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To select the best pepper varieties and hybrids, there are several important factors to weigh. Sweet pepper belongs to the southern heat-loving crops, therefore, when growing it in the climatic conditions of Russia, a number of rules must be observed. Despite the apparent complexity, many domestic gardeners and summer residents are engaged in the cultivation of sweet pepper on their own plots. It's so nice to pick a fresh juicy vegetable from the garden, add it to a salad, or just eat it.
Let's try to understand the peculiarities of varieties and hybrids (F1) of pepper, name the best peppers for 2019 and determine the most promising variety.
What are the criteria for choosing a pepper variety
In order for the fruits grown in the garden to be exactly the same as painted on the package with seeds, you should buy material only from a trusted manufacturer. Quality seeds are sorted, treated with antiseptics, sometimes sealed in granules with a growth stimulator. Such planting material will give a high percentage of healthy and strong shoots.
Before buying seeds, you need to choose a few suitable bell peppers. The choice will depend on several factors:
- The appearance of the fruit... Peppers can be oblong, cubic or conical, round and flattened, ribbed or smooth. Another feature is the color of the peppers. They come in green, red, orange, yellow, purple and even brown.
- Pepper size... You can choose a variety that produces compact peppers, suitable for pickling whole fruits or stuffing them. Large fruits are great for salads, because they are more meaty and juicy.
- Pepper wall thickness... The thicker the walls of the fruit, the juicier and tastier the peppers. But thin-baked fruits are better saturated with brine, cook faster.
- Taste qualities... Although pepper is called sweet, the fruit can have a different aroma and vary significantly in taste. Fruits are sour or neutral in taste.
- Plant characteristics... The pepper bush itself can be high or low, spreading, leafy, with a developed or compact root system.
- Plant resistance to diseases, pests, climatic features (humidity, low temperatures, strong winds).
- Breeding features... Sweet peppers can be varietal or hybrid.
What is the difference between a variety and a hybrid
Varietal crops are obtained as a result of natural or artificial selection. These peppers can be adapted to specific conditions (climate, soil composition), which allows you to select the zoned varieties that are most suitable for growing in a particular region.
One of the advantages of the variety is that from the fruits you can collect seeds... Seed material is collected from the most beautiful peppers grown on the healthiest bushes. This approach allows you to save on seed, as well as grow exactly the pepper that the owner of the garden liked the most.
Scientists are engaged in the selection of hybrids. This culture is obtained by crossing different species, isolating and developing their greatest strengths. A hybrid plant is always better than its "parents".You can get high-quality seed only after a few years - the maximum accumulation of positive qualities occurs in the 5-7th summer.
The disadvantages of hybrid peppers are considered their inability to certain conditions and the inability to collect seeds.
There are more advantages, among them:
- earlier dates of fruit ripening;
- resistance to common diseases;
- good adaptation after transferring seedlings to a permanent place and diving;
- unpretentious care;
- high yields of large fruits.
How bell peppers are grown
Only by adhering to certain rules, you can grow a good harvest of bell peppers. After all, this culture is quite capricious, requiring special care.
So, in order to harvest a good harvest of pepper, you need to go through the following stages:
- Choose a sunny, wind and draft-proof place in the garden. If possible, it is better to grow peppers in a greenhouse: it can be an ordinary film or a heated greenhouse.
- The best soils for bell peppers are fertile and loose. Black soil, loam or sandy loam will do. Groundwater should be deep, because pepper does not like too moist soil. The acidity level of the soil should be neutral.
- In the Russian climate, bell peppers are grown in seedlings. The growing season of this culture is two to three months, the pepper will not have time to ripen in a short summer. Seeds for seedlings are sown around mid-March.
- Pepper does not tolerate a transplant, so as not to dive, it is better to immediately plant seeds in disposable containers.
- Three weeks before planting the seedlings in a permanent place, it must be hardened. First, the window is opened for a few minutes, and then, the containers with plants are taken out into the courtyard or onto the balcony.
