Growth, Development and Environmental conditions of Capsicum

1. Temperature: the suitable temperature for pepper seed germination is 20: 30 ℃, higher than 35 ℃ or less than 10 ℃ can not germinate, the growth temperature range is 15: 34 ℃, the optimum temperature is 23: 28 ℃ during the day, 16: 20 ℃ at night, and the ground temperature is 20: 28 ℃. The temperature requirements of pepper were slightly different in different growth stages. The best temperature was 25: 28 ℃ in germination stage, and slightly lower in seedling stage, 23: 25 ℃ in daytime, 15: 22 ℃ at night, 23: 27 ℃ in day and 18: 23 ℃ in night, and sometimes the night temperature dropped to 13: 17 ℃ in cloudy days, which was still beneficial to fruit growth. Pepper grew very slowly under 15 ℃ and could not set fruit. When the growth was below 10 ℃ and below 5 ℃, the plants suffered different degrees of freezing injury and caused plant death, but if it was higher than 35 ℃, the growth was slow, flowers and fruits were dropped, and the growth stopped when it was more than 36 ℃.

2. Light: pepper has a wide adaptability to light. Generally speaking, pepper requires sufficient light, but it is more resistant to weak light than other fruits and vegetables. The requirement of light for pepper varies according to different growth stages. Seeds need dark conditions when they germinate, but they often sprout poorly when there is light. Good light conditions are needed in the seedling stage, sufficient light is needed in the flowering and fruiting stage, which is conducive to the growth and development of floral organs, and insufficient light will lead to flower and fruit drop. Pepper is not sensitive to the length of sunshine, as long as the temperature is suitable and the nutritional condition is good, it can blossom and bear fruit under the condition of long or short light.

3. Moisture: pepper is neither drought-tolerant nor waterlogged. Although it does not require much water per plant, it needs regular supply of water in order to grow well because of its small root system and weak absorption, so it requires moist and loose soil. If the soil is dry, the plant is short and the fruit is stiff. On the other hand, stagnant water in soil will affect the development of root system due to lack of oxygen in soil. Air humidity also has an effect on the growth of chili peppers. General air relative humidity of 60% to 80% is conducive to stem and leaf growth, flowering and fruit setting. If the air humidity is too high, it is disadvantageous to pollination and fertilization, and prone to a variety of diseases.

4. Soil: pepper is suitable for cultivation in neutral or slightly acidic soil. It requires fertile loam with deep soil layer, good structure, rich organic matter, complete nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, easy irrigation and easy drainage. When pepper is cultivated in saline-alkali soil, the root system is poor, the leaves are not hypertrophy, and it is easy to be infected with virus disease.

5. Mineral nutrition: pepper has higher requirements for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, and the proportion of fertilization in its lifetime is 1. 5. 5. Only by supplying sufficient nitrogen fertilizer can the plant grow vigorously, but if nitrogen fertilizer is partially applied and lack of phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, it will make the plant grow excessively and easily become infected with diseases. The application of sufficient phosphate fertilizer can promote root development and flower bud differentiation, and blossom and bear fruit earlier. Sufficient potassium fertilizer can promote the absorption of nitrogen and phosphorus, accelerate the transport of nutrients, make the stem stout, enhance the stress resistance of the plant, increase the yield and improve the product quality.