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I want to share last year's experience with growing peppers. We grow them every year, but we only tried this last year. Partly because our seedlings didn't come in too good a condition, they grew more slowly and when our neighbors' were almost already flowering and growing like crazy, ours looked freshly planted. We were afraid there would be no crop, so I ran to ask at the garden center and the manager advised bitter salt. I used Epsom salt (my wife has it at home for roses), but the cheaper bitter one from the garden center will also do.
Three steps to a bountiful harvest
We started spraying about 2-3 weeks after planting in the garden. We made a simple spray – 1 teaspoon of this salt (Epsom) per 1 liter of standing lukewarm water. We sprayed the plants well and left it at that. After a few days we saw that growth had slightly accelerated so we repeated about once every 2 weeks. The point is to give the seedlings enough magnesium, which they need for root development and strength. Then growth goes quickly.
When flowers appear
We started the second spray when the flowers appeared (then the plants need even more nutrients) – dissolve 2 tablespoons of salt in about 4 liters of water and apply to the plants once a month, instead of one watering.
Every six weeks until harvest I also added 1 tablespoon of the salt to the soil around the peppers – not right next to the stem, a little further away. At the start of the season the salt helps with root development, cellular processes in photosynthesis, with growth and in preventing rot. Its use later in the season produces more fruits, larger ones and a longer fruiting period.
I also want to add that similar effects to bitter salt can be achieved with a tea made from chicken manure.
But we don't have chickens and this is a simpler and more fragrant solution.
