Friends,
First of all Thanks to Vivek, Aman, Chandra, AK, Siri for making this discussion the most lively one. We are at 67 page and I wish we crossed 100. As every inputs from everyone is very informative and actually given me confidence to learn and start coloured capsicum farming in Assam.
But I realized that the pain Vivek and others took to share such a detail information needs someone atleast 12-16 hrs to go thru. Though I always suggest to go thru all the pages :-), but I thought why not put whatever I have learned in one document except for the machinery and chemical cost part so that our big heros can comment on this and thereby we all learn it better and additional info can be shared with all
About me: I have no experience of farming, but I have enough information now to start a pilot project atleast 
Also I start with some of the questions which is still I am not able to decide on, so I have given my prospective and needs your expert ideas/suggestion with a promise that this will not remain in discussion and you will start getting into my pilot project of 2000 sqmt or small if my budget does not permit but a sure shot. The informatrion below is my understanding of whatever experts mentioned in this blog, so wonāt be surpised if you get no additional info after reading it
So let us start with ahope to reach 100 pages soon 
Cultivation of Sweet/Bell pepper (Capsicum) in Polyhouse
The first set of questions which comes up in my mind is:
- Polyhouse/Poly tunnel/ Flat Shadenet/Shadehouse with polythene covered with slanted roof/Open field cultivation
- Since there is huge menace of fungus and nematodes, whether we should go for soil less cultivation(Hydroponics) or normal soil based one.
- Seed selection, self germination vs. buying seedlings
- Which all nutrients are required for fertigation
- Which all pesticides and fungicides are required, I am ok with anything organic or inorganic, but for fruits and vegetables I have heard that organic fertilizers/Bio fertilizers/Bone meal etc enhances the quality of fruits
- If we go for totally organic and use cocopeat as growing media, then organic fertilizer with major macro and micro nutrients, organic pesticides and Biofertilizers plus bone meail/blood meal. Will this work without any inorganic chemicals.
Now let us discuss this in details in context to my requirement which is in Assam, the soil is acidic in nature, mostly loomy soil and the temperature ranges from 10 degree with 30% RH to 38 degree 90% RH in peak summer (April to May only). So when to start plantation is a question.
Polyhouse/Shadehouse:
Polyhouse is suitable but expensive, and I do not think we need it for the climate condition of my place. With Shadehouse, I cannot work because Assam is a heavy rainfall area, so I should have plastic top cover plus side curtians to protect from rain and preserve CO2. Also I need some kind of ventilation at the top for proper air circulation. In one of the Farmnest discussion Nikhil brought out some innovative design of shadehouse with casuriana poles for the truss structure and 8 inch cement pipes reinforced with concrete(Not sure about the strength because steel rods are inserted horizontally so how the load bearing will happen. I could not find a better solution and open to consider if any other design make sense. Open cultivation is not possible for me since we have 6 months of complete rains, and I am left with 3-4 months of production only. If I consider 250/- per sqmt, will I be able to make a shade house using concrete columns and a truss of casuriana poles or something similar with plastic cover and side curtain, shadenet of 50%, insect nets. Need to keep in mind that the beds should be parallel to gutters for air circulation
Soil less cultivation or Soil based:
In the whole discussion, Vivek, Aman and other folks talked about probably 100 of chemicals required just to get rid of white flies, mites, thripes, nematodes, fruit borer, suckers etc. So even after soil sterilization using chemical or natural method plus adding stuff in basal dose, but still there are chances of mites and nematodes in the soil. So why not pay a bit extra more and select cocopeat(my favourite topic) with all nutrients in plastic bags or large pots . The only issue is if the roots of the plant grows quite long which is the case, then how to take care of it? Also cocopeat is not that expensive, but not sure about overall cost with macro and micro nutrients(But again I believe wastage is less compared to soil bed.
Seeds/Seedlings:
For 2000 sqmt, which is roughly 8000 seedlings I am not sure if any supplier will give me seedlings of coloured capsicum, and even if they agree the transportation charges will be huge till Guwahati. So self germination is the way. And I can have a small nursery with netpots , where I can germinate using the following(Again all data is available in the discussion only)
Process:
- Do a treatment of seeds by dipping the seeds in some germinator organic solution like seaweed or biofertilizer solution
- 50:1 ratio of cocopeat and neem cake along with Azospirillum and Phosphobacteria each with ratio :1. Cover with dark color plastic for at least 3 days, then see if germination has happened and remove and keep in shade.
- Slowly after maybe 2 leaf stage, start to expose to sun. Less time and increase day by day. 19:19:19 + MN @ 0.5% (5g/l) solution drench at 18 days after sowing. Before transplanting, there is process of hardening, you reduce watering and bring the plants into sunlight.
Choice of Seed:
- Should one go for Namdhari NS 280/281 OR Syngenta Bomby/Orobelle, which one is better in terms of yield, resistance to pest/climate condition etc. I believe all the above variety are for shadehouse/polyhouse cultivation. Is there anything specific about hydroponics?
Macro and Micro nutrients: - Chelated Phosphorous and calcium
Bed Preparation:
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- chillated nutrients are added for immediate action.
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- slow releasing nutrients are added for a continuous and slow release of the nutrients for a long period.
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- various cultures are added to grow helpful bacteria / fungus.
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- compost is added to have a proper soil humus level
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- neem cake is added for humus + nutrient
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- bone meal , blood mealare added
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- High NPK is added
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- rice husk - for mushyness and slow decay resulting in food for the helpful bacteria/culture.
Requirement:
- Major nutrients are Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium
- Macro nutrients/secondary nutrients are - Calcium, Magnesium & Sulphur.
- Micro nutrients are - Chlorine, Boron, Zinc, Copper, Molybdenum, Iron, Manganese, Nickel.
If Soil based for 1 acre:
- High NPK - 200 Kg
- High Potash - 200 kg
- Karanj Cake - 500 kg
- Neem Cake - 500 kg
- Castor Cake - 200 kg
- Manure (cow dung) (3 Brass) - 25 trolleys
- Red Soil - 35 trucks (4 Brass)
- Rice Husk - 1000 kg
- Poita - 35 trucks
Processing
- Drenching - Bavistin- 1gm/lt
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- spray - Nuvan - 1.5ml/lt and Monocrotophos - 1.5ml/lt
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- spray lannate - 2gm/lt + Streptomycin - 30gm/100lt + confidor - 0.1 ml/lt
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- 2nd we have done carbandizm 1gm per lit drenching
- watering
- Drenching with 19:19:19
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- 13.40.13 with silicon after one day gap again taken drenching of humic.
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- Again one day gap taken spray of chloropyriphos
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- After one day gap drench with H2O2 with silver
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- Spray with silicon 1ml.
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- Today drench with 13.40.13 with silicon.
- 10 X 26 X 25, magnesium, sulphur and other micronutrients
After Plantation:
- initially, when the plants are shifted, focus on more root development. so drenching of humic acid + my basal dose has slow release humic granules. there is a company which makes 100% organic certified products by the name āDr.Baviskar Techonologyā i use a product called āGerminatorā which helps root development.
- 19:19:19 is for over all development, till the plants are like 30-40 days old. then on a weekly basis i give micronutrients, Potassium nitrate, 00x00x50, magnesium sulphate and calcium nitrate.
- 12:61:0 for new shoots and branch development.
- once the plants have sufficient leaves, totally cut the nitrogen at any given time, if you are NOT fertigating the plants, by default nitrogen (10-15%) is been absorbed by the plants from the atmosphere.
- plants are a bit old and grown up start focusing on flower development. so nitro benzene + sea weed + boron i start. nitro benzene is to initiate flower development, boron for quick conversion to fruits or give N:P:K 15:8:35
- flowers come Amino and Folic acid are required. These are to control flower dropping problems and again quick conversion.
- 0:52:34 for flower to fruit conversion and fruit ripening
- 0:0:50 for fruit weight and appearance.
- 13:0:45 is potassium nitrate for initial root development
- humic acid for overall root development
- amino acid for better photosynthesis
- ok i guess the fruits should be ready for harvest now. so calcium nitrate (15% nitrogen) is increased a bit, for fruit flexibility and nitrogen. then a bit increase in potassium.
