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When choosing peppers to grow in greenhouses and outdoors, gardeners turn their attention to the appearance, taste of the fruit and the yield of a particular variety. However, an important detail of a variety or hybrid for ripening in small areas of soil is the size of the bush.
Benefits of growing short sweet peppers
Most often, all the necessary information about the variety of bell pepper is on the packaging with the planting material. If you are a novice gardener, or are choosing a new variety for planting, pay attention to parameters such as growth conditions (greenhouse or open ground), temperature conditions and ripening dates. Also, the manufacturer acquaints the buyer with the size of the expected harvest and the plant itself.
What is the difference between growing tall varieties from undersized, and in what cases it is necessary to plant certain plants in the ground? It is known that tall varieties are, most often, the most productive bell peppers. In indoor conditions, up to 10-12 kg of juicy and colorful fruits are harvested from one bush. Modern breeding produces hybrids that can bear fruit before winter begins. But these bushes require regular attention: they must be tied up and shaped so as to prevent wilting or weakening of the main stem. In addition, tall varieties need regular mineral and organic nutrition.
In the cramped conditions of country gardens and greenhouses, it is best to grow stunted peppers. Low bushes, dotted with colorful fruits, are ideal for tunnel versions of the film shelter. The yield of such varieties is somewhat lower, however, due to the density of planting in the ground, good and stable results can be achieved.
Experienced farmers grow early low-growing varieties of pepper in order to get quick first harvests with minimal care and feeding costs. But for beginners who are first growing vegetables, it is strongly recommended to start with low bushes. They are also great for those summer residents who come to their plots only once a week. Resistance to arid and hot climates, slow recoil of stepchildren and side branches and a powerful stem are the main advantages of growing peppers in low bushes.
Varieties and hybrids of low-growing sweet peppers
When choosing planting material for low-growing sweet peppers, be sure to remember that characteristics such as the beginning of the growing season and the taste of the fruit, as a rule, always conflict. If you are harvesting your first crop in early July, the quality of the fruit is likely to be average.
Chanterelle
This small and compact variety sweet pepper can be grown in open garden beds and in plastic greenhouses. The first fruits can be removed already on the hundredth day from pecking of the planting material. Fruits are colored light green or orange, have an even, slightly elongated shape, grow small in size and mass. It is interesting that "Chanterelle" is one of the few varieties capable of producing small harvests on the balconies of city apartments.This is due to the fact that the plant does not need large amounts of soil and feels great in a flower pot.
Planting seedlings in the ground is carried out in early or mid-March. Stocking density per 1m2 - up to 5-6 seedlings. The main features of the variety are the regular picking of side shoots. Up to 1.5-2 kg of peppers are removed from one bush per season.
Sveta
Early ripe a variety of low-growing sweet pepper for open areas and small film shelters. In the garden, this plant does not grow more than 40-50 cm. The first fruits are removed 100 days after the seed has hatched. The skin is dense, colored in a bright orange color. Fruit weight in the period of technical maturity - 80-100 gr. The obvious advantages of growing the variety "Sveta" include high resistance to watermelon mosaic viruses, fungal and putrefactive diseases. Up to two kilograms of harvest are removed from a small but productive bush.
Fakir
For gardeners, this variety is recognized as the best among compact bush peppers, due to the wide possibilities of using the crop. The fruits are small in size, have an even oblong shape, and are painted in a bright red color. Those who are not familiar with the taste of the Fakir pepper are somewhat alarmed by its appearance, since the pepper is small in diameter and looks like an overgrown hot pepper.
However, "Fakir" is one of the undersized varieties, which is famous for its high yields. During the fruiting period, a small, barely reaching half a meter in height, a bush, all showered with bright fruits... In open gardening areas, up to three kilograms of harvest are harvested from one bush, but if you place the Fakir in a greenhouse, these figures can go up to 8-10 kg. A distinctive feature of the variety is an incredible dense skin, thanks to which the pepper tolerates transportation well and remains on the bush even with the first frost.
Agapovsky
The variety is marked by the Research Institute of Breeding and Vegetable Crops of Russia as the earliest undersized variety.
