Detailed Explanation of Key Points for Pepper Seedling Raising in Early Autumn

In early autumn pepper seedling raising, while doing a good job of seed treatment, room-temperature germination, and selecting plug trays for sowing, the main issues to solve well are high temperature and drought, strong winds and rainstorms, avoiding leggy seedlings, and preventing diseases and pests.

I. Seed Treatment

After selecting a good variety, first sun-dry the seeds for 4 hours, then disinfect them with trisodium phosphate solution, then soak them in clean water for about 8 hours, remove them and germinate.

II. Room-Temperature Germination

Around 30°C is the suitable temperature for germination. Wrap the soaked seeds in cotton cloth, then wrap another layer of plastic film to retain moisture. Rinse the seeds with clean water every half day, then wrap them up again to germinate, and they will sprout in about 60-70 hours. It is best to sow when the sprouts are about 3 mm long (at this point called seed chitting); if sowing cannot be done in time, the seeds should be stored at around 8°C, and conditions for sowing should be created as soon as possible.

III. Preparation of Plug Trays

Use special seedling-raising medium and 72-cell plug trays. Vegetable growers can calculate the quantity of seedling plug trays and seedling medium needed according to their own needs. Mix the seedling medium with an appropriate amount of phosphorus-potassium compound fertilizer, special biological micro-fertilizer and other trace element fertilizers, add water and stir evenly, then fill the plug trays and level them (just scrape level with a straight wooden board) before sowing.

IV. Preventing High Temperature

After sowing, water the plug trays thoroughly, and spray with Previcur to prevent disease, then cover with plastic film to retain moisture. At this time, pay attention to shading and cooling, and strictly prevent the seeds from being steamed and damaged, which would affect emergence. At this time, the daytime temperature should be adjusted to below 30°C, and the nighttime temperature below 18°C. When about 80% of the seedlings have emerged, the plastic film can be removed. As the seedlings grow, the time of covering with shade netting can be shortened, which is more conducive to seedling growth.

V. Preventing Drought

After sowing and emergence, always pay attention to the humidity of the seedbed; it should not be too wet or too dry. Some vegetable growers, afraid of leggy seedlings, restrain watering, causing the plug trays to be excessively dry, which causes the fibrous roots to lose water and be damaged by drought, affecting future absorption capacity, forming weak seedlings that are prone to disease. Therefore, water appropriately, and watering should preferably be done on sunny mornings.

VI. Preventing Leggy Seedlings

Leggy pepper seedlings are mainly due to high nighttime temperature, strong respiration, and excessive consumption of nutrients, and also because sufficient nitrogen fertilizer and water cause leggy seedlings. In addition, seedlings that are too dense shade each other from sunlight, affecting photosynthesis, which can also cause leggy growth. Therefore, to prevent leggy seedlings, attention should be paid first to avoiding excessively high nighttime temperature and excessive humidity in the plug trays; second, to applying less nitrogen fertilizer when fertilizing; third, when the seedlings grow to a certain size, widen the spacing between plug trays, increase ventilation and light transmission time, and strengthen photosynthesis to avoid leggy seedlings.

VII. Preventing Rainstorm Damage

For seedbeds set up inside a shed, the usual method is covering with one film and two nets (plastic film plus shade net and insect-proof net). When there is heavy rain, the shed film can be pulled down to prevent rainwater from washing and battering the seedlings and from spreading pathogens through rainwater.

VIII. Preventing Diseases and Pests

At the present stage, because the external environment is more favorable for the occurrence of pests, pest control should also be strengthened. For example, set up insect-proof nets in the seedling shed, use the tropism of pests to set up yellow boards to trap aphids and whiteflies, use blue boards to trap and kill thrips, etc., and use chemical control when necessary. At this time, the diseases that should be strengthened against are damping-off at the seedling stage, Rhizoctonia rot, and viral disease in the middle growth stage. In addition to doing a good job of seed disinfection, seedbed disinfection should also be carried out. After sowing, spray or irrigate Xiangnong No. 4 or Miao Jun Di mixed with Fengshou No. 1, which can effectively suppress soil-borne seedling-stage diseases and also promote root development at the seedling stage, promoting uniform and strong seedlings.

Guangping County Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Bureau, Lu Liyan