Dates of planting pumpkin seeds in open ground. We grow pumpkin in the open ground. Dates of sowing pumpkin seeds into the ground

As a rule, pumpkin, like cucumbers, is immediately planted in the ground. However, if you want to get an earlier harvest and / or decided to play it safe, because If you live in a fairly cool region with a short summer, you can initially sow seeds for seedlings.

About when and how to plant a pumpkin for seedlings and grow at home - read on in the article.

When choosing pumpkin seeds, do not pay attention to the picture on the package. An orange and smooth-looking fruit is not in fact the best and certainly sweet.

Advice! Do not choose the largest varieties.

This is due to the fact that immediately the whole fruit is difficult to use somewhere, and after you cut it, a problem arises. In addition, pumpkin varieties of small sizes are better stored and have, as a rule, a sweeter taste.

In general, pumpkins exist in the following types and varieties:

The most delicious are nutmeg varieties, but they are the most heat-loving and late ripening.

Hard-tasting varieties also have excellent taste. They have the earliest ripening period.

Large-fruited varieties are also very sweet and cold-resistant.

Pumpkin planting dates: when to plant seeds on seedlings and in open ground

Planting pumpkins for seedlings should be 20-30 days before the expected date of planting in open ground.

The optimal age of pumpkin seedlings for planting in the soil is 20-25 days from the time of emergence (5-10 days - a reserve for seed germination).

Accordingly, the optimal time for planting pumpkin seedlings is mid-late April or even early May, depending on the region of residence and its climatic zone.

Naturally, in the Middle lane (Moscow region) this can be done earlier than in the Urals or Siberia, as well as in the North-West (in the Leningrad Region).

In the south of Russia, they usually plant directly in the ground, but if you decide to grow seedlings first, you can sow it already at the end of March.

According to the lunar calendar in 2019

If you are used to planting in accordance with the phases of the moon, then, according to the lunar calendar, in 2019, favorable days for planting pumpkins for seedlings are:

in March - 15-19, 23-25, 27-30;
in April - 6-9, 11-13, 20, 21, 24-26, 29-30;
in May - 3, 4, 8-10, 17-18, 21-23, 26-28, 31;
in June - 5, 6, 13-15, 18-20.

Adverse days (periods of the new moon and full moon), in which it is definitely not worth planting a pumpkin (and any other crops) for seedlings in 2019, are:

in March - 6, 7, 21;
in April - 5, 19;
in May - 5, 19;
in June - 3, 4, 17.

According to the lunar calendar, from the magazine "1000 Tips for the summer resident."

Preparing pumpkin seeds for planting

"Do not expect a good tribe from a bad seed."

Before planting, pumpkin seeds should be carefully selected (calibrated), discarding all damaged and bent specimens, leaving only the most big and plump.

Next, the seeds should be checked for their suitability for sowing (viability): pour into a container of water for 3-4 hours. Seeds that are drowned can be planted, and those that remain floating on the surface should be thrown away (they are light and empty).

Video: planting pumpkin seeds

There are several ways to directly prepare and process pumpkin seeds:

Soak in a damp cloth in ordinary hot water (50-55 degrees) for 1-2 hours.

And even better in one of the growth stimulants such as Epin or Zircon. In them, you can sprout.

Disinfect by holding for about 20-30 minutes in a dark pink solution of potassium permanganate (1%, i.e. 1 mg per 1 liter of water), and even better in the solution. At the end of time, rinse under clean water and dry until the required flowability appears.

Advice! In addition to soaking, it is also possible to carry out the hardening procedure. To do this, you need to wrap the seeds in wet gauze and put in the refrigerator for 10-12 hours. Then get out and put in heat for 10-12 hours. So repeat for 3-4 times (3-4 days), in other words, expose the seeds to temperature changes (stress), and then germinate.

Simply sprout! To do this, pre-disinfect, then wrap in a damp cloth (or put between cotton pads, napkins), put in a plastic bag (create a greenhouse effect) and put it in a warm place for germination, where the temperature is + 24..28 degrees. As a rule, after 2-4 days, the seedlings will hatch.