- By mid-May, the first buds should form on the seedlings. The plants themselves are short and strong. It is better to plant seedlings in the ground in the morning, while there is no extreme heat.
- The best temperature for bell peppers is between 20 and 25 degrees. Prolonged low temperatures will lead to shedding of leaves and flowers. Therefore, at night, it is better to cover the peppers with foil or agrofibre.
- Water the plants with warm water, especially if the day was hot. The best way to water is by sprinkling.
- For the entire period of growth, vegetables need to be fed 3 to 5 times. To do this, use mullein diluted in water, bird droppings, ash, herbal infusions.
- Even undersized bushes of pepper are better to tie up - their branches are quite brittle. For short plants, there will be enough pegs, you can still protect them from the wind by planting taller crops nearby.
"Lumina"
Gardeners appreciate this variety for its unpretentiousness. The crop can be grown in any soil, the plants are able to withstand low temperatures and withstand a number of viruses and diseases.
Even under the most unfavorable conditions, the Lumina variety will give a stable harvest, therefore this pepper is most often grown for sale. It is the fruits of the Lumina variety that are among the first to appear after winter on the shelves of shops and markets. Their shape is conical, and the color is very unusual - pale green with a white tint.
The wall thickness is only 5 mm, and the weight of a single fruit rarely exceeds 110 grams. The taste of the pepper is average, it is moderately sweet, juicy, not too aromatic. But such vegetables can be stored for a very long time - up to three months. They also perfectly tolerate transportation and are suitable for preparing any kind of food.
"Ivanhoe"
An early ripe variety that can be grown in any part of Russia - the fruits will have time to ripen even in the short northern summer. The vegetable is well suited for growing both in the greenhouse and in the garden.
The fruits ripen by the 110th day after sowing the seeds into the soil. Bushes grow compact, their height reaches 70 cm, and side shoots are short. The fruits are large enough, their weight reaches 140 grams. The shape of the fruit is conical, with weak ribs.
At the stage of technical maturity, the pepper is colored in a creamy yellow hue, and after biological maturation it turns red.
The bushes are of medium height and must be tied up. Plants are resistant to low temperatures and even short-term frosts, but do not tolerate drought well.
The pulp of the fruit is juicy and very aromatic. The wall thickness is 7 mm. The crop tolerates transportation well, it can be stored for up to two months.
The vegetable is suitable for any purpose: canning, fresh consumption, and more.
"Marinkin tongue"
One of the most productive varieties was bred in Ukraine. A distinctive feature of the variety is unpretentiousness. Under any weather conditions and the most minimal care, the crop will give a consistently high yield.
Bushes grow medium - up to 70 cm, but spreading. They must be tied up, because about 15 fruits simultaneously ripen on each bush.
The pepper got its name due to the shape of the fruit - it is conical and slightly flattened. The color of the peel and pulp is bright cherry. The thickness of the walls is heterogeneous - from 10 to 5 mm (below the fruit is fleshy than that of the stalk).
The taste is excellent - the vegetable is juicy and very aromatic. Perfect for salads and fresh consumption, canning and pickling. The weight of one vegetable often exceeds 200 grams.
The plant tolerates low temperatures, therefore it is suitable for growing in the open field. The fruits of this variety are stored for a short time - about a month.
"Triton"
Refers to super early and very productive varieties. In addition, the plant is highly resistant. This variety can be grown in any region of the country (in the north, of course, it is better to do this in greenhouses).
The plant is able to withstand prolonged rains, lack of sun, low temperatures or drought. At the same time, up to 50 fruits can ripen on each bush.
The bushes reach an average height of about 70 cm, they must be tied up so that the bountiful harvest does not break off the branches.
The peppers themselves are cone-shaped, slightly rounded. The color of a vegetable at the stage of technical maturity is green or yellow, after full ripening the vegetable becomes bright red.
The weight of each pepper is about 180 grams, the wall thickness is 6 mm. The palatability is quite high: the fruits are juicy and aromatic. Under the right storage conditions, vegetables will stay fresh for 30-40 days.
