How To Grow Sweet Pepper or Bell Pepper

Posted by Lenith on Monday, November 25, 2013 in Bell Pepper, How To Grow Sweet Pepper or Bell Pepper, Sweet Pepper | No comments

Sweet Peppers or Bell Pepper -- hot or not -- may do more than round out your omelet, spice up your salsa, and make for a colorful stir-fry. They help you get some of your daily vitamins and contain compounds that may be linked to weight loss, pain reduction, and other benefits.

Peppers, by the way, are fruits, not vegetables. They have been popular for a long time, including with the ancient Aztecs. And now they’re getting new attention from researchers eager to unlock their potential health benefits.

Here’s what nutrition and health experts say about these tropical plants from the nightshade family.

• Bell peppers are low in calories! So, even if you eat one full cup of them, you get just about 45 calories. Bonus: that one cup will give you more than your daily quota of Vitamin A and C!
• They contain plenty of vitamin C, which powers up your immune system and keeps skin youthful.  The highest amount of Vitamin C in a bell pepper is concentrated in the red variety.
• Red bell peppers contain several phytochemicals and carotenoids,  particularly beta-carotene, which lavish you with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits.
• The capsaicin in bell peppers has multiple health benefits. Studies show that it reduces ‘bad’ cholesterol, controls diabetes, brings relief from pain and eases inflammation.
• If cooked for a short period on low heat, bell peppers retain most of their sweet, almost fruity flavor and flavonoid content, which is a powerful nutrient.
• The sulfur content in bell peppers makes them play a protective role in certain types of cancers.
• The bell pepper is a good source of Vitamin E, which is known to play a key role in keeping skin and hair looking youthful.
• Bell peppers also contain vitamin B6, which is essential for the health of the nervous system and helps renew cells.
• Certain enzymes in bell peppers, such as lutein, protect the eyes from cataracts and macular degeneration later in life.

How to grow sweet pepper or bell pepper

• Prepare the land thoroughly by plowing and harrowing. Apply lime 1 month before panting if soil pH is below 5.6 at the rate of 3-5 tons per hectare.
• Prepare 1.0m wide bed spaced 0.5m in between at 30cm high
• Mix decomposed animal manure or compost at rate of 1.0kg/linear meter bed
• Apply basal fertilizer 2 bags 46-0-0, 2.5 bags 18-46-0, and 2.75 bags 0-0-60 per hectar
• Cover with plastic mulch right after the fertilizer is applied; use bamboo staple sticks to fix the edges.
• Make holes just before transplanting; 2 rows at around 50cm apart at 45cm between hills.

Seedling Production

• Fill seedling trays with sowing medium. Sowing medium can either be peat moss or potting mix prepared from garden soil, compost, washed coconut coir, rice hull and or sand. Be sure to have good water holding capacity and good drainage.
• Sow one seed per cell in seedling trays. One hectare needs 200g seeds.
• Cover seedlings with insect proof net or place inside screen house
• Water seedlings every morning or as needed (not too wet, not too dry) and use fine sprinkler
• Drench with foliar fertilizer when two true leaves appear.
• To prevent damping-off drench with propamocarb hydrochloride (Previcur-N)
• Harden seedlings 4-5days prior to transplanting by decreasing the amount of water and gradually exposing them to direct sunlight.

Transplanting

• Under good condition, four weeks-old seedling with 4-5 true leaves is ready for transplanting. Transplant late in the afternoon
• Irrigate immediately to establish good root-soil contact
• If there is intense heat, fill the hole with soil up to the level of plastic mulch

Irrigation

• Sweet pepper is less tolerant to drought. Irrigate weekly during dry season. Closer interval when evaporation is high or when crop is flowering and/or setting fruit.
• Furrow or Drip irrigation is recommended. If overhead irrigation is used, avoid late afternoon or evening irrigation.
• On rainy season, drain fields quickly after heavy rain

Fertilization

Two weeks after transplanting
1.5 bag 46-0-0 or 3.25 bags 21-0-0 per hectare. Apply 10 grams in small hole near the base and cover with soil.

Four weeks after transplanting
Mix 0.5 bag 46-0-0, 2 bags 18-46-0, 2.5 bags 0-0-60 and apply 10 grams per hill. Dibble a hole 10 cm from the base of the plant, place the fertilizer mix and cover with soil.

Six weeks after transplanting
apply 2 bags 46-0-0 or 4.5 bags 21-0-0 whatever fertilizer is available. Place in a hole 10cm from the base and cover with soil

    Repeat application if in 2 weeks interval if plants are still vigorous and healthy to prolong harvest period
    Apply foliar fertilizer to boast plant and further increase yield.

Trellising & Weeding

• Construct trellis using bamboo poles or stake at 2.5 meters apart on both sides of the bed.
• Attach G.I. wire to bamboo post and tie sagging stems and branches on G.I. wire using twine or blue string.
• Do hand weeding when needed. At vegetative stage canals between bed can be sprayed with herbicide.

Harvesting

Harvest in the morning. Depending on the market requirements, harvest green or breaker stage at 3-4 days interval.

Article sources:
www.care2.com/health-benefits-of-bell-peppers
www.eastwestseed.com/SweetPepper