Sowing pumpkin seeds in open ground. Growing pumpkins in open ground near Moscow. How to plant a pumpkin in the open ground

Pumpkin is a favorite vegetable of many gardeners - it is tasty, productive and unpretentious. I am not an exception, it is a compulsory culture on my landing list.

I plant it with seeds directly on the bed and pre-grown seedlings to accelerate the ripening moment - any of the options allows you to collect a good crop of large fruits. Today we will get to know the basics of cultivating this crop.

Let's start with growing pumpkins by sowing seeds. First of all, you should choose the right time because the pumpkin is a heat-loving plant and once in the cold soil its seeds simply will not sprout. Try to foresee the likelihood of spring frost.

When the air warms up to 18 degrees, and the threat of cooling is behind, you can start sowing pumpkins. The soil should also be warmed up to 12 degrees at a depth of 8 cm. The optimum temperature for the development of this vegetable is considered to be 25 degrees Celsius. By terms, this is approximately the month of May, focus on your own climate zone.

The main condition for a good harvest is the correct selection of a place for planting. It should be a well-heated sunny place with light sandstones or sandstones. You should not plant a pumpkin in the area where melons and pumpkin crops (cucumbers, zucchini and others) were grown last year.

Pumpkin soil

The key to productivity is fertile soil. It is advisable to do its preparation in advance, since the fall. For this:

Remove all weeds;
Loosen the soil;
After a couple of weeks, dig over the ground, picking weeds.

With the onset of heat, re-dig the site (the day before sowing is desirable). Pumpkin culture is actively developing, so it needs a large amount of nutrition. Therefore, when digging, bring humus, manure or compost to the ground.

Ideally, a square meter should account for at least 7-10 kg of fertilizer. The fertile layer should be located at a depth of 15-20 cm. If this is not possible, you can add a couple kilograms of organics, 10 grams of potassium sulfate and 20 grams of superphosphate to each well.

Potassium can be replaced with ordinary ash. Before sowing, the added fertilizer is thoroughly mixed with the soil.

Growing pumpkins on a heap of compost gives good results.

How to prepare seeds

Do not neglect the preparation of planting material - this has a beneficial effect on the crop. Before sowing it is heated for a couple of hours at 60 degrees. Then, to protect against fungal diseases, the seeds are kept for 12 hours in a weak solution of potassium permanganate.

The peel of the seeds is dense, the sprout breaks for a long time, to speed up this process, dissolve two tablespoons of ash in a liter of boiling water and hold them in it for 12 hours.

Sowing Pumpkin Seeds

One plant should have at least 1-4 square meters, while the later the variety, the more free space it needs; If the winter was not snowy, then before planting, two liters of warm water are poured into each well, and planting is done after it is completely absorbed;
It is imperative to monitor the distance between plants. Long-varietal varieties are planted at a distance of 1.5-2 meters from each other and 1.4-2 meters between rows. Shrub varieties have a nesting method, the planting scheme is equal to 0.8x0.8 or 1.2x1.2 meters.
The depth of embedding of the seeds depends on the quality of the earth: in the light it is 5-8 cm, and in the denser - 4-5 cm. One or two seeds are placed in each hole with a thin tip down, 3 cm apart from each other. Subsequently, a more viable germ is selected.
The seeds are sprinkled with nutrient soil, and the entire plot is mulched with peat or humus. To accelerate the emergence of seedlings over crops, you can install arcs with a film stretched over them.
Seed germination occurs a week after sowing. Now plants need regular cultivation, watering, nutrition and protection from diseases and pests.

Seedling method of growing pumpkins

Pumpkin is a southern culture, not always in our conditions it manages to ripen by the end of the warm season. This is especially true for northern areas with a short summer. To accelerate the ripening of the crop, pumpkins are often grown in seedlings.

Pumpkin seedlings

Plant pumpkin seeds in spacious pots of peat or plastic glasses. The containers are filled with fertile soil; a small layer of sawdust is well poured into the bottom to reduce the risk of damage to the root system at the time of planting.
Landing is made about a month before the alleged landing in open ground. Seeds are sunk into the ground by 3 cm and covered with polyethylene until sprouts appear. Capacities are located closer to sunlight.
In order for the sprouts to be more powerful, they will have to provide a special temperature. Before emergence, it is at least 18 degrees during the day and 15 at night. Then for a week the temperature drops by 2-3 degrees, and after it rises to 19-22 degrees during the day and 13-16 at night.
During the cultivation of seedlings, it is fed several times.

The appearance of a pair of real leaves on a pumpkin means that she is ready to move to her permanent place of residence.

Preparing for a transplant and its timing

To seedlings quickly adapted to the new conditions of open ground, a week before planting, they begin to prepare it. The temperature of the content is reduced to 15-12 degrees, the room is constantly ventilated, and the plants themselves are gradually accustomed to fresh air, increasing the time they spend on the street.

Do not rush to plant seedlings. Random frosts can ruin your plants. Wait for steady heat and only then proceed with the procedure. Here you should adhere to the same conditions as when planting pumpkin seeds. Planting is best done in the evening or on a cloudy, rainy day, so the plant will tolerate stress more easily.

Plot

Plant pumpkin seedlings on brightly lit ridges. Thanks to the hairs on the foliage, this plant is resistant to direct sunlight. Shady location will lead to weakening of the plant, inability to fully bear fruit.

The earth should be fertile, crumbly, with neutral acidity and free access of oxygen and moisture to the roots. If the soil is acidic, you can fix this problem with ash or lime.

Keep in mind that the main root of the pumpkin is long, it is surrounded by a mass of small roots located at a shallow depth. Therefore, the topsoil should be especially nutritious.

When planting seedlings in the soil, organic fertilizer can be added to the hole, and in the fall it is useful to nourish the plant with phosphorus-potassium complexes.

