Pepper Khalifa

Among the many varieties of sweet peppers offered for growing in gardens and farms, there is a list of many beloved varieties that give consistently good yields without requiring special agricultural skills. One of these is the mid-season Khalifa pepper, Japanese selection.

The Khalifa hybrid species was obtained by scientists from the Japanese corporation Sakata Vegetables Europe S. A. S. in 2011. After 3 years (in 2014), the vegetable crop was added to the State Register for the North Caucasus region. You can grow a vegetable in open ground, as well as under a film and in greenhouse structures, but the culture is most productive, growing on garden ridges.

Caliph is a medium-sized compact plant of an indeterminate type. In a favorable environment, the standard bush grows to a height of 50-80 cm. The plant is characterized by medium branching, abundant thickening of green elongated ovoid leaves with a slight surface wrinkling, a fragile root system and a mixed type of flowering.

Pepper Khalifa has an attractive appearance. Vegetables weighing 80-160 grams and 10-12 cm long ripen on a healthy bush. As a rule, from 8 to 12 fruits ripen on each bush. The shape of the pepper is cuboid. At the stage of technical maturity, the fruits have a greenish-white color, and as they ripen, they are evenly covered with a light red color. The peel of the peppers is quite dense (6-7 mm), shiny, with barely noticeable ribs on the surface.

The harvested crop easily tolerates transportation, and can also be stored for a long time (up to 2-3 months) in the refrigerator, without losing its taste and useful properties. At room temperature, peppers wither quickly and take on an unattractive presentation.

Pepper Khalifa is characterized by excellent taste. Pepper pulp has a fleshy, tender, juicy and firm texture without wateriness. Inside the vegetable there are usually 3-4 chambers with small seeds. The pepper has a balanced taste - sweet, slightly sugary, complemented by a pronounced aroma. It is characteristic that there is no bitterness and pungency in the taste.

Ripe peppers are eaten fresh, added to cold and hot dishes, stuffed, pickled, canned and frozen.

Vegetable culture belongs to the class of early maturing species. The growing season lasts 100-105 days. Season the vegetables gradually. You can shoot and eat peppers at the stage of technical maturity, because at this time they already have excellent taste. When grown in a greenhouse, the first crop can be removed in the first half of July, and in the beds - from late July to early August.

This variety is famous for its good yields. If you provide the plant with proper care, then from 1 m2 of plantings you can get from 7 to 14 kg of fleshy peppers. On an industrial scale, the average yield is 225-252 kg / ha.

It is important not only to provide the vegetable with good care, but also to correctly place the bushes on the site, which will provide the plant with the necessary air circulation, access to heat and light. It is recommended to plant up to 4 pepper bushes per 1 m2. The optimal scheme for landing is considered to be a 40x40 cm scheme.

The culture is grown through seedlings. For cultivation, it is necessary to wait for the period when the soil and air warms up well, and return spring frosts will be left behind. In the greenhouse, planting is carried out in May, and in the garden - in early June. Seedling bushes should be strong, healthy, with 2-3 true leaves and a developed root system. The best place to plant peppers will be an area where onions, zucchini, carrots or pumpkin previously grew.

Agricultural technology of vegetable crops consists of a chain of standard procedures - watering, feeding, loosening and weeding, shaping and thinning a bush, garter if necessary, prevention of viruses and insect infestations.

It is recommended to water the plants using a drip system. Watering is carried out often - every 2-3 days, since the Khalif pepper is a moisture-loving culture. During the growing season, fertilizers should be applied at least 3-4 times, alternating organic matter and mineral complexes. With prolonged heat, the plant needs stress relief. For this, special sprayers are used, for example, "Epin".

Pruning is carried out at the time of the growing season, which will eliminate shading, which sweet peppers do not like. Fungicides and insecticides are used to prevent various diseases and pest attacks.

Pepper is not particularly picky about the quality of the soil - the main thing is that it is light, fluffy, nutritious, breathable and moisture-permeable. In addition, the culture does not like acidic and swampy soil, so the groundwater must be deep.

It is recommended to plant a vegetable crop in an area where there is enough light, heat, air. Pepper is thermophilic, but under the influence of direct sunlight it can get burns, so the plant is ideally suited for a changeable mode throughout the day - sun-partial shade.

Pepper Khalifa has good immunity, so the plant can withstand many diseases - the tobacco mosaic virus, top rot, black leg. Pepper is tolerant to verticillary wilt. Whitefly, slugs, aphids, bear and Colorado potato beetle are considered dangerous insects for the culture.