Solving problems when growing sweet peppers in a greenhouse

Main problems when growing peppers

If pepper does not produce buds for a long time, you have over-fertilized it with nitrogen fertilizer, including an infusion of weeds or manure, which is generally contraindicated for it.

A light spot forms on the top or side of the fruit, which then rots – this is blossom end rot. It is not a disease. The reason is a deficiency of potassium, calcium, or water. Water and apply potassium and calcium top dressing as indicated above.

Leaves have a brown edge or curl upward like a boat – this is a potassium deficiency. Apply a foliar top dressing to the leaves in the evening (1 tablespoon of potassium nitrate or any chlorine-free potassium fertilizer per 10 l of water), or better yet, treat the leaves with "Uniflor-buton" fertilizer (2 teaspoons per 10 l) or sprinkle half a glass of ash under each plant on moist soil.

Leaves point vertically upward – phosphorus deficiency. Top dress with superphosphate (3 tablespoons per 10 l of water).

All leaves, not just the young ones, turn pale – nitrogen deficiency. Top dress with weed infusion diluted with water 1:5, applying half a liter per bush, or with urea (2 tablespoons per 10 l) at 1 glass per plant.

Flowering disorders and methods for treating infections

Pepper flowers but does not form fruit set – pollination does not occur due to high humidity in the greenhouse, excessively high air temperature in the greenhouse, or a severe cold snap (below 12 degrees). Use "Buton" or "Zavyaz" preparations; you should spray their solutions in the first half of the day. Ventilate well in hot weather, heat the greenhouses during severe and prolonged cold snaps, and water less.

Pepper flowers and even fruit sets fall off – the plant may have been caught in a frost; there is an excess of nitrogen in the nutrition; the soil is too dry, and although pepper does not like excess soil moisture, it nevertheless cannot tolerate even the slightest drying out of the roots; there is a sharp temperature difference between day and night (more than 15 degrees); a prolonged cold snap or watering with cold water. Dropping of fruit sets can be caused by fruit rot at the point of fruit attachment. Spray the pepper in the evening on the leaves with "Uniflor-buton" fertilizer (2 teaspoons per 10 l of water).

The stem begins to rot and the plant dies – this is stem rot. Most often it appears in dense plantings with poor ventilation or high air humidity, during a prolonged cold snap (below 15 degrees).

Upon the appearance of the first signs (white coating) of the disease, take measures:

• Immediately stop watering and ventilate the greenhouses.
• Remove all leaves and suckers from the stems up to the fork, and thin out the branches on each plant.
• Remove the coating with a cloth and cover the damaged area with a paste made of chalk and potassium permanganate with water.
• Or rinse with a strong solution of potassium permanganate and dust with ash.

During a prolonged cold snap, a sharp change in temperature, or prolonged rainy weather, give the peppers calcium and potassium top dressing (2 tablespoons of calcium nitrate and 2 tablespoons of potassium carbonate or potassium sulfate per 10 l of water, 1 glass per plant).

Branches become bare, point upward, wilting leaves have a mosaic pattern, and fruits are deformed and woody – this is a viral disease called stolbur. Dig up the bush and burn it.

Prevention and protection of peppers from diseases

Disease prevention and pepper treatment

Against all pepper diseases, you should carry out preventive spraying with a mixture of three preparations. To prepare a solution per 1 l of water, you need:

The solution should be used to treat peppers once a month. Or use the protective cocktail I recommended.

It is useful to drench the soil before planting and under plantings with a "Fitosporin" solution. Any disease is easier to prevent than to get rid of.

Pest control: aphids and slugs

The main pest of pepper is aphids. How to control them has already been mentioned earlier.

Leaves are often damaged by slugs, which eat large holes. The following methods are used to control them:

• Around each stem, lay out one granule of metaldehyde (preparations "Groza" or "Meta") in a triangle or tie the lower part of the stem with nettle.
• Use a folk remedy: half a glass of 9% vinegar per 10 l of water. Spray the plants and the soil beneath them in the evening when slugs and snails go out to feed.
• Lay pieces of slate among the plantings. During the daytime, flip them over and collect the slugs that have settled under them to wait out the day.