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Whatever the gardeners of our country grow on their plots. Among the cultures familiar to our eyes, one can meet exotic guests from distant countries. These guests include red capsicum. This Mexican pod is a relative of potatoes, tomato and eggplant. It is more closely related to our bell pepper. It differs from him only in a burning spicy taste. Due to the hidden benefits in it, paprika is confidently gaining popularity in our country. Let's take a closer look at this Mexican guest.
The benefits of red capsicum
The paprika, like other members of the nightshade family, is very rich in vitamins and minerals. The following stand out in its composition:
- vitamins C, E, K, B;
- iron;
- potassium;
- calcium;
- sulfur;
- essential oils and others.
The most important ingredient in its pungent fruit is capsaicin. It is this substance that gives chilli pepper, even burning taste. Accordingly, the more it is in the pepper, the sharper it will be. Kansaicin is able to strengthen the body's immune defenses and fight various infections. But its most important property is the destructive effect on cancer cells.
Due to its composition, red chilli will help with:
- cardiovascular diseases;
- female problems with the menstrual cycle - it is important here to start adding red pepper to food before the start of the menstrual cycle;
- excess weight;
- insomnia;
- depression and other disorders in the body.
The use of chilli peppers should be moderate. If consumed excessively, they will do more harm than good.
Characteristics of varieties
There are many varieties of red hot chilli peppers. They differ from each other in different shapes and severity. Experienced gardeners and gardeners of our country highlight the following varieties.
Indian summer
It is an excellent hot chilli pepper variety that is suitable for both field and windowsill cultivation. The variety got its name for the September ripening of its burning fruits. From the moment of germination, about 100 days will pass. Its decorative bushes up to 40 cm high are covered with small dark green leaves. The fruits of hot peppers are located singly or in pairs in the leaf axils. The bush looks very impressive during fruiting - strewn with small rounded fruits-berries. The color of the peppers of this variety changes during ripening from green to bright red. The weight of ripe peppers will not exceed 25 grams. It will be possible to collect up to 1 kg of fruit from one bush.
A distinctive feature of this variety of hot peppers is its shade tolerance. It will grow and bear fruit with ease, even where daylight is in the range of 30 to 40%. In addition, the Indian Summer variety is resistant to various garden viruses.
Jellyfish
This variety is distinguished by its early maturity. Acute pepper jellyfish will ripen in just 72 days from germination. His bush is compact enough and will not exceed 32 cm in height and 22 cm in width.Due to its size, it is perfect for growing in a flower pot.
On each bush of this variety, from 30 to 50 hot peppers can form. Due to the similarity of the fruiting bush with the head of Medusa the Gorgon, this variety got its name. In its form long peppers and thin. Their length will be about 5.5 cm, and their diameter will not exceed 1.5 cm. Until fully ripening, the peppers of the Medusa variety have time to change their color several times: from green to yellow and orange. The ripe fruit is colored red.
Plants of the Medusa variety are extremely demanding on soil moisture. They cannot stand drying out, as well as dry air. To ensure the required level of humidity, it is even recommended to spray them.
Twinkle
Ogonyok is one of the most popular varieties for growing both on the windowsill and on the site. This mid-early perennial variety with compact bushes is the result of crossing Chilean and Cayenne hot peppers. The burning fruits of the Ogonyok variety reach their technical ripeness in 120 days, and their biological ripeness in 140 days from the emergence of shoots.
Each pepper weighs about 40 grams and has an elongated, slightly curved shape. The green color of the unripe fruit changes to bright red as it ripens. Ripe peppers of the Ogonyok variety are quite spicy, with a characteristic peppery aroma.
The Ogonyok cultivar has good immunity to bacteriosis. This is a very thermophilic variety of hot pepper, so its yield will be higher when grown in greenhouses - about 4 kg per square meter.
Growing recommendations
Capsicums are perhaps the only members of the nightshade family that can grow successfully at home.
When grown at home, hot peppers do not require a special soil composition. For it, you can use both universal soil and soil prepared by yourself. To do this, you need to take leafy soil, humus, sand and peat in a ratio of 2: 1: 1: 2. Prepared soil or universal substrate must be disinfected before planting seeds. For this, boiling water or a solution of potassium permanganate is used.
For planting, you need to use a 2 liter pot. 1/3 it is filled with drainage, and 2/3 with earth. Expanded clay or charcoal is suitable as drainage. Pre-soaked hot pepper seeds are planted in holes up to 1 cm deep and covered with earth. No more than 3 seeds can be planted in one pot. After planting, the pot with hot pepper seeds is covered with plastic and placed in a warm, bright place. When the first shoots appear, the film should be removed. Further care includes:
- Regular watering... For this, only warm settled water is used. Water the plants only as needed, when the topsoil is dry. Hot peppers will not tolerate stagnant moisture.
- Top dressing... For home cultivation, you can use complex mineral fertilizers. It is recommended to make top dressing during flowering and fruit setting.
Despite the fact that at home hot peppers can bear fruit quite well, they show the best results when grown in a greenhouse. Residents of the southern regions can grow it even outdoors.
Growing hot peppers in your garden is no different from growing bell peppers. Like its sweet counterpart, hot peppers like sandy loam and medium loamy soils with a neutral acidity level and are especially demanding on light and heat.
Seedlings of hot red peppers begin to cook from February to March. If the seeds are purchased, then they can be planted without soaking.It is still recommended to soak your seeds from the last harvest. A nutrient solution or any growth stimulant is perfect for this. The sowing depth of the seeds and the distance between them should be about 1 cm. The optimum temperature for the emergence of seedlings will be 25-27 degrees.
After the emergence of shoots, it is necessary to remove the weak shoots, leaving only one strong one. Planting seeds in peat pots shows good results.
As soon as 2-3 pairs of leaves are formed in young plants, they should be transplanted to a permanent place. When they reach a height of 20 cm, you need to pinch off the top of the plants. If this is not done, it will grow upward and will not form side shoots. In total, the plant should have up to 5 strong shoots. The rest, usually the lower ones, need to be removed.
Regular watering and feeding 1-2 times a month is the key to a rich harvest of this crop.
The video will tell you in more detail about growing capsicum red peppers in a greenhouse:
