HOT PEPPER



Pepper belongs to the Solanacea family. Other members of this family includes tomato, tobacco, eggplant and Irish potato. There are different varieties of pepper available to choose from. You just have to go to the pepper sellers in your area and find out the variety that sales well. Then visit a state ministry of Agric. and find out where you can buy the seeds. Some people who sell agro-chemicals in markets may also sell seeds.

Pepper mature in 3-4 months and with proper maintenance, you can harvest it continually for 6 months or more. You’ll make much more money if you have access to irrigation facilities so you can irrigate your plants during the dry season. This can either be in the form of borehole or stream/river. In most places in Nigeria, you can easily rent farmlands that are close to rivers that flows even in the dry season.

A plot of land (100x60ft) will contain 1080 plants (50cm space between plants and 1m between rows).

Soil Requirement:

Peppers can tolerate most types of soil that are well-drained. But they do well in sandy loam or loamy, fertile soils. Optimal soil pH is 6 to 6.8. The soil pH strongly influences plant growth, the availability of nutrients, and the activities of microorganisms in the soil. It is strongly recommended that you carry out soil test before planting (I didn’t, but for large-scale farming, I definitely will). Soil test will help you know how much fertilizer to add and whether to lime or not. If your soil needs liming, lime should be broadcasted and thoroughly mixed with the soil to a depth of 6-8 inches. This is important because lime/calcium have limited mobility in the soil. So you have to make them reach the root zone. The neutralizing effect of lime is very slow. So add lime 2-3 months before sowing or transplanting. If this is not possible, add lime at least 1 month before sowing or transplanting.


Air Temperature:

Hot peppers tend to grow well when temperature is 24-32°C during the day and 18-24°C at night. Significantly higher or lower temperatures can have negative effects on fruit set and quality. Temperatures for good fruit set is between 20 and 29°C. In drought and heat stress, pepper plants not only lose flowers, but also buds. Loss of buds delays flowering by several weeks and reduces yields dramatically. Factors influencing flower drop or loss of buds include poor light intensity, excessive nitrogen and insect damage.

If extreme temperature is a problem for you, inter-crop pepper with tall plants like maize, okra, trellised legumes and vines. This plants will cast shade on the pepper plant and help relieve extreme temperature effects.

AfroAgroPower:
Soil Requirement:

Peppers can tolerate most types of soil that are well-drained. But they do well in sandy loam or loamy, fertile soils. Optimal soil pH is 6 to 6.8. The soil pH strongly influences plant growth, the availability of nutrients, and the activities of microorganisms in the soil. It is strongly recommended that you carry out soil test before planting (I didn’t, but for large-scale farming, I definitely will). Soil test will help you know how much fertilizer to add and whether to lime or not. If your soil needs liming, lime should be broadcasted and thoroughly mixed with the soil to a depth of 6-8 inches. This is important because lime/calcium have limited mobility in the soil. So you have to make them reach the root zone. The neutralizing effect of lime is very slow. So add lime 2-3 months before sowing or transplanting. If this is not possible, add lime at least 1 month before sowing or transplanting.


Air Temperature:

Hot peppers tend to grow well when temperature is 24-32°C during the day and 18-24°C at night. Significantly higher or lower temperatures can have negative effects on fruit set and quality. Temperatures for good fruit set is between 20 and 29°C. In drought and heat stress, pepper plants not only lose flowers, but also buds. Loss of buds delays flowering by several weeks and reduces yields dramatically. Factors influencing flower drop or loss of buds include poor light intensity, excessive nitrogen and insect damage.

If extreme temperature is a problem for you, inter-crop pepper with tall plants like maize, okra, trellised legumes and vines. This plants will cast shade on the pepper plant and help relieve extreme temperature effects.

Hot Pepper Nursery:

For better growth and yield, young pepper plants have to be nursed in a nursery. This is where they will be protected from harsh environmental conditions like high temperature, harsh sunlight, drought, heavy rain etc. They’ll stay in the nursery for about 5-10 weeks before being transplanted to the main farmland.

