A small miracle is one of the most popular types of decorative pepper, which has gained fame for its abundant fruiting and extraordinary beauty. The article will discuss the features of its cultivation and care, the fight against diseases and preventive measures.

Description and characteristic

This is a spicy decorative variety of pepper bred in the Netherlands. It is characterized by small 2-3 cm bright, upwardly obtuse fruits weighing from 4 to 5 g. On one bush there can be up to 50 pieces. Peppers are a type of chili pepper. With ripening, the fruits gradually change color - green, purple, orange and red.

Did you know? The pepper family has over one and a half thousand species.

The plant itself is bushy, compact, grows up to 20-30 cm. Belongs to edible early ripening peppers with a sharp and burning taste. The ripened fruits are used in cooking as a seasoning and in the preservation of vegetables. Bushes are widely used for room decoration.

Pros and cons of growing

• The indisputable advantages of the Little Miracle include:
• Easy care of the crop.
• Relative unpretentiousness to soil and lighting.
• Good yield.
• The economical use in cooking.
• Healing properties (in the form of alcohol tinctures for the treatment of radiculitis, rheumatism and pain in the lumbar region).
• Bactericidal qualities - destroys some harmful microbes located in the same room.
• Excellent decorative properties.

As disadvantages, it is necessary to note the danger to small children: the brightness and attractiveness of the fruit can provoke a desire in babies to touch them or taste. And the sharp burning sensations in the mouth is not the worst thing that can happen to a baby. It is much worse - burns and irritations from the juice of the plant, if it gets on the skin of a child, burns and eye irritations are even more dangerous, if the child rubs them with his fingers after the pepper has melted.

Planting and growing peppers

Now we will consider how to grow indoor shrub pepper A small miracle. This plant is able to develop well both on the open ground and indoors.

Planting Conditions

The most favorable microclimate for planting the Little Miracle will be one in which:

1. Daylight hours - at least 18 hours. Shortage of light in the future will provoke falling ovaries and stretching the bush.
2. Ambient temperature (during the first week) - + 32 ° С. This can be achieved by placing a conventional 60 W lamp at a distance of 12–16 cm from the ground.
3. Humidity is moderate, 60–70%.

Selection and processing of seeds for planting

Seeds for planting can be purchased at any specialized store, their range is quite wide. However, before planting, the seeds must be processed, namely, soaked until they swell in a light solution of potassium permanganate.

Optimal landing times

The best time for sowing pepper seeds is the second half of March - the first half of April, for planting seedlings - the second half of May - the first half of June. This schedule will allow you to harvest in the period from the second half of July to mid-September.

Soil requirements

There are no special soil requirements. This can be any nutrient soil, or a specially prepared substrate of 5 parts of humus, 3 parts of leafy soil and 2 parts of sand. The main requirement for soil during planting is to be warmed up to + 21 ° C.

Did you know? India is considered the birthplace of pepper — there was found the first information about him. This is a Sanskrit record that is over three thousand years old.

Landing Features

Planting can be carried out both by seeds and seedlings. Consider the method of planting seeds. This option is more preferable when planting and growing a small miracle on the windowsill.

The algorithm of actions is as follows:

1. A clean two-liter container is selected and treated with boiling water.
2. At the bottom of the tank create a drainage layer of expanded clay (crushed stone or charcoal).
3. On top of the drainage layer, a substrate of humus, sheet soil and sand is poured.
4. The soil is poured with boiling water and left to cool.
5. In the cooled soil, one and a half centimeter deep holes are made, into which two or three previously prepared seeds are placed, sprinkled with a substrate and moistened with a spray gun.
6. The container with planted seeds is covered with a plastic bag (can be glass) and placed until emergence in a place where the temperature is + 21 ... + 24 ° С.

In order to avoid the occurrence of fungal diseases, the container should be periodically ventilated, opening a film (glass) coating for a short period. 10 days after planting with the appearance of the first sprouts, the pot should be moved to the sunny windowsill or provide additional lighting using an LED or fluorescent lamp. And after 5 days, reduce the temperature to + 15 ° C. When real leaflets appear, they are thinned out, leaving only the strongest.

Did you know? The most burning peppers known today — Habañero pepper.

Pepper Care After Planting

Now consider the rules for caring for the Little Miracle after its landing. Let's start with the hilling.

This procedure is carried out:

1. When the plant is in the pot for a long time. The soil in the tank sags, is very compacted, the roots and the stem are exposed, which leads to the loss of the ability of the roots to grow, absorb nutrients and damage to diseases. In addition, the bare roots and stem are unattractive in aesthetic terms. Hilling allows you to improve the plant, increase its resistance.
2. On the eve of transplantation as a preparatory measure. Due to the strengthening of the root mass in the stage of relative calm, the plant is more likely to adapt when transplanted into another pot.

Algorithm of actions during hilling:

1. A day before the procedure, the plant is watered with a small amount of water, but so that the soil is moist, but not wet.
2. Just before hilling, the top layer of the substrate is thoroughly loosened, being careful not to damage the roots of the plant.
3. Then, the necessary amount of prepared soil is poured into the tank, making a cone around the stem. The height of stalling is about ¼ of the height of the plant, while the lower leaves should not be in contact with the soil, leave a distance of 1-2 cm. At the end of the procedure, pepper is watered.