Transplant technology

Pumpkins do not like to be disturbed once again, so try to minimally affect the roots when transplanting. Therefore, the best way is transshipment. Seedlings to cotyledonous leaves are buried in the hole, carefully pressed and well watered with warm water.
Provide shelter for shelter from possible frost.
Wells with planted plants are well covered with compost - this will protect against weed growth and prevent the appearance of rot.
To make the bushes easier to take root, you can shade them with covering material for the first days.
Planting scheme is similar to planting pumpkin seeds.

Pumpkin care after sowing

In fact, pumpkin, regardless of the method of planting, whether it is a seed or seedling method, requires the same care.

Watering

The impressive leaf apparatus of the pumpkin evaporates moisture very quickly, so it requires constant replenishment of moisture. As water develops, more is needed, and it must be warm.

However, at the time of fruit formation, the frequency of watering must be reduced, so you limit the growth of green mass in favor of the ovaries. The previous moisturizing scheme is returned when the already formed fruits begin to gain weight.

At the time of harvest, the amount of fluid per bush should be 10 liters. Excess moisture is also harmful, the plant can rot and become vulnerable to fungi.

When the fruit reaches the desired size, watering can be reduced again. It is believed that the amount of moisture affects their benefits.

Loosening the soil and forming a bush

The soil around the bushes must be constantly loosened, especially after watering and rainfall, while removing weeds. Its depth around the plants should not exceed 6-8 cm. It is better to loosen the soil between the rows by 12-17 cm before watering, so moisture will be easier to penetrate to the roots. At the same time, the bushes need a bit of hilling.

After the formation of the fruit, the plant should be pinched, after this event, the ripening of the pumpkin occurs much faster.

To make the pumpkin stronger and more stable, the bush is sprinkled in a circle with moist nutrient soil - this contributes to the formation of new lateral roots.

Pumpkin fertilizer

Pumpkin is a culture that forms a huge amount of green mass and fruits. Therefore, she can not live without frequent liquid top dressing.

The first of them is carried out three weeks after planting in the ground, chicken manure or fresh manure is bred in water at a concentration of 1 to 4. Such meals are repeated at least 3 times a month. It will positively affect the development of the plant and watering with a solution of ash (a glass on a bucket of liquid).
Before watering the bush with nutritious composition around it at a distance of 10-15 cm (first feeding) and 40 cm (all the rest), a groove is made. It is in it that fertilizer is poured, then it is sprinkled with soil.
With prolonged rainy weather, it is useful to spray the plants with a solution prepared from 10 grams of urea and a bucket of water.

Pumpkin is consumed fresh, stewed, in the form of mashed potatoes, porridge, and soup. It goes well with cereals and vegetables. From it you can make pancakes, stuff and bake in the oven, steam.

Three types of pumpkins are common in world agricultural production:

large-fruited;
hard bark;
nutmeg.

Numerous varieties of large-fruited pumpkins are used for livestock feed. The fruits of hard-boiled pumpkin - with a gray peel, sweet, well stored in apartment conditions. Their flesh is edible in its raw form.

In suburban areas, they often grow nutmeg pumpkin. Sweet and aromatic vegetable is suitable for eating raw. Of the varieties zoned for most regions for pumpkin planting, Almond 35 and Volzhskaya gray should be noted.

Pumpkins grow in any climate, because of this they give the impression of unpretentious plants growing in any gardens. But getting large and high-quality fruits by planting pumpkins in open ground is not easy. In our climate, pumpkins, like any southern plants, lack sunlight and the length of the growing season.

Pumpkin in a short time grows a giant vegetative mass, so the soil should contain a lot of nutrients. You can not plant a pumpkin in the shade. For rapid growth, she needs a lot of light.

Do not plant the pumpkin near - an aggressive shrub will leave the pumpkin without sunlight, and it will not set fruit.

Pumpkin can be planted with seeds on a bed. The best predecessors for pumpkin are nightshade and cabbage vegetables. Planting pumpkins in the ground near the south side of the buildings will protect against the cold northeast.

Large pumpkin leaves are easily damaged by the wind. When the leaves turn over, the plants slow down growth and development. To avoid this, summer residents planted tall crops, for example, beans, sweet peppers or standard tomatoes, around the perimeter of the pumpkin patch. If the size of the plot allows, cereal crops can be sown between rows of pumpkins.

The soil will have to be prepared in the fall - to make holes and fill it with fallen leaves. In spring, the soil under the leaves will warm up quickly. It remains to fill a bucket of fertile soil in the pit and plant 3 seeds each. After the cotyledon leaves are opened, one seedling should be left (the strongest in appearance), and the rest should be removed. One month after sowing, each plant should have a minimum of three leaves.

Processing seeds before planting aloe juice helps speed up the development of pumpkin. It is necessary to squeeze a few drops of juice, dilute with water 1: 5 and soak the seeds in the solution for one hour.

Culture loves warmth. At a temperature of 0 degrees, it dies, even if it is a short-term morning frost. Among gourds, pumpkin is the most hygrophilous. It tolerates the proximity of soil waters. In dry years, in such areas you can get an excellent harvest.

Tillage in autumn and spring for pumpkin is similar to the processing of beds before planting other vegetables of the family. Anyone who has ever grown cucumbers, zucchini, watermelons or melons will be able to prepare the ground for pumpkins. Like cucumbers, pumpkin can be grown not only on the ground, but also on a pile of old humus.

In the south of Russia, seeds are sown in April, in the middle lane - at the end of May. In Siberia, pumpkin is sown at the end of May, but take into account that, if necessary, shoots will have to be covered from frost, which in the region is possible until mid-June.

Pumpkins are harvested when the fruits acquire a characteristic color and pattern. Unripe nutmeg pumpkin can be ripened at home.

