Detailed Explanation of High-Yield Cultivation Techniques for Spring Crop Peppers
Selecting good varieties The spring crop cultivation is essentially early-maturing cultivation, so attention must be paid to the early maturity of the variety while also considering high yield and disease resistance. Suitable varieties include Hongyingda, Andale, Shengfangzhou, and also Bulgarian pointed pepper, Sujiao No. 5, etc. Land preparation and fertilization: spread 10,000 kg of high-quality manure or compost per mu, and apply urea in furrows...
Selecting good varieties
Spring crop cultivation is essentially early-maturing cultivation, so attention must be paid to the early maturity of the variety while also considering high yield and disease resistance. Suitable varieties include Hongyingda, Andale, Shengfangzhou, and also Bulgarian pointed pepper, Sujiao No. 5, etc.
Land preparation and fertilization
Spread 10,000 kg of high-quality manure or compost per mu, and apply 25 kg of urea, 50 kg of diammonium phosphate, and 100-200 kg of cake fertilizer in furrows. These base fertilizers should be applied according to different planting methods. Peppers can be planted on flat beds or on ridges. For the convenience of mulching and watering, as well as to help raise soil temperature, ridge planting in a north-south direction is recommended. When determining ridge spacing for ridge planting, it must vary by variety, and the row and plant spacing should be determined according to the plant spread angle of the variety used. For winter-spring crops, the dense planting method of double plants per hole in wide and narrow rows is mostly suitable. The wide row spacing is 55-60 cm, and the narrow row spacing is 40-50 cm. When fertilizing, first spread the organic fertilizer on the ground, deep plow twice to mix the fertilizer thoroughly with the soil, then open furrows according to the row spacing, apply cake fertilizer and chemical fertilizers in the furrows, mix thoroughly with the soil, and then build ridges over the furrows, with a ridge height of 15-20 cm.
Scientific planting
The planting time is late January. Planting must be done on a sunny day, and it is hoped that several consecutive sunny days will follow after planting. Therefore, one should listen to and check weather forecasts often. Planting should preferably be done in the morning. When planting, open holes at a hole spacing of about 33 cm. Plant about 4,000 holes per mu, with 2 plants per hole, totaling 8,000 plants per mu, using dense planting to strive for early yield. The 2 plants in the same hole should be uniform in size. When planting seedlings, pour warm water (30-40°C) into the hole, place the seedling, and close the hole after the water seeps down.
Cultivating strong seedlings
Before sowing, pepper seeds should be soaked in a 10% trisodium phosphate solution for 30 minutes. To prevent anthracnose and bacterial spot disease, they can first be pre-soaked in clean water for 5-6 hours, then soaked in copper sulfate solution for 5 minutes, then rinsed clean with water before germination. To cultivate strong seedlings, it is best to use electric heating wire seedling raising. When the seedlings grow 2 true leaves, transplant them once into nutrient pots, one plant per pot, and place them on an electric heating wire seedling bed. During the seedling stage, the daytime temperature should be maintained at 28-25°C.
Management after planting
1. Temperature management After planting, in order to promote seedling recovery, maintain a high-temperature and high-humidity environment, do not ventilate during the day and cover straw mats appropriately early so as to maintain a relatively high temperature at night. After seedling recovery, maintain the daytime temperature at 26-28°C. In the afternoon, cover straw mats when the temperature drops to 17-18°C. After covering, the temperature will rise by 2-3°C, then gradually decrease, and by the time the mats are uncovered the next day, the temperature should be around 15°C. After entering spring, the temperature gradually rises, so attention should be paid to increasing ventilation and covering straw mats appropriately later. When the temperature without straw mats is not lower than 15°C, straw mats may be omitted at night, but the straw mats should only be removed in mid-April to prevent disasters such as late spring cold.
2. Light management In winter, light intensity is low, so while ensuring greenhouse temperature, the lighting time should be extended as much as possible, uncovering straw mats early and covering them late so that plants receive more light. At the same time, keep the film surface clean to improve light transmittance. Reflective screens can be hung on the north side of the greenhouse to increase light intensity. On cloudy or snowy days, light intensity is low and plant respiration consumes more, so foliar fertilization can be carried out by spraying 1% sugar water.
3. Water and fertilizer management When the planting water has been applied sufficiently, generally no water should be given before the first fruit (the first pepper at the main stem node) sets. During the seedling-strengthening period after seedling recovery, mainly cultivate the soil, and the soil below the plastic film can remain moist and well aerated. At the end of seedling strengthening, water once. At this time, the first pepper has grown to about 3 cm in diameter. Apply 20 kg of ammonium sulfate and 10 kg of potassium sulfate per mu with the water. After that, apply fertilizer once with every one or two waterings, applying 10 kg of urea or 10 kg of ammonium sulfate per mu. Carbon dioxide fertilization should also be carried out.
4. Plant adjustment To promote fruiting, pruning should be carried out. The method is that when the young fruit set on the secondary lateral branch of the main lateral branch grows to 1 cm in diameter, leave 5 leaves above it and pinch off the growing tip, so that nutrients are concentrated for fruit growth. Vigorous vegetative branches appearing in the middle and late stages should be removed in time.
5. Disease and pest control The main diseases of peppers include powdery mildew, anthracnose, soft rot, scab, and viral diseases. The main pests include aphids and whiteflies, and control should be carried out promptly.
Timely harvesting
After planting, harvesting generally begins in 40-50 days. The first pepper and the pair of peppers should be picked appropriately early to avoid affecting plant growth. When harvesting, in order not to damage young branches, it is best to cut the fruit.