Pepper – Amfora
€1.95
Description
Pepper – Amfora is an early maturing bell fruit pepper with a compact and robust plant habit. It can be grown in pots but only grow with protection.
Sowing:
February to mid March
Sow 5 seeds into a small pot (7cm) and keep in a warm place. Pot on into individual 7cm pots when ready and plant into greenhouse or polytunnel.
Spacing:
Between rows: 50cm
Between plants in the row: 50cm
Approx. seed count: 7
Growing Peppers –
Pepper – Amfora
Latin name:
Capsicum frutescens annuum
Family:
Solanaceae
Soil and site:
Pepper – Amfora prefers a rich, loamy soil with plenty of well-rotted compost added to it. The pH should be between 6.5 and 7.0. Chillies need to grow in full sun so ensure that there is no shading from other crops.
Sowing:
Pepper – Amfora requires a long growing season and therefore should be sown as early as February until mid March at the latest. I usually sow the seeds in a small standard seed tray or pot and space the seeds 2cm apart from each other covered with 1cm compost. The tray should be placed into a warm propagator or warm windowsill and the temperature should be around 18-21ºC. The seedlings start to appear two weeks after sowing. About ten days after they have germinated they should be pricked out into7 cm pots using potting compost. Three or four weeks later they can be potted on into a 10cm pot.
Planting:
Chilli peppers dislike cold temperatures. Therefore, they can only be planted into the greenhouse or tunnel in early May in mild areas or in mid to late May in cooler districts.
Plant care:
Apart from regular watering there is little else you need to do. If the plants grow too upright you can pinch out the growing shoot at about 30cm height. Also this encourages the plants to become more bushy. Depending on the variety this may not be necessary as some branch out naturally. The plants usually require a single stake to prevent them from falling over.
Harvesting and storing:
Harvest peppers throughout the summer whenever required. All pepper start off green and then turn into their final colour.
Potential problems:
Peppers are very prone to aphid attacks. Both whitefly and greenfly feed on the leaves of the plants. However, a regular application of a garlic spray before the problem arises can provide an effective control. If aphids are already present a biological control can be used.
How much to grow?
Three plants are usually sufficient to get a few tasty treats throughout the summer.
For more information have a look at my monthly newsletters on:
https://greenvegetableseeds.com/newsletters/
