Pepper Swallow: Characteristics And Description Of The Variety, Photos, Reviews Of Those Who Planted, Cultivation Features

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 12:53

Pepper Swallow: a reliable variety for industrial use

Swallow is one of the most popular sweet peppers. Despite the fact that it has been known for almost half a century, it is planted and planted every year by gardeners in many regions of our country. This is due to both the high quality of the fruit and the unpretentiousness to growing conditions.

Content

• 1 Description of the Swallow pepper variety

  • 1.1 Appearance
  • 1.2 Characteristics of the Swallow pepper

  • 1.3 For which regions is the variety suitable

    1.3.1 Video: Pepper Swallow in Yakutia

  • 1.4 Advantages and disadvantages

    1.4.1 Table - the advantages and disadvantages of pepper Swallow

• 2 Recommendations for growing varieties
• 3 Reviews of the Swallow pepper variety

Description of the Swallow pepper variety

In the State Register of the Russian Federation, the Swallow pepper received a "residence permit" at number 2, when the list included only the Gift of Moldova. This happened in 1974 after the variety bred in the Moldavian Research Institute of Agriculture and Vegetable Growing underwent comprehensive tests. Since then, this pepper has been successfully grown both in private gardens and in large agricultural enterprises.

Appearance

Pepper Swallow grows in the form of a semi-spreading bush 50-60 cm high in a standard shape. In the case of a solid harvest, tying the shoots to stakes is required. The fruits are hanging on the bushes. They have a conical shape, smooth, above the average size: up to 10 cm long, weight ranges from 50 to 80 g, individual specimens grow up to 100 g. Since the very tip of the fruit is often slightly bent and resembles a Swallow's beak, the variety apparently received, its name.

In the state of technical ripeness, the color of the peppers is light green, in the biological state it is red. In the intermediate period, the color is from yellow to orange. It is in biological ripeness that the peppers should be on the bushes so that seeds can be collected from them for sowing next year. The fruits are considered thick-walled: the walls, depending on the state of ripeness, have a thickness of 5 to 7 mm.

The Swallow pepper has a classic shape and pleasant color.

Characteristics of the Swallow pepper

Pepper Swallow belongs to the group of medium early varieties. Peppers in the stage of technical ripeness can be harvested in 106–130 days after full sprouting, and it takes about a month for them to reach the stage of biological ripeness. Pepper is consumed in both stages of ripening. At the same time, the fruits harvested in green are able to ripen to some extent during storage. The main part of the harvest ripens in unison, later on there is a meager fruiting.

The taste of the fruit of the Swallow pepper is recognized by various tasters as good or excellent. Their flesh is juicy and sweet. The harvest is used both fresh and for various dishes. When creating the variety, it was agreed that it was intended for the canning industry. Since the skin is dense, the crop can easily be transported over any distance, it is well stored.

The yield of Swallow pepper is average, ranging from 2.5 to 4.7 kg / m ². In greenhouses, the yield may be slightly higher, but in the open air the plants are less likely to get sick. In general, the resistance of this variety to diseases is at an average level. The variety is considered unpretentious, easily tolerates sudden changes in weather conditions.

For which regions is the variety suitable

The list of regions in which Swallow pepper is allowed for cultivation is extensive. In fact, for some reason, the State Register of the Russian Federation did not include only the Central Region in this list. The rest of the territories and regions, both from the European part of Russia and the entire Trans-Urals, appear in the list. Perhaps this inadmissibility was associated with some weighty reasons, it is difficult to guess about them, but in reality this pepper is grown everywhere. The variety was bred specifically for large enterprises, that is, for commercial production, but ordinary summer residents also successfully grow it. At the same time, depending on the climate, preference is given to open or protected ground. An approximate landmark is the latitude of Saratov or Kursk: it makes no sense to occupy the greenhouses with the Swallow to the south, and to the north it is risky to plant peppers in open ground.