Seeds are extracted immediately from oil varieties, poured into a glass container and poured with cold water for a day. If the fruits are overripe, the seeds cannot be soaked to prevent their germination. After soaking, the seeds are washed, separated from the pulp and dried in the oven until the thin transparent film covering the surface of the seed falls off.

Vertical Pumpkin Care

There is an opinion that creeping plants spread southward, but this is not so. Pumpkin grows in all four directions, capturing the surrounding area. Under favorable conditions, pushy plants can climb up a vertical surface and braid a gazebo, barn or bush.

This can be used by summer residents who do not have enough space for pumpkins on the site. They need to plant not ordinary varieties, but curly ones, since the seeds are on sale. To make the lashes better climb up, for them you can pull the strings, as for cucumbers. For a "vertical garden" suitable varieties with large fruits - Spaghetti, Pearl, pumpkin Rossiyanka.

A new waxy pumpkin is well suited for vertical culture. It has elongated fruits with a dark green, dense crust that feels like wax. Initially, pumpkins were grown in China and southeastern countries, but now they are gaining popularity with us. The first grade of wax pumpkin, which has become famous in our country, is called Chardzhou.

The fruits of wax gourds are ready for harvesting 125-130 days after sowing, so in the northern regions you have to grow through seedlings. Plants form powerful long stems, elongated fruits, up to 50 centimeters in length, the weight of each fruit from six kilograms.

Wax pumpkin cannot be compared to nutmeg to taste, but it is a champion in storage. Fruits, not drying out and not decaying, can lie in the cellar for up to 3 years.

Another pumpkin we still have is rare - leafy. In the homeland of Peru, it is a perennial culture, we grow it as an annual. The name pumpkin received for the unusual shape of the leaves. She has an oval-shaped green fruit with a white pattern on the bark. The pulp is white or yellowish, sweet and tasty. Externally, the plant and fruits are similar to watermelons.

The length of the shoots of the foliage pumpkin reaches 10 meters, and it is suitable for vertical gardening. Although the plant comes from the tropics, it grows in any region of the country where there is a culture of pumpkin cultivation.

Pumpkin cultivation

Pumpkin loves feeding with ash. This natural fertilizer supplies the plant with potassium, which in a properly grown pumpkin will be many (for the chemical composition of the pumpkin and its value for those who want to lose weight, see below).

According to the technology of growing pumpkins, one month before the harvest, you need to stop watering, then the fruits will gain hardness and will be well stored. If the autumn is rainy, it is better to cover the plants with a film or put an awning over them. The fruits ripen three and a half months after planting seedlings in the ground. If they did not have time to acquire a golden or gray color characteristic of the variety, then they will acquire it later, after lying down for several weeks in the room.

Plant common pumpkin (lat. Cucurbita pepo) - a type of grassy annual of the genus Pumpkin of the Pumpkin family, which is attributed to gourds. The birthplace of the plant is Mexico. In the Oaxaca Valley, it has been growing for at least 8,000 years. Even before our era, pumpkin was distributed in North America along the Missouri and Mississippi river valleys. Spanish sailors brought pumpkin to the Old World in the 16th century, and since then it has been widely cultivated not only in Europe, but also in Asia. Record holders for growing pumpkins are China, India and Russia. Pumpkin vegetables are not only tasty, but also useful, and the pulp of the plant, which contains, in addition to a number of substances necessary for humans, rare vitamin T, and pumpkin seeds, oil from which is a regenerative and anti-inflammatory agent that does not cause allergies, also benefit.

In this article we will tell you how to grow pumpkin seedlings, when to plant a pumpkin in open ground, how to water a pumpkin, how to treat a pumpkin from diseases and pests, how to fertilize a pumpkin, what a pumpkin is sick with, and share other important information that will allow you to hesitation to begin cultivating this tasty and healthy plant.

Landing: sowing seeds in the soil - when the soil at a depth of 7-8 cm warms up to 12-13 ˚C; sowing seeds for seedlings - in April or early May, planting seedlings in open ground - in late May or early June.
The soil: any, but better fertile, previously dug up with organic and mineral fertilizers.
Watering: after planting seedlings - daily, until the seedlings take root, then infrequent, until the ovaries reach the size of a fist. In a season with a normal amount of rainfall, you can not water it at all. When the fruits begin to gain mass, gradually increase the flow of water to 1 bucket per 1 adult plant.
Top dressing: 1st — with a solution of chicken droppings or mullein a week after transplanting seedlings, then 3-4 organic top dressings are carried out every month.
Reproduction: seedling seedling and seedling method.
Pests: gourds, aphids, (or white footstails), wireworms, slugs.
Disease white rot, anthracnose, ascochitosis, powdery mildew and black mold.

Pumpkin Vegetable - Description

The root of the pumpkin is branched, stem, creeping, pentahedral, rough stem with spiny pubescence reaches a length of 5-8 meters. The leaves are alternate, heart-shaped, five-branched or five-lobed, long-leaved, with a plate length of up to 25 cm, pubescent with hard short hairs. In the sinus of each leaf, a spiral tendril develops. Flowers unisexual, large, single, orange or yellow. Female flowers on short pedicels, while male flowers on long peduncles bloom in June or July and are pollinated crosswise. The fruit is a fleshy, large, oval or spherical false pumpkin berry with a large number of seeds, ripening in late summer or early autumn. Pumpkin seeds are creamy white, 1 to 3 cm long, with a protruding rim along the edge and a woody outer shell.

Growing pumpkin from seeds

Sowing Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkins are grown from seeds using seedlings and seedlings, however, cultivation of a variety such as nutmeg pumpkins involves an exclusively seedling propagation method. Sowing pumpkin seeds into the soil is carried out no earlier than the soil at a depth of 7-8 cm warms up to a temperature of 12-13 ºC. Pumpkin cultivation in the open field begins with pre-sowing cultivation of the site and seed.

