Those who want to decorate their room with vegetation usually want their care not to require too much time and attention. Capsicum is attributed to this kind of house plants - this pepper is warm and photophilous, in all other respects it is unpretentious. If you are going to improve your interior, find out more about it.

Description and characteristic

Flavored peppers were imported from the tropics of Mexico and Guatemala. But over time, it was distributed and began to grow around the world. It has taken root and grows well on open ground in Ukraine and Moldova, in the south of Russia, in Central Asia. Dwarf varieties are called ornamental and are grown, most often, as a houseplant. At home, subject to all requirements, they can live for several years, blooming and bearing fruit every year.

Did you know? The name of the plant "capsicum" (capsicum) comes from the Greek word "capto" - a bite.

Decorative pepper is a shrub or shrub, it is annual or perennial of various heights from 20 to 120 cm. The foliage is solid. The flowers that form in a fork in the foliage are single or paired. Their color is white, purple, and sometimes flowers with cream or purple patterns are found. Stems are pubescent or smooth.The fruits of the plant have a burning taste, which occurs due to the substance present in them - capsaicin. Pepper juice can cause burns on the skin or on the mucous membrane, so eat it is not worth it. In case of a burn, dairy products should be consumed - milk, kefir, sour cream, as ordinary water will not be able to relieve a burning sensation. But moderate use of pepper in the form of seasoning for dishes has a beneficial effect on the human body.

Pros and cons of growing

• Pros:
• When cooking the first and second courses, pepper will add a pleasant aroma and taste.
• Based on Capsicum, you can make a tincture that can be used for medicinal purposes.
• When added to dishes, appetite can be stimulated.
• This plant can decorate any interior.
• Unpretentious when grown.
• It can be grown even on the windowsill.
• High germination.

• Minuses:
• Small fruits.
• Do not use in large quantities, as you can burn the mucous membrane.
• It is necessary to carefully monitor the temperature regime, otherwise the plant may die.

Planting and growing peppers

The main stages of cultivation:

1. Seeds are soaked in a growth stimulator for 8-12 hours. It can be potassium humate or a special remedy “Epina”. In order to be able to enjoy the harvest in summer, it is recommended to plant germinated seeds in February or March.
2. They must be planted in the soil, maintaining a small distance between them, to a depth of 1 cm.
3. Then you need to cover the landing site with polyethylene or film for food. Put in a warm place where the temperature is maintained +23 ... + 27 ° С, until emergence.
4. After emergence of shoots the film needs to be removed, and the flowerpot can be rearranged in a cool place.
5. After a month, the sprouts can be planted using the method of transshipment - moving together with a lump of soil.

Important! Before planting Capsicum in a permanent place, it is required to harden the seedlings for several days. To do this, you need to take it to the balcony for a whole daylight, and leave before landing at night on the balcony with open windows.

Apical shoots that have been cut from an adult plant are also used for cultivation. Before the roots appear, they must be put into water, previously treated with a growth stimulator.

What should be the conditions

The plant needs diffused lighting. Sun exposure is not advisable, as it may cause burns on the leaves. In summer, the Capsicum pot is ideally placed on the balcony, on the summer terrace, or in a place where there is no direct sunlight. In spring and autumn, the shrub needs bright lighting so that the stems do not lose their decorativeness and splendor, and also so that they do not stretch out in length.

In the room where the plant is grown, it is ideal to maintain the temperature within +20 ... + 25 ° С. The room must be regularly ventilated to ensure fresh air. If it is not possible to provide enough light in the winter with pepper, it is recommended to rearrange it in a cool place with a temperature of + 15 ° C.

Shrub requires high humidity in the living environment. To achieve this, it is enough to carry out the humidification procedure daily with a sprayer. If a flowerpot with decorative pepper is placed on a tray with moistened expanded clay, this will also help to solve the problem of moisture.

Optimal landing times

Capsicum can be planted at room conditions for a whole year. The best time is to plant pepper in late March - early April, or in July - early August. In the case of sowing in the winter, it will be necessary to illuminate the seedlings with the help of special lamps.

Soil requirements

For planting, it is best to use a substrate, which contains a mix of turf and leafy soil, sand and peat, in a ratio of 4: 4: 1: 4. At the bottom of the tank before planting, you need to lay out a dense drainage layer.

Pepper Care After Planting

This variety of pepper is unpretentious, therefore, does not require special care conditions. Conduct standard procedures for this type of plant: timely watering and top dressing, pruning and transplanting.

Watering and feeding

In the warm season, in spring and summer, the plant needs abundant watering. Water the bush only after drying of the upper substrate. With the advent of autumn days, you need to water less often, and in winter the frequency is reduced even more. For watering, water of room temperature is used. To control soil moisture, it is recommended to use an analog soil meter.

Mineral products are ideally suited as fertilizers. Fertilized twice a year, the favorable period for this is from March to September. In winter, you can feed with a regularity of 1 time in 20 days and only if the shrub is provided with sufficient lighting.

Pruning

For faster growth of perennial shrubs, it is necessary to prune it at the end of winter or at the beginning of spring. The stems are cut to half length. To achieve more fruits, when the first ovaries appear, pinch the tops of the stems. However, since Capsicum is most often sown from seeds in the spring, and thrown out in the autumn, it is not cut off.

Propagation Features

Propagated by seed or by rooting cuttings. Shoots, partially or half lignified, take root in the soil, which consists of soil and sand, at a temperature of +20 ... + 25 ° С. Seeds are recommended to be sown in a soil of similar composition in the spring months.

Important! Peppers grown from seeds will bloom next year.

Transfer

Capsicum does not respond well to transplantation. Based on this, experts recommend placing the plant in a different container once a year using the transshipment method. During this, part of the old soil mixture needs to be replaced with a new one.

Pest and Disease Control

The most common pests of this variety are mealybugs. With dry and warm air, red spider mites and aphids are found on the bushes. In the event of excess moisture in the substrate, as well as in cold conditions, root rot may develop. To avoid this, it is necessary to monitor the humidity and temperature conditions. From viruses help spraying skim milk.

Capsicum Growth Recommendations

When growing Capsicum, certain problems can occur, and in order to save the plant, you need to solve them in time.

Did you know? In Europe, blooming peppers are used as Christmas decorations. It is also often called “Christmas pepper”.

The following difficulties may arise:

1. Shriveled fruits. This may be due to insufficient moisture, it is recommended to spray the bush more often.
2. Falling color of the plant. The reason is the lack of moisture.
3. Falling foliage. In this case, it is necessary to increase the luminous flux, you can also set additional backlight.
4. Fading and loose leaves. This may be due to the fact that the plant freezes. The recommended temperature should be set.
5. Slow growth of the bush and too small leaves. This is due to insufficient light and nutrition. Capsicum needs to provide brighter lighting or feed it with appropriate mineral fertilizers.

So, Capsicum pepper is a beautiful ornamental plant that will not require constant attention and care, but some features are still worth considering. When used in moderation, this pepper is very useful, but you must be extremely careful, as excessive consumption can lead to burns.