Preparation of pepper seeds for sowing seedlings

In this article, you will learn how to best prepare pepper seeds to plant seedlings. These methods have been tested by modern gardeners and gardeners, so they can be used both for planting pepper seeds on seedlings and in open ground. Here's how to properly prepare pepper seeds for sowing seedlings at home.

 

 

 

Seeds bought at the market or collected from your own pepper

 

The quality of the seeds for planting largely depends on the way they were received. As a rule, experts collect seeds and put them in bags for sale, knowing the exact time when to do it. If you already have pepper in the garden, then you can collect them yourself in order to plant later. Often used for seedlings and seeds of pepper purchased in a store. For example, pepper "California Miracle", read about him in our new article.

Remember that pepper does not apply to those crops that ripen early. Its cycle is approximately 119 days with slight fluctuations in one or the other direction, depending on the variety. Unripe seeds may not give full seedlings, and not all overripe seeds may be suitable for planting. Therefore, you need to know exactly the ripening time in order to get full seeds for planting.

 

Experts advise to plant pepper seeds no later than February. The deadline is until 19, when the sun is still in the constellation of Aquarius. Remember that from the first day of planting to the appearance of flowers usually takes 3 and a half months. Therefore, you will have time in stock in order to plant the seeds on time. If you decide to plant them in March, you will need to use additional lighting and greenhouse conditions, a pick. Only then the seedlings will be full.

Is there any difference how the seeds were obtained? Yes. If you collected them yourself, and they are ripe enough, then you will get a good harvest. Unripe pepper seeds or overripe may not give full germination on time, so you should check their quality. Check the quality and the seeds purchased in the store. However, many, having tried on their own the fruits of pepper with seeds, decide that they can grow seedlings from it at home or in greenhouse conditions. The method is quite risky, since many varieties of shop pepper contain not only fertilizers, but are also grown using genetic engineering. In order to sell a lot of pepper seeds and fruits, there are special hybrid varieties that produce full-fledged offspring only in the first year of maturation. The second and third generation of seeds may not produce offspring, releasing many empty flowers, or even be inferior. Seedlings can die or be completely unadapted to weather conditions and even to growing in a greenhouse. Therefore, experts advise to take pepper seeds either in the store, or grow them yourself. Then there will be sense and less chance that the seedlings will not die. Do not plant seeds purchased at a store later than the expiration date indicated on the package. They will not be complete.

 

Checking the usefulness of seeds

 

You need to do this in the following way. In one liter of distilled or purified water, dissolve a tablespoon of ordinary salt, which is eaten. Then put the seeds and stir, leaving them at the same time for 10 minutes. Those seeds that float on the surface are empty. They can be immediately collected and discarded, since they will not give any shoots at all.

 

How to till the soil

 

So that your seeds take root well and no pests prevent them, you need to properly work out the soil. To do this, you need to prepare the soil in advance from the fall or buy it in a store.After that, before planting seeds in it, it is usually warmed up and disinfected from various pests. To do this, rinse with a pink and hot solution of potassium permanganate. This will not only destroy various pests, but also additionally warm the soil and, thus, you can plant the seeds in full soil.

 

The soil can be additionally fertilized. To do this, in equal parts, it must be mixed with peat soil, which can be bought in a store. It is called “pepper ground”. You can add a little wood ash to it. Usually one part is put on 15 parts of the soil and mixed. You can additionally fertilize it with various mixtures for plants that are in the store - then the soil will become more nutritious and the seedlings will be stronger and healthier.

 

The next stage of seed preparation for sowing

 

Seeds must be prepared approximately 20 or 10 days before planting. To check their usefulness, you need to put those that have sunk to the bottom after the first procedure, 10 pieces each on a cotton sponge moistened with water for a day. Water should completely cover them and be warm, but not hot.

 

Then the seeds are dried and wrapped in a damp cloth, after which they are placed in a warm place for 5 days. During this time, many of them will hatch. Those that immediately hatch can be planted. The rest, too, as they emerge slowly.

 

Experts advise sprouting seeds and disinfecting them. First, they need to be lowered for 30 minutes in a cold pink manganese solution. Then they must be thoroughly washed with water and immersed in water, in a liter of which a teaspoon of wood ash or fertilizer is dissolved. Seeds are wrapped in tissue and left in solution for a day.

 

Then the seeds need to be removed, washed and dried. Put on a plate or saucer and leave for the same amount of time. Those seeds that have not yet sprouted can give their full germination in about 5 days. These procedures should be carried out with seeds that have not yet hatch. If after 5 days they cannot germinate, they are thrown away because they will not germinate.

 

What is seed hardening and what is it for?

 

This is the name of the procedure in which the seeds are exposed to various temperatures. To do this, you need to take the seeds and alternately change the temperature conditions for them for a week or 10 days. For example, 2 days the air temperature is +20 degrees, the other 2 - about 0. You can make various fluctuations so that in natural conditions the plant can adapt to weather changes. In this case, not only the stability of the seeds, but also their productivity increases. However, it is necessary that they are constantly moist at temperature extremes. Many make swings in this way - they keep them in the room, then in the refrigerator or on the balcony. There are other ways to change temperatures. Plant seeds cold - so they will better take root in the ground.

 

Is it important in what capacity seedlings will be grown

 

Yes, it matters a lot. If the glasses are small or low, then the pepper seeds will grow poorly and they will be very uncomfortable. Therefore, seedlings are grown either in crates or in deep plastic glasses. Before planting the seeds, you first need to pour drainage into them. Experts advise for this purpose to use a natural source of calcium - eggshell, which must first be crushed and sprinkled on the bottom of the glass. The seeds are usually planted at a shallow depth.

 

Then, soil is poured onto the drainage, which can be mixed with pepper soil containing a lot of peat. They plant seeds to a depth of about one and a half centimeters with sprouted tips down. Then they need to be sprinkled with earth a little and watered.Some experts recommend covering them with a film to create the necessary greenhouse effect. When the seedlings begin to shoot, the film can be removed. Watering it is worth every 4 days, and you must make sure that the plant does not experience a lack of light. Then it will be as it should. It’s not worth watering a lot so that it does not get a disease called the “black leg”. Experts recommend turning boxes with plants on opposite sides of the window so that all plants are well lit. With a lack of light, the seedlings will gradually stretch, which can lead to its ill health, and then to death. It is best to maintain the slow growth of the plant, as it will gradually be saturated with special substances useful to them. Some write that once a week or two weeks to fertilize with various fertilizers, which are in the store for gardeners and gardeners. Well and, of course, watch the room temperature. The best option is 25 degrees during the day and 17 at night. But permissible and fluctuations in one or the other direction. Under such conditions, you can get full plants in a month and a half. They can be laid out already in the open ground.