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Sweet, or as it is often called, Bulgarian, pepper has become widespread in Russia for a long time. But in recent years, its popularity has especially increased. One of the reasons was the ongoing work of breeders to develop new varieties of vegetable crops with even more attractive properties and characteristics.
Also, the ways and methods of growing healthy and tasty vegetables are constantly being improved. It is these two factors - high-quality breeding work and the improvement of cultivation agrotechnics - that have played a major role in the next round of hobby gardeners with bell peppers.
Description and properties of bell pepper
Sweet pepper is known in Russia under many names, among which the most common are: bell pepper, vegetable pepper, paprika, and even red or Green pepper.
The appearance of the plant is known to everyone, even people far from gardening. From the point of view of botany, bell peppers are an annual garden vegetable crop with a relatively low bush, usually up to 1.5 meters, single or group leaves in the form of rosettes, colored green and its various shades of color. The plant has relatively large flowers, the fruits are hollow false berries of various sizes and colors. The peppercorns can be red, yellow, orange, green, or brown.
Pepper, in addition to its excellent taste, has a number of useful properties. It has a healing and preventive effect, significantly reduces the risk of many serious diseases, stimulates appetite and activates the digestive system. It is possible to enumerate the beneficial properties of sweet peppers for a long time, especially since their number, thanks to the constant research of scientists, is increasing all the time.
Selection criteria for bell pepper seeds
Currently, any specialty store contains just a huge selection of sweet pepper seeds for planting. To navigate this diversity, it is necessary to clearly understand the criteria by which to make a choice.
First of all, it is necessary to carefully study the properties and characteristics of the proposed variety, the description of which is always placed on a bag with seeds.
The main attention should be paid to the following properties:
Ripening term of the variety... According to this criterion, all plants are divided into:
- early maturing varieties and hybrids... They are better suited for planting in unprotected soil, as they manage to mature even in suboptimal conditions of a short period of steadily warm and sunny weather. It is these conditions that are most typical for the domestic middle zone;
- mid-season varieties and hybrids... They can be used both in greenhouses and in unprotected ground. In the second case, they will require a little more attention and care necessary to ensure a good and stable harvest;
- late-ripening varieties and hybrids... They are most adapted for the conditions of greenhouses, since in the open ground, in most cases, they simply do not have time to mature to the required stage.
Variety resistance sweet pepper to diseases and pests common in a particular region.
Zoning of a variety or hybrid for a specific region where it is planned to grow.
One of the important criteria for the selection of sweet pepper seeds is the establishment of priority between varieties and hybrids.
The main advantage of the variety is the ability to independently harvest seeds for future planting. In addition, varietal varieties, as a rule, are less whimsical and more resistant, if we take the totality of their properties and characteristics.
Hybrid seeds procure does not make any sense, since their properties do not persist for the next harvest. However, hybrids have their own advantages: higher yield and excellent taste.
Following these criteria will help the grower make the right variety or hybrid selection when purchasing sweet pepper seeds.
Sweet pepper - varieties and hybrids
As noted above, there is a huge variety of different varieties and hybrids of bell peppers.
Cardinal F1
The presence of the F1 marking makes it easy to find out that the Cardinal is a hybrid of bell pepper. In terms of ripening, the vegetable plant is early maturing. The first peppercorns reach the stage of technical maturity 90-95 days after the seedlings have been planted. The hybrid has a compact form of a relatively low (up to 0.5 meter) bush. The shape of the peppercorns is a classic regular cube with sides of 9-10 cm with the usual fruit wall thickness reaching 8 mm.
The peppercorn at the stage of technical maturity acquires an extremely attractive and original dark purple color. Then, with further ripening, the fruits turn bright red.
The main advantages of the hybrid are as follows:
- high and extremely stable plant yield;
- taste properties and versatility of the method of use. The hybrid can be used both fresh for salads and for canning and cooking by heat treatment;
- the ability to resist one of the most common and dangerous diseases of peppers - the tobacco mosaic virus.
As with most other varieties and hybrids, Cardinal seeds are recommended to be planted for seedlings in March. At the same time, they do not need to be soaked, since the necessary preparation of hybrid seeds is always carried out in the seed farm.
Big Daddy
A variety with such an original name appeared relatively recently. It is considered an early maturing plant, bringing the first peppercorns in about 100-105 days. Big Papa has a low bush and medium spreading. The peppercorns are conical and small in size. And the weight, as a rule, does not exceed 100 grams with sufficiently thick fruit walls - 8 mm.
The main advantage of the sweet pepper of this variety is considered to be its high and fairly stable yield. It is also relatively resistant to disease. And experts note the taste of the Big Papa variety. They are expressed, among other things, in the juiciness and special aroma of peppercorns, which are preserved during various processing during the preparation of certain dishes.
Orange
Variety Orange has several distinctive features that distinguish it from the general number of features.
Firstly, the fruits of the variety are small, almost never exceeding a weight of 40 grams. At the same time, a very large number of them ripen at the same time on the bush, which allows the variety to show good yields.
