Bitter pepper on the windowsill is not only a necessary spice, which is always at hand, but also an excellent decorative decoration of the house, easy to grow. A pot with a bright beautiful plant will serve as an exquisite decor for any home, and the savory taste of such spicy spice will make this pepper indispensable in the kitchen of every hostess.
It is possible to grow at home and sweet Bulgarian pepper and hot spicy, varieties Drakosh or another. How to plant seeds for seedlings and about the conditions of planting in the apartment will describe next.
Table of contents
Plant characteristic
For growing on the windowsill, breeders specially bred several varieties of hot pepper. Such indoor pepper is also divided into a fruit variety and decorative (without fruits).
The fruit variety of indoor hot pepper is a perennial that reaches in height no more than 40 cm. The plant has bright green leaves and multi-colored fruits of saturated color: scarlet, sunny or orange color.
Growing indoor pepper is not difficult and does not require special knowledge and intricacies. Quite unpretentious and undemanding in care.
Flowering begins in June. During this period, tender white flowers with a slightly yellowish tinge appear on the stems.
How to grow at home on the windowsill
In order to get a plant with beautiful fruits on the windowsill, it is necessary to sow the seeds for seedlings. Do it in late February - early March.
To speed up the process of seed growth, they can be thermally pre-treated. For this, seeds are poured with warm water (not higher than 40 degrees) and sealed in a thermos for 3 hours.
Soil and pot preparation
The soil for the seed must be selected nutrient. You can prepare it yourself. To do this, mix 5 parts of humus, 2 parts of sod land and peat and 1 part of sand. At the bottom of the tank there must be a drainage. Fine claydite or pebbles are suitable for this.
The soil must be further disinfected: process with boiling water, or with a solution of potassium permanganate and thoroughly grind. Seeds are sown to a depth of 1 cm.
Growing seedlings from seed
The containers are covered with glass or film and left in a warm place where the temperature should not be below 20-25 degrees.
As a container, you can use a regular pot or a box, it all depends on how many seeds are sown.
The first shoots appear already after 7 - 10 days. There must be sufficient sunlight in the room.
When the first shoots appear, the plants dive into separate pots. When several true leaves appear on the shoots, they dive again, while choosing the strongest and strongest sprouts.
During the growth of seedlings, it is necessary to ensure that the seedlings are not strongly stretched. To do this, they need to provide a certain ambient temperature.
When the first leaves appear, then within 7 days it is necessary to reduce the temperature to 20 degrees. And when there are three true leaves, it is imperative to reproduce the pick in a spacious pot. At a permanent place seedlings landed after 2 months after planting seeds.
Care for indoor bitter pepper
To grow bitter pepper on the windowsill you need to ensure it light and warm.
Fertilizer
He loves this kind of pepper very much.The most optimal fertilizer is 2 tablespoons of ash mixed with 3 liters of water. The mixture should brew well. Fertilize is necessary every two weeks.
Nitrogen fertilizers can be used, but much less frequently. With such fertilizers, it is important not to overdo it, otherwise you can be left without a crop.
Watering
The soil must be regularly loosened and watered. two times a week warm otstoyannoy, or purified water. It is necessary to ensure that the soil in the pot does not dry out, but it is not constantly wet. Both will contribute to different diseases of the plant.
In winter, you can not use fertilizers and water the plant much less. If the air in the room is dry, you can slightly moisten the leaves by sprinkling them with water from a spray bottle.
Fruiting
Subject to all recommendations and rules of cultivation, the plant will bloom May - June, and fruiting will continue until the end of the autumn period.
Temperature conditions
Until about February, the plant can be kept indoors at a cooler temperature, but not below 18 degrees.
But before the beginning of the growing season (usually it starts from February), the pot needs to be moved to a warmer room and trimmed. To do this, cut the stems so that they are no higher than 5 cm.
If you correctly follow all the recommendations for growing and caring for a plant: starting from the seed itself and ending with timely cutting, then such a pepper will retain its decorative effect and will actively bear fruit up to 5 years.
Diseases and pests
This kind of indoor plants may be subject to such diseases: leg blackening or leaf spotting. This happens when too abundant watering, which forms a stagnant water in the pot.
The main pests of this pepper include aphid, spider mite and powdery mildew. Aphids or mites can appear with the help of the wind through an open window.
To combat the tick, you can use the plant itself. For this, it is necessary to chop the pepper seeds together with the inner veins and pour water on them for a day.Then it is necessary to add a little ground soap to the mixture and spray the plant. To completely get rid of pests, it is enough to carry out three spraying procedures.
With proper cultivation and care, the plant will delight the eyes with excellent decoration for 5 whole years, and its fruits will be a spicy spice in the kitchen.