"Eroshka"
These early ripe peppers can be grown in a thickened way - only 10-15 cm are left between the plants. So, even on a small plot of land, it will be possible to grow a huge amount of vegetables.
The bushes themselves are very compact - their height does not exceed 35 cm. The fruits are cube-shaped, painted in a deep red color. The average fruit weight is 160 grams, the wall thickness is 5 mm.
The yield of the variety is quite high - about 16 fruits can be harvested from each small bush. Vegetables ripen together, ripen quickly. The plant is resistant to the most dangerous diseases of the nightshade - top rot, verticillosis, tobacco mosaic virus.
Pepper "Eroshka", thanks to its thin walls, can be stored for about three months.
"Funtik"
The favorite of many summer residents and gardeners is distinguished by its early ripening period - 100 days after sowing the seeds, you can enjoy the taste of fresh vegetables.
The fruits are cone-shaped, fleshy and heavy. The weight of each is about 200 grams, the wall thickness is 8 mm. "Funtik" is painted first in green, and after full ripening - in red.
The taste of the vegetable is quite high - the pulp is sweet and juicy.Any dish can be prepared from this variety; it is also quite tasty when canned.
The bushes reach an average height of 60 cm, not spreading. The plant is resistant to the tobacco mosaic virus.
The main advantages of pepper: high yield, large fruits, taste.
"Star of the East chocolate F1"
This exotic pepper is distinguished, first of all, by an unusual shade - the fruits are colored chocolate brown.
The hybrid belongs to the early maturing - peppers ripen by the 110th day after planting in the ground. By this time, the peel is colored bright green, after the onset of biological maturity, it turns brown.
The shape of the fruit is standard - conical. The surface is smooth and shiny. The fruits grow large - about 200 grams, their wall is thick - 10 mm. The hybrid has excellent taste, increased crunchiness and juiciness of the pulp.
Up to 10 kg of pepper can be harvested from each square meter of the garden. Fruits can be stored for a long time without loss of presentation and taste. The plant is resistant to a number of diseases and viruses.
"Apricot Favorite"
Early ripe peppers are intended for greenhouse cultivation. However, many gardeners plant this variety in open ground. I ripen vegetables on the 110-120th day after sowing seeds for seedlings.
The bushes are very compact, their height rarely exceeds 50 cm. The fruits themselves are quite small and fleshy, the wall thickness is 7 mm. Fruit weight ranges from 110 to 140 grams.
The fruits are colored green at first, and become bright orange by the onset of biological maturity. The variety is loved for its high yield (up to 20 kg per square meter) and the taste of the fruit. They can be preserved and consumed fresh.
Belladonna F1
The hybrid is super early - the fruits become ripe on the 80-90th day after sowing the seeds into the soil. These peppers must be grown in greenhouses, it is possible in film greenhouses. In the southern regions, gardeners plant a hybrid even in open ground.
The bushes are of medium height, rather compact - their height reaches 65 cm. The fruits are cube-shaped, painted at first in a pale green color, and after full ripening they become yellowish. Their surface is shiny, smooth.
The pulp is quite juicy, the wall thickness is about 6 cm. The taste of vegetables is aromatic and sweet. Suitable for preparing various dishes, often used in salads and fresh.
The plant is resistant to most diseases, in particular, to the tobacco mosaic virus. However, it is afraid of the cold, so it is better to grow the hybrid in a greenhouse. With proper care, the yield of pepper is up to 15 kg / m².
What to choose: hybrid or variety
As you can see from the description of the best varieties and hybrids of pepper, they have no significant differences. It is impossible to say unequivocally that hybrid peppers are less tasty, and varietal ones are poorly protected from diseases and viruses.
By purchasing high-quality seed material from well-known breeding companies, for sure, you can provide yourself and your family with an excellent harvest of delicious and aromatic peppers. At the same time, it is not so important whether it is a hybrid or a variety, the growing conditions and proper care of the plants are much more important.