Before planting, the seeds are heated for 9-10 hours at a temperature of 40 ºC, then they are immersed for half an day in an ash solution (2 tablespoons of wood ash are diluted with stirring in 1 liter of boiling water) in order to facilitate the passage of the embryo through a dense peel. The seeds are heated in the oven, then they are wrapped in several layers of gauze, abundantly moistened with ash solution. You can, of course, not do any of this, but then the ripening period of the pumpkin increases, and if you live in an area with a short and not hot summer, then your pumpkin will not have time to ripen before frost without frosting.

Before planting a pumpkin (we will talk about how to prepare a pumpkin patch a little later), draw rows in the garden and make holes in them with a diameter of 30 cm. If the winter was snowless and the land on the plot is dry, pour each hole one and a half to two liters of water with a temperature of 50 ºC, and when it is absorbed, plant 2-3 seeds, but not in a heap, but spread them at a distance from each other, deepening by 5-6 cm, if the soil on the bed is medium loamy, and 8-10 cm if the soil is light. Seeds are covered with fertile soil, and the site is mulched with peat crumb or humus.

Between the rows leave a gap of at least 2 m, and between the holes in the row - at least a meter. Making holes is better in a checkerboard pattern. To accelerate the emergence of seedlings, a film is thrown onto the crops, sprinkling its edges with earth.

When shoots appear, and this happens under normal conditions in a week, remove the film, wait until 2 real leaflets develop on the seedlings and thin them out: leave no more than 2 plants in each hole, do not pull out the rest, but simply cut them at ground level, so as not to injure the root system of the remaining seedlings. If you are still afraid of frost, install a wire frame in the area and throw a film on it.

Growing pumpkin seedlings

Planting pumpkins for seedlings is carried out 15-20 days before planting seedlings in open ground. The pumpkin seeds bent after pre-sowing treatment are laid out one at a time in plastic or peat pots with a diameter of 10-15 cm, half-filled with soil mix from two parts of humus, one part of turf land and one part of peat. Fill the seeds with the same soil mixture, but with the addition of a five percent solution of mullein and 10-15 g of wood ash. The crops are moistened, after which the pots are covered with a film.

How to grow pumpkin seedlings and prevent it from stretching, what often happens with seedlings at home? Caring for pumpkin seedlings involves keeping crops under good lighting, which excludes direct sunlight, and at a temperature of 20-25 ºC, and when shoots appear, set the temperature: during the day, the room should be 15-20 ºC, and at night - 12-13 ºC. If, however, some seedlings are extended, then after a week and a half, the sub-cotyledonous section of such a seedling is folded into a ring and covered with cotyledonous leaves with moist soil.

Water the crops sparingly, avoiding waterlogging of the substrate. Twice during the seedling period, seedlings receive complex top dressing. A pumpkin fertilizer is prepared according to this recipe: 1 liter of mullein, 17 g of ammonium sulfate, 15 g of potassium sulfate and 20 g of superphosphate are diluted in 10 liters of water. Consumption - half a liter of solution per seedling. Before planting in open ground, seedlings are taken out to the veranda or balcony and tempering procedures are carried out, opening the window for an hour or two, and gradually for a longer time, so that the plants get used to the environment in which they will soon find themselves. A couple of days before planting in the ground, the window is no longer closed at all.

Pumpkin pick

To the question of how to dive a pumpkin, we answer: it is contraindicated to dive a pumpkin, since it is very easy to damage the root system of seedlings during transplantation. That is why it is recommended to sow pumpkin seeds in separate pots.

Planting pumpkins in the open ground

When to plant a pumpkin in the ground

Planting pumpkins in the ground is carried out with the onset of steady warm weather. This usually happens in late May or early June. Pumpkin is a melon culture, which means that it needs a lot of sun, so choose the southern section for planting the pumpkin. The optimum temperature for pumpkin growth is 25 ºC, and if the temperature drops to 14 ºC, plant growth stops. Pumpkin grows well in areas where green manure, onions, cabbage, carrots, beets, soybeans, peas, beans, beans, lentils or peanuts grew last year. Potato, sunflower, cucumber, zucchini, squash, watermelon, melon and pumpkin are considered to be bad predecessors.

Pumpkin soil

Pumpkin grows on any soil, but large and sweet, it can ripen only on fertile soil. A pumpkin plot is prepared in the fall: they are dug up, introducing 3-5 kg \u200b\u200bof compost or manure into one-m² infertile soil, 200-300 g of ash or lime into heavy or acidic soil, and 25-30 g of phosphorus and 15-20 g of potash fertilizer. In the spring, after the snow has melted down, in order to prevent the soil from drying out, it is harrowed, then it is loosened and cleaned of weeds, and before planting seedlings or sowing seeds, they are dug up to a depth of 12-18 cm. If for some reason you could not prepare a site with autumn, apply fertilizer at the time of planting in each hole dug under the seedling.

Growing pumpkins in a greenhouse

Pumpkin is rarely grown from beginning to end in a greenhouse. More often, the greenhouse is used to grow pumpkin seedlings, which then are still planted in open ground. Planting pumpkins in the greenhouse is carried out one seed at a time in 10x10 peat pots to avoid picking, which pumpkin seedlings can hardly tolerate. Until the seeds sprout, the temperature in the greenhouse should be 26 ºC, and from the moment the seedlings appear, it should be lowered to 19 ºC for a week, and then return to the previous temperature regime. Two weeks after the appearance of the first sprouts, seedlings are fertilized with mullein.

Water the seedlings as necessary, but abundantly: the earth with an average indicator of humidity should be loose. In open ground, seedlings are planted 4 weeks after the appearance of the first seedlings.

How to plant a pumpkin in the open ground

We already wrote how to place a pumpkin on a bed, but the holes for seedlings do a little deeper than when sowing seeds: they must fully accommodate the root system of seedlings at a depth of 8-10 cm. If you have not fertilized the plot in the fall, keep in mind that when planting in each well, you need to add half a bucket of humus or compost, 50 g of superphosphate and 2 cups of ash, carefully mixing the fertilizers with the soil. Here, on the basis of this, and calculate the depth of the holes for seedlings.

