How to pinch peppers?

If you plan to grow peppers in your dacha, you should remember some important rules for caring for such a plant. An important place is occupied by the pinching procedure. Today we will talk about how to conduct it correctly, at what time it is better to perform it.

Pinching is a procedure in which the tops are removed. It is considered one of the stages in the formation of a bush, along with pinching and pruning the lower leaves.

Peppers need to be pinched for specific purposes.

• Limiting the growth and development of new branches that can grow too much. They will draw all the nutrients from the ground, which eventually leads to the appearance of small fruits.
• Improving the illumination and ventilation of plants. All parts of the bushes will receive the necessary amount of light, condensate will not accumulate inside, which can lead to falling ovaries, yellowing of leaf blades, loss or reduction in yield.
• Stimulation of fruit ripening, increase in yield.

Thanks to this treatment, the growth of vegetation upwards is suspended and the growth of stepchildren is activated, which give the plants a spherical shape.

Agronomists note that the need for pinching will largely depend on the characteristics of a particular variety, as well as on weather conditions. Excessive precipitation along with elevated temperatures make the pinching procedure mandatory.

In such processing, first of all, vigorous varieties of pepper need. Bushes of such varieties can reach a height of 2-3 meters, they are distinguished by a rather powerful and lush green mass. Without formation, they will grow and develop poorly. These types include varieties “Orange Miracle”, “Merchant”, “Boatswain”.

In addition, it should be borne in mind that all varieties of sweet pepper can be divided into two large groups.

• Indeterminate. They will need treatment to limit the growth of greenery, for better ventilation.
• Determinant. They do not need the mandatory formation of a bush, subject to all the rules of planting and growing, they will be able to grow and bear fruit even without pinching.

If you do not pinch, then this can lead to negative consequences.

• Weak development of the root system in peppers, as a result, the bush will receive too little of the necessary nutrients.
• Yield decline. In the area of ​​internodes, new shoots will begin to appear, on which additional ovaries appear.
• Excessive growth of green mass. This applies to tall varieties. As a result, the bushes grow too powerful and large, but the fruits at the same time become very small, with thin walls.
• development of various diseases. When forming, the plants will grow strongly in all directions, they will be very crowded, this will lead to the fact that the culture will start to hurt.

If you purchased pepper seeds, you should read the information on the package in detail. Often the manufacturer indicates whether pinching is necessary or not.

Often, gardeners pinch seedlings. This allows you to achieve maximum yield in the future. And also the procedure will stimulate the development and growth of lateral stepchildren, prevents the flowers from appearing too early after planting in the soil. As a result, strong and strong bushes grow with a sufficient number of ovaries, which gradually turn into full-fledged fruits.

The procedure should be performed only during certain periods. The first pinching is carried out when 5-7 small leaves appear on the plant. As a rule, at that time the vegetation reaches a height of about 10-15 centimeters.

Further, the procedure is carried out throughout the entire growing season. And it doesn’t matter where exactly the crop is grown, in the open field or in a greenhouse, greenhouse.

Next, we will take a closer look at how to correctly pinch bell peppers step by step. One main shoot is gaining strength first in a culture. The branches will develop only when it reaches a length of 25-30 cm. The root shoot will need to be carefully cut, at the same time about 4-5 centimeters in length are removed.

After that, excess shoots are removed. This will be the second step of the procedure. In order to eventually get a plentiful and healthy harvest, the strongest and largest shoots (3-4 pieces) are selected, all the rest are pinched.

During the third stage, non-fertile parts are removed. Do this only after the ovaries are formed. For vegetation, these parts will be absolutely useless.

When performing the fourth stage, the skeletal branches are removed. The procedure is carried out only after the formation of small fruits. This will significantly improve the growth of vegetation, and also contributes to faster ripening of fruits.

After that, pinching will need to be performed only as needed. In this case, you need to focus on the ovaries and the growth rate of the culture. The upper part of the pepper is shortened about once every two weeks in the spring and throughout the summer. In autumn, the procedure is best done only once a month.

According to this technology, pinching occurs both in the open field and in the greenhouse. But it should be borne in mind that in the latter case, such procedures can be performed more often, since there is a limited amount of space in greenhouse structures, so it is often possible to observe excessive planting density, which adversely affects the state of seedlings.. In order to thin out the rows a little, pinching is also used.

There are some important guidelines to keep in mind when pinching peppers. Many experienced gardeners advise to carry out such procedures only in clear weather without precipitation and wind. However, it should not be too sunny.

Remember that the treatment is performed exclusively on healthy plants. Diseased or damaged crops may not be able to withstand it and simply die. The formation should be carried out with a sharp, well-ground knife or garden shears. At the same time, the selected tool is pre-treated with a disinfectant so as not to infect the pepper with anything. For disinfection, you can use chlorine-containing solutions or alcohol.

All removed parts of the bushes are immediately removed from the site, it is recommended to burn them. Do not forget that it is strictly forbidden to remove all unnecessary shoots at once.

Pinching is not carried out immediately after abundant watering, because wet plants may contain various harmful organisms, infectious agents. After completing the procedure, watering is not carried out for several more days so that they can recover faster.

All places of cuts that appeared after pinching are recommended to be treated with disinfectants. Sometimes crushed activated carbon is used for this purpose. There are also special preparations that can be purchased in specialized stores. If disinfection is not done, this can lead to infection of the bush.

If you plan to receive varietal seed material in the future, then you do not need to cut the root bud. The fruit that ripens from it must be left until it is fully ripe.