Making the Nursery Bed:

Make a nursery bed that is 120-150cm wide and as long as necessary. To facilitate drainage during the rainy season, bed height should be about 15cm. It can be lower in sandier soils that drains faster. Lower bed height should also be used during the dry season to conserve water.

Fertilizing Nursery: Fertilizing pepper can be done in several ways. Below are just a few:

1. Add 1 bucket of composted or aged manure for every 2m² (2 square meter) of bed or 20kg manure per square meter.

2. Add NPK 15:15:15 fertilizer at the rate of 100g per square meter with some manure.

3. Mix topsoil and composted or aged manure in a 1:1 ratio by volume and use it for the nursery.

AfroAgroPower:




Hot Pepper Nursery:

For better growth and yield, young pepper plants have to be nursed in a nursery. This is where they will be protected from harsh environmental conditions like high temperature, harsh sunlight, drought, heavy rain etc. They’ll stay in the nursery for about 5-10 weeks before being transplanted to the main farmland.

Making the Nursery Bed:

Make a nursery bed that is 120-150cm wide and as long as necessary. To facilitate drainage during the rainy season, bed height should be about 15cm. It can be lower in sandier soils that drains faster. Lower bed height should also be used during the dry season to conserve water.

Fertilizing Nursery: Fertilizing pepper can be done in several ways. Below are just a few:

1. Add 1 bucket of composted or aged manure for every 2m² (2 square meter) of bed or 20kg manure per square meter.

2. Add NPK 15:15:15 fertilizer at the rate of 100g per square meter with some manure.

3. Mix topsoil and composted or aged manure in a 1:1 ratio by volume and use it for the nursery.

To ensure successful germination, mix and sterilize topsoil-manure mixture by adding water and heating to 70ºC for 30 minutes (don’t heat chemical fertilizer!). Fumigants like formalin (not effective on nematodes) or metam sodium may be used instead. Sterilizing helps control soil-borne diseases and pests that might attack the seeds or seedlings.

Sowing: After making the nursery, water it deeply before sowing. Sow pepper seeds in rows 0.6cm deep and about 10cm apart. They germinate in 12-21 days depending on soil temperature. After germination, thin out to a spacing of 8-10cm between plants.

Shade: Lightly shade the nursery the first 2 weeks after germination. Continue to shade them from midday sun or when the sun is too hot and from heavy rain. A simple shade can be made from palm fronds supported by stakes.

Watering:

When watering, sprinkle water only on the space between the rows. Watering the buried seeds directly will cause the seeds to float out of the soil. Water daily in the morning but avoid excess watering – keep the soil moist, not waterlogged.


Pest & Diseases:

Spray seedlings with recommended dosage of insecticides if you encounter pest problems. Examples of insecticides include chlorpyrifos, lambda-cyhalothin, permethrin, cypermethin etc. Fungal diseases may occur under moist and wet conditions. If that is the case, prevent them with fungicides like mancozeb or chlorothalonil. Most seeds companies treat their seeds with fungicide that will protect the seeds from soil-borne diseases and insects. Untreated seeds can be treated with Thiram (dithiocarbamate) at 1tsp. per pound of seed.



Hardening off:

This is a technique used to make seedlings get use to the less favorable conditions they’ll face in the main farmland. It involves decreasing water and nutrients for a short period before transplanting. They are also gradually exposed to the full heat of the sun. Start hardening off pepper seedlings 7-10 days before the transplanting date. Avoid over-hardening transplants, which can delay the start of growth in the field and reduce early yields. It should be done slowly.

For maximum production, transplants should never have fruits, flowers or flower buds before transplanting. So remove flowers and buds as they appear to direct more energy to vegetative growth (see section on pruning and flowering below).

AfroAgroPower:
Watering:

When watering, sprinkle water only on the space between the rows. Watering the buried seeds directly will cause the seeds to float out of the soil. Water daily in the morning but avoid excess watering – keep the soil moist, not waterlogged.


Pest & Diseases:

Spray seedlings with recommended dosage of insecticides if you encounter pest problems. Examples of insecticides include chlorpyrifos, lambda-cyhalothin, permethrin, cypermethin etc. Fungal diseases may occur under moist and wet conditions. If that is the case, prevent them with fungicides like mancozeb or chlorothalonil. Most seeds companies treat their seeds with fungicide that will protect the seeds from soil-borne diseases and insects. Untreated seeds can be treated with Thiram (dithiocarbamate) at 1tsp. per pound of seed.



