How to Grow Facing-Heaven Chili Peppers: Detailed Guide to Planting Methods and Key Techniques
Facing-heaven chili is a type of chili pepper. What makes it different from other chili peppers is that it grows pointing downward, and its pungency ranks among the hotter types of chili. This facing-heaven chili has a wide range of uses, is now relatively popular with consumers, and its price is relatively high, so many people want to grow it.
How to Grow Facing-Heaven Chili
1. Seed selection. You can choose excellent varieties with strong disease resistance and stress resistance that are suitable for spring and wheat-stubble cultivation, such as Bullet Head No. 2, Red Pepper No. 8, etc.
2. Field planting. Facing-heaven chili likes moisture and fears waterlogging, so it is best to choose loam, sandy loam, or clay loam that retains fertilizer and is loose and airy. The soil pH should be 6.5-8. Per mu, apply 3-5 cubic meters of fully decomposed high-quality farmyard manure, or 50-80 kg of a nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium three-element compound fertilizer (each containing 16%), and adjust appropriately according to soil fertility. For ease of drainage and irrigation, high-ridge cultivation should be used, with ridge width 0.6-1 m (planting 2-3 rows), a ditch width of 0.2 m between ridges, and a vertical ridge height of 0.2 m. This way, water can be drained promptly during heavy rain, and during drought you only water the ditches, keeping the ridge surface loose and airy, which benefits seedling growth and development. For ventilation and light penetration, ridges should run north-south. Before field planting, water the seedbed thoroughly once to promote new root growth so seedlings are easier to lift. The lifted seedlings should be lifted, planted, and watered with establishment water promptly. To promote early and rapid seedling growth, you can add quick-acting chemical fertilizer to the establishment water: per mu, use 4 kg of urea and 2 kg of monopotassium phosphate, dissolved in 1500 kg of water.
How to Raise Facing-Heaven Chili Seedlings
1. Hot-water seed soaking. First prepare an ordinary rod-shaped thermometer and a small wooden stick. Put the seeds in a gauze bag and soak them in cool water for 8-10 minutes, then place them into 55°C warm water for complete soaking, using 5 times the amount of water as the seed volume, and stir continuously with the wooden stick. After about 15 minutes, place the seeds in 30°C hot water and let them soak naturally for about 5 hours. This method is simple, low-cost, and has a good sterilizing effect, but the water temperature must be strictly controlled to avoid scalding and killing the seeds.
2. Germination promotion. Rinse the treated seeds 3-4 times with clean water, then remove them and promote germination. For germination promotion, wash fine sand equal to 2 times the seed volume, mix it evenly with the seeds, place it in a clay pot, and cover it with a well-ventilated warm cloth. In the early stage of germination, control the temperature at 28°C-30°C. When some seeds begin to sprout, lower the temperature to 20°C-25°C. Generally, they will sprout fully in 5-6 days. During germination, spray water appropriately when they look dry.
Fertilization Techniques for Facing-Heaven Chili
Scientific fertilization: the three elements nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are the food for crop growth. Nitrogen supplies overall crop growth; apply less in the early stage (30%) to prevent excessive vegetative growth, and apply more during the fruiting stage (70%) to promote fruit set and preserve yield increases. Phosphorus is the main element for root growth. Facing-heaven chili has an underdeveloped root system and absorbs relatively little phosphorus, so it is better to apply it early. Potassium fertilizer is the main element for stem growth and fruiting. Only with sufficient potassium can facing-heaven chili have hard stalks, many fruits, thick pepper skin, and many plump seeds, without mottled skin, with a rich oily color, a high dry-pepper specific weight. Facing-heaven chili absorbs potassium fertilizer relatively slowly, so it should be applied in one go early. When potassium fertilizer is insufficient, foliar spraying can be used for supplementation during the middle and late growth stages of facing-heaven chili.
Pest and Disease Control for Facing-Heaven Chili
1. Diseases. Diseases harming facing-heaven chili include damping-off, seedling blight, viral disease, phytophthora blight, etc., which should be controlled early, and the principle of prioritizing prevention over treatment should be adhered to. July-August is the period when phytophthora blight occurs frequently; spray once every 7-8 days, and you can choose carbendazim, chlorothalonil, etc. for spraying.
2. Insect pests. The main ones include cotton bollworm, oriental tobacco budworm, and Asian corn borer, etc. You can spray with 3000-times beta-cypermethrin solution or 5000-times Caesar emulsifiable concentrate, etc. Usually check frequently and carefully, and control when pests are few and small. During dry weather, pay attention to controlling red spider mites, aphids, etc.
Facing-heaven chili is a variety that is not tolerant of water accumulation, so site selection is very important when planting, and drainage work must be done well. Before planting, first choose the variety according to your own needs, and the seeds generally need sterilization and germination-promotion techniques. Management after planting is also very important.