Bell pepper hybrid variety selection, sowing and harvesting times, and greenhouse cultivation techniques

Bell pepper is a type of sweet pepper, named for its variety of colors. It is rich in vitamins and various trace elements, and regular consumption can have the effect of nourishing the blood and promoting blood circulation, so many people like to eat it. So which varieties of bell pepper are good to grow? When to plant? When to harvest? How to grow?

Varieties that can be grown:

Choose indeterminate-growth varieties specially bred for greenhouses. At present, the commonly used and relatively mature varieties in production include Ousheng Chaomai red bell pepper, Ousheng Huangyongzhen yellow bell pepper, Zigui Ren purple bell pepper, Bai Gongzhu white bell pepper, and Juxiya orange bell pepper. After many years of cultivation and selection in protected northern greenhouses, they have strong adaptability to greenhouse production, great yield potential, and good quality and coloration.

Planting time:

They can be sown in all four seasons, but mid-to-late July to late December is preferable. Sowing too early leads to severe disease, while sowing too late makes it difficult to build up a high-yielding framework before the severe winter, during the period when both light and temperature are relatively good.

Harvest time:

Once the bell pepper fruit stops expanding and changes color, it should be harvested promptly. Harvesting is required in the morning. When harvesting, remove the entire fruit stalk and do not leave a stalk in the leaf axil.

Greenhouse cultivation techniques:

1. Raising seedlings

Bell pepper seeds are expensive, and the seedling period is long. Raising seedlings in winter also occurs during the cold, low-temperature season, making rotting seeds, dead seedlings, and stiff seedlings very likely. It is required to use a heated and insulated seedbed and nutrient bags for seedling raising inside the greenhouse.

For the seedling substrate, use materials with strong fertilizer and water diffusion capacity (such as peat and leaf mold). Add 0.4% compound fertilizer, 1% calcium superphosphate, and 0.01% carbendazim, mix thoroughly, then fill into plastic nutrient bags 8-10 cm in diameter. Water thoroughly and then sow.

2. Seed treatment

Before sowing, seed treatment is required. Soak the seeds in warm water at 55°C for 30 minutes, then wrap them in clean gauze to keep warm and accelerate germination. During germination, maintain the temperature at 25°C, rinse with warm water and turn the seeds every day, and sow after the seeds show white sprouts. Sow one seed per nutrient bag and cover with 0.5 cm of soil after sowing. Place the nutrient bags on the seedbed inside the greenhouse and maintain 25-30°C. After emergence, maintain 20-30°C during the day and 15-18°C at night. From 7-10 days before transplanting, carry out low-temperature hardening of the seedlings, around 20°C during the day and 13-15°C at night. Water the nutrient bags according to conditions, keeping the substrate alternately dry and wet. At the 2-4 leaf stage, apply compound fertilizer 2-3 times along with watering, 8-10 kg per mu each time, and spray 0.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate as a foliar fertilizer every 3-4 days. During the seedling stage, bell peppers must be given an environment with sufficient light so that the seedlings grow strong.

3. Land preparation and fertilization, standardized planting

Because bell pepper roots grow slowly and have poor regeneration ability, they need a deep, loose, and fertile soil environment. Before land preparation, apply 4-5 tonnes of decomposed farmyard manure per mu, 40 kg of calcium superphosphate, 50 kg of compound fertilizer, 50 kg of potassium sulfate, and 4 kg each of zinc sulfate and borax, and work them into the soil layer through deep plowing. Then break up the clods and prepare the land finely. After the land is leveled, make the beds 1.1 m wide, with a ditch width of 40 cm and a depth of 30 cm. Following the double-row planting requirement of 40-45 cm plant spacing and 80 cm row spacing, plant 1500-1800 plants per mu. Transplant after 3 p.m. When planting, the seedling clod should be 1 cm below the soil surface. Plant large and small seedlings separately for easier management. After planting, water thoroughly to settle the roots. Within 3-5 days after transplanting, water in the morning and evening to ensure survival. After the pepper seedlings survive, water according to soil moisture conditions. Within 15 days after transplanting, roll up the side films on both sides of the greenhouse after 9 a.m. every morning to ventilate and cool down, and after 5 p.m. lower and cover the rolled-up side films to ensure that the nighttime temperature can meet the needs of pepper survival and root growth. After 15 days, the rolled-up side films do not need to be lowered again. If the weather changes and the temperature drops, insulation measures should be strengthened, and the films on both sides of the greenhouse should no longer be rolled up, which would cause the temperature inside the greenhouse to drop. It must be ensured that the temperature inside the greenhouse is not lower than 10°C, so as to meet the needs of bell pepper growth and development.

