How to recognize boron deficiency and how to use boronic acid

Without a certain amount of minerals in the soil, garden peppers cannot grow a strong green mass and a juicy harvest. Boron must be included in the nutrition of the plantings - a trace element responsible for the number of ovaries, the taste of the fruit, as well as protection from pests and the general health of the bush. Gardeners recommend sprinkling bell peppers with boric acid. The need for such feeding is easy to notice from the state of the plant: it curls, does not bear fruit, and is attacked by pests.

Signs of boron deficiency in pepper

The element deficiency is noticeable already at the seedling stage, especially if young plants are placed indoors or in a greenhouse, and not in open ground. Such seedlings are stunted, growing slowly.

Signs of boron deficiency in a plant at the flowering and fruiting stages:

1. The foliage becomes smaller and deformed.
2. Shoots stop growing.
3. The tops of the plants die off.
4. Sometimes the roots rot.
5. Flowers are falling.
6. Little ovaries are formed.
7. Fruits are irregular, small, tasteless and tough.

Plants placed on sandy, peat, podzolic and clay soils can suffer from a deficiency. After liming, the amount of trace element in the soil decreases. The best options for planting are salt marshes, chestnut and chernozem soils: they contain the optimal amount of boron.

Can peppers be treated with boric acid

For peppers, boric acid is a necessary top dressing. It is a crystalline powder of natural origin. Chemical formula of acid - H₃BO₃... This substance is easily absorbed by peppers. Boron in one way or another affects all processes in the plant throughout the entire growing season.

What spraying with boric acid gives:

1. The element promotes better absorption of other minerals from the soil.
2. Due to boron, the amount of chlorophyll in the cells of pepper increases. This significantly affects the growth and overall health of the bush.
3. Shoots and roots get stronger and grow more actively. Boron is one of the main feedings for stunted seedlings.
4. Thanks to the boron, flowering intensifies, new ovaries appear, the amount of barren flowers decreases.
5. More sugar is supplied to the fruits, their taste becomes more pleasant.
6. Boron is a well-known antiseptic. Peppers fed with boric acid are less likely to rot and other crop diseases and resist pests.
7. The shelf life of ripe fruits is increased.

Advice
Pepper seeds are soaked in the preparation before planting so that the seedlings are friendly and the seedlings do not get sick with late blight.

The use of boric acid is not only allowed, but also recommended, especially with visible signs of starvation of the bush. You can also feed eggplants, tomatoes and zucchini with this preparation.

Processing time

To improve planting and increase fruiting, it is enough to plan three feedings with boric acid:

• at the time of budding - the number of buds will increase;
• at the beginning of flowering - flowers will fall less often;
• when the harvest ripens, the fruits will be protected from rot, their taste and appearance will improve.

Deviation from the schedule is not considered an error. It is better to introduce boron when the plant needs it and signals it.

How to feed pepper: foliar method

It is believed that spraying works best on boron deficient plants. In any case, boric acid is used as a solution.

How to prepare a spray mixture:

1. Dissolve 1 g of the preparation in hot, but not boiling water (1 l).
2. You need to make sure that all the crystals are dissolved.
3. When the product has completely cooled down, you can start processing.

Rules for foliar top dressing of pepper:

1. It is necessary to spray the bushes on a cloudy dry day or in the evening. The bright sun will lead to increased evaporation of moisture from the foliage, this is fraught with burns.
2. The solution is distributed using a spray bottle: the agent should get evenly on the plants.
3. Moderation is important when processing: although boric acid is weak, in large quantities it can cause burns to the green mass. The recommended amount of solution is 1 liter per 10 m².

Safety
Spraying is carried out in protective gloves and a mask. At the end of the procedure, wash your hands and face with soap and water.

Root dressing

Root feeding with a solution is also possible. For this, the product is prepared in the standard way and carefully poured with a watering can strictly under the root. Fertilizer should not fall on the foliage: the jet contains more active substance than the dose from the sprayer.

Important
Before watering with boric acid solution, the soil must be moistened with water, otherwise the roots will get burned.

It is necessary to carry out such feeding only in advanced cases, when all the signs of boron deficiency are evident.

How to supplement the composition

Boric acid is optionally used in its pure form. The solution is supplemented with other active ingredients:

1. An effective composition with potassium permanganate: add a pinch of boric acid to a bucket of a weak pink solution.
2. Add 10 g of glucose to 10 liters of solution.
3. So that the solution lingers better on the bushes, shavings of laundry soap are added to it.

Advice
After treatment with a solution of potassium permanganate and boric acid, spray with iodine after a week. This is a fixing procedure.

Boron excess

An excess of a trace element is destructive, as is its deficiency. Boron should be applied carefully and in measured quantities.

The excess of a substance is determined by the following criteria:

1. Leaf edge necrosis.
2. The leaves turn yellow, curl up into a dome, tips inward, then fall off.
3. Yield decreases markedly.

Both the plant itself and the person who eats its fruits suffer from an excess of boron. A trace element accumulates in the pulp of pepper, causing dermatitis and digestive upset. Boron is excreted from the body for a very long time.

Boric acid is an affordable, simple and very effective garden pepper dressing. She will quickly solve the health problems of the bush, enhance the growth of shoots and ovaries, and make the harvest unusually tasty.