When to plant rainbow peppers? Key points of the planting method
The rainbow pepper is actually a variety of chili pepper, just like the familiar five-color pepper. It has a rather delicate appearance, comes in seven colors, and is very bright and glossy. Rainbow peppers can be used for eating, for ornamental purposes, and also as medicine. Their capsaicin content is several times that of ordinary peppers. Rainbow peppers can generally be grown wherever sweet peppers can be planted. Let's take a look below at when rainbow peppers can be planted and what the key points of the planting method are.
1. When can rainbow peppers be planted?
Rainbow peppers are very suitable for balcony container planting, because they have relatively high temperature requirements for growing, so they are usually planted in February or March, or in July or August. The common planting method for rainbow peppers is sowing, and it generally takes three months to bear fruit. If rainbow pepper seedlings are used for transplanting, one month can be saved, and they will bear fruit in only fifty to sixty days.
2. Key points of the rainbow pepper planting method
1. Soil selection
The soil for planting rainbow peppers should be loose, well aerated, well drained, and fertile.
2. Sowing
After determining the sowing time for rainbow peppers, make sure to sow at a temperature suitable for seed germination. Generally, they can germinate at no less than 15°C, and the most suitable germination temperature is between 25 and 30°C.
Choose a suitable flower pot, put sterilized nutrient soil in it up to 3 cm below the rim, and water thoroughly. When the water has seeped through to the bottom, evenly scatter the rainbow pepper seeds in the pot, cover with a thin layer of fine soil, and water again to moisten the seedbed.
If the temperature is relatively low, you can cover the pot with a layer of plastic film to keep it warm, then place the pot in a sunny spot. Seedlings will generally emerge in no more than two weeks. If the temperature rises, uncover the film to ventilate and cool it down, so as not to scorch the tender seedlings. When the rainbow pepper seeds have grown five or six true leaves, they can be transplanted into pots.
3. Potting
Choose a flower pot with a diameter of 15 to 25 cm, and place one or two rainbow pepper seedlings in the pot. One week after transplanting, apply diluted compound fertilizer. In the early stage, these fertilizers are already enough to meet their growth needs. Later, topdressing should be carried out appropriately according to the growth of the rainbow peppers. Note that when using nitrogen fertilizer on rainbow peppers, pay attention to the amount, as too much can easily cause excessive vegetative growth.
4. Management
Usually pay attention to pruning the branches of rainbow peppers, so that overly dense branches do not affect light and ventilation conditions. If the side branches grow too vigorously, some side buds can be removed.
As for watering, it should be decided according to the moisture level of the potting soil. Water should be controlled in the early flowering stage, which is beneficial for flower bud differentiation and can also increase the fruit-setting rate.
In addition, rainbow peppers grown on balconies are relatively difficult to pollinate naturally, so artificial pollination needs to be introduced to increase the fruit-setting rate.