Spill the holes with one or two liters of hot water, let it soak, and then transfer the pumpkin seedling along with the root ball from the pot, fill the voids with soil, ramming it tightly. After planting, the site is mulched with peat or covered with dry soil to prevent the formation of a crust on the soil surface.

Pumpkin Care

How to grow a pumpkin

After planting seedlings, their care consists in thinning, watering, weeding, fertilizing and, if necessary, in artificial pollination, for which no later than 11 a.m. a couple of male flowers are torn off, petals are cut off on them and anthers of both flowers gently touch the stigma several times. female flower, leaving the last of the male flowers on the stigma of the female. This measure is necessary for incomplete fertilization of the ovaries, which can lead to the formation of irregularly shaped pumpkins.

Watering pumpkin

Freshly planted seedlings are watered daily until they take root. After this, the soil is moistened as rarely as possible until the ovaries become the size of a fist. If summer is rainy, then stop watering at all. When the fruits begin to gain mass, the pumpkin beds are moistened again and gradually the rate of water consumption is reduced to one bucket for one adult plant.

Soil loosening

After irrigation or rain it is very convenient to loosen the soil around the plants and clean it of weed grass. The first loosening to a depth of 6-8 cm must be carried out with the appearance of seedlings. Rowing to a depth of 12-18 cm is better to loosen before watering, so that water penetrates faster to the roots. During loosening, slightly harden the plants, giving them stability.

Thinning seedlings

If you sowed seeds directly into the soil, when two real leaves are formed at the seedlings, you need to thin them, leaving two sprouts in one hole of hard-barked or nutmeg pumpkin, and one-fruited one. The second thinning is carried out when 3-4 seedlings are formed in the seedlings. But we remind you: you do not need to pull out extra seedlings, since you can damage the root system of those seedlings that you decide to leave. Just cut off the unnecessary seedling at ground level.

Pumpkin dressing

The first top dressing with diluted water chicken manure or manure in a ratio of 1: 4 is carried out a week after transplanting seedlings or three weeks after sowing seeds in the ground. The frequency of such organic dressing 3-4 times a month. Pumpkin responds well to top dressing with a solution of 10-50 g of garden mixture in 10 liters of water at the rate of one bucket per 10 plants. An excellent fertilizer is a solution of a glass of wood ash in 10 liters of water. To make the first feeding, make around the plants at a distance of 10-12 cm grooves with a depth of 6-8 cm and pour the solution into them. For further dressing, grooves are made with a depth of 10-12 cm, placing them 40 cm from the plants. After fertilizing, the furrows are covered with earth.

If it happens that it will be cloudy for a long time, spray a pumpkin with a solution of 10 g of urea in 10 l of water.

Pumpkin Pests or Diseases

Pumpkin can get sick with fungal diseases black mold, powdery mildew, rot, ascochitosis and anthracnose.

Black mold manifests itself as yellow-brown spots between the veins of the leaves, which with the course of the disease become covered with a dark coating with spores of the fungus. After the spots dry, holes form in their place. Young pumpkins shrink and stop developing.

At ascochitosis on leaves, stems, and shoot nodes, large yellow-brown spots first form, then light spots with a chlorotic edge, covered with black pycnids containing the body of the pathogenic fungus. Pumpkin dries and dies.

Powdery mildew - a real scourge of gardens and orchards, the symptoms of which look like a thick whitish coating, similar to spilled flour, which contains spores of the fungus. Powdery mildew leaves dry, the fruit deforms and ceases to develop. This disease is most active in conditions of a sharp fluctuation in air humidity and temperature.

Anthracnose manifested by large watery yellowish spots on the leaves. In wet weather, pink streaks cover the veins of the leaves. Gradually pink spots spread on the leaves, petioles, stems and fruits, by autumn the affected areas turn black. The most dangerous anthracnose in high humidity.

White rot develops on all parts of the plant, causing damage to the root system, drying out of fruiting stems and a decrease in yield. Pumpkin turns yellow, turns brown, becomes covered with a flaky coating of mold. Mucus may appear on the stems. Gray rot is manifested by brown blurry spots, quickly merging with each other and affecting the entire plant. Wet bacterial rot may appear as a result of damage to the ovaries and young fruits in saplings or fools in too dense plantings.

Of the insects, the pumpkin is affected by gourds, aphids, or white nails, wireworms, and slugs.

Slug eat leaves of plants, sometimes leaving only a network of veins from them. Especially a lot of them happen in rainy seasons. In addition, they are able to live and harm plants for several years.

Gourd aphids damages shoots, flowers, ovaries and the underside of the leaves, from which they curl and wrinkle.

Fools - the smallest white insects with a cylindrical body up to 2 mm long, feeding on seeds and underground parts of plants. The greatest harm is caused by plants in cold, humid weather.

Wireworms - larvae of nutcracker beetles gnawing the root neck of young seedlings, which leads to the death of plants. Most wireworms like to accumulate in wet lowlands.

Pumpkin processing

The fight against pumpkin diseases is conducted in fact and prophylactically, which is undoubtedly preferable, since the disease is much easier to prevent than to cure. In order to protect pumpkin melon from fungal diseases, it is necessary to observe crop rotation, comply with agricultural requirements, be responsible for each type of work, and especially for pre-sowing seed treatment. At the first sign of a disease, spray the plants and the area with one percent Bordeaux fluid or another fungicide. And try to make spring and fall treatment of melon with Fitosporin mandatory - this will help you avoid many unpleasant surprises.