Another way to sprout pumpkin seeds is to sawdust sprouting. To do this, you need to pour the sawdust into a jar, pour them with boiling water and cover. Then wait a bit (so that the temperature drops to room temperature) and add seeds to the jar with sawdust. After that, put this jar in a plastic bag and put it in a warm and dark place until germination.

Video: sprouting pumpkin seeds, watermelon and melon

In order to awaken old pumpkin seeds, you can apply the method of temperature buildup. To do this, the seeds should be tied in gauze and alternately lowered into hot water (40-50 degrees), then into cold water (directly from the tap, although it is better to use thawed snow if you still have snow outside). So you need to do 4-5 times, keeping in water for 5-6 seconds. After the procedure, dry and immediately sow on seedlings or in open ground.

Many summer residents successfully plant a pumpkin and dry seeds, but in this case, the planting time should be shifted by 5-7 days, in other words, it is necessary to plant earlier.

Important! If you purchased dragee (processed) seeds, then they do not need any pre-sowing preparation, they should be sown dry.

How to plant a pumpkin for seedlings

So, you have decided on the time, prepared and processed the seeds. Well, it's time to plant a pumpkin for seedlings! However, first you need to select the appropriate landing tanks, the soil to fill them and actually land at the desired depth.

Landing tanks and soil

The containers for planting and growing pumpkin seedlings should be individual: pumpkin seedlings cannot tolerate picks, so special peat glasses, ordinary disposable plastic (0.5 liter) containers, plastic pots or any other containers that are convenient for you will be perfect as containers. it is easy to get seedlings when planting in the garden. Moreover, their diameter should be at least 8-10 cm.

Alternative opinion! Many gardeners perfectly grow pumpkin seedlings in small, 0.2 liter cups. Naturally, planting is recommended earlier, when the first seedlings are formed in the seedlings, and the second true leaf begins to appear.

Pumpkin loves a nutritious land. The soil mixture can be prepared independently or you can buy ready-made soil for pumpkin crops (cucumbers, melons, watermelons).

If you decide to make it yourself, you can mix peat, humus and sand in a ratio of 2: 1: 1 or take peat, humus and rotted wood chips in equal proportions.

Direct planting seedlings

Phased instructions for sowing pumpkin seeds for seedlings:

Video: planting pumpkins for seedlings with germinated seeds

Video: sowing with dry seeds for seedlings

How to care for pumpkin seedlings at home

When the first shoots appear (after 3-7 days), the shelter must be quickly removed.

And before that, it is worth at least 1 time per day to open the containers for airing for 10-15 minutes and at the same time check them for seedlings.

After germination, it would be nice to put the container with the planting in a cooler place (where the temperature is 2-5 degrees lower, i.e. around + 15-18 in the afternoon and + 13-15 at night), and then (after 5-7 days) return to the previous temperature conditions (+ 20-25 in the afternoon, not lower than +15 at night).

Such a procedure (lowering the temperature) will help not to stretch young seedlings.

Lighting

For normal growth, pumpkin seedlings need good lighting, so you should set the containers on a brightly lit window sill, ideally on the south (southeast or southwest).

Full 12 hour daylight - your reliable protection against drawing seedlings.

Advice!If suddenly the seedlings begin to stretch, then be sure to pour a little earth into the cups.

Watering and feeding

Pumpkin loves moisture, so she needs regular watering. However, it should be performed in moderation without overfilling the plant. In this case, excessive drying of the soil should also not be allowed.

Water should be warm (at least at room temperature), settled or filtered.

After 1-1.5 weeks, as the shoots appear, pumpkin seedlings can be fed for better growth (however, if you originally used fertile soil, then no additional fertilizing is needed). Alternatively, you can use nitrogen fertilizer (for example, mullein or the like), or even better, a complete complex type of nitroammophos or some special pumpkin (same Agricola).

Video: weekly growth of pumpkin seedlings

When and how to plant pumpkin seedlings in open ground

The signal for planting seedlings of pumpkin in the open ground is the appearance of sufficiently developed 2-3 real leaves and the achievement of seedling height of 15-20 centimeters.

As for the landing time, by this time the earth should warm up sufficiently (up to + 8-12 degrees), and the weather should become stable warm (above +10 degrees).

Like all pumpkin pumpkins, the pumpkin does not tolerate frosts, but can transfer short-lived ones (unlike other melons).

Depending on climatic conditions, as a rule, a favorable period begins in the second half of April in the Southern regions, in mid-May - in the Middle lane (Moscow region), at the end of May - in the Urals and Siberia.

Advice! It will be very prudent if, 5-7 days before the seedlings are planted on the bed, you will harden your plants, namely, you will begin to take them out onto the balcony (or loggia) or in the greenhouse, gradually increasing the stay time from 1-2 hours to the whole day.

It is optimal to plant a pumpkin on a garden bed in the evening or afternoon, in cloudy weather, when the sun has gone or hid behind the clouds.

Planting seedlings of pumpkins is carried out according to a certain pattern, as a rule, it is indicated on the packaging of seeds (most often at a distance of 80 to 150 cm from each other).

A place to grow pumpkins should be the sunniest.

A transplant into the ground should be done carefully, slowly getting seedlings together with a lump, and in no case damaging the root system of the plant. It is better to make a hole large enough: pour a mixture of humus and ash at the bottom, spill with warm water, put a seedling, and then fill it with garden soil. As soon as the landing is completed, the landing can be mulched with humus.

Video: planting pumpkin seedlings in open ground

Thus, even a beginner gardener can grow pumpkin seedlings at home. The main thing is to initially choose a good variety, determine the timing, prepare the seeds and plant them correctly.

In contact with

Pumpkin does not seem difficult to cultivate the plant, as it grows even in a compost heap. But there are several rules, how and when to plant a pumpkin in the ground, without which the vegetable will grow small and unsweetened. To get a large fruit is the work of a gardener and adherence to technology.

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Pumpkin planting methods

Depending on the place of the garden for the pumpkin and on the desired timing of the harvest, choose one or another planting method:

seedling method;
planting in open ground with seeds;
landing in compost.

When planting pumpkins, you need to focus on the climatic conditions of your region. In cold regions planted later, in hot - earlier. Pumpkin ripens in 95 days - early ripe, late in 140 days.

Seedling method

In some regions, in open ground, pumpkin does not have time to ripen in these periods. Therefore, gardeners choose a seedling method of planting.

Planting seeds in open ground

In this way, early ripe pumpkin varieties are sown. In regions with a hot climate, mid-season will have time to mature.

Planting in compost

If there is no room for planting, you can plant it in a compost pile. Pumpkin accelerates the process of decomposition of coarse fibers and decorates this place with its leaves. Pumpkin in this place grows no worse than in the garden.

The technology for growing pumpkin in compost is no different from other methods. Pumpkin will also need timely watering and additional mineral fertilizing. She will receive organic microelements from a compost heap.

When and how to plant a pumpkin for seedlings?

Seedlings should be strong enough for transplanting into open ground, but not older than 50 days. Focusing on these terms, gardeners begin to grow seedlings.

Landing time

Plant seeds for seedlings 30–40 days before planting seedlings in the ground. Usually pumpkin seeds are planted in the second half of April.

Seed preparation

Seed Preparation Process:

Seeds are soaked in warm water for one day. Seeds that are viable will swell and drown. The rest will stay swimming - they do not need to be planted.
Soak the seed in the root-forming solution: Zircon, Epin.
Leave the seeds in a damp cloth until roots are formed.

The technology of planting seeds for seedlings at home

Before sowing seeds at home, you need to prepare the soil and containers:

special pumpkin land should be bought;
if there is no possibility - the land can be taken from the garden, it must be disinfected and fertilized;
containers for pumpkin immediately choose individual, transplant culture does not tolerate.

Peat pots are best suited for pumpkins; they can be planted immediately in the ground. Peat gives the plant additional trace elements when decomposed.

Before planting, containers with soil are watered with warm water. Hatching seeds are planted in pots to a depth of 6 centimeters. And put in a warm place. Before the first shoots, the pots can be covered with a film. After the emergence of seedlings, the film must be removed and the seedlings put in a sunny place.

Seedling care at home

Pumpkin seedlings develop well at air temperatures from 18 to 23 degrees.

Water the pumpkin as needed: about once a week. The first time seedlings are fed a week after emergence. The plant needs organic fertilizer: manure, chicken droppings. The second time the vegetable is fed a week before planting in the ground. A comprehensive mineral fertilizer is suitable.

How and when to plant seedlings in the garden?

When the air temperature of the earth warms up to 15 degrees and the risks of frost are over, seedlings can be planted in the ground. Seedlings should have 3-4 adult leaves.

10 days before planting, seedlings need to be prepared. They take it out in the daytime, at partial shade. And at night they take back to the house.

Depending on the size of the fetus, one of the methods of planting is chosen:

1 meter per 1 meter;
1.5 meters to 1.5 meters.

Dig the earth in the bed and pour it abundantly with warm water. Then draw holes and plant seedlings in them. Seedlings are planted to the depth of the first leaves, this will increase the root system of the future vegetable.

Rules for planting pumpkin seeds in open ground

You must comply with the timing and technology in order to properly plant pumpkin seeds in the soil. The quality and size of the future crop depends on this.

Landing time

Seeds are planted in open ground and in a compost pit depending on weather conditions. But later than June, planting a pumpkin is not necessary - it will not have time to develop.

Pumpkin seeds are planted in late May - early June, when the air temperature rises above 18 degrees, and at night does not drop below 5 degrees.

Site selection

A place for a bed needs to be chosen sunny. There should also be enough space for the development of pumpkins, this is a sprawling plant.

Seed and soil preparation

The bed for planting pumpkins needs to be dug to the depth of the bayonet of the shovel and clean this place of weeds. Then organic fertilizers are applied to the soil.

For 1 square meter of beds, you need to make:

8 kilograms of decomposed compost;
20 grams of potash fertilizer;
30 grams of superphosphate.

If the ground is cold, you need to warm it up before planting seeds, covering it with a transparent film.

If the seeds are bought in garden shops, they do not need to be pre-processed. Seeds collected from last year's crop should be soaked in a weak potassium permanganate solution for 30 minutes.

Then the seeds need to be sprouted:

put them in a damp cloth;
cover with a film to create a greenhouse;
put in a warm place above 20 degrees.

To accelerate the process, the rag is moistened in a root-forming solution: Zircon, Kornevin.

Before planting seeds, you can test them for germination. This will provide a good pumpkin crop.

The technique of checking seeds can be seen on the channel "Blooming Garden!"

Landing technology

Before planting seeds, you need to water the bed with hot water - 80 degrees.

Then you need to prepare the wells:

hole size - 30 centimeters;
depth - 6 centimeters;
the distance between the holes from 80 centimeters.

2 to 4 germinated seeds are placed in the wells. Then they fall asleep with loose soil. If the earth has dried, it must be additionally poured with warm water.

Outdoor Pumpkin Care

Pumpkin care in the open field should be carried out regularly. If a lot of vegetable crops grows in the garden, it is convenient to make a calendar of watering and fertilizing so as not to miss anything.

Watering

Before watering, each plant must be plowed to a depth of 10 centimeters. Watering should be done only with well-maintained and warm water.

The plant is watered once a week, the amount of watering is 30 liters per bush. The volume of water must be reduced to 15–20 liters when the fruits begin to ripen.

Top dressing

Two weeks after the emergence of seedlings, you need to start feeding the plant. Then it needs to be fed every 2-3 weeks.

It is better to feed the pumpkin with liquid fertilizers. To do this, grooves up to 8 centimeters deep are made around the plant and fertilizers are poured into them.

Fertilizers for pumpkin:

manure contains a maximum of useful substances for the development of pumpkin;
chicken droppings, contains calcium, magnesium, nitrogen, phosphorus;
ash, composed of potassium and magnesium;
dry nitrofoska;
ammonium nitrate;
barn, similar in composition to manure.

