Key Points of Cultivation and Management Techniques for Autumn-Extended Peppers (Part 1)

Autumn-extended pepper cultivation is an important form of pepper cultivation. Especially in many major watermelon and muskmelon production areas, planting peppers after the watermelon and muskmelon harvest can effectively control soil-borne diseases, and both the peppers and the next crop of watermelon and muskmelon grow well with high yields. In addition, because autumn-extended peppers mainly supply the market from November to February, they fetch high prices, so in most years autumn-extended peppers bring good returns, and growers are therefore very enthusiastic about planting them. However, autumn-extended peppers are generally planted in mid-to-late July, which is the season with the highest average temperatures, the most rain and the strongest sunlight of the year, very unfavorable for pepper growth. A slight lapse in management can cause damping-off, phytophthora blight, root rot and viral diseases, leading to reduced yields in mild cases or total crop failure in severe cases. To help growers manage autumn-extended peppers well and avoid economic losses, the management techniques that Weili Company has explored and summarized over many years are introduced below:

I. Variety Selection

Autumn-extended greenhouse peppers face high temperatures, strong light and abundant rain in the early stage, and low temperatures with scant light in the later stage, so variety requirements are strict. You can choose Chaoba, an excellent yellow-skinned pepper variety newly released by Weili Company. The fruit is 28~35 cm long, and a single fruit can weigh up to 120 g. The fruit is straight and smooth. It expands quickly, has strong continuous fruit-setting ability and high yield, with a yield of up to 5000 kg per mu. It has strong disease resistance and stress resistance, and is easy to manage.

II. Seedling Selection

Autumn-extended peppers face high temperatures, strong light and abundant rain, placing high demands on seedling-raising facilities and techniques. Raising seedlings household by household is prone to failure and produces poor quality, especially poor flower bud differentiation, which seriously affects pepper yield and quality. Therefore, it is recommended that everyone use the high-quality pepper seedlings produced under standardized conditions by Weili Company.

III. Land Preparation and Transplanting

1. Soil treatment For soil treatment, use Dijunjing, carbendazim, thiophanate-methyl, dexon, hymexazol, etc. (choose any one) at 1.5~2 kg per mu, mix into poisoned soil and spread evenly into the soil. For insect control, use abamectin at 7 g per mu applied with irrigation water. Or use thiazophos (Fuqiduo) at 2 kg per mu.

2. Land preparation and fertilization Per mu, use 8 cubic meters of fully decomposed high-quality organic fertilizer, 20 kg of humic acid fertilizer, and 1.5 kg of biological bacteria (must be used under weak light) (make a high-yield furrow, with the organic fertilizer applied in a concentrated band in the furrow). Use 50~75 kg of high-quality high-potassium compound fertilizer and 20 kg of silicon-calcium-potassium fertilizer. Then deep plow or deep till (not less than 25 cm). After raking level, form small high ridges 15~20 cm high (ridges are a must).

3. Greenhouse disinfection Seal the greenhouse for high-temperature disinfection, and disinfect with insecticidal and fungicidal smoke agents (the greenhouse must be sealed when using them).

4. Greenhouse cooling (1) Sprinkle mud slurry to cool down. Start using it before transplanting, and cool down to below 33°C.

(2) Ventilation openings should be at the bottom and shoulder (or top) of the greenhouse to create convection, so that the cooling effect can be achieved.

(3) For plastic film, silver-gray film is recommended, with the black side facing down, covered after transplanting.

5. Transplanting When the seedlings are 15~20 cm tall, with a stem diameter of 0.5 cm, 8~10 true leaves, a calendar seedling age of about 30 days, and 80% of the seedlings about to show buds, transplant at 3000~3500 plants per mu; before transplanting, use 20 g of Ruishing + 10 mL of Amistar diluted in 30 kg of water to dip 2000 seedlings; before transplanting, spray the seedling bed with Amiduocai plus amino-oligosaccharide to prevent disease infection at the seedling stage. Transplanting should be done on a cloudy day or in the afternoon of a sunny day, and the transplanting water should be watered thoroughly while transplanting.