Bell Pepper Hybrid Variety Selection, Sowing and Harvest Times, and Greenhouse Cultivation Techniques

Bell pepper is a type of sweet pepper, named for its diverse colors. It is rich in vitamins and various trace elements, and regular consumption can have the effects of nourishing the blood and promoting blood circulation, so many people like to eat it. Then what variety of bell pepper is good to plant? When to plant? When to harvest? How to plant?

Varieties that can be planted:

Choose indeterminate-growth greenhouse-specific varieties. Currently, the varieties commonly used in production and relatively mature in cultivation include Ousheng Chaomai red bell pepper, Ousheng Huangyongzhen yellow bell pepper, Zigui Ren purple bell pepper, White Princess white bell pepper, and Juxiya orange bell pepper. After many years of cultivation and selection in protected northern greenhouses, they have strong adaptability to greenhouse production, high yield potential, and good quality and coloring.

Planting time:

Sowing can be done in all four seasons, but mid-to-late July to late December is preferable. Sowing too early leads to severe disease, while sowing too late makes it difficult to build up a high-yield framework before the severe winter during the period when both light and temperature are relatively good.

Harvest time:

After the bell pepper fruit stops expanding and changes color, it should be harvested promptly. Harvesting is required in the morning, and the entire fruit stalk should be picked off, with no stalk left at the leaf axil.

Greenhouse cultivation techniques:

1. Raising seedlings

Bell pepper seeds are expensive, and the seedling period is long. Winter seedling raising also occurs in a low-temperature cold season, making it very prone to seed rot, seedling death, and stiff seedlings. It is required to use heated and insulated seedling beds and nutrient bags for seedling raising inside the greenhouse.

For the seedling substrate, use materials with strong fertilizer and water diffusion capacity (such as peat and leaf mold). Add 0.4% compound fertilizer, 1% ordinary calcium superphosphate, and 0.01% carbendazim. Mix thoroughly, then fill into plastic nutrient bags 8~10 cm in diameter. Water thoroughly, then sow.

2. Seed treatment

Before sowing, seed treatment is required. Soak the seeds in 55°C warm water for 30 minutes, then wrap them in clean gauze and keep them warm to promote sprouting. During the sprouting period, maintain the temperature at 25°C and rinse and turn them with warm water every day. After the seeds show white, sow them. Sow one seed per nutrient bag, and cover with 0.5 cm of soil after sowing. Place the nutrient bags on the seedling bed inside the greenhouse and maintain 25~30°C. After emergence, keep 20~30°C during the day and 15~18°C at night. 7~10 days before transplanting, carry out low-temperature hardening of the seedlings, around 20°C during the day and 13~15°C at night. Water the nutrient bags according to conditions, keeping the substrate dry-wet alternating. At the 2~4 leaf stage, apply compound fertilizer 2~3 times along with watering, 8~10 kg per mu each time, and spray 0.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate as a foliar fertilizer every 3~4 days. During the bell pepper seedling stage, a fully lit environment must be created so the seedlings grow strong.

3. Land preparation and fertilization, standardized planting

Because bell pepper roots grow slowly and have poor regeneration ability, they need a deep, loose, and fertile soil environment. Before land preparation, apply 4~5 tons of decomposed farmyard manure per mu, 40 kg of ordinary calcium superphosphate, 50 kg of compound fertilizer, 50 kg of potassium sulfate, and 4 kg each of zinc sulfate and borax. Incorporate them into the soil layer through deep plowing, then break up the clods and prepare the land finely. After the land is leveled, make the bed surface 1.1 m wide, with a required ditch width of 40 cm and depth of 30 cm. According to the double-row planting requirement of 40~45 cm plant spacing and 80 cm row spacing, plant 1500~1800 plants per mu. Transplant after 3 PM. When planting, the seedling block should be 1 cm below the soil surface. Large and small seedlings should be planted separately for easy management. After planting, water thoroughly to settle the roots. Within 3~5 days after transplanting, water in the morning and evening to ensure survival. After the pepper seedlings survive, water according to soil moisture conditions. Within 15 days after transplanting, roll up the side films on both sides of the greenhouse after 9 AM every morning in time for ventilation and cooling, and after 5 PM lower and cover the rolled-up side films to ensure the nighttime temperature can meet the needs of pepper survival and rooting. After 15 days, the rolled-up side films do not need to be lowered again. If the weather changes and the temperature drops, insulation measures should be strengthened, and the films on both sides of the greenhouse should no longer be rolled up, causing the temperature inside the greenhouse to drop. It must be ensured that the temperature inside the greenhouse is not lower than 10°C to meet the needs of bell pepper growth and development.

