- Authors: SAKATA VEGETABLES EUROPE S.A.S.
- Name synonyms: Khalif
- Year of approval: 2014
- Bush height, cm: 50-80
- Growth type: medium-sized
- Fruit shape: cuboid
- Fruit weight, g: 80-160
- Fruit color: greenish-white in technical ripeness, light red in biological ripeness
- Ripening terms: early or mid-season
- Ripening month: June July August
Among the many varieties of sweet peppers offered for growing in gardens and farms, there is a list of many beloved varieties that give consistently good yields without requiring special agricultural skills. One of these is the mid-season Khalifa pepper, Japanese selection.
Breeding history
The Khalifa hybrid species was obtained by scientists from the Japanese corporation Sakata Vegetables Europe S. A. S. in 2011. After 3 years (in 2014), the vegetable crop was added to the State Register for the North Caucasus region. You can grow a vegetable in open ground, as well as under a film and in greenhouse structures, but the culture is most productive, growing on garden ridges.
Description of the variety
Caliph is a medium-sized compact plant of an indeterminate type. In a favorable environment, the standard bush grows to a height of 50-80 cm. The plant is characterized by medium branching, abundant thickening of green elongated ovoid leaves with a slight surface wrinkling, a fragile root system and a mixed type of flowering.
Characteristics of the appearance of plants and fruits
Pepper Khalifa has an attractive appearance. Vegetables weighing 80-160 grams and 10-12 cm long ripen on a healthy bush. As a rule, from 8 to 12 fruits ripen on each bush. The shape of the pepper is cuboid. At the stage of technical maturity, the fruits have a greenish-white color, and as they ripen, they are evenly covered with a light red color. The peel of the peppers is quite dense (6-7 mm), shiny, with barely noticeable ribs on the surface.
The harvested crop easily tolerates transportation, and can also be stored for a long time (up to 2-3 months) in the refrigerator, without losing its taste and useful properties. At room temperature, peppers wither quickly and take on an unattractive presentation.
Purpose and taste
Pepper Khalifa is characterized by excellent taste. Pepper pulp has a fleshy, tender, juicy and firm texture without wateriness. Inside the vegetable there are usually 3-4 chambers with small seeds. The pepper has a balanced taste - sweet, slightly sugary, complemented by a pronounced aroma. It is characteristic that there is no bitterness and pungency in the taste.
Ripe peppers are eaten fresh, added to cold and hot dishes, stuffed, pickled, canned and frozen.
Ripening terms
Vegetable culture belongs to the class of early maturing species. The growing season lasts 100-105 days. Season the vegetables gradually. You can shoot and eat peppers at the stage of technical maturity, because at this time they already have excellent taste. When grown in a greenhouse, the first crop can be removed in the first half of July, and in the beds - from late July to early August.
Yield
This variety is famous for its good yields. If you provide the plant with proper care, then from 1 m2 of plantings you can get from 7 to 14 kg of fleshy peppers. On an industrial scale, the average yield is 225-252 kg / ha.
Landing scheme
It is important not only to provide the vegetable with good care, but also to correctly place the bushes on the site, which will provide the plant with the necessary air circulation, access to heat and light. It is recommended to plant up to 4 pepper bushes per 1 m2. The optimal scheme for landing is considered to be a 40x40 cm scheme.
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
The culture is grown through seedlings. For cultivation, it is necessary to wait for the period when the soil and air warms up well, and return spring frosts will be left behind. In the greenhouse, planting is carried out in May, and in the garden - in early June. Seedling bushes should be strong, healthy, with 2-3 true leaves and a developed root system. The best place to plant peppers will be an area where onions, zucchini, carrots or pumpkin previously grew.
Agricultural technology of vegetable crops consists of a chain of standard procedures - watering, feeding, loosening and weeding, shaping and thinning a bush, garter if necessary, prevention of viruses and insect infestations.
It is recommended to water the plants using a drip system. Watering is carried out often - every 2-3 days, since the Khalif pepper is a moisture-loving culture. During the growing season, fertilizers should be applied at least 3-4 times, alternating organic matter and mineral complexes. With prolonged heat, the plant needs stress relief. For this, special sprayers are used, for example, "Epin".
Pruning is carried out at the time of the growing season, which will eliminate shading, which sweet peppers do not like. Fungicides and insecticides are used to prevent various diseases and pest attacks.
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
Pepper is not particularly picky about the quality of the soil - the main thing is that it is light, fluffy, nutritious, breathable and moisture-permeable. In addition, the culture does not like acidic and swampy soil, so the groundwater must be deep.
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 plant a vegetable crop in an area where there is enough light, heat, air. Pepper is thermophilic, but under the influence of direct sunlight it can get burns, so the plant is ideally suited for a changeable mode throughout the day - sun-partial shade.
Disease and pest resistance
Pepper Khalifa has good immunity, so the plant can withstand many diseases - the tobacco mosaic virus, top rot, black leg. Pepper is tolerant to verticillary wilt. Whitefly, slugs, aphids, bear and Colorado potato beetle are considered dangerous insects for the culture.
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.