A detailed guide to line pepper cultivation techniques, from raising seedlings to field management
Line pepper is a type of chili pepper, and there are many varieties of line pepper, such as Lafeng No. 1, Lafeng No. 3, Longgu, Longxin, Longtan, Longhuan, etc. So what are the line pepper cultivation techniques?
1. Seed selection
Select excellent varieties with high resistance, relatively high yield, and suitability for the local climate conditions for planting.
2. Raising seedlings
Soak the selected chili pepper seeds to promote germination, then sow them in a seedbed to raise seedlings.
Put the seeds in a clean gauze bag and soak them in cold water for 2 hours, then put them into 50-55℃ warm water and soak for 15 minutes, stirring continuously to avoid scalding the seeds. Then put them into clean water and soak for 8 hours, remove them and place them in a 1000-fold potassium permanganate solution to soak for 30 minutes, remove them, rinse them clean with clean water, and then they can be germinated.
After soaking the seeds for 8 hours, place the disinfected seeds under conditions of 25-30℃ for germination, frequently washing with clean water and turning the seed packet to keep the seeds moist. After 60% of the seeds sprout and show white, they can be sown on a sunny day.
The seedbed should be watered sufficiently with bottom water, and after the soaked seeds are evenly divided according to the prepared number of beds, mix them evenly with plant ash or fine soil and then scatter the seeds. When sowing, it is best to do it in small amounts several times, so that the seeds are spread as evenly as possible on the seedbed. Cover the seeds with sifted fine soil, with a thickness of about 1 cm so that the seeds are not visible, then cover with plastic film and then build a small arched shed for double-film coverage.
3. Transplanting
Before transplanting, base fertilizer needs to be applied to the land, and the chili pepper seedlings that have completed seedling raising can be transplanted according to a certain row spacing.
Prepare the land 7 days before planting, open furrows and make beds. The bed surface width is 100 cm, with 2 rows planted per bed. Open the edge ditches well. If the area is relatively large, dig cross ditches. The bed ditch is 20 cm wide and 20 cm deep, and the bed surface should be level, fine, and crumbly.
Generally, apply 2000—3000 kg of decomposed organic fertilizer per mu and 50 kg of compound fertilizer. Choose to plant on the afternoon of a sunny day. For fields with medium fertility, the planting spacing is 50×60 cm, with 2500 planting holes per mu. After planting, water thoroughly in time to settle the roots, and after the seedlings recover, apply decomposed dilute human and animal manure water to promote growth.
4. Later management
During the growth period of line pepper, carry out management such as watering, topdressing, and weeding.
Watering: Before fruit set, the plant has a small amount of growth and does not need much water. It is best to water less but frequently and cultivate more to avoid excessive vegetative growth, which can cause flower and fruit drop. After fruit set, the fruiting branches at all levels form quickly and stems and leaves grow fast. This is the period with the greatest water demand, so water should be applied in a timely manner.
Topdressing: After budding, apply a heavy fertilizer once, with 20 kg of compound fertilizer per mu, or 10 kg of urea, to promote branching and flowering. At the peak fruiting stage, apply fertilizer once more to promote the expansion of the upper-layer fruits and the ripening of the lower-layer fruits. After that, if there are signs of fertilizer deficiency, topdress once more.