Video: Swallow pepper in Yakutia

Advantages and disadvantages

If the Swallow pepper did not represent a worthy competitor to hundreds of modern varieties and hybrids, it would have disappeared into oblivion. However, it turns out that the vast majority of new developments are aimed at satisfying the interests of small farmers and owners of small personal subsidiary plots, including ordinary summer residents. Varieties intended for commercial production of products appear less and less often. Therefore, the advantages of the Swallow variety should be considered, including taking into account this situation. The variety has a lot of advantages and some non-obvious disadvantages.

Table - the advantages and disadvantages of pepper Swallow

pros	Minuses
Unpretentiousness to growing conditions	Not the highest yield
Friendly return of the harvest	The need to tie bushes
Early maturity
Good transportability and preservation of fruits
Adaptability to changes in weather
High taste
Harvest versatility
The ability to ripen fruits taken at the stage of technical ripeness

Surprisingly, for so many years of the existence of the variety, it almost did not have a serious replacement in terms of industrial cultivation of peppers. There are only about a dozen of medium-early varieties recommended for industrial cultivation in the lists of the State Register. At the same time, for example, the rather old variety Belozerka is zoned only in a couple of warm regions and is characterized by a very low yield. The relatively new Hungarian hybrid Bibitz has a good yield, but it is allowed for cultivation only in the North Caucasus and Lower Volga regions. The old Victoria variety does not shine at all with characteristics.

Swallow is often compared to Belozerka, but the latter has severely limited regions of admission

The varieties or hybrids recommended for industrial cultivation in most regions of our country practically do not exist at all, and if we talk about early maturing or mid-early ones, then, apart from Swallow, there are not a single one on the lists at all. This serious bias towards the selection of varieties for small farms probably has an explanation, but the essence remains clear: the good old Swallow still seems to be a universal variety of sweet pepper for large agricultural enterprises.

Recommendations for growing varieties

Pepper Swallow in the southernmost regions can be grown without seedlings, but then it will not have any advantages in terms of early maturity: the harvest will be ready only by the end of summer. Therefore, almost always and everywhere, seedlings are first prepared. Seedlings of this pepper when planted in a garden should be 70-75 days, but it will take a couple of weeks for the seeds to sprout. Therefore, sowing seeds in pots for greenhouse cultivation is carried out in the middle or end of February, and for open ground - in the first half of March.

There is little point in sowing seeds in a common container and then diving the seedlings: the peppers do not welcome this procedure. It is better to immediately sow the seeds in individual cups with a sliding bottom or peat pots with a capacity of 250-300 ml. Care for seedlings of this pepper has no peculiarities. By the time of planting (mid-May in a greenhouse or early summer in unprotected soil), it should already have buds, and preferably several flowers. A week before planting in the garden, the seedlings must be taught to fresh air. If real warmth has not come, the seedlings are planted under temporary shelters.

Like any early maturing variety, the Swallow seedlings should bloom by the time they are planted in the garden

Optimal planting pattern for pepper Swallow 40 x 60 cm; a more compacted version is fraught with diseases, since the plants will be poorly ventilated. It is better to drive in the pegs for tying bushes right away, although the garter itself will be required later, during the formation and growth of fruits. This pepper is watered and fed in the same way as most other varieties. The soil should never dry out; watering is carried out only with warm water. Top dressing is given every 2-3 weeks. You can use both diluted mullein infusions and solutions of mineral fertilizers. From the moment the first fruits turn red, they try not to give nitrogen in dressings.

There are no special requirements for the formation of a bush: remove all branches and leaves below the first fork. It is customary to remove the very first flower that forms at this fork. The first peppers must be harvested as soon as they are edible: this facilitates the growth and maturation of the remaining ones. The Swallow produces the main part of the harvest quite amicably, but then continues to slowly bear fruit until the very cold. Nevertheless, flowers that appear in August should be removed: it is unlikely that full-fledged fruits will have time to develop from them.

When forming a bush, they try to increase its branching.

Reviews of the Swallow pepper variety

Swallow pepper is one of the main varieties intended for commercial production, that is, for growing in large volumes. Nevertheless, it is also planted by ordinary summer residents, since it is a very reliable variety of medium early ripening, fruiting with tasty universal peppers.