How to grow pepper seedlings in summer? A full analysis of the key cultivation techniques
How do you grow pepper seedlings in summer? Please give guidance. For summer and autumn pepper seedling cultivation, while doing a good job of seed treatment, natural room-temperature germination, and selecting plug trays for sowing, the main things to address are high temperature and drought, strong winds and heavy rain, preventing seedlings from growing leggy, and preventing pests and diseases. For detailed methods, refer to the following: 1. Seed...
How do you grow pepper seedlings in summer? Please give guidanceFor summer and autumn pepper seedling cultivation, while doing a good job of seed treatment, natural room-temperature germination, and selecting plug trays for sowing, the main things to address are high temperature and drought, strong winds and heavy rain, preventing seedlings from growing leggy, and preventing pests and diseases. For detailed methods, refer to the following:
1. Seed treatment:After choosing a good variety, first sun-dry the seeds for 4 hours, then disinfect them with trisodium phosphate solution, and then soak them in clean water for about 8 hours. Remove them and let them dry slightly, then prepare for germination.
2. Room-temperature germination:The current room temperature is generally around 30°C, which is the suitable temperature for germination. Wrap the soaked seeds in cotton cloth, then wrap another layer of plastic film to keep them moist. Rinse the seeds with clean water every half day, then wrap them up again to germinate. They will sprout in about 60-70 hours. When the sprouts are about 3 mm long (at this point called seed chitting), it is best to sow; if you cannot sow in time, store the seeds at around 8°C and create sowing conditions as soon as possible.
3. Preparing the plug trays:Use a dedicated seedling-raising medium. Each bag can fill 12 trays of 72 cells, and each tray can raise 72 seedlings. Vegetable growers can calculate the number of seedling plug trays and the amount of seedling medium needed according to their own needs. Mix the seedling medium with an appropriate amount of phosphorus-potassium compound fertilizer, dedicated biological micro-fertilizer and other trace elements, add water and stir evenly, fill the plug trays and level them (just scrape flat with a straight wooden board), then sow.
4. Preventing high temperature:After sowing, water the plug trays thoroughly and spray with Previcur, then cover with plastic film to keep them moist. 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 kept 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 covered with shade netting can be shortened, which is more beneficial to seedling growth.
5. Preventing drought:After sowing and emergence, always pay attention to the humidity of the seedbed; do not let it be too wet or too dry. Many vegetable growers, afraid of leggy seedlings, control watering and cause the plug trays to become excessively dry. At this time, the fine roots are damaged by dehydration and drought, which affects later absorption capacity, forms weak seedlings, and makes them prone to disease. Therefore, water appropriately, and the best time to water is on a sunny morning.
6. Preventing leggy seedlings:No matter what crop, leggy plant growth is caused by weak light conditions and insufficient photosynthesis, high temperature, and high humidity. The main reasons for leggy pepper seedlings in summer are high nighttime temperature, strong respiration, and excessive nutrient consumption, as well as sufficient nitrogen fertilizer and water causing the seedlings to grow leggy. In addition, seedlings that are too dense shade each other and affect photosynthesis. Therefore, to prevent leggy seedlings, you should first prevent excessively high nighttime temperature and excessive humidity in the plug trays; second, apply less nitrogen fertilizer when watering with topdressing fertilizer; third, when the seedlings have grown to a certain size, widen the spacing between plug trays to increase ventilation and light, enhance photosynthesis, and avoid leggy seedlings.
7. Preventing damage from heavy rain:For seedbeds set up inside a shed, generally use a covering method of 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 and buried well to prevent rainwater from washing over the seedlings and rainwater from spreading pathogens.
8. Preventing pests and diseases:At this stage, because the external environment is more favorable for pests, pest control should also be strengthened. For example, install tightly sealed insect-proof nets in the seedling shed; use pest tendencies to set up yellow boards to trap aphids and whiteflies, and blue boards to trap and kill thrips; when necessary, use pesticides for control.
At this time, the diseases that should be strongly prevented are damping-off and Rhizoctonia rot at the seedling stage and viral disease in the mid-growth period. In addition to doing a good job of seed disinfection, the seedbed should also be disinfected. After sowing, spray-irrigate Xiangnong No. 4 or Miaojundi mixed with Fengshou No. 1, which can effectively inhibit soil-borne seedling-stage diseases and also promote root development at the seedling stage, resulting in uniform and strong seedlings.
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