It will be necessary to collect the sleeter by hand or set up beer traps for them: place beer cups in the area and from time to time collect mollusks crawling onto its smell. The wireworms are also caught on bait by digging holes in different places of a hole 50 cm deep, placing root vegetables cut into pieces - carrots or beets - and covering the holes with boards, wooden shields or roofing felt. After a while, traps check and destroy the wireworms gathered there. They fight with fools by dusting the soil around the plants with wood ash. Aphids are destroyed by Phosphamide, Karbofos or a solution of 300 g of soap in 10 liters of water.

Nevertheless, we remind you that diseases and pests, as a rule, affect weak and untidy plants, so observe crop rotation, comply with agricultural requirements, take good care of your plants, and you will not have to heal and save them.

Collection and storage of pumpkins

Harvesting is usually done when the plants reach biological maturity, but before picking the pumpkin, make sure that it is really ripe. A sure sign of maturity is the drying out and testing of the stalk in hard-boiled pumpkins, and a clear pattern on the hardened bark in varieties of large-fruited and nutmeg pumpkins. You need to harvest in dry weather, after the first freezing, which will kill the leaves of pumpkin. The fruits are cut with a stalk, sorted by quality and size. Act as carefully as if you were dealing with eggs.

Unripe or damaged fruits will have to be processed, and those intended for long-term storage should be dried in the sun or in a dry, warm room with good ventilation for two weeks, so that the stalks are planted and the bark is finally hardened. After that, the pumpkin can be put in storage.

Before frost, the pumpkin can be on the balcony, loggia or in a dry shed, covered with straw or rags, but when the temperature drops to 5 ºC, the pumpkin is transferred to a living room and kept in a warm, dry place with a temperature not lower than 14 ºC - so it should be stored the first two weeks, and then you need to find a place for the pumpkin with a temperature of 3-8 ºC and a humidity of 60-70%, where it will lie until spring, or even until a new crop. Dry sheds, attics or basements are suitable for this. At a higher storage temperature, for example, 15-20 ºC, the pumpkin loses about 20% of its weight and can rot.

If the crop is too large, you can store the pumpkin on the shelves, laying straw on the shelves and laying the fruits in a row so that they do not touch. Or put them in boxes, sprinkled with dry moss. A mandatory storage requirement is good ventilation.

You can store the pumpkin in the garden, in a trench lined along the bottom and walls with a 25 cm thick layer of straw. When frost comes, the pumpkin trench is thrown over the ground, leaving ventilation openings in it, which are closed during severe frosts and opened during thaws.

If the crop is modest, it can be stored in an apartment or in a house in a dark place so that seeds do not germinate and the flesh does not acquire a bitter taste. Sliced \u200b\u200bpumpkin is stored only in the refrigerator.

Types and varieties of pumpkin

All pumpkin varieties are for open ground, since it is difficult to grow such a large vegetable in a greenhouse. Although if you live in an area with a short and cool summer, but really want to grow a pumpkin, try to do it in a greenhouse. Three varieties of pumpkin are grown in culture:

Common pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo), or hard bark

Grassy annuals with large and smooth rounded fruits are most often yellow in color, although there are varieties with fruits of other shades. The fruits of common pumpkin ripen in September. The seeds in them are white or yellowish, with a thick skin, 3-4 cm long. With proper storage, the fruits can lie until the next harvest. The best varieties:

Spaghetti - an early ripening variety, ripening in 2 months. After boiling, the fruit pulp breaks up into long fibers similar to pasta, for which the variety got its name. The pulp is tasty both hot and cold;
Mushroom bush 189 - A popular early ripening variety growing in a bush, on which usually two slightly ribbed pumpkin shaped stalks ripen 6-7 kg each. Ripe pumpkins are bright orange in color with green slices, their flesh is bright orange, juicy and sweet;
Almond - mid-ripe climbing variety with round orange fruits weighing up to 5 kg with yellow-orange crispy, juicy and sweet flesh;
Acorn - an early ripening variety, sometimes bushy, sometimes climbing with small green, yellow or almost black fruits, similar to an acorn, with almost white or light yellow low-sugar pulp. The second name of the variety is Acorn;
Freckle - early ripening bush variety with small green mesh fruits weighing up to 3 kg with not very sweet orange or yellow pulp and small seeds;
Bush orange - A variety with bright orange fruits weighing up to 5 kg with a soft and sweet core. Pumpkins of this variety are perfectly stored;
Altai 47 - An early early ripe variety of universal purpose, ripening within two months, with yellow-orange hard-fruited fruits weighing from 2 to 5 kg with yellow-brown or pale yellow stripes. The pulp is fibrous. The variety is resistant to low temperatures, perfectly stored.

Muscat Pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata)

Originally also from Central America - Peru, Mexico and Colombia. This is a plant with a creeping stem, regular, pubescent long-leaved leaves. It has yellow or brownish-pink fruits with longitudinal bright spots and bright orange aromatic, tasty, dense, but tender pulp and small seeds of a grayish-white color with a darker rim along the edge. The species has a variety called chalmovid because of the unusual shape of the fruit. The best varieties of nutmeg pumpkin:

Nutmeg - late ripe long-walled variety with fruits weighing from 4 to 6.5 kg and dense, juicy and sweet orange pulp;
Kadu Palace - late climbing variety with large, rounded, segmented orange fruits weighing up to 10 kg with juicy and sweet orange flesh, characterized by amazing taste;
Pearl - late ripe pumpkin weighing up to 7 kg with a bark of dark green color and a very juicy, rich orange pulp;
Butternut - late ripe climbing pumpkin with small pear-shaped yellow-brown or light orange fruits weighing up to one and a half kilograms with a fibrous, sweet, oily pulp of a bright orange color with a nutty flavor;
Prikubanskaya - a medium late wattle pumpkin with smooth pear-shaped orange-brown fruits weighing up to 5 kg in brown and orange spots with tender, juicy and sweet red-orange pulp;
Vitamin - a late ripening variety, maturing for at least 130 days, with dark green fruits in a yellow stripe weighing up to 7 kg with bright orange flesh.

