How to choose a variety and properly grow indoor peppers on a windowsill or balcony

To grow fresh vegetables yourself, you don’t need to have a summer cottage. Indoor decorative peppers do not require special care and take up minimal space on the windowsill or balcony. If you follow the recommendations of experts, planting and growing this plant will not cause any difficulties.

What is indoor pepper?

Indoor pepper is a perennial unpretentious plant that is grown both in open and closed ground, as well as at home on a windowsill. Most varieties are used for food as spices and a source of vitamins.

Characteristics and description

The indoor plant has a compact size. The branched crop reaches a height of 20 to 50 cm. The bushes have a lot of leaves and fruits. In the summer, peppers are taken out to the balcony window sill and, if possible, transplanted into a greenhouse. Before the temperature drops, the peppers are transplanted back into the pot.

Varieties of indoor peppers that can be grown on a windowsill

Indoor peppers not only produce a harvest, but are also interesting for their attractive appearance. Each variety has different shades, shape, structure of leaves and fruits, as well as the appearance of flowers.

Many housewives grow this plant in their apartments solely for interior decoration. The right variety will perfectly complement the design of a kitchen or room.

Decorative

Depending on the variety, the shape, color and size of vegetables differ. Some ornamental plants have fruits that are unsuitable for consumption. These peppers have poisonous roots and tops.

Popular varieties:

1. Goldfinder. The fruits of this plant are inedible. The variety is grown to decorate the house. Vegetables have a beautiful bright yellow color.
2. Clown. The bush grows up to 35 cm. The plant has round or slightly elongated fruits of yellow, orange or red color. Pepper produces abundant fruit in bright sun for 2-3 months. The fruits are inedible.
3. Potted paprika. It is an annual plant that bears sweet, bright red fruits. After collecting the peppers, the bush dries out. The variety grows from 35 to 50 cm.
4. Firework. Shrub pepper has a height of 15 to 20 cm. The culture grows well in an apartment. The fruits are used for seasoning and preservation.
5. Jellyfish. An unusual variety of decorative pepper. The plant is strewn with beautiful fruits that reach 5 cm in length. It received this name because of the similarity of the fruits to the tentacles of a jellyfish. The culture grows up to 25 cm in height. The fruits of this variety have a very piquant taste.
6. Black Pearl. The plant is quite unusual, as over time it changes its color from green to black. The fruits are round, slightly elongated, also black, but when ripe they turn dark red.
7. Troll. The bush is spreading, reaching a height of 30-40 cm. As it matures the fruits change color from green to purple, and when fully ripe they turn red. Peppers are edible, have a pungent, hot taste - they are used for preservation, drying and making powder.

Edible

To grow indoor peppers at home, varieties with small leaves and a weak root system or unpretentious hybrid crops are most often chosen. Perennial plants with sharp tastes like fruit. They have good characteristics and bear fruit well in limited spaces.

The most popular varieties of peppers:

1. Aladdin. At home, the bush reaches 50 cm. This is an early plant, fruiting is abundant and long-lasting. The small pods are cone-shaped. As they ripen, the aromatic and pungent fruits change color. Ripe peppers are red in color.
2. Ogonyok. The fruits of indoor peppers ripen in an average period of 115 to 120 days. The plant is medium-sized, branched. One pod weighs 35-45 g, has a bright red color and a pungent taste.
3. Explosion Amber. The crop is well suited for growing on a windowsill due to the compactness of the bush. The plant reaches a height of no more than 30 cm. The fruits ripen quickly, their length reaches 2.5 cm. As they ripen, the purple pods turn pale to a yellowish tint, then become orange, turn pink and complete their development in a dark red color. Ripe fruits have a fruity flavor, but do not lose their pungency.
4. Poinsettia. The culture grows up to 35 cm, has many oblong leaves. The fruits reach 7.5 cm in length and have a conical shape with a bend at the tip. The variety is early ripening and reaches biological maturity in 70–80 days. The pods change color from milky to red as they ripen. Ripe fruits have a medium-spicy taste.

When purchasing decorative pepper seed material, carefully study the characteristics of the variety, try to purchase seeds in gardening stores and pay attention to the photo of the packaging. Often, instead of home-grown crops, they sell grains of ordinary hot pepper, which are not intended for growing indoors.

On a note. To collect seeds, wait until the fruits are completely ripe. Then they are well dried, crushed and the seeds are selected. The grains remain viable for 3-4 years.

Requirements for premises and location

Pepper loves an abundance of light, heat and moisture. The culture grows well on windows and balconies that face the south and southeast.. The daytime air temperature should be +22-26°C, and at night within +16-19°C. If these values ​​drop to +13°C, the plants will die. They are also negatively affected by drafts. Growing peppers on the balcony in winter is allowed if it is well insulated or additionally heated.

In winter, daylight hours decrease, so additional lighting from fluorescent lamps is evenly installed above the plants. They are attached at a distance of 30-50 cm from the tops of the bushes. To extend daylight hours, the lights are turned on before dawn and after sunset. Plants need lighting for 10-12 hours.

How to grow correctly

Sowing indoor peppers is done at any suitable time of the year. If planting was carried out in August-September, the harvest will ripen around November-December.

