Bell Pepper

Spicy and beautiful bell pepper is an ornamental vegetable. Among amateur vegetable growers, the variety is very popular due to its unusual and exotic appearance, as well as its pleasant taste with a slight spike.

For 10 years of cultivation, Spicy Bell has managed to please many vegetable growers. The plant has significant advantages:

• unusual shape of the fruit;
• early maturity;
• amazing taste characteristics;
• universal purpose in cooking;
• can be grown both in open soil, in a greenhouse, and on a balcony;
• a bush transplanted into a pot can successfully overwinter in a loggia or on a balcony, it can be used as a perennial crop;
• seeds retain parental genes.

There are also disadvantages:

• exactingness in care, especially in shaping bushes, removing stepchildren, pinching the top;
• an elite variety, which is difficult to find and purchase;
• average resistance to most diseases.

The culture is medium-sized, reaching a height of 150 cm, when grown indoors, the height can reach 200 cm or more. Semi-spreading shrubs with medium foliage. Leaves are medium in size, slightly wrinkled, from light green to green. The bell looks like an ornamental bush, especially when the fruits begin to ripen on it.

The fruits have an original shape - prismatic, in the form of a drooping bell, from which it got its name. The size of the peppers is 5x5 cm and weighing 70-90 g. The surface of the vegetable is smooth and glossy. Fruit wall thickness is about 4 mm. The greenish-white color of the fruits is characteristic of the period of technical ripeness, red - biological, the fruits are more like bright Christmas tree decorations.

The flavor of the pepper changes as the vegetable ripens. There is no sharpness at the stage of technical ripeness. The pungency increases as the fruit ripens. With full ripeness, the pungent taste is especially noticeable near the stalk, the fleshy pulp is more characteristic of a piquant taste from spicy to sweetish with a pleasant sourness. The aroma is delicate, fruity with hints of lemon.

The variety is widely used in cooking. Small peppercorns can be eaten fresh, added to main dishes to add an unusual taste and aroma. The vegetable is canned, pickled, dried. The variety tolerates transportation well without loss. For long-term storage, the vegetable is placed in a cool and dark place.

Early ripeness. Full biological ripeness is reached on the 130th day from the moment the first shoots appear. Long-term fruiting. Fruit collection continues until the onset of frost.

On average, from 1 sq. m receive 4-5.5 kg of unusual fruits. If grown indoors, the yield can be increased several times.

The bell has been zoned for cultivation throughout the country: northern, Northwestern, Central, Volgo-Vyatka, TsChO, North Caucasian, Middle Volga, Nizhnevolzhsky, Ural, West Siberian, East Siberian, Far Eastern.

The bushes do not grow very large, therefore, when planting, they adhere to the 20x30 cm scheme.

It is not very difficult to grow bell peppers in your garden plot, however, when growing it, you should take into account some varietal characteristics.

Sowing seeds for seedlings begins in mid-February or early March. The timing depends on the climatic conditions of the region. To obtain an early harvest, seed germination begins in mid-December, if favorable conditions can be created (light, heat and humidity).

Seeds must be purchased of high quality. Further, they can be obtained independently, for this purpose, leaving only the best fruits, which should fully ripen.

For long-term cultivation of crops in pots, you need to take care of good drainage. With the onset of warmth, the plant can be taken out into the fresh air, where the bushes are located until late autumn.

Before you start planting seeds in the ground, they are first disinfected and left in a damp cloth for several days for germination. After swelling, the seeds are sown in special peat cups. Pepper does not tolerate picking well, therefore it is better to use separate containers to get strong and healthy seedlings. Seeds begin to germinate at high temperatures + 25 ... 28 degrees. At low rates, plant development slows down.

Young seedlings are watered with settled and warm water. Two weeks before transferring to a permanent place, the seedlings are hardened, gradually increasing the time and lowering the temperature. The peppers are transferred to the greenhouse when 3-4 full-fledged leaves are formed on them, but not earlier than mid-May.

The bell should be transplanted with great care, taking care not to damage the root system. The place for landing is chosen the most sunny and protected from cold winds. A little wood ash is added to each hole; for disinfection, it is poured with copper sulfate or a weak solution of potassium permanganate. The transhipment of seedlings is carried out together with an earthen lump, the root collar is placed at the level of the soil surface. Gently sprinkle with earth, compact, watered abundantly and mulched with straw or dry grass.

Due to the fact that the pepper bushes grow quite high, and the stems and shoots are thin, capable of breaking under the weight and number of fruits, it is necessary to install trellises in advance as a support.

Bushes must be formed. The first pruning is carried out before the first ovary, all leaves and shoots are removed. This is a good prophylaxis against the development of fungal infections and promotes good ventilation. After pruning is no longer carried out, the bushes will bear fruit well. The developing shoots are tied to a trellis.

Bell pepper requires regular irrigation, the culture does not tolerate drought. Prolonged heat adversely affects the fruiting of the variety. It is necessary to constantly monitor the depth of drying of the soil, due to the fact that the roots are located almost on the surface. And you should also carefully weed and loosen the beds. It is preferable to lay a layer of mulch in the aisle.

The variety grows well on light, loose, organic-rich soils.

The plant has good immunity to diseases. As a preventive measure in the fight against late blight before flowering, the bushes are sprayed with a fungicide.