Large-fruited pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima)

It is represented by varieties with the largest fruits, which at the same time are the sweetest. Sugar content of some varieties reaches 15% - an indicator higher than that of watermelon. The peduncle of the pumpkin of this variety is round, cylindrical, with a beardless roundish stem. Pumpkin seeds of this type are dull, milky white or brown. Fruits tolerate low temperatures better than other varieties and are stored at home for the longest time. The best varieties:

Dawn - medium early variety with powerful and long lashes, with dark gray fruits in orange spots up to 6 kg in weight and bright orange, very sweet and dense pulp containing high concentration carotene;
Marble - late ripe long-ripened high-yielding variety with tuberous round dark green fruits weighing up to 4.5 kg with crisp, sweet, rich orange dense pulp rich in carotene;
Sweetie - an early ripe climbing pumpkin with large, rounded red-orange fruits weighing up to 2 kg with dark orange sweet, juicy and dense pulp, rich in sugars and vitamin C. This variety is cold-resistant and high-yielding;
Volga gray - mid-ripe climbing variety with slightly flattened round light gray fruits weighing from 7 to 9 kg with flesh from pale yellow to bright orange in color of medium sweetness. The variety is drought tolerant and well stored;
Smile - early ripening variety with bright orange round fruits with whitish stripes and crispy orange, very sweet pulp with a delicate melon aroma. The variety is characterized by cold resistance and the ability to be stored for a long time at room temperature;

After this article they usually read

Among the farmers of Central America, holding contests to determine the largest pumpkin is popular. In American culture, pumpkin is an integral part of Halloween (the festival in honor of the evil spirits). The fruit is freed from the pulp, a face is cut out on the surface, and a lamp is inserted inside.

They love pumpkin very much in Russia. The culture is unpretentious in cultivation and care, even inexperienced vegetable growers will cope with this task. Excellent fruiting in temperate zones and in the northern regions, while not requiring the construction of greenhouses.

In gratitude for the elementary care, the plant will give a high yield.

Dates of sowing pumpkin seeds into the ground

Pumpkins seeds in open ground depends on weather conditions:

Pumpkin is a heat-loving plant, therefore it is necessary to plant it when the earth warms up to at least +10 - + 12 ° C and night frosts are no longer expected.
In terms of time, this is most often May 10-15 in the middle lane, sometimes you can plant already on the 5-6th day.

If there is a threat of frost, the seedlings will need to be covered with cropped plastic bottles, banks or film cover. Some gardeners use the old-fashioned method: they make bonfires at night to remove frost from the site.

You can plant a pumpkin in a cold greenhouse (under a film shelter) much earlier: from the end of March to the end of April. This method is very popular with the most impatient growers who want to get a crop a month and a half earlier.

Pumpkin growing place

Site lighting and groundwater availability

To get a good harvest, for a pumpkin, select a site well lit by sunlight. It is better to plant on hills, the occurrence of groundwater should be more than 1 m. Low and moist areas are contraindicated.

Wind protection and soil composition

A good location would be the south side of the wall or fence. This will provide protection from cold winds and maximum access to the warming rays of the sun.

The soil requires nutritious, saturated with organic fertilizers, the reaction is neutral.

Predecessors

Favorable crop predecessors can positively affect yield: beans, peas, cabbage, tomatoes, potatoes.

Do not plant pumpkin after cucumbers, squash, zucchini.

Preliminary site preparation

To prepare the site should be in advance (since the fall). Under deep digging (to a depth of at least a bayonet of a shovel) fertilizers should be applied.

For 1 m², you will need 2 buckets of humus, 1 liter can of wood ash, 200 g of superphosphate and 100 g of potassium chloride, the last two ingredients can be replaced with 1 glass of nitrophoska.
In the spring immediately before planting, the site is leveled with a rake, after scattering ammonium nitrate in the amount recommended by the manufacturer.
Spill ridges with hot water (80 ° C) to disinfect against possible diseases.

What to put in a hole when planting a pumpkin

It happens that in the fall they didn’t have time to prepare the plot, then you can get out of the situation in another way: when planting, 1 kg of humus is put in each hole, you can add wood ash for shrimp. If there is no organics, put 30 grams of complex mineral fertilizers (for example, ammophos, nitrophoska, nitroammofoska, potassium nitrate) in each well. A good mixture would be 10 grams. potassium sulfate + 20 gr. superphosphate per well.

Processing pumpkin seeds before planting

How to soak pumpkins before planting? Whether it is necessary to germinate pumpkin seeds before planting, everyone decides for himself. Even without pre-soaking, pumpkin seeds germinate well if the soil is moist enough. To do this, after sowing, you need to water the wells.

Note that pre-treated seeds will have to be watered: if the seeds wake up and get a lot of moisture at the start, and it is dry and hot in the ground, the seedlings will die.

Seed suitability and disinfection

A common mistake: some gardeners sometimes sow old seeds, but naturally they do not receive seedlings. If you are not sure about the planting material, the seeds must first be checked for germination. Immerse in normal saline. Those that have sunk to the bottom are quality. Then for 10 minutes, hold in a slightly pink solution of potassium permanganate to disinfect from diseases, and be sure to rinse.

Do I need to soak a pumpkin before planting?

Do I need to germinate pumpkin seeds before planting? If you are ready to pay a little more attention to caring for a pumpkin, the procedure will be useful: shoots will appear much earlier.

How to sprout a pumpkin for planting

Seeds are soaked to speed up germination. To do this, the seeds are placed in a damp cloth and constantly monitor how swollen they are - start sowing when they swell and bend a little, but will not germinate. If you overexpose the seeds and they let out thick roots, when sowing they can be broken and there will be no seedlings.

Soaked and sprouted seeds are planted in the mud or watered immediately after planting.