To plant pepper seeds, purchase a soil mixture from a gardening store or prepare a nutrient substrate yourself. To do this, mix the following components:

• river sand, perlite or vermiculite (1 part);
• peat (2 parts).

Before sowing seeds, the soil for plants must be disinfected by watering with Biofungicide, Fitosporin or a weak solution of potassium permanganate. This procedure is carried out to prevent the development of fungal diseases. Some people calcine the soil in the oven in advance.

Pepper grains are germinated in humid conditions before planting. To do this, the seeds are wrapped in damp cotton cloth. To keep the moisture longer, cover the saucer with seeds with a lid.

For several days, the container with grains is placed in a dark and warm place with an air temperature of +25-27°C. The seeds are kept moist and periodically inspected for sprouts. When the seeds hatch, they are planted in prepared soil.

Growing instructions

Those who have been growing indoor peppers for a long time plant germinated seeds from late February to early March.. The day before sowing, the soil is well moistened. After this time has passed, the grains are deepened into the soil by 1 cm and the container is covered with transparent glass or film. Next, the container is placed in a warm, dark place until shoots appear.

When the seedlings have 3-4 leaves, they are transplanted into separate pots. Choose a beautiful container with a volume of about 3-5 liters. At the bottom of the container there must be holes for draining excess water and a drainage layer of 2-3 cm.

The quality of watering is of considerable importance for peppers. Moisturizing is not carried out as abundantly as regularly. To do this, use settled water at room temperature (not lower than 20°C). Experienced vegetable growers water mature bushes when the foliage becomes slightly limp. However, when the plant begins to bloom and bear fruit, this is not allowed.

For your information. Some varieties of hot peppers especially need air humidification, so they are not only regularly moistened, but also the bushes themselves are sprayed.

Fertilize the crop once every 10-14 days, mainly in the spring and summer. For this purpose, complex mineral supplements are used, for example, “Nitrophoska”, “Rastvorin”, “Kemira-lux” or “Kemira-universal”. To prepare, one teaspoon of the drug is stirred in 5 liters of water. Before fertilizing, the plants are watered, and in a pot, and not in a tray.

For year-round fruiting of pepper, the plant is kept at a daytime temperature of +22-24°C, and at night at +17-19°C. To prevent the bushes from suffering from overheating on the windowsill in winter, reduce the power of the heating device.

In the spring, peppers are transplanted into new soil. With the onset of warm weather, the crop is taken out to the balcony and placed where there are no drafts. Some vegetable growers plant indoor peppers in a greenhouse, but do not do this if their sweet counterpart is growing there. In another case, the plants are cross-pollinated, and instead of sweet peppers, you get bitter ones, albeit large ones.

Nuances of home care

When pepper sprouts appear, the container with the seedlings is moved to the windowsill and the air temperature is lowered to +20-22°C. The film or glass is removed and illuminated for up to 12 hours using lamps.

During transplantation, pinching of the main root is not carried out, since the crop does not tolerate this event well and slows down in growth.

For the first time, the seeds are planted in disposable cups with a diameter of no more than 5 cm and a height of up to 10 cm. Then, replanting is carried out as the crop grows. Plants are moved to another container of larger diameter when the roots begin to crowd together.Pots for adult bushes are chosen with a height of 15-25 cm and a diameter of about 20-30 cm.

Indoor pepper is demanding when it comes to soil moisture and does not like cold water. Plants are watered moderately with settled room water, as the top layer of soil dries, but allowing moisture to be absorbed from the pan. If there is still water in the pan after 30 minutes, pour it out.

On a note. The higher the room temperature, the more often the soil is watered.

Indoor hot peppers are not planted, but in order for the plant to branch better, its top is pinched.

Diseases and pests

Hot indoor peppers, like regular ones, are susceptible to fungal diseases and various pests. Therefore, it is worth finding out in advance what problems plants may have and how to deal with them.

1. Spider mite. Due to the intervention of this pest, the growth of the crop stops, the leaves begin to curl, on which the mite leaves its web. It is destroyed by spraying plants with Actellik, but at home the best biological products are Bitoxibacillin or Fitoverm.
2. Aphid. Eats young shoots of the crop. Aphids are gotten rid of by treating the bushes with biological preparations “Fitoverm” or “Bitoxibacillin”.
3. Blackleg. This is a fungal disease that affects seedlings. The stem at the base of the sprouts becomes thin and black. The disease appears due to excessive soil moisture or lack of lighting - this leads to the death of young plants. To prevent the disease, water the soil and spray the sprouts with Previkur fungicide.

Important! The packaging of each drug against diseases and pests indicates the waiting period, after which the fruits can be eaten.

Tobacco also helps in pest control.It is simply poured onto the plant itself and the surface of the soil in the container.

Where to apply

Hot peppers are widely used to prepare savory dishes. The fruits are great for canning and making various sauces. Hot pepper increases appetite and goes well with many dishes, especially first courses.

It is also used in medicine. Medicinal tinctures are made from it, which are used against indigestion, radiculitis and neuralgia. Hot peppers have been proven to lower blood pressure.

On a note. If you grind the dried fruits without seeds in a coffee grinder, you get a natural spicy seasoning.

Conclusion

If you love indoor plants, then growing ornamental peppers will definitely captivate you. This plant does not require much care and will thank you with vitamin fruits all year round. In addition, it will decorate the interior of the house.