Gardeners come to understand how to properly grow plants by learning from their own, sometimes very bitter, experience.
But many problems can be avoided if you take into account the advice of experts. For example, regarding whether or not it is possible to dive peppers.
Pricking out is the process of transplanting a seedling by digging it out of the ground, which results in damage to the root system.
Many plants, such as tomatoes, tolerate this procedure easily. It even stimulates the formation of additional roots.
But peppers react very painfully to damage to the roots. They freeze in development for 2, and sometimes 3 weeks. The older the plant, the more painful the reaction. Therefore, many gardeners are categorically against picking.
Another thing is transshipment. That is, transplantation together with the soil lump. This is when the seedling grows in a separate cup. When transplanting, the entire soil lump is removed from the cup and placed in a new container. In this case, the root system does not suffer, so the plant freezes in development for only 1-2 days.
It is not always possible to sow each seed in a separate cup. Especially if you grow a lot of peppers.
In this case, you can resort to picking, but only once. And you need to do it correctly.
1. Sow the seeds at a distance from each other that the seedlings can be easily dug up. As a rule, this is 3-4 cm.
2. Pick on time. The older the seedling, the worse it tolerates this procedure. It is best to do this when the plant has developed 2 true leaves, and the third one has just begun to grow.
3. When transplanting peppers, it is not only possible, but also necessary to deepen them. However, this must be done correctly. Near the ground on the stem, you can already see the beginnings of adventitious roots, which will begin to develop after being placed in the ground. But peppers are still not tomatoes. They cannot be “buried” deeply. Experts advise deepening the trunk so that at least 5 mm remains to the cotyledon leaves.
4. You can only transplant into separate cups. In order for the plant to develop fully, it should be replanted in the future only by transshipment.
Picking peppers won't harm them if you do it right. By the way, you should transplant eggplants according to the same principles.