How to treat pumpkin seeds before planting to improve growth

There is another good way: for a day they soak in a solution of potassium humate or sodium humate, then for 1-2 days they are placed in a moist tissue. Keep the air temperature at 22-23 ° C.

Proper planting of pumpkins in open ground

The scheme of planting pumpkins in the open ground

It is important to dig a pumpkin bed very deep (about 40 cm).
Make a ridge about 70 cm wide. The holes should be centered.
Keep a distance of about 0.8 m between individual wells.
The width of the passage between the ridges is 70 cm.

Depth of planting pumpkin seeds

Germinated seeds in moist soil, the seeding depth is 6 cm. For reliability, sow 2 seeds in one hole, and when the shoots appear, remove the weaker specimen.

Outdoor Pumpkin Care

How to pinch and shape lashes

Correct for a pumpkin in the open ground, first of all, is to form a plant. When the main stem reaches a dyne of 1.3-1.5 m, it should be pinched, leave 2 lateral shoots 60-70 cm long. Form one fruit on each shoot. That is, one plant will “feed” three fruits: one on the main shoot and one on two lateral ones.

Remove excess shoots and flowers. To improve the fruit pouring, it is recommended to leave the shoots pressed to the ground with a wire or a horn of wood and sprinkled with a small layer of soil (6-7 cm), so the whips will take root in this place. Place a plywood under each fruit, or better, a piece of glass (you get additional heating and a dry surface).

How to feed

Favorably the size of the fruits will affect the application of fertilizing:

Feed for the first time, when 3-5 leaves appear, repeat the procedure with an interval of 15 days.
You can use organics (per 10 liters of water 1 liter of mullein infusion, consumption - for 2 plants)
or mineral fertilizers (2 tablespoons of nitrophosphate for the same volume, consumption is similar).

How to water

Pumpkin is hygrophilous. During flowering and fruit loading, water about 1 time per week. Under each bush, add 20-30 liters of warm water. Do not make abundant hydration until the fruits grow a little (all the strength can go into the leaves). Loosen the soil after watering. Remove weeds regularly.

Harvesting and storage

In order for the pumpkins to be stored well and for a long time, ripened fruits must be cut together with the stem (5-6 cm long). Store in a dry place, it is possible at room temperature, but at a temperature range of 5-8 ° C, the fruits remain until spring.

Diseases and Pests

Pumpkin has many diseases and pests, so you should study the possible problems and methods of dealing with them.

Pumpkin Disease:

Bacteriosis - manifests itself in high humidity and sudden changes in temperature. Brown spots and sores appear on the leaves and fruits. Remove affected leaves. Treat with cadmium sulfate solution or Bordeaux fluid.
White rot is a fungal disease that affects the entire plant (leaves, fruit shoots). It can be recognized by a whitish coating, if you do not take measures, the plant will rot. Sprinkle the affected areas and the beds themselves with copper sulfate powder, fluffy lime or crushed charcoal.
Root rot - the development of the disease provokes watering with cold water or sudden changes in temperature. In the fight against the disease, proceed as follows: cut off rotten roots, treat with fungicide, sprinkle with earth on top, so that the plant takes root.
Powdery mildew - a white coating appears on the leaves, gradually they dry out, the fruits develop poorly. Remove affected leaves, treat with isophene or colloidal sulfur.

Among the pests:

Spider mite - a thin cobweb appears on the back of the leaf plate, the plant withers (the pest sucks the juices). Rinse with plain water, spray with a solution of onion peel or garlic infusion.
Melon aphid - small greenish insects provoke twisting and drying of leaf plates. Treat with 10% malathion solution.

Prevention of disease and pests is proper care.

Pumpkin varieties

To date, 800 hybrids and registered. About 30 are suitable for cultivation on a site for human consumption (they are sweet).

Consider the best of them, classifying by maturity.

Early ripening (sugar content is 5.5-9%):
Muscat (ripening period is 90 days);
Butternut (100 days to ripen)
Therapeutic (matures over 100-115 days).

Mid-season (maximum yield, sugar content is 7-13%):

Almond
Marble
Barn

Late-ripening varieties (sugar content of about 12%, the period of technical ripening is 140-160 days):

Dawn of the East
Winter sweet
Mushroom winter

When to plant a pumpkin correctly

Thinking when to plant a pumpkin correctly? Not all weather is suitable for its landing. The worst thing for her is frost. They are fatal, the seeds freeze and rot. thereforethe best time of year is the second half of Maywhen uninvited frosts are unlikely to descend and be taken by surprise. When to plant a pumpkinpreviously determined by folk signs. During the flowering of viburnum and peonies. Pumpkin is a thermophilic plant, the temperature on the thermometer should not be lower than 20 degrees.

When choosing a place on the site, it is worth considering its features. Time thermophilic plant, so we allot a place on the south side. Good precursors are potatoes, onions, beets, peppers.

For a good harvest take care of fertilizerx 6-8 kg of humus is required per square meter. But you can follow the path of least resistance. Put humus in each well before planting. Its depth is 30 cm, 80% humus and 20% of the earth.

Nutmeg pumpkin varieties are planted in seedlings. First, the seeds are soaked in an ash solution for 12 hours. Then they take it out and plant it flat in a pot to a depth of 6 cm. On the fifth day, the seeds will give the first seedlings. Seedlings are planted at a constant place of growth a month later.

Most often, pumpkins are planted immediately in the ground. But for preparing seeds before planting. Seeds are heated at a temperature of 40 degrees for 10 hours. Then they are soaked for 12 hours in an ash solution. When choosing a place of growth on the site, it is necessary to take into account the features of pumpkin. Since she is thermophilic, then take her south side. And from the north, plant corn or curly beans. the distance between the rows is 1.5 meters, planted to a depth of 8 cm, before putting seeds into the hole, it is watered. 3 to 4 seeds are laid.