Red Bull Pepper: Characteristics and Description of the Variety (Photo)

"Red Bull" is a new red pepper variety that combines high yield, ease of cultivation, and early maturity. Peppers are known to thrive in warmth, so "Red Bull" is best grown in greenhouses or on windowsills indoors. Given Russia's harsh climate, most gardeners grow red peppers exclusively from seedlings.

The plant's bush can reach a height of 150 cm. The "Red Bull" pepper produces such a rich harvest that the stem can fall and break under the weight of the fruit, so it needs to be tied up. The fruits of the "Red Bull" are truly enormous – they can reach a length of 15-30 cm and a width of 9-12 cm! The average fruit weight is 250-400 g. The skin is thick (up to 1 cm). The color of the fruit during ripening varies from light green to dark green, and at full maturity, the fruit is bright red. The fruits are juicy and sweet.

Growing

Experienced gardeners know that peppers are short-day plants, meaning the shorter the daylight hours, the larger and tastier the fruits. "Red Bull" is no exception. Furthermore, it doesn't require bright light, a huge advantage when grown in greenhouses.

Requirements for the soil in which peppers will grow:

• neutral reaction of the environment;
• absence of nitrogen ions (if nitrogenous substances are present, the plant will have difficulty setting flowers and, accordingly, will produce fewer fruits);
• looseness;
• humidity;
• optimal amount of nutrients;
• absence of pest larvae and pathogenic microorganisms.

To speed up seed growth, prepare the soil for seedlings as follows. Use equal parts garden soil and manure (or other natural fertilizers containing the nutrients needed for pepper development). It's best to use soil from areas not previously grown with other members of the Solanaceae family (e.g., potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, etc.).

Please note! When purchasing "Red Bull" seeds, you'll find the addition "F1" after the name on the packaging. This means the variety is a hybrid. This doesn't affect the taste or nutritional value of the product, but hybrids cannot be harvested, meaning you can't grow new plants from their seeds. Such "offspring" may have poor presentation and taste.

How to improve crop yields

To protect your crop from certain diseases and to increase yield, follow these rules:

1. Before planting seeds in the soil, they should be sprayed with a 2% solution of potassium permanganate, which has bactericidal properties. This procedure helps protect plants from viral and fungal infections. The solution should be warm. After spraying, rinse the seeds with cold water.
2. To help the seeds germinate faster, place them in a damp cloth soaked in a warm nutrient solution and store them in a plastic bag where the seeds will dry.
3. It is best to keep seedlings at room temperature (22-240C).

The best time to sow seeds for seedlings is from late February to early March. Seeds for seedlings germinate in five to seven days.

Plants should be transplanted into individual pots no earlier than when one or two true leaves appear. After the seedlings have been transplanted into open ground, side shoots and leaves should be removed, and the bush itself should be tied up.

The seedlings should be planted at a depth of 2-4 cm (about half a finger deep) with a distance of 20-40 cm between the seedlings.

Advice! As mentioned above, the Red Bull produces a very large yield: 7-9 kg of fruit per square meter of soil. Given this, it's recommended to harvest the fruit while it's still ripening, when it has already acquired its final shape and size but is still light green. Don't worry! Red Bull peppers keep for a long time and can ripen indoors—on a windowsill or near a window. It's important to ensure the peppers receive sufficient light.

Advantages and disadvantages

So, now let's summarize all the pros and cons of the Red Bull pepper.

Advantages:

• rapid ripening of fruits;
• the fruits are fleshy, juicy, large and sweet;
• the variety is easy to grow (does not require bright light and long daylight hours; there is no need to apply mineral fertilizers, etc.);
• resistant to most Solanaceae diseases.

Flaws:

• needs to be supported;
• grown only from seedlings;
• requires high soil purity.

Useful qualities and place in the medical industry

As a result of their research, scientists concluded that the Red Bull pepper contains substances beneficial for the human body, such as:

• most B vitamins (thiamine, folic acid, etc.);
• ascorbic acid (vitamin C);
• carotene (provitamin; when interacting with fats it turns into vitamin A);
• essential oils;
• carbohydrates;
• nitrogenous substances;
• minerals: sodium, potassium, calcium, iron, sulfur, silicon, phosphorus.

Research has also shown that carotene and vitamin C, which are part of the Red Bull, prevent the development of cancer cells and promote the healing of stomach ulcers.

Reviews

Kristina from Voronezh planted "Red Bull" seeds and shared with us that almost all of them sprouted. And although it's not an early-ripening variety, the gardener managed to reap a bountiful harvest, yielding 8 kg per square meter.

Irina from Tolyatti:

"The fruits of the 'Red Bull' variety are truly large and juicy. She recommends using them as a vitamin-enriched ingredient in fresh vegetable salads."

Svetlana from Moscow:

"The Red Bull pepper produces a huge harvest, which her family can't consume in one season, so she stocks up on the delicious preserves for the winter. Svetlana complains that the fruits are too large and she has to cut them to fit them in the jar."

The woman decided to share her recipe for pickled peppers with us.

Ingredients:

• Red Bull pepper – 1 kg;
• sugar – 1/2 cup;
• salt – 3/4 cup;
• vinegar – 1/2 cup;
• water – 400 ml;
• vegetable oil – 350 ml;
• allspice peas – 6 pcs.;
• bay leaf – 3 pcs.

Preparation:

1. Wash the Red Bull pepper, cut off the stem and remove the seeds.
2. Cut each pepper into 4-6 pieces.
3. Pour water into a saucepan, add sugar, salt, vinegar, and vegetable oil. Bring the mixture to a boil.
4. Place the peppers in a saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes. Then distribute the peppers among the jars.
5. Place 3 allspice berries and one bay leaf in each jar. Pour in the marinade.
6. Output: 3 half-liter jars.

As you can see, the "Red Bull" pepper is one of the best in terms of storage and yield. It can compete with the most popular varieties of this type.