- Authors: Nastenko N.V., Kachainik V.G., Gulkin M.N.
- Year of approval: 2010
- Bush height, cm: 70-80
- Growth type: medium-sized
- Fruit shape: conical
- Fruit weight, g: 90
- Fruit color: in technical ripeness dark purple, in biological ripeness dark red
- Ripening terms: early
- Ripening month: July-September
- Yield: high
A spectacular sweet pepper variety called Big Papa delights at first glance with its unusual color. The multi-fruited variety allows you to get bountiful harvests without unnecessary effort both in the open field and in film or capital greenhouses. Summer residents distinguish it as one of the few decorative varieties cultivated in Russia.
Breeding history
Pepper Big Papa was approved for use in 2010. It was bred by the specialists of Agrofirma Aelita LLC.
Description of the variety
Big Daddy is a versatile variety. It blooms profusely, beautifully, with the formation of blue buds. Plants do not take up much space, they can be used in border plantings in landscape design. When transplanting, it can stop in development for a while.
Characteristics of the appearance of plants and fruits
The bushes of these peppers are medium-sized, up to 70-80 cm high, spreading and voluminous, with a lush crown. Leaves are slightly wrinkled, not too large, green in color. Each bush has up to 30 fruits. The stalk is flexible, drooping as the peppers ripen, directing them down.
Big Papa peppers are of medium size, weighing on average about 90 g. The shape of the fruit is cone-shaped, traditional, the surface of the skin has a strong glossy sheen. The color is changing, at the stage of technical maturity, the peppers are dark purple, in the biological stage, they are claret-red, closer to cherry. There are 3-4 chambers with seeds inside the fruit.
Purpose and taste
Fruits with thick walls and smooth skin have a good, sweet taste. The juicy pulp is suitable for making salads. Peppers have shown themselves well in conservation, imparting unusualness and color variety to the usual pickles and marinades.
Ripening terms
Early variety, ripening period lasts from July to September. The period from germination to fruiting takes 110-120 days.
Yield
The variety is considered to be high yielding. From 1 m2, an average of 5-5.4 kg is harvested.
Growing regions
Big Papa pepper is cultivated in most regions of the Russian Federation - from the Far East to the North Caucasus, the Urals, Siberia. This variety is successfully grown in the Moscow region and nearby regions.
Landing scheme
Bushes have a density of 3-4 plants per 1 m2. The optimal planting pattern is 50 × 70 cm.
To get a large and tasty harvest of pepper, you need to take care of the seedlings in advance. When growing pepper seedlings, you need to correctly determine the sowing time, pre-sowing seed treatment, prepare the necessary container and soil.
Growing and caring
Peppers of this variety are grown in a one-year cycle, with seeds sown in January-February. Bushes lead in 2 stems, as they gain height, tying them to a trellis, a single support. Pinching is not required to regulate growth.
Plants need regular watering and feeding. They are sensitive to the influence of stress factors and require protection from them. It will be useful to spray the bushes when transplanting, lowering temperatures with Epin solution. Top dressing is carried out at intervals of 14 days from the beginning of flowering, trying to avoid excessive supply of minerals to the roots. With an excess of them, the fruits will become watery.
To harvest a tasty and rich harvest of pepper, you need to comply with all the conditions of agricultural technology, and proper care begins with planting plants.Before planting pepper in open ground, it should be prepared. It is also important to take care of the seedlings and planting space in advance.
Soil requirements
The best soil for this variety is black earth, nutritious, fertile enough. With an excess of clay, the soil is preliminarily loosened, saturated with mineral and organic substances. A mixture of turf and brown leaf humus is suitable.
For good growth of pepper bushes and active fruiting, you need to regularly apply mineral and organic fertilizing to the soil. It is necessary not only to choose the right formulations, but also to use them at the right stage in the development of culture. The frequency of top dressing is always individual. It depends directly on the composition of the land on your site. The poorer the soil composition, the more often you will need to feed the pepper.
Required climatic conditions
It is recommended to grow peppers of this variety in sunny areas without drafts. Plants are resistant to a drop in temperatures, even in cold summers they bear fruit well. Lack of light can affect the rate of fruiting. In the southern regions, planting is recommended in partial shade to avoid foliage burns.
Disease and pest resistance
The variety is resistant to the most common crop diseases. With slugs, snails, mice, they fight by hilling the base of the bush in the root zone.
Pepper is one of the most common vegetables in home gardens. This culture is quite stable and unpretentious. However, under certain conditions, this plant can suffer from infections and harmful insects. Before treating peppers for diseases or pests, you need to find out the cause of the problem, otherwise the treatment may be ineffective.
Review overview
Summer residents leave numerous positive reviews about the Big Papa variety. Of particular admiration are the fruits of a rich purple-eggplant hue, which are recommended to be removed from the branches before the onset of full ripeness. The germination rate of seed material is close to 100%, there are no problems with obtaining seedlings either, but vegetable growers advise not to transfer the plants to a permanent place until the end of the period of return frosts.
The palatability of the fruit is also highly appreciated. The peppers are sweet, without bitterness. They tolerate freezing well, are suitable for stuffing, giving new colors to the usual dish.Many people grow this variety on a windowsill, balcony. It is really resistant to diseases, lesions by fungi or viruses are very rare, you can even do without preventive spraying.
The disadvantages of the variety include difficulties in determining the ripeness of fruits, as well as not very large sizes. Big dad, rather, refers to decorative peppers, the largest sizes can be obtained only in a greenhouse, with the correct selection of heat and humidity modes. The yield, despite the large number of fruits, is also not very high.
