How to grow Pepper's Ear and what is interesting about that variety?

Gardeners love to grow sweet bell peppers on their plots, because the fruits have a pleasant taste and are full of useful microelements. The popularity of the vegetable contributes to the emergence of many varieties, including the beloved pepper, Volovye ear.

Variety history

In 1990, the Poisk agrofirm was registered in the Moscow region. The company is engaged in creating and growing improved varieties of vegetables adapted to the Russian climate with more pronounced taste qualities.

One of the tasks of the company's breeders was to create a sweet pepper variety that surpasses foreign counterparts in taste and vitality.

The pride of the breeders of "Search" was the variety of sweet bell peppers they created - Volovye Ukho. In 2007, it was included in the State Register with admission to growing in any Russian climatic zone.

What's interesting?

The variety is adapted for all regions of Russia. In cool climates, Ox's Ear Peppers can be grown easily in greenhouses. In the Krasnodar Territory, it grows well in the open field.

The peppers of this variety are interesting, first of all, for their wonderful taste, which the breeders achieved in the process. The fruits of the Ox's ear are very large - up to 16 cm in length. There are so many of them on the bush that the plant has to be tied up during the ripening period.

Due to the dense, thick skin, the crop is perfectly stored, it is convenient to transport it. A cow is not a hybrid, therefore, by allowing it to mature to the end, you can collect seeds for next year on your own.

Description of the variety

The bush of the Ox's ear grows up to 70 cm, which indicates its average height. It has enough branchy lateral branches, the abundance of which ensures a good harvest. The foliage of the plant is slightly wrinkled, rich in dark green color.

From the moment of emergence of shoots to full ripening of fruits, 120–130 days pass. If the peppers are still green, but are already technically quite suitable for human consumption, then the period of such ripening occurs 1.5 months earlier.

The fruits of the ox's ear are large and elongated, the size of a woman's palm. They are drooping, slightly flattened on both sides, resembling a compressed cone in shape. The surface of the fruit is corrugated and varnished.When fully ripe, the peppers take on a bright red color. The partitions are thin inside, there are few seeds. The wall of the fetus is thick - up to 7 mm. Its weight can reach 250 g.

The aroma of the Volovye ear variety is rich, the pulp is juicy and very tasty. The fruits can be preserved or eaten fresh with equal success.

The yield is good: per season, gardeners collect up to 2.8 kg from one bush. With industrial cultivation in greenhouses, this figure increases to 3.4 kg. There are cases when 5 kg of fruits were collected from the bush, but this was in the southern region of the country, where black earth soils, a warm climate, and more sunlight.

Pros and cons of the variety

The cow's ear pepper has more advantages than disadvantages. Among the pluses:

• great taste;
• can be stored for a long time;
• not susceptible to disease;
• high productivity;
• suitable for conservation and fresh consumption;
• well transported.

Negative characteristics:

• afraid of frost;
• requires rich, but diffused lighting;
• poorly tolerates heat, withers at temperatures above + 32 ° C;
• capricious to watering: neither waterlogging nor lack of moisture should be allowed.

Growing features

In temperate and cold climates, the seedling method of cultivation is used for the Volovye ear pepper. The characteristic given to the variety by the manufacturer speaks of the thermophilicity of the Ox's ear. Therefore, in the Urals and Siberia, sowing seeds for seedlings is recommended at the end of February, and in the temperate climate of central Russia in mid-March. This will maximize the yield.

The optimal daylight hours for seedlings are set in the last week of February. Hence the sowing time. So that the seedlings do not stretch out excessively, they will have to be supplemented with special phytolamps.

The root system of peppers is delicate, so the plant does not like picks. Experienced gardeners immediately plant one seed at a time in half-liter containers with soil. You can use peat tablets: plant a seed in each, and when the shoots give two permanent leaves, together with the tablet, place them in separate seedling pots, keeping the fragile roots intact.

Conditions for high-quality growing of seedlings

In order for small sprouts to grow strong and healthy plants that can produce a good harvest, you must follow some recommendations.

• Approximately seven days before the intended sowing, the soil should be protected from harmful organisms by heating it in an oven at a temperature of 100 ° C. Alternatively, you can scald the ground with boiling water. Such manipulations will prevent diseases of peppers and infection with spider mites, whiteflies, aphids or other pests.
• Before sowing, it is also better to neutralize seeds from possible diseases with the help of a manganese solution. To do this, in boiled water, it is necessary to dissolve several crystals of potassium permanganate so that the liquid turns out not burgundy, but pink. In the resulting solution, moisten a gauze cloth and place the seeds in it for three days, after rinsing them in pink potassium permanganate.
• Do not allow the temperature of the environment around containers with future seedlings to fall below + 25 ° C.

Seedling care rules

Seedling care is reduced to loosening the soil as a crust forms on the upper layer, watering and applying fertilizers.

• The seedlings should be fed once every 2 weeks, alternating between mineral and organic concentrates.
• Before planting in the ground, it is better to accustom young peppers to new conditions in advance. To do this, 7 days before the event, the plants are taken out to the balcony daily, gradually increasing the time spent there.
• They are planted in open ground when there is no danger of night frosts, and the soil temperature rises to at least + 10 ° C.
• The place should be well lit with diffused light.
• Soil for peppers is fertilized with ash, humus.
• Ox's ear bushes are spreading, therefore a maximum of 5 plants can be placed on 1 m².
• After planting, it is better to spray the bushes with a special antistress solution that stimulates growth ("Epin", "Bud", "Ovary").

Adult plant care

Pepper of the Volovye ear variety has several preferences in care:

• It does not tolerate a lack of watering, so it is necessary to moisten the soil as soon as the lower leaves droop.
• In the heat of the pepper, you can arrange a warm shower from a watering can on the condition that the foliage has time to dry by nightfall, otherwise it can rot. It is important to carry out the procedure not in direct sunlight, otherwise the leaves will burn in places where water drops accumulate.
• After the beginning of flowering, it is advisable to spray with flowering stimulants - "Bud" or "Ovary" will do. The plant is capricious during this period and can lose color.
• With an abundance of fruits, it is difficult for a bush to resist bending, so it will have to be tied up.
• This variety does not need pinching, except for the period before the beginning of autumn. At this moment, all the stepchildren are removed so that the plant can grow the already set fruits to a cold snap.

Reviews of gardeners

The Volovye ear variety is widely known to gardeners in any region of the Russian Federation. He is very much loved for its unique taste and versatility in application.

Garden owners and farmers who are professionally involved in growing vegetables note that the Volovye ear peppers they grow correspond to the variety description given by the manufacturer. Farmers are pleased with the high yield, decent taste, aroma of fruits, their ability to be stored for a long time and can be easily transported.

Thus, we can conclude that some capriciousness of the variety to the growing conditions is insignificant in comparison with a number of its pronounced advantages.