Secondly, the Orange variety has a particularly sweet taste of fruits and a very pronounced aroma characteristic only of it. This taste is preserved not only fresh in salads, but also when canning or preparing classic lecho.
Thirdly, the Orange variety has, thanks to the work of its breeders, the most suitable qualities for growing in unprotected open ground. It is unpretentious to care and climatic conditions, resistant to low temperatures, and is able to withstand most common diseases in Russia.
The rest of the properties of the variety of bell pepper Orange are not so remarkable:
- in terms of ripening - early maturing;
- bush height - average, up to 0.45 meters;
- fruit color - either bright orange or red-orange;
- the shape of the fruit is round, elongated.
Agapovsky
The Agapovsky variety was bred by Russian breeders a little over twenty years ago. During this time, he became widespread, having managed to become popular among domestic gardeners. This is not at all surprising if you study its properties.
Agapovsky allows you to start collecting the first harvest in 100-105 days, referring to this indicator to early maturing plants. Like most peppers, it has a compact bush shape, relatively short. It stands out for its characteristic bright dark green color of numerous large leaves.
The shape of the peppercorns is prismatic, with a slight ribbing. Fruits almost never weigh more than 110-120 grams, while having a wall thickness of about 7 mm.
The main advantage of the Agapovsky bell pepper is, without a doubt, its high yield. Subject to the rules of care and the implementation of the necessary agrotechnical measures, it can be in the region of 10 kg / sq. m. In addition to such an uncommon yield indicator, the Agapovsky variety also has significant resistance to many diseases. But even this does not exhaust his dignity. Most of the gardeners who cultivated it, very highly appreciate the taste in combination with the versatility of the method of use.
Hercules
In terms of ripening, the Hercules variety is mid-season. This means that you can start harvesting no earlier than after 110-120 days. The color of the fruit at the stage of technical maturity is dark green. Upon reaching biological maturity, the peppercorns gradually change their color to red.
The fruits are cubic in shape, 11 * 12 cm in size, rather large. Often their weight exceeds 250 grams. The surface of the peppercorns has a barely noticeable ribbing. The wall thickness is usually 7-8 mm.
The main advantage of the Hercules variety is its excellent taste and versatility of the method of use. In addition, the bell pepper variety is quite resistant to most diseases.
California miracle
The bell pepper variety California Miracle is one of the most popular among domestic gardeners. Its properties and characteristics allowed it to become widespread in the southern regions of Russia, as well as in the middle zone. Being mid-season, it provides the opportunity to start harvesting the first crop of peppercorns after 110 days. The bush of the plant is compact, but tall enough. It often grows up to 1 meter, and sometimes even taller. The variety differs in that it does not need to tie the branches - this is because they are very strong and resilient.
The fruits of the California Miracle variety are relatively small, only some of them reach a mass of 150-160 grams. The peppercorns have a characteristic fleshy viscera structure. The fruits have a deep red color. Their shape is a cube with almost equal sides and a weakly pronounced ribbed surface.
The main advantages of the variety are its versatility, which manifests itself in two indicators at once:
- by the method of consumption - the excellent taste properties of the variety are manifested both fresh and canned, as well as during the preparation of various dishes;
- at the place of cultivation - the properties of the variety allow it to be grown both in greenhouses and in unprotected soil.
In addition to all of the above advantages, the variety is also quite resistant to diseases.
Cockatoo F1
One of the bell pepper hybrids with original and remarkable properties. Its name is most likely associated with the bright red color of the most common variety of the hybrid, somewhat reminiscent of the color of the beak of a famous parrot species.
The second distinctive feature of the hybrid is the large size of its fruit. They have a somewhat elongated shape up to 30 cm long. As a result, their weight is often 0.5 kg.
As a result, the yield of the sweet pepper hybrid is quite high and often reaches 3 kg from each bush.
The third remarkable property of the hybrid is the existence of two varieties. Above, we talked about the first, the most common. The second is less common. Its fruits are somewhat smaller, but nevertheless reach a mass of 300-400 grams with half the length (up to 15 cm). Their color is yellow.
Siberian prince
It is not hard to guess, if the word "Siberian" is present in the name, then, probably, we will talk about a variety for open ground. It is for such growing conditions that this variety of bell pepper is intended. Early maturing, it has a low, semi-spreading bush structure.
The color of the peppercorns is rich bright red, the insides of the fruit are very fleshy, and the skin is smooth-glossy. The peppercorns grow quite small in size, rarely reaching a mass of 100 grams. They are tapered.
One of the features of agricultural technology is the need to periodically cut off the lateral shoots of the plant, otherwise their growth will slow down the formation and maturation of peppercorns.
The variety stands out for its excellent taste. It is versatile in the way it is eaten.
Conclusion
The variety of sweet pepper varieties and hybrids makes choosing one or more a daunting task. But if you follow the recommendations and criteria, it will be somewhat easier to do it. And the right choice, combined with careful care and the implementation of the necessary agrotechnical measures, is a guarantee of a high yield of such a healthy and tasty vegetable like bell pepper.
