time to acidify, sometimes it is enough to reduce the watering and sprinkle the soil with wood ash.
If the seedlings of peppers have just begun to get sick with a black leg, treat the plants and the soil under them with a 1% solution of copper sulfate or a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
Prevention of lodging pepper seedlings
Any disease is easier to prevent than to deal with its consequences. Healthy, well-groomed seedlings are less likely to get sick than those whose development was left to chance. You need to start taking care of it even before planting - be sure to soak the seeds in an epin solution before planting. Epin is an adaptogen and a broad-spectrum regulator; plants grown from seeds treated with it are easier to tolerate overflow, drought, stretch less and are more resistant to diseases. In addition, this is a drug of natural origin and does not pose a danger to humans. You can process them and seedlings, but not more often than once every two weeks.
For the prevention of fungal diseases and black leg, which cause lodging of pepper seedlings, seedlings and the soil under it are treated twice with an interval of two weeks with a solution of any copper-containing drug in a concentration two times lower than what is written in the instructions. These treatments will further make the pepper more resistant to fungal and viral diseases.
It costs more, but the result from its use is much better - powder metal oxides, unlike emulsion, dissolve poorly in water. It is easy to see after spraying - a large amount of the drug remains at the bottom of the vessel in which the solution was prepared, and accordingly, the effectiveness of the treatment decreases.