If pepper is located on a closed balcony, including in winter, hilling is also necessary, it will reduce the cooling rate of the soil, and thereby mitigate injury to the plant. In this case, a simple humus or sawdust of deciduous trees is used for dumping. Hilling is done closer to the end of autumn, and in spring - this added soil is removed, then pepper will start to grow more likely. Loosening the soil. This agricultural technique improves soil structure.

It allows you to:

1. Provide soil with air. Throughout life, the plant needs the presence of oxygen. The ground part of it gets it constantly, but the underground part sometimes starts hypoxia, or oxygen starvation. The plant becomes sick and withers. Also, with limited access to air, the plant lacks its important component - carbon dioxide, which it needs for photosynthesis.
2. Improve soil structure. Constant loosening destroys small soil capillaries, through which moisture rises, thereby draining the lower layers of the soil.

Ground loosening rules:

1. The top layer is loosened after watering the next day.
2. The depth of loosening is not more than one and a half centimeters.
3. It is produced carefully, mainly at the walls of the tank, so as not to injure the roots of the pepper.

Watering and feeding

The first fertilizer is applied as soon as two true leaves appear. Subsequent mineral and complex feeding is done every 2–4 weeks. Watering is carried out with room temperature water as the soil dries.During the formation of ovaries, the frequency of watering increases. In addition, spraying with a spray gun is extremely useful to the plant - once a week.

Important! After the formation of the ovary, mineral replenishment is stopped.

Pruning

Pruning, or more precisely - the tops are pinched when the pepper grows to 20 cm. The purpose of pincing is to improve the branching of the bush, increase productivity and improve decorative qualities. It makes the bush compact, stimulates abundant flowering and strengthens axillary buds. Removing the crown is done with scissors or a knife.

Transfer

Held annually. The plant is transplanted by transplantation into a more capacious pot. The essence of the method is that the transplant is done with the conservation of an earthen coma on the roots of the plant. The method is preferred in that it can be used in any period of growth of an adult plant without harm to it.The transshipment procedure is as follows:

1. A container is prepared in advance 3 cm in diameter larger than the one in which the plant is located, as well as the soil corresponding to the plant.
2. Two to three days before transplanting, the soil in a pot with a plant is moistened - this is necessary to save an earthen coma during transshipment.

Direct transshipment:

1. Place the container with the plant on a flat and solid surface.
2. Knock the walls of the pot or peel off the soil by drawing along the inner surface of the container with a knife. Another way: peel off the lump with pressure on the ground through the drainage holes.
3. Gently holding the plant from below with the middle and forefinger, remove it from the pot. If this fails, turn the pot over and repeat the process.
4. After extracting the plants, inspect the roots. If patients, rotten roots, soil pests are found, transplant with a complete replacement of the substrate, cleaning the roots of the soil, rid the affected areas and treat diseases and pests.
5. At the bottom of the prepared container, a drainage layer is made and a little new soil is poured on top.
6. The topsoil is removed from the earthen coma, its lower part is freed from the remains of the old drainage, and after that the plant is placed in a new pot.
7. The void between the earthen lump and the walls of the tank is covered with soil.
8. The top layer of the coma is also covered with soil not less than 1 cm, but so that 3 to 5 cm remain before the top cut of the pot.

If the plant was watered before transplantation, watering is no longer carried out after transshipment. If not, then watering should be 2-3 hours after transplantation. After transshipment, the pot with the plant is placed in a shaded place for 2-3 days.

Pest and Disease Control

The main causes of diseases and pests of indoor pepper are violations of planting rules and growing conditions.

Did you know? The alkaloid capsaicin gives the burning taste to pepper, which in dried fruits is about 2%.

Consider the main diseases and pests, as well as the causes of their occurrence:

1. Gray mold. The reason is an excess of moisture in the soil and a lack of light.
2. Spider mite and aphid - Too hot, with poor ventilation, a room with dry air.

Ways of struggle:

1. Gray mold - the affected parts are removed, the plant is treated with 10% sodium carbonate solution for prevention.
2. Spider mite - increase the humidity in the room, if it does not help, spray the plant with Fitoverm (according to the instructions for use).
3. Aphid - two or three peppercorns are crushed, poured with water at room temperature and insisted for 24 hours, then “green soap” is added there or the shavings of laundry soap are dissolved. The resulting composition of the plant is sprayed three times.

Important! This grade is contraindicated in temperatures above +25°WITH.

Recommendations for growing the Little Miracle variety

And a few more tips that you will need to consider when cultivating this decorative pepper:

1. In an apartment, it is better to place the plant on a sunny windowsill, but in case of heat or strong sun, put it in the shade or cover it with a light-diffusing curtain.
2. The variety does not tolerate drafts.
3. A light shake of the bushes during flowering will enhance their pollination.
4. If the Little Miracle is cultivated in large quantities by seedlings in separate containers, then when the sprouts reach two months of age, they can be transplanted into the greenhouse into permanent beds, while the bushes should have a dozen real leaves and well-formed buds. Planting in the beds is done in a checkerboard pattern or ribbon, between the bushes to keep 0.3 m. The temperature in the greenhouse during the day should be + 22 ... + 24 ° С, at night - + 17 ... + 19 ° С.
5. If pepper is grown exclusively for culinary purposes, then from July should be gradually harvested - with the acquisition of yellow peppers. The ripening indicator is an orange or yellow shade of peppers.

Indoor pepper A small miracle is rather unpretentious and does not cause much trouble. Observance of simple care rules will allow you to have a wonderful decorative decoration in the apartment and an excellent seasoning to your home table.