Tall pepper varieties for greenhouses – how to grow them?

Pepper

Just a few decades ago, bell peppers were grown only in certain regions of the Soviet Union. The mild climate of Moldova and southern Ukraine allowed for abundant harvests of this vegetable crop. Today, breeding specialists have a wide range of varieties and hybrids adapted to the conditions of central Russia, Siberia, and the Urals. However, heat-loving vegetable plants It is better to grow it in a greenhouse, to bring the ripening conditions closer to the native ones.

Tall varieties are best suited for greenhouses, producing larger fruits and higher yields than dwarf peppers. They produce more ovaries, ripen early, and are resistant to many nightshade diseases. However, they require adequate light, ventilation, pinching, and other cultivation practices.

The most productive varieties of tall peppers for greenhouses

Indeterminate varieties are characterized by strong stems with abundant foliage, growing over two meters in height. Proper seed selection is key to ensuring germination. The most productive varieties are listed below in alphabetical order.

F1 chord

This hybrid isn't particularly tall, but it compensates for this with early fruiting, high yields, and large fruits. Technical maturity occurs 115 days after sowing, and the peppers take on red hues when fully ripe. Each pepper weighs up to 200 g.

Atlas

An early variety, the bush grows to over a meter in height. Development takes about three months from germination. The fruit is red and perfectly cone-shaped, weighing an average of 150 grams, and can yield up to 6 kg per bush.

Barguzin

An early-ripening variety, technical maturity occurs after 100 days, biological maturity – after 125. The fruit is cone-shaped, weighing up to 200 g, green and yellow in color, the yield per bush is up to 17 kg.

Big Mama

Gardeners consider the Big Mama bell pepper to be early or mid-season. Technical ripening takes 120 days. Fruit weight reaches 200 g at biological maturity, which occurs three weeks later.

Hercules

Considered the shortest of all tall varieties, it is a cube-shaped vegetable with a dense, sweetish skin, weighing an average of approximately 200 g. While not a high-yielding variety, it is resilient to long-term storage and transportation.

Health

This is the earliest variety for growing indoors. The bush reaches a height of two meters, allowing for harvesting up to 5 kg of prismatic fruits weighing 50-65 g. Full maturity occurs within three months, as evidenced by the pepper's red color.

Indalo F1

A mid-season, thick-walled indeterminate hybrid with bright yellow fruits weighing 250-300 grams. Large, cube-shaped specimens yield 7 to 14 kg per square meter, depending on growing conditions.

Cockatoo F1

This hybrid vegetable gets its name from its fruit's resemblance to the beak of the bird of the same name. Each cone-shaped, slightly curved specimen weighs up to half a kilogram and is almost 30 cm long. When ripe, it is green, soon turning red, and the fruit itself takes on a cylindrical shape.

California Miracle

A mid-early variety, the fruit appears 100-110 days after sowing. When fully ripe, the fruit weighs approximately 200 g, yielding 6 kg per bush. It requires regular feeding with nitrogen and inorganic fertilizers.

Claudio F1

A cone-shaped hybrid with a bright red color. It's a mid-season variety. The bush grows to 130 cm tall, and each pepper weighs over 250 g. It's one of the most productive varieties, yielding up to 10 kg of fruit per bush.

Cornet

An early-ripening variety, the peppers grow cone-shaped with a consistent brown color and weigh over 250 g. They are highly disease-resistant, produce consistently strong flower sets, and produce a good yield.

Merchant

An early-ripening, tall variety with pyramidal-shaped fruits. The peppers are pinkish-red in color and weigh approximately 150 g. Yields are 5 kg per plant in a greenhouse and 4 kg in the open field. The growing season is short – 95-100 days.

Latino F1

The fruits are small, cube-shaped, weighing 220 g and having a wall thickness of 100 mm. The first red fruits are harvested after three and a half months.

Orange miracle

This early-ripening variety allows for the harvest to begin on the 100th day, with full maturity occurring in 125 days. The sunny-hued, cubic fruits weigh over 250 g, with each bush bearing 12 large fruits.

Miracle Tree F1

The hybrid resembles a small tree, with 20 juicy peppers per bush. The prismatic fruits, with thick, bright red skin, average 50-70 g in weight.

How to grow tall peppers in a greenhouse

Tall pepper varieties are grown indoors only by planting seedlings. Higher yields can be achieved in soil previously sown with cabbage, carrots, or onions.

Preparing seedlings and soil

To prepare the soil for the next season, the greenhouse soil should be dug over, removing dry leaves and roots, and adding humus. No earlier than a week before planting, the greenhouse should be ventilated, and the walls should be treated with a pesticide against fungal diseases. Then, the soil should be dug over again and fertilized with phosphorus and potassium fertilizers.

Pepper seeds for seedlings are sown from the end of February until April 15th, allowing for harvesting from July until late fall. To grow seedlings for a good harvest, use the same soil in which the mature plant will grow. The best mixture is old garden soil with humus. Water the seedlings at least once a week.

Planting technology

The seedlings are transplanted into the greenhouse after 6 or 7 pairs of leaves have formed and a thick stem has developed. The process follows this algorithm:

small holes are made in the garden bed and a liter of warm water is poured into them;
the plants are transferred into the depressions, the trunks are pressed with soil;
The planting is watered a little, the base of the stem is covered with dry peat.

Planting is done using several alternative methods. The planting technology is as follows:

The double-row tape system assumes a distance between rows of 200-400 mm, tapes - up to half a meter, peppers - 200-300 mm.
The square-nest method involves planting two plants in one hole, according to a 0.6 x 0.6 m pattern.
The checkerboard pattern is produced using a 200x200 mm or 300x300 mm pattern. In this case, the rows are offset by half the space.
Pepper planting pattern in a greenhouse

Temperature and lighting

Sprouted seedlings are transplanted into a greenhouse from the second ten days of March to the third of April. The soil temperature should be at least 15°C. After germination, the soil temperature is maintained at 25°C during the day and 18°C at night.

Note!

During the growing season, plants should be illuminated with metal halide, mercury vapor, or sodium vapor lamps with reflectors for at least 12 hours per day. Longer exposures reduce bud formation.

Blue lamps are required for photosynthesis, red lamps for growth, and yellow lamps for the production of chlorophyll.

Fertilizing, watering and loosening the soil

After transplanting into covered soil, the plant is fertilized twice before flowering with chicken manure diluted in water at a ratio of 1:10 or with a nitrophoska solution (1 tablespoon per bucket of water). During ovary formation, phosphorus-potassium fertilizers are recommended. Fertilizers should not contain chlorine, as it has a negative effect on peppers.

Before buds appear, seedlings are watered no more than once every three days, and every other day after fruit formation. For this purpose, use half a bucket of sun-warmed water per stem. After each watering, loosen the soil to provide oxygen to the roots and maintain soil moisture.

Formation and support

After planting peppers in a greenhouse, drive a wooden stake near each plant to support the bush. To increase crown productivity, cultivating no more than three stems or pinching out the central flower to increase the number of fruit buds. It is not recommended to leave more than 20 fruits on a single plant.

Why tall peppers don't grow in a greenhouse

Growing peppers can seem like a thankless task, and for beginners, downright impossible. However, if you carefully follow the recommendations, even a novice gardener can reap a bountiful harvest—all you need to do is prepare the soil and plant the plants correctly.

Errors in agricultural technology and care

Peppers often fail to grow in a greenhouse because they were planted in unprepared or cold soil, or because the necessary growing conditions were not met. The most common reasons are:

lack of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers in the soil;
daytime temperatures drop below 28 degrees Celsius, and nighttime temperatures drop below 10°C, which causes peppers to wither;
plants are watered with cold water or the morning watering regime is not maintained;
the room is not ventilated;
the side shoots were not removed on time, as a result of which the sap went into the lateral shoots;
After watering, the soil around the trunk is not loosened, which makes it difficult for oxygen to reach it.

Remember!

Lighting plays an important role in peppers; without sufficient light, the seedlings stop growing.

Diseases and pests

Following proper agricultural practices prevents diseases and pests in the greenhouse. The main ones are:

Blossom-end rot. The disease disappears after adding ash to the plant.
Verticillium wilt occurs when soil is not disinfected.
Stolbur is carried by aphids and mites. The plant should be removed and burned, and the hole in the ground filled with a potassium permanganate solution.
Anthracnose is treated with systemic fungicides.
If alternaria (black mold) appears, the bush is treated with Bordeaux mixture.

Frequently asked questions about growing

How far apart should tall peppers be planted?

The planting pattern for seedlings depends on the plant's vigor. It's recommended to plant 3-10 plants per square meter of garden bed, which means spacing the peppers 20-30 cm apart. In the first case, these will be vigorous varieties, while in the second, these will be low-growing varieties.

Is it necessary to remove side shoots from peppers?

This cultivation technique is essential for tall peppers, and no more than three shoots should be left. Each shoot is tied to a trellis to prevent large fruits from breaking off the branches.

What fertilizers do peppers need?

The best fertilizer for peppers is cow manure or compost. Solutions containing ammonium nitrate, superphosphate, and potassium sulfate are also suitable. Fertilize after planting the seedlings, then again two weeks later. A third time is after the first fruits have formed.

Do the bushes need to be tied up?

Tall varieties require support. This can be achieved by placing a simple stake near each bush or using a trellis. Cords can be attached to the greenhouse arches to support the plant's crown.

Tall sweet pepper bushes grown in sheltered soil produce good yields. However, to ensure their flowering, growth, and ripening, strict adherence to agricultural practices is essential. These include proper soil cultivation before sowing, planting, pinching, and tying the stems to a trellis.