How to fertilize greenhouse peppers? Master these 3 tips
Peppers have a long growing period, but their root system is not well developed, with few roots and shallow soil penetration; they are neither drought-tolerant nor waterlogging-tolerant, but have a strong tolerance for fertilizer. Peppers are a vegetable type that absorbs a relatively large amount of fertilizer; for every 1000 kg produced, they require about 5.19 kg of nitrogen, 1.07 kg of phosphorus pentoxide, and 6.46 kg of potassium oxide. At different growth stages, the nitrogen,...
Peppers have a long growing period, but their root system is not well developed, with few roots and shallow soil penetration; they are neither drought-tolerant nor waterlogging-tolerant, but have a strong tolerance for fertilizer. Peppers are a vegetable type that absorbs a relatively large amount of fertilizer; for every 1000 kg produced, they require about 5.19 kg of nitrogen, 1.07 kg of phosphorus pentoxide, and 6.46 kg of potassium oxide. At different growth stages, the amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and other nutrients absorbed also vary. From emergence to budding, early flowering, full flowering and maturity, the fertilizer absorption amounts account for 5%, 11%, 34% and 50% of the total fertilizer requirement respectively. From early flowering to full flowering and fruiting is the period of vigorous vegetative growth and reproductive growth of peppers, and also the period of greatest nutrient and nitrogen absorption. From full flowering to maturity, the plant's vegetative growth is weaker, and at this time the demand for phosphorus and potassium is greatest; after the mature fruits are harvested, in order to promptly promote the growth and development of branches and leaves, a large amount of nitrogen fertilizer is again needed.
According to the fertilizer requirement patterns of peppers and the level of soil fertility, the key to fertilizing greenhouse peppers lies in applying a heavy base fertilizer and skillfully applying topdressing. Specifically, fertilization should follow the principles below:
1. Apply heavy organic fertilizer. Apply more well-decomposed organic fertilizer (such as chicken manure). For older greenhouses, some enzyme bacterial fertilizer and similar bio-organic fertilizers can be added. For greenhouses with severe soil-borne diseases (especially dead plant disease), some Bacillus-type bio-organic fertilizers should be added.
2. Reasonably select chemical fertilizers. When chemical fertilizers are used as base fertilizer, try to choose single-element fertilizers, such as urea, superphosphate, and potassium sulfate. When topdressing with compound fertilizer, try to choose compound fertilizer containing nitrate nitrogen. Applying Zhengen during seedling raising, transplanting, and planting stages results in fast rooting and more fibrous roots, which can shorten the pepper transplant recovery time and increase the seedlings' resistance to adverse environments. Peppers' continuous fruit-setting ability is improved, with fewer flower drops, higher yield, and improved quality.
3. Reasonably allocate the ratio of base fertilizer to topdressing. Under normal circumstances, organic fertilizer, micro-fertilizers, 80% of the phosphorus fertilizer, 50% of the potassium fertilizer and 30% of the nitrogen fertilizer are mixed evenly and used as base fertilizer, while the remaining 70% of the nitrogen fertilizer, 20% of the phosphorus fertilizer and 50% of the potassium fertilizer are used as topdressing respectively. For some trace elements such as borax, foliar spraying can be used.