Pepper in Russia is difficult to grow because of its heat lovingness. But some varieties of breeders bred specifically for cultivation in the middle lane. The temperate climate, cold summer nights and regular rains perfectly withstands the Apricot Favorite variety. Even without a greenhouse and expensive fertilizers, it bears fruit and grows well.
The feedback from gardeners and the characteristics of the variety will help determine whether this variety is suitable for you personally. In most cases, the answer will be yes.
Content
General characteristics of the variety
"Apricot favorite" - early ripe pepper. It grows well in Russia, although it is thermophilic. To ensure comfortable conditions in the middle lane, it is enough to water the plant with thermal water and cover it. It is resistant to night cold with proper care and very productive. Plant growers who want to achieve rapid germination and maximum yield should plant pepper in a greenhouse.
The plant as a whole is unpretentious, but requires special top dressing if grown for the sake of a harvest for sale.
Please note: "Apricot favorite" grows poorly in regions where it is constantly cloudy. Therefore, gardeners from such regions should refuse to purchase a variety or prepare special LEDs for it.
Departure Dates
The plant is sold as seeds. The following components are required for growing a seedling:
- growth stimulant;
- potassium permanganate;
- cartridges for seedlings;
- fertilized land;
- drainage (ceramic balls or other kind).
In cassettes for seedlings, it is necessary to prepare the drainage, laying large particles of expanded clay or stone, sprinkle with enough earth on top. Next, you need to prepare the seed for growth. You need to start landing in late January or early February. Optimal dates are from January 25 to February 10.
Before planting the plant in the cassette for seedlings, you need to soak the seed in potassium permanganate. A sufficiently weak solution or diluted potassium permanganate is sufficient. You can keep one seed in the substance for no more than a quarter of an hour, then it is washed and placed in a solution of a growth stimulator or a self-made solution with minerals and trace elements. It is necessary to hold the seed in the solution for 11 hours. The last step before planting is to keep the seed moist. It is pulled out of the growth stimulator, wiped, moistened with ordinary water and lies in a warm and bright place for 2 days.
After planting, seedlings must be carefully looked after. You can not leave plants in a place where there is no light: they will stop growing. Periodically, the sprouts need to be moistened with thermal water or gently watered.
Pepper can withstand even the night temperatures of the temperate zone of Russia, but it grows only in the summer. Therefore, you need to plant seedlings with the onset of warm weather. This is usually the end of May. If meteorologists predict a cold summer, you need to prepare a special place for the pepper: put wire arcs and pull a film on them. Under such an awning pepper can grow at temperatures up to plus 10 degrees.
Harvest Features
On one bush, "Apricot Favorite" grows up to 20 fruits. At the very beginning of ripening, they differ in a gentle light green color, then they acquire an orange tint. After that they can be torn off.
The fruits ripen 100 days after seed germination, so the crop can be harvested from June - July. One fruit weighs about 150 g. Moreover, its wall thickness is 7 mm, that is, the core of the fruit is very small, and there is almost no "extra" pulp inside one pepper.
On a standard summer cottage with a size of 6 acres during the summer, you can grow several hundred fruits. The plant is very compact, one bed of 1 square meter can bring up to 160 fruits in the summer.
Care Rules
The plant must be kept under an awning, in a greenhouse or outdoors, but in the southern region. Due to the fact that the “Apricot favorite” grows well in artificially created conditions, it can be grown in a heated room anywhere in Russia.
Basic vegetable care includes:
- regular watering with exceptionally warm water;
- spraying stems and leaves as they dry;
- the addition of growth stimulants to the kidney (if necessary, a plentiful harvest);
- cutting the lower leaves to the first fork.
If you go too far with a growth stimulator, you will need fishing line and supports for gartering plants. During the period of active growth and fruiting, it is also advisable to tie the bushes. If there are a lot of winds and rains in the growing region, a garter is necessary, otherwise the bushes will break under the weight of the fruits and due to the additional influence of external factors.
Advantages and disadvantages of the variety
“Apricot favorite” is very unpretentious in comparison with more heat-loving varieties of pepper. This is one of the few varieties that grows not only in the south of the country, but in the central and eastern parts. This is the main advantage of the variety.
Other advantages of this vegetable:
- Early ripe. One of the few vegetables that yield crops in early summer.
- Harvest. From a small summer cottage or a standard greenhouse, you can harvest such a volume that the average family has enough fruit for a year.
- High palatability. Pepper is not bitter and not too sweet, therefore, well shades any dishes.
- Large size and large amount of “useful” pulp. From the "Apricot favorite" it is practically not necessary to cut the core with seeds.
There are a few drawbacks:
- Requires constant lighting. In cloudy regions, the plant will be very difficult to grow. In open spaces you will have to install rechargeable lamps that will illuminate the space of beds in rainy days.
- Does not tolerate cold water. The roots of the plant can die if the pepper is regularly poured with cold liquid. For the same reason, it should not be purchased by gardeners who live in cold rainy areas. With frequent showers for the vegetable, it is necessary to build an awning.
The plant has a lot of advantages, but there are some disadvantages. Thanks to this, the variety is in demand among amateur gardeners and even professional vegetable growers. In the special conditions of vegetable farms, this vegetable grows very well and bears fruit, so it is regularly purchased in large quantities for farms.
Application
The main purpose of the "Apricot favorite", or rather, the fruits of this plant is to eat. The vegetable has no special medicinal effects, but it has a pleasant taste and contains a lot of healthy fluid.The fruits can be consumed in the heat as part of vegetable salads, and in the colder season, frozen peppers can be used for stuffing.
The fruits of the Apricot Favorite variety of domestic and foreign production are bought by grocery stores and catering outlets.
For reference: “Favorite” is the third most popular type of pepper of domestic production, according to purchases for shops and restaurants.
Reviews
Bragina Sofya, 39 years old, Izhevsk:
“First I grew the Favorite for myself, but after receiving the harvest (19-20 fruits from one bush) I decided to try to start selling. The fruits sell well because they look attractive - large and shiny. Neither the buyers, nor the husband who cooked the dough, complained of the taste. ”
Ilya Petrov, 30 years old, Yekaterinburg:
“I am a culinary specialist. I am engaged in the creation of dishes not only for home, but also professionally. I tried to cook some stuffed dishes with the “Apricot favorite” at home first, then insisted that this variety be delivered to our cafe. Customers praise vegetable salads with him and stuffed meat dishes. ”
Stepanova Nadezhda, 56 years old, St. Petersburg:
“I started to grow a variety in the country three years ago, almost immediately I ran into the problem of a lack of light. After the cloudy weeks, the seedlings were sluggish, several pieces died. Last year, I decided to install a battery-powered flashlight next to each garden bed. Now pepper grows well and bears fruit well. I recommend".
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