4. Fertilizer and water management

After planting and survival, water moderately. When the first fruit first appears, begin watering and topdressing. During the flowering and fruiting period, the soil should be kept moist. Water once every 5~10 days according to the degree of soil moisture. When the temperature is low, water in the morning on sunny days; when the temperature is high, switch to watering in the evening. At the seedling stage, apply strong-seedling fertilizer, 5~10 kg per mu of compound fertilizer or urea. At the early fruit stage, apply fruit-setting fertilizer, 20 kg per mu of compound fertilizer or urea. After that, topdress once about every 20 days, each time using 15~20 kg per mu of compound fertilizer diluted in water. In the mid-to-late fruit-picking period, spray foliar fertilizer once every 7~10 days with 0.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate plus 0.1%~0.2% zinc sulfate. Dryness and high temperature inside the greenhouse will affect bell pepper flowering and fertilization, causing flower drop. At this time, attention should be paid to watering to cool down and increase humidity. The relative soil water content should be maintained at 60%~70%.

5. Temperature management

The suitable temperature for bell pepper growth is 20~25°C during the day and 15~20°C at night. When the greenhouse temperature is below 10°C or above 35°C, pollination is difficult, and flower and fruit drop are likely to occur. The air humidity requirement is 70%. When there is sufficient sunlight at noon during the day and the temperature is high, shade nets should be used to cool down. When the outside temperature rises, ventilation should be gradually increased to help the plants pass the summer safely.

6. Pruning and vine hanging

Select and retain 2 strong main branches per plant. Remove the first pepper flower bud and basal side shoots in time. Start retaining peppers from the 4th~5th node, mainly relying on the main branches to set fruit. Remove side branches in time afterward. Middle side branches can be pinched after retaining 1 fruit. Each plant should always maintain 2 branches growing upward. Generally, no hilling is done. Fix each main branch by hanging it with 1 anti-aging plastic string.

7. Flower and fruit thinning

Bell peppers have strong branching ability. Before flowering, pruning should be carried out, and side branches that grow out should be removed in time. During the growth period, flowers and fruits should be thinned in time. Do not retain the first pepper; set fruit alternately, retaining one fruit per fork, and remove all other flowers and fruits, ensuring that each plant sets no more than 6 fruits at the same time to facilitate fruit expansion. Remove lower withered, old, yellow, and diseased leaves in time to concentrate nutrients and improve light conditions.

8. Health benefits

Because they are bred by selecting genetic genes with different colored anthocyanins, they have fruits with purple eggplant color, golden yellow, or orange-red skin. Colorful bell peppers are also rich in vitamin C and pepper alkaloids, etc. They are pungent and warm in nature and flavor, and have effects such as warming the middle, dispelling heat, and promoting digestion. They help enhance human immune function and improve the body's disease resistance. The pepper alkaloids in them can promote fat metabolism and prevent fat accumulation in the body, thereby reducing weight and preventing disease.

9. Pest and disease control

The main diseases of bell pepper are viral disease, phytophthora blight, powdery mildew, and bacterial wilt. For viral disease, spray with 20% Virus A wettable powder at 500 times dilution for control; for phytophthora blight, use 72.2% Previcur or 50% metalaxyl-copper for root drenching. For powdery mildew, spray with 15% triadimefon wettable powder at 1000 times dilution or Shixiang at 2000 times dilution, once every 7 days, for 2~3 consecutive treatments. For bacterial wilt, irrigate the roots with 72% agricultural streptomycin at 4000 times dilution or use Bordeaux mixture at a concentration of 0.5:1:100 for root irrigation. The main insect pests of bell pepper are aphids, tobacco budworms, whiteflies, red spiders, and thrips, etc., which can be controlled by spraying with 10% imidacloprid, 1.8% abamectin, hexythiazox, kungfu, and other agents.