Kapsikum (decorative pepper): proper care for the "sparkle" on the windowsill

Housewives are always trying to rationally arrange the kitchen space. This also applies to indoor plants, located in this room.

It is advisable to choose a plant so that it was beautiful and necessary.

The best option for the kitchen - decorative pepper. It looks very aesthetically pleasing, especially when fruits appear. The same fruits are applicable in cooking as a very spicy seasoning.

In addition, in the winter it will serve as a pleasant reminder of the warm green summer.

Botanical description

The plant, which is called "pepper", does not belong to the pepper family. This culture belongs to the family of bouillon and has the second name "capsicum".

The culture is widespread on all continents.Can grow in open ground and in a flower pot at room conditions.

Pepper decorative room - A perennial plant, in an apartment can grow and bear fruit up to 4-5 years. Propagated by seeds and cuttings. Height - 20-55 cm. Crown branched. The leaves are sharp, long or oblong oval, ovate. Color varies from light to dark green. May bloom singly or in bunches, flowers are more often white.

Fruits may have a different color: yellow, orange, red, purple. Moreover, a different color of the fruit can occur even if they appear on the same plant, depending on the ripening. Also, the peppers are different in shape (with a sharp or blunt end, spherical, oval) and in size (small, medium, large - maximum 5 cm). It all depends on the variety.

Flowering and fruiting are not separated in time. On the bush can be at the same time flowers, immature fruits, ripe peppers. The bush bears fruit, as a rule, very abundantly.

Bitterness, stinginess and spice gives the fruit alkaloid capsaicin.

Popular species

Types of homemade decorative peppers are many. They differ in crown, leaves, color and shape of fruits, fruiting time, peculiarities of care, etc.

Annual

Annuals varieties are also called room paprika, pepper, vegetable, sweet (although some varieties are quite sharp). They differ in that after shedding or gathering the fruit the plant may shrink. Not all the same year waiting for such a fate. In room conditions, certain species can bear fruit more than one year. Bushes are low, compact, 35-55 cm high. Fruits vary in shape and color depending on the variety.

Common varieties:

• Tepin;
• "Redhead";
• "Siberian prince";
• "Cherry Bomb";
• "Golden Baby" and others.

Shrub

Shrub varieties are very well suited for indoor conditions: window sill, loggia, balcony, etc. These are perennial plants. They successfully grow and bear fruit 5-6 years.

Bushes are dense, from 15 to 45 cm high. Fruit plentifully. On one small bush yield can be up to 50 fruits. They are small, so the shrub varieties are also called small-fruited. Often planted varieties of hot decorative pepper bush type:

• Carmen;
• "Salute";
• "Bride";
• "The Queen of Spades";
• "Flame".

Shrub pepper is also called cayenne.

Berry

One type of indoor pepper is called berry, or just berry. Named so in the form of fruits that are not conical, and flattened shape (sometimes reminiscent of the scallops).

Interesting in form variety "Bishop's Crown", but his yield is average. In the apartment you can only collect about 20 peppercorns. More often grown "Lemon Lollipop" and "White Crystal", they are traditionally fruitful. The taste of pepper is sweetish, there is not much spice in it.

This is a rather tall look. It grows up to 80 cm, so more often the apartment is placed not on the window sill, but on the floor on a loggia or balcony.

Chinese

Chinese the grade is less common. This plant is up to 50 cm tall, like other species. Its leaves are ovate, light green, slightly shriveled. Flowers are white with a greenish tinge.

Fruits vary in shape, sometimes even take the form of a flashlight. Chinese pepper has, probably, the sharpest and burning fruits.

The disadvantage is that this species has a relatively slow growth. Common varieties:

• "Santa Lucia";
• "The language of the devil";
• "Devil Yellow".

Pubescent

Pepper pubescent (or fluffy) is grown more outdoors, because it is very tall (up to 3-4 m). For cultivation in the apartment are suitable only individual varieties, for example, "Rokoto" (it is not so high).

In this species, the entire bush is densely covered with pubescence. And not only the stems and leaves, but even flowers.

It has a sharp taste, consumed raw.

The best conditions for pepper

Regarding the capriciousness and unpretentiousness of ornamental pepper and care for it at home, the opinions of lovers of ornamental plants were divided. Some people think that it is easy to care for the crop, others say that the plant is capricious and it is difficult to care for it.

Let's understand in detail the conditions of detention and features of care.

Humidity and temperature

Room pepper is a heat-loving plant. It will grow well in spring and summer at about 25 ° C. In winter, the temperature should be lower: 15-18 ° C will be fine for him. In addition, he likes night and day temperature drops, so in the summer it is better to keep it on the loggia or balcony. Humidity required moderate. Perchik loves to swim (more on that later).

Lighting

In the care of the decorative pepper in the pot to follow the lighting is necessary. For good development and fruiting, you need to place the plant on a south, south-west or west window-sill.

