How to tie peppers
Content:
Do I need to tie up peppers when growing, how to do it correctly if pepper grows in the open field or grows in a greenhouse - you will find the answers to these and other questions in the article.
When growing any vegetable, at least minimal is required, but in care, and peppers are no exception. Each gardener tries to harvest as fruitfully as possible the harvest of pepper, so that he will delight his family with his taste and useful qualities for a long time. To do this, it is necessary to observe certain rules of care when growing it, which must be followed without question. In this article we will talk about whether it is necessary to fix the pepper, and how to do it correctly under growing conditions in open ground or in conditions greenhouses.
Do I need to tie peppers
It's no secret that pepper has a vertical structure, and depending on the variety, the stem height can reach about one and a half meters. The part of the stem located closer to the ground is harder, and the upper part stretches towards the sun. As it grows, the load on the stem increases, and at some point it may simply not be able to withstand and, in the worst case, break.
The reasons why a garter is required and the fact that it affects quite a lot, the two most basic are listed below:
- under the weight of ripening fruits, the stem may not withstand and bend or even break, and if in the first case the development of the crop continues, but only to a lesser extent and with possible deformation, then in the second case, the plant will die;
- when growing pepper, you need to know that the most correct arrangement of the stem is vertical, it is in this state that a full circulation of important elements occurs - from the very roots to ripening fruits. In order for nutrition to be carried out in full, which will certainly affect the harvest - the stem must be kept in the correct vertical state, this can be done only with the help of a garter.
The main goal of every gardener when growing peppers is a generous, healthy, beautiful and tasty harvest. That is why its development is not allowed to take its course, but is carefully monitored in the form of certain agrotechnical works. As gardeners note, when the stem is bent, the fruits that have fallen to the ground under the weight are often deformed and do not have time to grow to their full size.
As noted, not all peppers need a garter:
- if the variety of pepper is undersized, then there is no need to tie up the plant, since the stem is able to withstand the fruits and not break. As a rule, such a plant has a strong, well-developed stem, and the fruits are not large in size and there are not too many of them, which makes it possible to do without a garter;
- if the pepper is tall or a hybrid, then here you cannot do without tying - the number of fruits that can grow from one bush is 16 -25 fruits - it is obvious that a garter is simply vital here.
Remember that stem fixation is a necessary measure when a large amount of harvest is planned.
Gardeners have their own tricks, used both for peppers grown in the open field and for greenhouse cultivation: after the very first fruit appears, it is pruned in order to induce the growth of a generous crop.
After that, the stems are tied up, thus creating the correct natural arrangement of the pepper - vertical, which will not allow it to bend or break.
The stem is fixed at the moment when the plant has matured, before fruiting begins.The pepper will make it clear when the time comes - then it begins to tilt, the approximate height of the plant at this moment is 40 cm.Each stem is tied and, if possible, the brushes on which the fruits begin to develop is considered the most correct and reliable way of fixing
How to tie peppers outdoors
When growing peppers outdoors, it is much easier to tie the plants up than in a greenhouse.
The most popular method is fixing to pegs, the height of which should be 20 cm higher than the growth of the stem, and the bottom is sharpened for better fixation in the ground. There are several ways to carry out a garter:
- the pegs are fixed in the ground, 2 pegs are used for one small bed, 1 peg per side. If the bed is long, an additional peg is driven in in the middle, this will create additional resistance to the plants. Further, at the top, nails are driven into the pegs, after which the twine is tightly pulled from peg to peg so that the line is strictly above the bushes. Then the stalks of the pepper are fixed to the resulting "cords" with a twine - in this case, the middle of the stalk is tied. It is required to fix the plant carefully so as not to damage it; the most popular garter knot is the "figure eight" - it is more reliable and does not harm the plant;
- the next and most popular method is to use a peg for each bush. When using this method, you need to install the pegs at the moment when the pepper seedlings are transplanted into the ground, then there is no chance of damaging the root system, but if you install the pegs at the time of fruiting, the risks of damaging are very high. The pegs are not close or far from the stem - a couple of centimeters will be enough. The stem is fixed very carefully, without overtightening, closer to the top. As a fastener, you can use any handy material - wire, twine, pieces of fabric and others;
- for varieties of peppers in which the bushes grow quite sprawling - use a circular garter. To do this, all fruiting brushes are fixed to a peg.
Weak varieties of peppers do not need additional fixation, regardless of where they are grown. For vigorous varieties, for example, for bell peppers, this is a mandatory procedure - this significantly increases the chances of getting a generous harvest. Before the garter, the bell pepper is necessarily stepson and 3 main stems are determined, removing excess leaves and shoots. After that, it is the selected stems that are tied to the peg, placing them in a "fan".
How to tie peppers in a greenhouse
The most popular way to fix pepper in greenhouse conditions is to pull a rope from twine or wire under the roof - this method is called a horizontal trellis. Ropes or wires are tied to this twine at the level of each bush, this is done in such a way that the knot is sliding - the thread should pass unhindered, this will allow the level of fastening to be changed as the pepper grows. Each thread is tied to the main stem, at a level just below the fork, so you can fix the rest of the stems.
The knot on the plant should not be tight, because as it grows, the stem also grows, and a tight attachment can break it.
Thus, if you plan to harvest a generous crop of peppers, you definitely need to fix the plants, regardless of the growing place, so that as many nutrients as possible come to the fruits so that the peppers do not deform and the stem does not break. Be sure to apply the recommendations described above in practice, this will allow you to fully enjoy the quantity and quality of the harvested crop.