Sweet pepper varieties are invariably popular among vegetable growers. Pepper Ox's Ear is a variety that is increasingly grown in garden beds and greenhouses. The benefits of pepper fruits are widely known, so gardeners will always have a place on their plot for seedlings of this vegetable crop.
Description and main characteristics of the variety
Why has Ox Ear been one of the most popular varieties for more than one season? What characteristics attract vegetable growers despite the fact that caring for this vegetable crop is not as easy as for tomatoes or cabbage?
It turns out that the dense and large fruits of this variety contain large amounts of vitamin C and other active substances.Peppers are sweet and crunchy, so they enhance the taste of any fresh salad or other dish.
The description of the variety should begin with the timing of crop ripening. Oxen's Ear is an excellent mid-season variety: from the moment of friendly shoots to the technical ripeness of the fruit, just over 3 months pass, and full ripeness of the harvest can be expected after 4 months. The variety is intended for cultivation in open ground and in unheated greenhouses.
The bushes are medium in size, the shoots do not grow higher than 65 - 70 cm. The bushes are spreading in width - at least 30 cm in radius, so it is not recommended to plant Ox Ear seedlings in beds closer than 0.5 m from each other.
The shoots are erect, well branched, quite strong, reach a height of 0.7 m, the foliage is average. The foliage is dense, simple, medium in size, the edges are slightly wavy, the color is dark emerald. The upper side of the leaves is slightly glossy.
Due to the rather voluminous foliage, Ox Ear does not tolerate the hot season well. If the pepper is planted in a greenhouse, condensation settles on the leaves, which negatively affects the plants.
Ripe peppers are shaped like ox ears (which is why they got this name) - elongated, cone-like, slightly corrugated. Their length can reach 15–16 cm. Unripe fruits are green, and at the stage of full maturity they become bright red with a crimson tint.
The peppers are fleshy, sweet and juicy, with a wall thickness of about 7 mm. The average weight of peppers is 130 - 145 g, but with good care you can grow large fruits - up to 200 - 240 g in weight. The yield from one bush is usually 2.5 - 3.2 kg. The commercial qualities of the ripened harvest are high. It doesn’t always make sense to wait until the entire harvest is ripe, because fruits at the stage of technical maturity after picking ripen well in a cool room.
A description of the Ox Ear pepper will be incomplete without a story about immunity to disease and keeping quality. The resistance of this variety to major diseases and pests is average. Thanks to the fairly dense walls, ripe peppers are perfectly stored in a cool place, maintaining their presentation and good taste. The harvested crop tolerates transportation well over long distances.
Ripe peppers are universal: the fruits of this variety are consumed fresh, added to salads, and suitable for canning (especially in lecho).
Advantages and disadvantages of the variety
The undoubted advantages include:
- high productivity;
- good commercial qualities of the ripened harvest;
- excellent taste;
- versatility of ripe fruits;
- The harvest can be stored fresh for a long time and retains its valuable properties even when frozen for a long time.
This type of pepper also has disadvantages:
- bushes do not tolerate heat well;
- condensation that settles on the foliage in greenhouse conditions is destructive.
Ox Ear is demanding in terms of care, otherwise it is difficult to get high-quality fruits.
The nuances of growing Ox's Ear pepper
To get fruits at the end of the season with the same excellent presentation as on the seed package, you should work hard, since this variety is demanding of care.
Cultivation should begin with careful selection of seed material. Typically, those seeds that are purchased in specialized stores from well-known companies have already undergone all pre-sowing preparation:
- only viable seeds were selected;
- the material is disinfected and treated with growth stimulants.
Before planting, it is better to soak the pepper seeds for a couple of hours.The containers are filled with ready-made soil mixture for vegetable plants. It is better to plant the seeds in small cups, a couple of pieces in each, because peppers should not be subjected to unnecessary transplants (including picking) - the plants get very sick after such a procedure. The seed should be buried 0.5 - 0.8 cm into the soil. After planting, the soil is moistened and covered with polyethylene on top to create a greenhouse effect.
After the emergence of mass shoots, the film is removed from the containers, weak plants are removed, leaving only strong seedlings. In the first ten days of May, peppers are ready for planting in protected soil (at the stage of 5–7 permanent leaves). Seedlings are planted in open ground in the middle - end of May, when the danger of spring frosts has passed.
When preparing beds for seedlings, you should remember the rules of crop rotation. The best predecessors for sweet peppers:
- peas, beans, soybeans;
- various green manures;
- cucumbers;
- dill.
You should absolutely not plant peppers after tomatoes - the crops are susceptible to the same diseases. The landing site should be sunny. In greenhouse conditions, the room should be regularly ventilated.
After planting, care consists of regular watering, loosening the soil, removing weeds and systematically applying fertilizer.
Particular attention should be paid to watering: irrigation is carried out once every 3 days, for each pepper bush - at least 1.5 liters of water. Before the ovaries appear, it is better to use sprinkling; during fruit set and ripening, moisture is added to the root. During the growth and ripening of the crop, alternate fertilizing with superphosphate and organic fertilizers (slurry or chicken droppings).
Reviews from vegetable growers who regularly grow Oxen's Ear indicate that this variety is resistant to the tobacco mosaic virus.