It is planted in open ground and film greenhouses, and gives the first harvests already on the 90th day after germination. The fruits are large, have an even prismatic shape, when fully ripe they turn into a deep red color. Up to 5-6 kg of fruits are removed from one bush per season, the average weight of which can reach 250-300 grams.
Distinctive features of cultivation are excellent resistance to the tobacco mosaic virus, but in the meantime it requires additional mineral fertilizing. Without them, the fruits of the Agapovsky variety begin to suffer from apical rot.
Albatross F1
An early ripe undersized hybrid that got its name from the shape of the pepper, slightly curved at the end, and resembling the wings of a bird. The variety is included in the State Register of the Russian Federation, and is recognized by domestic breeders as one of the best among the early universal varieties.
Fruits in the period of biological maturity reach a size of 8-10 cm, with an average weight of one pepper - 100 grams. A distinctive feature of the "Albatross" ort is its high resistance to sudden temperature fluctuations in the air and on the soil. Up to 5-7 kg of tasty, light green or yellow fruits are harvested from one bush.
Boneta
This variety gives the best yields under film shelters and in greenhouse conditions, since it belongs to undersized early maturing varieties with unstable growth during sudden cold snaps.
The fruits are colored red, during the period of biological maturity they can reach a weight of one hundred grams, although there are cases when, when weighing one Bonet pepper, the balance arrow reached 300. From one bush to fruitful period can be removed up to 3 kilograms of pepper. A distinctive feature of the variety is its high resistance to drought, direct sunlight and high summer temperatures.
Timoshka
A tight and very compact low-growing sweet pepper plant that thrives in cramped conditions with dense open field seedlings. "Timoshka" refers to mid-season varieties, the first peppers are removed from the bush only on the 110th day from the seed pecking. The average weight of one fruit can reach 300 grams, however, the variety does not belong to a high-yielding variety, and only 3-4 ovaries can form on the bush itself for the entire season.
Gardeners love Timoshka for its taste. This beautiful, red pepper can be classified as thick, due to the fact that its fleshy walls during the period of biological maturation reach a thickness of 0.8-1 cm.
Up to two kilograms of the crop are harvested from one bush, and, most often, it is used to prepare salads.
Gemini F1
Early ripe hybrid yellow bell pepper Dutch selection. The height of the bush barely exceeds 40 cm. Bred specifically for growing crops in narrow film greenhouses. The full ripening period for Gemini begins after 2.5 months from the first germination.
A distinctive feature of the hybrid is that the fruits hang on a long stalk, which allows harvesting without injuring the main plant. Gemini has excellent taste, enviable resistance to short-term drought and high summer temperatures.
Ilya Muromets
The name of this variety speaks for itself. A short and compact bush has a powerful root system and stem. Fruits can grow up to 12-15 cm in length, with an average weight of 200 grams.
The plant belongs to mid-season, therefore, full biological maturation can be observed only on the 120th day. Fleshy red peppers, ideal for culinary processing and canning. Up to 10 ovaries are formed on one bush, therefore, with good regular care and watering, "Ilya Muromets" gives stable high yields.
Distinctive features of the variety are high resistance to cold snaps in the air and on the soil, immunity to viral and fungal infections.
Eroshka
A mid-season high-yielding low-growing variety with a growing season beginning on the hundredth day after the seed has hatched. The plant exceeds 0.5 m in height only if grown in greenhouse conditions. The bushes are compact, with a powerful and dense stem, does not require picking and shaping. The fruits are painted in a beautiful rich red color, the weight of one is up to 200 grams. The skin is firm and juicy, with an average thickness of about 5 mm.
The main features of the fruit are resistance to low temperatures, the virus of watermelon and tobacco mosaic, fungal and putrefactive diseases. "Eroshka" is a great opportunity to get high yields on small areas of soil. This is one of the few varieties that successfully bear fruit when planting up to 8-10 bushes of seedlings per 1m2.
Conclusion
When choosing low-growing varieties and hybrids for growing sweet peppers, remember that each of them is adapted to certain climatic conditions, is individual in the choice of feeding and the frequency of watering. In order to harvest a decent tasty harvest, follow the scheme for planting seedlings in open ground indicated on the package. For low-growing compact bushes, it, as a rule, is 30x40 cm, with rare exceptions changing downward.
For more information on growing undersized sweet peppers, see the video:
