A Complete Guide to the Planting Time and Methods of Cayenne Pepper
Cayenne pepper is a type of chili that sells very well on the market today. It is smaller than ordinary chilies and much spicier as well, and its capsaicin content can be said to rival that of the millet chili, yet its price is lower than that of the millet chili, so it is deeply favored by the many people who eat chilies. So do you know when its planting time is? And how is it planted? Here, Qinong.com will tell you all about it.
Planting Time
The growth cycle of chilies is relatively long, and can last from February all the way to August and September. Take planting in the Hunan region as an example: generally the time for raising chili seedlings is in mid-to-late February, and the time for transplanting is from late March to early April, at the latest up to early May. Why wait until this time? That is because in a warmer environment cayenne pepper grows faster, and at the same time its yield is higher than when planted in a low-temperature environment. The most suitable temperature for its growth is 25 to 28 degrees.
Planting Methods
1. Seed Selection and Land Preparation
There are quite a lot of cayenne pepper varieties nowadays, and they can be classified according to capsaicin content, yield, quality, and so on. We generally choose varieties with strong resistance, high yield, full color, fast fruiting, strong spiciness, and good cost-effectiveness for planting. Cayenne pepper needs plenty of nutrients, so the land should preferably be chosen for being fairly fertile; at the same time, it is quite seriously affected by moisture, so when preparing the land, a drainage system should be set up in advance. Generally, a drainage ditch is made every one meter, which can effectively prevent some diseases caused by moisture. Finally, when preparing the land, try to break the soil clods up fine and make the land look relatively flat, then evenly spread farmyard manure at an average of three thousand kilograms of fertilizer per mu.
2. Sowing and Raising Seedlings
If you buy seeds that others have already packaged, they can generally be sown directly, because the seeds have already been treated, so there is no need to worry about germination or resistance problems. But if the seeds are ones you collected yourself, we first need to take the seeds out of the chilies, then after three days put them in the sun to dry for a few days, and then take them and soak them in warm water for eighteen minutes before removing them. In order to strengthen their resistance, we can soak them in a chemical agent for fifteen minutes, then remove them, rinse them clean with water, and put them in an environment sufficient to let the seeds germinate quickly to force the sprouts. After about five days, they can be sown to raise seedlings.
3. Transplanting Density
When the cayenne pepper seedlings on the seedbed have grown to about ten centimeters, the seedlings can be pulled up for transplanting. When transplanting, we generally plant at a spacing of thirty to thirty-five centimeters between each plant and forty to forty-five centimeters between each row. First we make small holes in the prepared land at this spacing, each small hole needing to be about five to eight centimeters deep, then place one seedling in each and plant it.
4. Field Management
After planting, we need to water immediately once, so that it can adapt to the new environment more quickly, grow new roots, and improve the survival rate. From five to ten days after transplanting, there may be some in the field that have not survived, so timely replanting is needed to ensure the field has a full stand of seedlings. Because they grow and adapt to the environment at different speeds, after the transplanted plants have survived we need to carry out the first fertilization, spreading urea and compound fertilizer according to the different degrees of growth, so that the slower-growing plants can keep up with the general growth pace. When the cayenne pepper seedlings have grown to twenty to twenty-five centimeters, we need to carry out the first intertillage and weeding, accompanied by the second topdressing, to improve the soil's absorption capacity and permeability as well as to increase its growth speed. If the weather is relatively dry and there is no rain, then artificial irrigation is also needed. When the chilies are flowering and setting fruit, the soil moisture needs to be maintained, and fifty kilograms of boron fertilizer and potassium fertilizer should be applied as topdressing. Finally, every time a batch of cayenne peppers is harvested, the field needs to be topdressed once.
5. Pest and Disease Control
The pests and diseases that affect the growth and yield of cayenne pepper are mainly anthracnose, viral disease, and leaf roller worms, as well as some vegetable worms that live by eating chili fruits. There are two methods of control. One is an environmentally friendly way, which is to control through daily management, that is, controlling the moisture in the field well and removing pests manually. The second is chemical control, which is to use chemicals targeting specific diseases for control, and when choosing chemicals, try to choose pesticides with lower toxicity, so as to reduce as much as possible the degree of harm they cause to the human body.