How to Grow Green Bell Peppers: A Detailed Guide to Seedling Raising and Field Management
Green bell pepper belongs to the plant kingdom, class Dicotyledoneae, subclass Asteridae, family Solanaceae. Together with red chili peppers, it is collectively called pepper. The fruit is a berry. It has many aliases: big pepper, lantern pepper, and persimmon pepper are all names for it; because it can bear sweet berries, it is also called sweet pepper or vegetable pepper. It is an annual or perennial herbaceous plant, characterized by relatively large fruits with a mild pungency or no pungency at all, eaten as a vegetable rather than used as a seasoning. Because it is bright emerald green, and newly bred varieties also come in red, yellow, purple and other colors, it can not only stand alone as a dish but is also widely used as a side ingredient. Green bell pepper evolved in North America from chili peppers native to the tropical regions of Central and South America. Through long-term cultivation, domestication and artificial selection, the fruit underwent changes in traits such as increased volume, thicker flesh, loss of pungency, and an increase in the number of carpels and locules. It was introduced to China more than 100 years ago and is now widely cultivated throughout the country. Green bell pepper is rich in vitamin C and is suitable for people with high blood pressure and high blood lipids.
Raising green bell pepper seedlings:
1. Seed treatment: Seedling raising is generally done from the Spring Equinox to Qingming. Sun-dry the seeds for 2 days to promote after-ripening, increase the germination rate, and kill pathogens carried on the seed surface. Alternatively, soak them in 0.5% trisodium phosphate, or 300-400 times diluted potassium permanganate, or 1% thiourea for 20-30 minutes to kill pathogens carried on the seeds. After repeatedly rinsing the chemical solution off the seeds, soak them in warm water at 25-30 degrees for 8-12 hours.
2. Sowing for seedling raising: After the seedbed is prepared, irrigate it with enough bottom water, then spray with 3000 times diluted Lyuheng No. 1 for disinfection. Then scatter a thin layer of fine soil, evenly sprinkle the seeds onto the seedbed, cover with another layer of fine soil 0.5-1 cm thick, and finally cover with a small tunnel to retain moisture and increase temperature.
3. Seedbed management: After sowing, the daytime temperature should be 25-28 degrees, and the soil temperature around 20 degrees. Seedlings emerge in 6-7 days. After 70% of the seedlings have pushed through the soil, scatter fine soil 0.5 cm thick over the seedbed while there is no water on the leaf surface, to fill cracks and preserve moisture and prevent the seedling roots from being exposed. The seedbed must have an adequate water supply, but the soil must not be too wet. When the green bell peppers reach 5 cm in height, the seedbed must be ventilated to harden the seedlings; the ventilation openings should be managed flexibly according to the growth of the seedlings and the weather temperature, and 10 days before transplanting they can be hardened in the open air. Hardening should be done gradually and must never be done all at once. If the seedlings are leggy, spray 500 mL per kg of chlormequat, or 5 mL per kg of mepiquat chloride. If the seedlings are weak and yellow, spray Tianda 2116. Before transplanting, use virus-killing agents such as Bingduling or Zhibingling for root drenching along with foliar spraying, which has a good effect on preventing viruses.
Field planting and management of green bell pepper:
1. The seedling age of spring green bell pepper is about 110 days, and some can reach more than 150 days. In northern regions, transplanting can usually only be done in mid-April and late May. Green bell pepper itself is high-yielding and stable, but the yield reduction in some places is caused by variety degeneration, poorer disease resistance, and severe disease damage. The planting plot should be chosen as spring white land where solanaceous fruit vegetables, cucumber, or yellow tobacco have not been grown in recent years. A plot that has just harvested overwintering spinach is also not good. About 7 days before transplanting, apply 5000 kg of farmyard manure, 75 kg of superphosphate, and 30 kg of ammonium bicarbonate per mu as base fertilizer, open furrows at a row spacing of 70 cm, level the soil, form ridges, cover with film, and wait for transplanting. Transplanting can be done at a plant spacing of 30 cm, with the two adjacent rows staggered for setting out seedlings, and two plants per hole. 2500-3000 holes per 667 sq m.
2. From after transplanting to the fruiting stage is the early stage of green bell pepper field management; management should focus on promoting roots, promoting seedlings, and promoting plant development. During the intertillage, attention should be paid to watering and intertillage. 15 days after transplanting, apply 10 kg of phosphate fertilizer and 5 kg of urea, and combine with intertillage and hilling to a height of 10-13 cm to protect the root system and prevent lodging. After entering the full fruiting stage, the focus of management is to strengthen the seedlings and promote fruit development. Promptly remove the first pepper to prevent the fruit from weighing down the plant and causing decline in growth. Combine watering and fertilizing, apply 20 kg of phosphate fertilizer and 5 kg of urea per 667 sq m, and hill up around the roots again. Pay attention to drainage and waterlogging prevention. Combine with spraying foliar fertilizer and hormones to supplement nutrients and prevent viruses.
The main diseases of green bell pepper include: seedling-stage diseases (damping-off, Rhizoctonia rot), viral disease, anthracnose, and scab (bacterial spot) etc.; the main insect pests include aphids, cotton bollworm, and tobacco budworm.
1. Control of seedling-stage diseases. ① Before plowing, evenly broadcast 25-30 kg of 70% Dexon original powder per mu. ② Evenly spray each square meter of seedbed soil with 50% carbendazim emulsifiable concentrate at 1:1000. ③ 2-3 weeks before sowing, use 40 mL of formalin added to 2-4 kg of water per square meter of seedbed soil, pour it onto the seedbed soil, and after two weeks loosen the soil and sow. ④ If a small number of damping-off and Rhizoctonia rot occur during the seedling stage, promptly use 5 g of 70% quintozene plus 15-17 kg of dry soil to make medicated soil, and scatter it around the seedling root stems for control.
2. Control of aphids. ① Start chemical control from the seedling stage, especially in early June after transplanting, carry out focused control. ② Chemical selection: spray with 1000 times diluted 40% omethoate emulsifiable concentrate; spray with 1000-1800 times diluted 50% malathion, evenly spraying once every 7-10 days to improve the control effect.
3. Control of cotton bollworm and tobacco budworm. Early June and early July are the occurrence periods of the 1st-2nd generation larvae; spray with 80% trichlorfon original powder diluted 1000 times with water for control.
4. Control of viral disease. From after transplanting to before budding, spray 5%-15% zinc sulfate once every 7-10 days together with aphid control.
5. Control of bacterial spot and anthracnose. ① Spray with 600 times diluted 75% chlorothalonil wettable powder; ② Spray with 300-400 times diluted 50% anthracnose thiram wettable powder; ③ Spray with 200 ppm each of agricultural streptomycin or new streptomycin. Generally spraying 2-3 times in succession can achieve a good effect.