- initially what would happen is that the plant itself has so much powder that the fullness of the fruit is not a problem for the first harvested set. the weight is a issue. so monitor the potassium along with magnesium sulphate.
During Growth of Plant:
- Chelated nutrients like Fe thru EDTA can result better colour
- Humic and Fosferic acid (1 litre) once in 15-20 days. you could also consider Chlormequat Chloride (about 1 litre/15-20 days).
- Spreader like Silwet" by Chemtura Corp can help in spreading any nutrient or pesticide molecule to spread evenly on the leaf
- Penetrator will help the molecules to penetrate inside the stem and leaf, so with penetrator you can use foiler to spray nutirients
- AGRIMAX 3H spreader/ sticker/Penetrator
Pruning:
As per standard process, pruning or pinching needs to be done by selecting the strong shoot and removing the weak one, and also removing first crown flower, 1st node flower, 3rd node flower should be removed. At the most select 4 strong shoots and prune rest weak shoots.
But there is a different view on shoot pruning because you are calling virus and for that you need to take precaution like sterilizing, and deep your hand in skimmed milk solution etc, so that protein in the milk inactivates the virus, but not sure how much possible.
Support for the shoots and training :
Honestly, I am totally confused and seems that the best way is when you are on field. I liked the stepler with clip, which I will try for sure.
Biopesticides: Company YARA, these are important onesā¦
- trichoderma viride,
- harzianum
- pseudomonas
- Pacilomyces
Contact Based Microbes:
- verticiliium lecanni
- trichoderma harzianum,
- bacillus thuringisis,
- pseudomonas,
- beauveria bassiana
Fungal Issues:
- Topsin M or Topazā400ml/200 litr
- Tebuconazole (once in 10-15 days) as this is specially for bottom fruit rot
- planofix is good, it protects flower droping
Mites:
- Propargiteā or abemectin spray
- Propineb (contact) (400gm/200litre water)āIt is a contact type pesticide
- Tebuconazole (systematic) (100ml/200 litre water) ā It is a systematic type pesticide
white flies:
- Syngenta Pegasus 15gm/15 litre with Neem oil as emulsifier, repeat after 6 days, it removes both upper and lower side of the leaves
- imidacloprid and acetamiprid, these all are for whiteflies!
Powder mildew:
Spray wettable sulphur 3g/lt or carbendazim 1g/lt, 3sprays at 15days interval.
Aphids:
- Acephate 75 sp 1 g/lit or methyl demeton 25 EC 2 ml/lit or phosalone 35 EC 2 ml/lit.
Viral attacks:
- No solution, but Panchgavya seems some solution
- Spray of Folic & Amino Acid and then repeat a boron + nitro benzene.
- Remove thripes and aphids to control virus to some extent
Thripes:
- spinosad - 50ml / 200 litre ā Contact type
- thimethoxam - 40ml / 200 litre
- Clothianidin 50 ml/200 litre ā Systematic type
- Acetamiprid ā 50ml/200 litre
- imidacloprid plus azadiractin
Wash the plant properly after the doses
Flower Drop issue:
Normally with high nitrogen nutrients this happens because plant focus of growth and leaf development and drops flower, but if this is not the case, then give foiler spray of
- Amino + Folic Acid (250gm), Nitro benzene (200-300 ml), Calci + Boron (200 gm) in 200 litre once in 15-20 days
- More of Potash and Phosphorus(P&K) with Magnessium Sulphate and Calcium Nitrate
Nualgi Foiler Spray: Company: - Nualgi nanobiotech" - It is based on diatom algi. 100% organic. It converts all glucose in leaves to ATP(adinosine Triphosphate). Pests are not interested in ATP, they donāt get glucose. Thus your plants are saved. This is also works as nutrient. you can stop providing fertiliser to soil. "
Though in Nualgi website, the algi triggers large population of zooplanktons which is beneficial for pesiculture. So not sure the relationship here.
After First Harvest: Use the following fertilizers
- 12x61x00,
- 52x34x00
so new shootings start developing and so do the flowers.
Packing after Harvest
- Use 5ppm solution of Anthium Dioxcide dose added in water and rinse to improve shelf life of fruits
- For coloured ones, harvest it when the colour is 50% only to increase shelf life.
- Use 5 ply boxes to transport.