4. Fertilizer and water management

After planting and survival, water appropriately. When the first fruit first appears, begin watering and topdressing. During the flowering and fruiting period, the soil should be kept moist. Water once every 5-10 days according to the degree of soil moisture. When the temperature is low, water in the morning on sunny days. When the temperature is high, water in the evening instead. At the seedling stage, apply fertilizer to strengthen the seedlings, 5-10 kg of compound fertilizer or urea per mu. At the early fruiting stage, apply fruit-setting fertilizer, 20 kg of compound fertilizer or urea per mu. After that, apply fertilizer about once every 20 days, using 15-20 kg of compound fertilizer per mu each time, diluted in water. In the middle and late fruit-harvesting stages, spray a foliar fertilizer of 0.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate plus 0.1%-0.2% zinc sulfate every 7-10 days. Dryness and high temperature inside the greenhouse will affect bell pepper flowering and fertilization, causing flower drop. At this time, pay attention to watering to cool down and increase humidity. The relative soil moisture content should be maintained at 60%-70%.

5. Temperature management

The suitable temperature for bell pepper growth is 20-25°C during the day and 15-20°C at night. When the greenhouse temperature is below 10°C or above 35°C, pollination is difficult and flower and fruit drop is likely to occur. The air humidity requirement is 70%. When the sun is abundant at midday and the temperature is high during the day, shade nets should be used to cool down. When the outside temperature rises, gradually increase ventilation to help the plants pass the summer safely.

6. Pruning and vine hanging

Select and retain 2 strong main branches per plant. Remove the flower buds of the first pepper and the basal side shoots in time. Start retaining peppers from the 4th-5th node, mainly relying on the main branches to set fruit. After that, remove side branches in time. Side branches in the middle part can be pinched off after retaining 1 fruit. It is required that each plant always maintains 2 branches growing upward. Generally no hilling is done. Fix each main branch by hanging it with 1 piece of anti-aging plastic rope.

7. Flower and fruit thinning

Bell peppers have strong branching ability. Before flowering, pruning should be carried out, and side branches that grow out should be removed in time. During the growth period, flowers and fruits should be thinned in time. Do not retain the first pepper; set fruit alternately, retain one fruit per fork, and remove all other flowers and fruits, ensuring that each plant sets no more than 6 fruits at the same time, so as to facilitate fruit expansion. Remove dead, old, yellow, and diseased leaves from the lower part in time to concentrate nutrients and improve light conditions.

8. Health benefits

Because they are bred by selecting genetic genes with different-colored anthocyanins, they have fruits with purple eggplant color, golden yellow, or orange-red skin. Colored bell peppers are also rich in vitamin C and capsicum alkaloids, etc. They are pungent and warm in nature and flavor, and have effects such as warming the middle, dispersing heat, and promoting digestion, which help enhance human immune function and improve the body's disease resistance. The capsicum alkaloids in them can promote fat metabolism and prevent fat accumulation in the body, thereby helping with weight loss and disease prevention.

9. Pest and disease control

The main diseases of bell pepper are viral disease, phytophthora blight, powdery mildew, and bacterial wilt. For viral disease, spray 20% virus A wettable powder at 500 times dilution for control; for phytophthora blight, use 72.2% Previcur or 50% metalaxyl-copper for root drenching. For powdery mildew, spray 15% triadimefon wettable powder at 1000 times dilution or Shixiang at 2000 times dilution, once every 7 days, for 2-3 consecutive applications. For bacterial wilt, drench the roots with 72% agricultural streptomycin at 4000 times dilution, or drench the roots with Bordeaux mixture at a concentration of 0.5:1:100 for control. The main insect pests of bell pepper include aphids, tobacco budworms, whiteflies, red spider mites, and thrips, which can be controlled by spraying pesticides such as 10% imidacloprid, 1.8% abamectin, hexythiazox, and Kung Fu.