How to Grow Chili Pepper Seeds? A Detailed Guide to Growing Techniques and Methods
We all know chili peppers; this kind of pepper is very popular in Sichuan, Chengdu, and Guizhou, which is also the market value of growing it. So how do you grow chili peppers, and how can you grow them for high yield?
As a superior cash crop, chili peppers have good growing returns, with advantages such as saving money, saving labor, and drought resistance with stable yield. When farmers grow chili peppers, they must first choose good seed, and can select superior varieties with strong disease resistance and stress resistance that are suitable for spring and wheat stubble cultivation. Scientific methods should be followed to achieve the goal of high yield.
Sowing and Raising Seedlings
As the saying goes, “plant peppers when they flower, plant eggplants when they pod.” Sowing early at the right time is one of the important measures for high yield of chili peppers; therefore, it is better to have the seedlings wait for the land than to have the land wait for the seedlings.
The best time for sowing and raising seedlings is from the end of January to mid-to-late February. The seedbed should be chosen as a plot that is sheltered from the wind and faces the sun, with high and dry terrain, fertile soil, no previous pepper cultivation, and convenient transportation and water sources. The seedbed should be 1 m wide, no more than 10 m long, with a surrounding height of 20 cm and an arched shed height of 0.5 m. For every 1 mu of large-area planting, 8-10 sq m of seedbed is needed. For every 10 sq m of seedbed, apply 400 jin of high-quality rotted manure, 1 jin of urea, and 0.2 jin of monopotassium phosphate, dig and turn them into the soil, then water thoroughly with bottom water. After the water seeps dry, use a knife to cut vertical and horizontal lines into square blocks of one cm each, and sow 2-3 seeds in each square. Before sowing, first disinfect the seedbed with a 50% carbendazim 800-1000 times solution. Sow 130-150 g of seed per mu of transplanting land, and choose a windless sunny noon for sowing. The method is to water thoroughly on the neatly arranged bed surface, sow once the water has seeped down, then cover the seeds with sieved fine soil to a thickness of 0.5 cm, not too thick or too thin. After sowing, immediately cover with plastic film and seal the edges tightly with soil.
Seed Treatment
Before sowing, it is generally required to spread the seeds out to dry for 2-3 days, soak the seeds in water, stir thoroughly, remove the shriveled grains, place them in a clean container with warm water at 30-40°C, soak for 12-24 hours, then soak in clean water for 4-5 hours, then soak in a 0.3% potassium permanganate solution for 20-30 minutes, remove and wash the solution off thoroughly, and sprout for 4-5 days. When the young root length equals the seed length, sowing can begin.
Seedbed Management
In the early stage, maintain 20-28°C during the day and 15-18°C at night, with the seedbed soil temperature not lower than 18°C. In the later stage, maintain 1.5-20°C during the day and 5-10°C at night. If the temperature is too low, straw curtains can be used for insulation and cold protection; if too high, ventilation can be used to cool it down. Adhere to the principle of gradual progress, and never suddenly remove the film or suddenly cover the film. If bottom water has been watered thoroughly, generally do not water; if watering is truly needed, do not water too much each time. In the later stage, spray 0.2% urea plus 0.2% monopotassium phosphate to promote seedling growth. New film is required. Pay attention to removing the film during the day for light, and on cloudy days also moderately uncover the straw curtains or film for ventilation when the bed temperature is not lower than 16°C. Generally, one true leaf grows every 3-5 days. When 4-5 leaves have grown, keep one seedling per 3 cm square and pull out weeds in the seedbed. For damping-off, rhizoctonia rot, and anthracnose, use 50% carbendazim 800-1000 times solution or 75% chlorothalonil 600-800 times solution for control; for aphids, use a 2800 times solution of decis for control.
Timely Transplanting
From mid-to-late March to early-to-mid April, choose loam, sandy loam, or clay loam with good fertilizer retention, loose and airy texture, and a pH value of 6.5-8. Use a row spacing of 45×30 cm, with 4000-4500 holes per mu and two plants per hole, digging holes 6-7 cm deep. The requirements for selecting plants are: plant height 20 cm, seedling age about 60 days, 10-14 true leaves, internode length 1.2 cm, normal green leaf color, well-developed root system, 2-3 rounds of lateral roots already formed, a few plants with flower buds, and no pests or diseases. For base fertilizer, apply 30 dan of high-quality manure water per mu, 50 kg of ammonium bicarbonate, 50 kg of superphosphate, and 30 kg of potassium sulfate.
Field Management
Chili peppers like warmth, fertilizer, and water, but do not tolerate high temperatures, cannot withstand concentrated fertilizer, and most of all fear waterlogging. Management should achieve the following points:
Cultivation and hilling. Timely cultivation and hilling can promote the growth and development of the chili pepper root system, increase soil temperature, and help preserve moisture. When there is more soil moisture, cultivation can also disperse moisture, which is beneficial to root growth.
Topdressing in stages. If no base fertilizer was applied, topdressing can be done in 2-3 applications, applying about 50-60 kg of ammonium bicarbonate and 40-50 kg of superphosphate per mu. If base fertilizer was applied and there are signs of nutrient deficiency, 0.3% monopotassium phosphate plus 0.4% urea can be used for foliar topdressing.
Preventing flower and fruit drop. There are many reasons for flower and fruit drop in chili peppers, such as high temperature, low temperature, drought, lack of fertilizer, excessive vegetative growth, and pests and diseases. While strengthening agricultural measures, anti-drop agents and strong yield-increasing agents can be used to protect flowers and fruits.
Pinching and topping. The branch structure of chili peppers is clearly layered: first the main stem fruit branches, second the lateral branch fruit branches, and third the secondary lateral branch fruit branches. The main yield consists of the fruits on the secondary lateral branches; therefore, when the main stem shows buds, manual pinching should be carried out to promote lateral branches. If secondary lateral branches appear late and their fruits cannot mature, they should be removed in time.
Drought resistance and drainage. Chili peppers have shallow roots and are afraid of both drought and waterlogging. Especially during the full fruit stage, if water is lacking, yield will be seriously affected. Water frequently in small amounts to keep the soil moist. Avoid watering at noon in hot weather, so as not to lower the soil temperature and cause leaf, flower, and fruit drop.
Pest and disease control. The diseases that harm chili peppers include damping-off, rhizoctonia rot, viral disease, and phytophthora blight, which should be controlled early, and the principle of prevention being more important than treatment should be adhered to. July to August is the period when phytophthora blight occurs frequently; spray once every 7-8 days, and carbendazim, chlorothalonil, etc. can be selected for spraying. Pests: mainly cotton bollworm, tobacco budworm, and corn borer, etc., which can be sprayed with a 3000 times solution of beta-cypermethrin or a 5000 times solution of Caesar emulsifiable concentrate, etc. Usually check frequently and look carefully, and control when pests are few and small. In dry weather, pay attention to controlling red spiders, aphids, etc.