Growing Peppers on a Windowsill: Tips for Beginners

Which variety to choose?

Successfully growing peppers indoors directly depends on choosing the right plant variety. The main criteria for choosing a particular variety are compactness and a small bush height. Furthermore, the fruits of the variety or hybrid should ripen quickly.

Most often, one of the following varieties of plants is grown at home:

• Western. This variety is considered early. Western bushes grow to about 0.35 meters tall. The fruits are red and weigh up to 80 grams each. Since this plant is low-maintenance, it can be successfully grown indoors.
• Winnie-the-Pooh is a dwarf pepper variety with a short ripening period. Harvesting can begin three months after the first young shoots emerge. The plant grows to a height of no more than 0.3 meters. The fruits are shaped like a pointed cone, weighing no more than 70 grams each. When ripe, the fruits are a deep red. The entire crop ripens at the same time. To maximize the harvest, plant them densely. In this case, neglect will have a positive effect on the crop.
• Yova is an early-ripening variety. The fruits are substantial, weighing up to 200 grams, juicy, and thick-walled. At technical maturity, the fruit is green. At biological maturity, it turns red. This easy-to-grow variety produces high yields and thrives on balconies and windowsills.
• Karat is an early-ripening variety. The bushes have a well-branched crown. The plant reaches 0.7 meters in height. The fruits weigh 60-70 grams and have a dense texture.
• Kolobok is considered a semi-standard, low-growing (0.2 meters) plant. It is densely covered with foliage. The fruits are round, smooth to the touch, and ripen simultaneously. The flesh of the peppers is tender. The color of the vegetables can range from green to reddish-burgundy. The walls of Kolobok peppers are thick.
• Red Bellflower is an ultra-early variety that produces a bountiful harvest. The fruit has excellent flavor. It can be grown in open ground, in a greenhouse, or on a windowsill or loggia.
• Krepysh is a prolific vegetable whose fruits ripen simultaneously. The bush is compact, reaching a height of about half a meter. The fruits are shaped like a cone with a blunt tip. The peppers range in color from yellow to red. Each pepper weighs up to 70 grams.
• Treasure Island is suitable for growing in pots. The maximum height of these varieties is 0.6 meters. The fruit color is orange-red.
• Sweet Chocolite is a mid-season variety with beautiful chocolate-colored fruits. Each pepper weighs no more than 100 grams.
• Triton F1 is a hybrid with conical fruit. It requires little care, yet produces abundant harvests.
• Filipok F1 is a hybrid that ripens in less than three months. The bush is low and sparsely foliated. The fruits are small, cube-shaped in appearance. The color of the fruits ranges from green to red.

Video "Pepper Varieties"

From the video you will learn about the most popular varieties of this vegetable.

Artificial lighting

Successful winter cultivation of peppers on a windowsill is impossible without supplemental lighting. Many people use incandescent lamps for this purpose, but these fixtures are not the best option. They provide insufficient light and excess heat, which can cause burns to the plant's organs.

In order to sufficiently illuminate the "plantation" in the apartment, it is better to use cold light fluorescent lamps. Daylight lamps with a power of up to 150 watts are sufficient per unit area. These lamps provide sufficient light but little heat, allowing them to be placed close to pepper plants without risk of burning. A significant drawback of daylight lamps is the small amount of orange-red light in their spectrum. This is precisely the light that stimulates photosynthesis.

Phytolamps are the most effective and energy-efficient way to illuminate crops. The downside of these devices is that the lilac-pink glow they emit is irritating to the eyes and can trigger headaches.

Temperature conditions

Growing vegetables on a windowsill requires maintaining certain temperatures. The plant is very heat-loving, so pots shouldn't be placed directly on the windowsill. It's better to place them on foam, which will prevent the soil and roots from freezing.

If the air temperature in your apartment is above 23°C, the soil in the pot on the windowsill is warm. You can verify this with a thermometer.

If a potted pepper plant is placed far from the window, the soil temperature is, on average, 5°C lower than room temperature. If the plant container is placed near the window frame, the soil temperature may be 10°C lower. In this case, the pepper will either stop growing or rot. Removing the young plants from the windowsill at night and covering the window with paper will help remedy the situation.

Watering and fertilizing regime

How to grow vegetables in an apartment? To do this, it's essential to follow all plant care guidelines. If your apartment has central heating, monitor the soil moisture in the containers, preventing it from drying out.

The plant requires regular, adequate moisture with warm water. Fertilizer is applied every two weeks. It's best to use a complete fertilizer with micronutrients. This should be done immediately after moistening the soil. Spraying the plants with boiled water (not hot) and monthly watering with wood ash extract are beneficial.

For better pollination and fruit formation, you can use a cotton swab to transfer pollen from one flower to another.

So, growing peppers in an apartment means having the opportunity to harvest vegetables all year round.

Video "Growing"

This video will show you how to properly grow peppers at home.