Hardening off:

This is a technique used to make seedlings get use to the less favorable conditions they’ll face in the main farmland. It involves decreasing water and nutrients for a short period before transplanting. They are also gradually exposed to the full heat of the sun. Start hardening off pepper seedlings 7-10 days before the transplanting date. Avoid over-hardening transplants, which can delay the start of growth in the field and reduce early yields. It should be done slowly.

For maximum production, transplants should never have fruits, flowers or flower buds before transplanting. So remove flowers and buds as they appear to direct more energy to vegetative growth (see section on pruning and flowering below).

Main Farmland:

After the nursery comes the main farmland, where the pepper plants will stay for the rest of their life. The nourishment they received in the nursery will help them to better cope with the harsh conditions that exist here.



Transplanting:

The plant will stay in the nursery for 5-10 weeks. A research on sweet pepper showed that keeping pepper in the nursery for 8-10 weeks gave better yield than those transplanted at 12 and 14 weeks (Source: 1). I don’t know if this applies to hot peppers as well. However, my own hot pepper seedlings (Nsukka yellow hot peppers) transplanted at 9 and 10 weeks did well.

So after 9-10 weeks in the nursery and after hardening-off, water the seedlings deeply so that uprooting them will be easy. Transplant to the main farmland and water them deeply. You must have cleared the main farmland, made the ridges, and added manure and fertilizer.

AfroAgroPower:



Main Farmland:

After the nursery comes the main farmland, where the pepper plants will stay for the rest of their life. The nourishment they received in the nursery will help them to better cope with the harsh conditions that exist here.



Transplanting:

The plant will stay in the nursery for 5-10 weeks. A research on sweet pepper showed that keeping pepper in the nursery for 8-10 weeks gave better yield than those transplanted at 12 and 14 weeks (Source: 1). I don’t know if this applies to hot peppers as well. However, my own hot pepper seedlings (Nsukka yellow hot peppers) transplanted at 9 and 10 weeks did well.

So after 9-10 weeks in the nursery and after hardening-off, water the seedlings deeply so that uprooting them will be easy. Transplant to the main farmland and water them deeply. You must have cleared the main farmland, made the ridges, and added manure and fertilizer.

After transplanting, water deeply. Set transplants as deep as the lowest leaves so that the plant will develop deeper roots. After transplanting (especially within the first 2 weeks) maintain soil moisture so that plant roots can become well established. Applying fertilizer soil drench (10g npk per liter water) will help the transplants to grow faster.



Row Making:

Pepper are best planted in rows. They are moderately deep rooted. Under favorable conditions, roots will grow to a depth of 36 to 48 inches (91-122cm). But the majority of roots will be in the upper 12 to 24 inches (30-61cm) of soil. Since root development is severely limited by compacted soil, proper land preparation should eliminate or significantly reduce soil compaction and hard pans.

To facilitate drainage during the rainy season, row height should be about 10-20cm. It should be in the lower range in sandier soils that drains faster. Lower row height should also be used during the dry season to conserve water.



Spacing:

45-60cm between plants and 75-100cm between rows. Use greater spacing during the rainy season to facilitate ventilation and minimize disease problems.

Pruning and Flower Removal (This is a SECRET in pepper farming!): After transplant into the field, wait until they start producing flowers or are about 30cm tall. Then cut them in half – but leave about 2 leaves or more for photosynthesis. New branches will grow out from the nodes. When those branches reach about 20cm long, cut them in half and more branches will grow. Don’t be afraid to do this because without it your plant will not develop a lot of branches and stronger stem and roots.


Pruned plants also produce more peppers!

Some picture of pepper farming from one of our afro-agro farm in osun state .... Atakunmosa west local government.


Geocologist OGUNFEYITIMI TOPE JOSHUA

very well detailed write up, thank you.
I am just starting my own nursery now in seedling trays at home, I have planted about 800 and at least 90% have germinated, when should I put fertilizer for the first time?