Detailed Explanation of the Causes of Hollow Peppers and Countermeasures
Peppers are a commonly used seasoning vegetable in our daily lives. When they first emerge, the outer skin tightly wraps around the seeds. As they grow, the skin continuously thickens, but for certain reasons, the inner contents do not continue to develop, resulting in a completely hollow center in the pepper. So what causes hollow peppers? Let's take a look together.
I. Causes
1. Poor flower bud differentiation
During autumn and winter greenhouse cultivation, many farmers worry about excessive plant growth leading to flower and fruit drop, so they fail to properly insulate and keep the greenhouse warm in time, causing lower nighttime temperatures, which directly affects nutrient accumulation and leads to hollow fruit problems. Nighttime temperatures that are too low will cause peppers to fail to pollinate normally, making flower drop, fruit drop and deformed fruit highly likely in the later stage, and will also cause physiological disorders in the plant itself, making physiological diseases very likely.
2. Excessive water control in the early stage
Some farmers, after transplanting and the first cluster of flowers blooming, worry about excessive plant growth and control water excessively, resulting in relatively dry soil and slow plant growth. With insufficient water supply, poor flower bud differentiation and poor pollination occur, causing hollow fruit.
3. Poor root development
Unreasonable greenhouse management can cause poor root growth and development, leading to blocked absorption of trace elements by the roots and resulting in hollow fruit. This is mainly caused by improper use of hormones by farmers, unreasonable cultivation, and soil salinization and compaction, resulting in poor root development and poor ability to absorb fertilizer and water in the later stage.
4. Unreasonable temperature control
The suitable temperature for pepper flowering and fruiting is 28-30°C during the day and 15-18°C at night. The day-night temperature difference should not exceed 10°C; if the day-night temperature difference is too large, it will cause excessive plant growth. Peppers generally begin to swell at night, and 15-18°C is most suitable for nutrient transport and transfer, promoting fruit growth. Therefore, nighttime temperatures that are too low or too high are both unfavorable for vegetable growth.
5. Loss of balance between reproductive growth and vegetative growth
There are many reasons for nutritional imbalance. One is that excessive plant growth consumes more nutrients, so the nutrition supplied to flowers is insufficient. Another is that the plant's growth becomes weak, with thin and not robust stems, loose stems with limited nutrition, and in addition, unreasonable harvesting of lower fruits leads to excessive plant decline, causing insufficient nutrient supply.
6. Nitrogen deficiency
Blind fertilization causes antagonism between elements, inhibiting the plant's absorption of nitrogen. In addition, the use of large amounts of undecomposed farmyard manure requires large amounts of nitrogen during the decomposition process, thereby competing with the plant for excessive nitrogen and causing nitrogen deficiency.
II. Countermeasures
Promptly prune branches, remove side shoots and thin leaves, reasonably remove hollow fruits on side branches, following the principle of neither letting the plant decline nor letting it grow excessively, while controlling nighttime temperature at 15-18°C. When watering, apply trace element water-soluble fertilizer with the water, and combine it with foliar spraying of monopotassium phosphate. This can effectively promote the swelling and elongation of hollow fruits, while also promoting flower bud differentiation and pollination in the upper part of the plant, improving fruit quality.
The above is an introduction to the causes of hollow peppers and countermeasures. We hope it can help you. To learn more related knowledge, please stay tuned to us.