Habanero pepper: growing at home, variety description with photo

The Habanero Pepper is the most pungent type of pepper and belongs to the Chile family. Those who, after the sharpness of the Habanero, can taste it, say that it has hints of fruit and citrus. Pepper has a delicate floral aroma.

Habanero grows in South America and Mexico. From the 15th century, it began to spread throughout all countries. In Mexico, they tell a legend that, having chosen victims, the Aztecs told them that instead of a ritual ceremony, they could drink 2 cups of Habanero tincture.

Description of fruits

Fruits in the form of a small heart, their weight is 50 g. Up to 2-3 kg are harvested from one plant. Up to 90 peppers can be tied on one bush.

Fruits are varied in color: they can be orange, yellow, red, dark brown. By growing the plant correctly, several crops can be harvested per season.

Habanero Varieties

Peppers become scalding due to a special substance - capsaicin. Scoville invented the spiciness scale for peppers. According to his scale, all varieties of Habanero are very hot.

The most mild is White Habanero, which has whitish fruits. The place in the middle is occupied by a golden-red pepper. Next come the yellowish Fatali peppers, the birthplace of the plants is South Africa. A sharper variety called "Devil's Tongue". Breeders from America have bred a variety of orange peppers Tigerpaw NR. The letters NR mean that the variety does not infect nematodes.

Even hotter, the Chocolate Habanero has dark brown peppers. The hottest varieties with red fruits are the Californian Red Savina and Habanero, bred in the Caribbean.

Useful properties of pepper

Habanero pepper contains a large amount of: vitamins (A, B, C, D) and trace elements (calcium, iodine, phosphorus, potassium, iron).

Due to the composition when using pepper:

• slags and toxins are removed;
• speeds up metabolism;
• slows down the aging of the body;
• improves the functioning of the stomach and intestines;
• a person is cured of viral diseases and colds;
• stress resistance increases;
• depression subsides;
• pressure drops;
• back pain disappears;
• arthritis is cured.

Peppers contain capsaicin, which promotes hair growth. You can drop a drop of juice into the hair mask. But they put quite a bit of Habanero in dishes. Pepper is added for 1 minute, and then removed.

You need to remember about contraindications: Habanero is not recommended for children, ulcers and nursing mothers.

Pepper is part of the patch, giving the product analgesic properties. Habanero is also added to frostbite ointment.

Sowing seeds

Growing pepper starts with sowing seeds.

Step by step seed sowing:

1. 1. Sow seeds in February. Wrap them in a damp cloth. Put in heat. Heat is the key, if it is not there, then the seeds will not germinate at all.
   2. Make sure that the moisture does not dry out. Wait 3 days.
   3. For planting seeds, prepare peat pots with sterilized soil from 1 part peat, 2 parts earth, 1 part vermiculite, 1 part humus. The soil temperature should be around 26°C. The earth should be slightly acidic with a pH of 6.5.Morris Green Universal Soil can be purchased instead.
   4. When after 3-4 days the seeds swell and begin to germinate, then plant them, deepening 0.7 cm into the soil. Water the soil before planting. Cover with clear glass or polyethylene.

1. Constantly slightly moisten the ground with a spray bottle so as not to wash away the seeds.
2. In 2 - 4 weeks the first sprouts will appear, then remove the glass or film.
3. Young sprouts can be illuminated with fluorescent lamps. Place the lamps at a distance of 10 cm from the seedlings. It is better if the peppers have 16 hours of daylight hours.
4. When 2 true leaves grow, dive the seedlings. You can transplant it into plastic cups. Further cultivation of seedlings is to reduce daylight hours to 12 hours, leaving the lamp 50 cm from the seedlings.
5. Remember to water the seedlings, but don't flood them.
6. When watering, you can add root or some complex fertilizers to the water: "Ideal", "Florist Growth".
7. 2 weeks before transplanting, harden the seedlings, take them out for 1 - 2 hours on the loggia, gradually lengthening the time the plants are outside.

After 8 to 10 weeks after sowing the seeds, when the seedlings are 15 cm tall, continue growing by transplanting each seedling into a large pot. Place the pots on the windowsill. If you want to transplant a pepper to a plot or a greenhouse, then remember that the air temperature should be +21 ° C during the day, and from 12 ° C at night.

Plant care

Let's look at how to create optimal conditions for harvesting a rich and tasty pepper crop.

What conditions are required

Habanero pepper is a perennial plant. Grows at home for several years. Growing peppers is all about providing warmth and bright sunshine. Pepper does not tolerate drafts. Prefers soil that is slightly acidic.

If you decide to grow pepper at home, then put it on the southern windowsill.

Feeding

Feed the bushes for the first time 15 days after transplanting.

Feed them with mineral complex fertilizers for tomatoes and compost. When the pepper begins to bloom, then feed it with growth stimulants.

Dutch fertilizer BioGrow from organics is very suitable. Half a liter of top dressing is dissolved in 250 liters of water. This is enough for 10 years of feeding peppers growing at home.

Irrigation

Young bushes constantly water, but make sure that there is no stagnation of water in pots, otherwise the plant will get sick.

Severely reduce watering in winter. Water the pepper abundantly in early April, as at this time it actively grows foliage. Those plants that are grown on the windowsill of the house, water twice a day.

Cutting

Cut off some of the leaves. Pinch the top, then the crown will grow lush.

Pollination

If the pepper grows on your windowsill or in a greenhouse, then when flowering, transfer the pollen from flower to flower with a brush.

Crop rationing

Tear off some of the first flowers when flowering. This will help the plants grow stronger and produce good yields.

Diseases and pests

Before planting, treat the beds with "Karbofos", "Ultra", "Arrow". When the plants are planted, they can be sprayed with an infusion of tobacco or onions.

If a nematode attacked the Habanero pepper, then dig the bushes out of the soil so as not to damage the roots. Rinse, and then dip the roots in water with a temperature of 50 - 55 ° C. The nematodes will die.

If the bushes are affected by aphids, whiteflies and mites, then wash the bushes by lathering with dishwashing detergent. Let the plants stand in the foam for an hour. Rinse it off in the shower with lukewarm water.

If you make an infusion from pepper fruits, you can water them with your garden crops. Such an infusion will save plants from bedbugs, ants and larvae.

Seed propagation

Hot Lemon and Bangle Naga seeds are sold online. The distributor sends seeds to Russia.

You can also collect the seeds yourself:

1. Leave the ripe peppers on the bushes for up to 10 days.
2. Then cut off, wearing gloves, spread out so that the fruits wither a little. Gloves should not touch the face, otherwise there will be burns.
3. Cut the fruits and remove the seeds.
4. Spread seeds and dry.
5. When the seeds dry, place them in paper bags and store.

Using fruits

Peppers are hard to eat raw. It is seasoned with meat and fish dishes, put in soups, canned food, in the famous Tabasco sauce.

Peppers should not be thrown into boiling oil: because of this, they turn black and lose their taste.

Pepper in an apartment can grow 7 - 10 years, and you can collect the fruits several times a year. The Habanero is easy to care for. The plant grows well on slightly acidic soil, prefers warm, bright lighting, regular but moderate watering. Does not tolerate drafts and cold air. Bushes are disease resistant. They are immune to most pests.

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