The culture is very light-loving, in spring and autumn it needs up to 3-4 hours of open sunlight. Only no more than 4 hours, otherwise burns on the fruits and leaves may occur. In the summer you need pritenyat, because the sun is very active. If the lighting is not enough, then you need to apply artificial.

With a lack of lighting, the bush is rare, there are few leaves on it; besides, there will be no good harvest.

Cultivation substrate

For cultivation, soil of light neutral type is used. You can buy ready-made in a specialized store, you can make the mixture yourself.

For pepper, a mixture of sod land, leaf humus and sand in a ratio of 2: 2: 1.

Planting seeds and grafting

Most often, the plant is grown from seed, but it is also possible to graft.

Growing from seed

To grow pepper from seeds, it is necessary to purchase seeds, prepare a container and soil, plant seeds, wait for germination and provide them with proper care.

Peppers need to plant in February.

There are two approaches to growing pepper from seeds. They differ in the fact that in one the reckless and direct method is used, in the second - with the cultivation of seedlings and subsequent transplantation.

1st method:

1. Potted pepper is not grown by seedlings and is not transplanted from one pot to another as it grows. Immediately you need to pick up the capacity in which the adult plant will grow. Its volume should be 4-6 liters.
2. Pour out the soil before planting seeds in the pot, ensuring good drainage.
3. Soak the seeds for 1 hour in water and place in a damp cloth for a day.
4. Plant seeds and sprinkle with soil 2-4 mm. Well moisten the soil with a spray bottle and cover with a film before germination.
5. Be sure to place the pot in a warm place.After sprouting with the advent of four leaflets pinch to form a crown.

2nd method:

1. Prepare a small container, about 200 ml, for planting seeds.
2. Make a drainage and pour into a pot of earthen mixture. Having placed the prepared seeds, cover them with soil 2-4 mm.
3. To prepare the seeds, they must be soaked in water for 1 hour and left in wet gauze for one day.
4. Well moisten the soil, cover with food film and place in a warm place for germination.
5. Shoots of pepper appear in 2-3 weeks.
6. With the advent of two pairs of leaves, pepper requires transplanting, diving and pinching.
7. The capacity for further cultivation should be about 4-6 liters, with good drainage.
8. A sprout with a large earthen clod is poured into it by transshipment, it is plentifully watered.
9. Top pinch.

Whatever method of sprouting seeds - 1st or 2nd - you choose, then pepper care is the same.

How to propagate the plant cuttings

Pepper cuttings can be done in spring and summer. To do this, cut the side shoots and place them in a container with a sand-earth mixture for rooting.

Sprinkle at first copiously, then - as the soil dries.

The tank should have good drainage. This is necessary both for the cutting and for the rooted plant, because it will continue to grow here. Replanting rooted cuttings is not necessary.

To root rooted faster, it is necessary to pinch.

Care culture

Caring for pepper type "Spark", which grows on your windowsill, is special.

Prior to that, we did not mention the brand "Spark". But the fact is that ordinary housewives call any sort of indoor decorative pepper.

How to water

Sprinkle in the spring and summer should be plentiful as the land dries. In addition, be sure to "bathe" the plant, sprinkling it 1-2 times a week, on hot days - every other day.

Watering should be done at room temperature.

In the fall, reduce watering, in winter - minimize, water moderately.

Does not tolerate overdrying of the soil.This is fraught with sluggishness of leaves and fruits, their shedding and even the death of the plant.

Than to fertilize

Like other cultures, this one must be fertilized. The plant itself will tell the owners what it lacks.

If the lower part of the leaves has acquired a purple hue - feed phosphate fertilizer. If the leaves are light - nitrogen. Only in such cases, fertilizing should not be root, and by spraying.

Root top dressings are carried out with irrigation every 2-3 weeks with complex fertilizers.

Pruning

Decorative pepper is a plant that needs pruning in order to increase yield, form a beautiful crown and enhance growth. At the first fruiting it is necessary to pinch the top of each branch. As soon as the side shoots, or sprouts that are "knocked out" of the crown, appeared, they should be cut off.

Periodically it is necessary to do trimming on half the length of each branch.

Transfer

When transplanting peppers - a lot of stress, and must be transplanted annually. Therefore, this should be done very carefully, by transshipment, adding new soil to the tank.

The main purpose of the transplant is a new soil.If you can partially replace the soil without a transplant, then do it in such a way as not to injure the plant.

Diseases and pests

The most common pests are spider mites and mealybugs. The spider mite will not appear if you regularly “bathe” the plant and moisten the air.

If the bush is cold and watering abundantly, root rot can appear. Pepper is also susceptible to infection with late blight.

Room pepper looks very aesthetically pleasing on the kitchen windowsill or balcony. In addition, the fruits have culinary value, it is used as a medicine, as an air purifier, etc. Be sure to settle this miracle plant in your apartment.