If it rains on the street for several days in a row, it is necessary to spray the pumpkin with a solution of urea. Spray the plant only when the rain ends.

Topping

It is important to pinch the pumpkin to grow sweet and large fruits. It is important not only to remove excess branches, but also dry, rotting antennae.

Pinch rules:

you need to start pinching the plants no earlier than the first fruits appear;
pinch the whips at a distance of 5-6 leaves from the fetus;
for growing large pumpkin, you need to leave no more than 4 ovaries;
on the main stem, 2-3 fruits should develop;
on one side - 1 fruit.

Harvesting

Buy pumpkin seeds and grow this healthy, tasty and beautiful fruit today is possible not only in the southern regions, but also in temperate latitudes. Many varieties are zoned and can be cultivated in different climatic zones according to years of proven technology.

There are about 30 varieties of pumpkins. None of them was used to produce numerous hybrids that differ in shoot length, shape, size and color of the fruit, the structure and taste of the pulp, and the timing of vegetation and storage.

On Russian sites, varieties of hard-bark, or ordinary, pumpkin are cultivated more often than others.

Representatives of this group are very diverse. Among them are climbing and bush forms, medium and early ripe varieties, fruits of various degrees of keeping quality and application.

The best hard-growing hybrids for growing in the temperate zone are:

Variety "Plyushka" with medium-sized (1.5 kg) fruits of orange tones, divided by white stripes into segments, and sugary juicy pulp.
"Gribovskaya Bush" is a hybrid with medium-sized fruits of light orange color, outlined in black and green stripes.
"Mozolevskaya 49" - a variety with short climbing branches and yellow, in green scalloped stripes, ovoid fruits with a delicious flesh.

Muscat varieties are characterized by medium-sized (6 kg) rounded flattened fruits of various shades of green, yellow and orange, covered with a thin, easy-to-peel skin. Most nutmeg varieties are characterized by low cold tolerance and a long (up to 130 days) growing season.

The best muscat hybrids are:

“Marble Pumpkin” - a variety with greenish-gray fruits, covered with specks, composing a marble pattern, and filled with dense pulp, rich in sugars.
Variety "Golden Pear" with medium-sized (1.5 - 2 kg) pear-shaped fruits of orange shades with pulp of a pleasant nutty shade.
Candied pumpkin is distinguished by a dark green color of the fruit. When ripe, they change their color to light brown, and the flesh acquires a reddish hue.

Gymnosperm pumpkin is considered one of the most popular varieties of nutmeg, known for its large tasty white seeds.
Large-fruited varieties, and there are about a hundred of them, stand out by record-high sizes of fruits with a thick layer of sweet pulp and resistance to low temperatures.

Popular hybrids of this group are:

Variety "Lantern" with round smooth slightly ribbed fruits of orange-pink tones and delicate juicy pulp. The fruits are transported and stored for a long time.
“Russian Porridge” is a bush variety, forming on one plant 3 to 4 round-shaped fruits, filled with medium-density pulp of high palatability.

Some varieties are zoned for cultivation in open ground in certain areas of the Russian Federation. For example, the best hybrids recommended for cultivation in the central part of Russia are considered to be “Baby”, “Sweet Cake”, “Melon”, “Zorka”, “Almond” and “Russian Woman”.

What to look for when choosing seeds

Pumpkin seeds are purchased in stores or harvested on their own.

When choosing seeds, it is important:

Determine the grade. It is made on the basis of an analysis of the climatic conditions of the area, the timing of the growing season of hybrids and plans for the use of fruits.
Select the highest quality seeds. They should be large, dense, of regular shape and uniform color and not have damage on the surface.

Selected seeds are checked for germination.

There are several ways to do this:

A small amount of seeds is placed for 15 to 20 minutes. in a small container of water. The specimens remaining after this time on the surface of the water are empty and will not rise.
A few seeds are wrapped in moist porous material (gauze, cotton pad, cloth) and put in a warm place for 2 to 3 days. By the number of sprouted seeds, a conclusion is made about their germination.

When buying seed, it is worth asking about its shelf life. Pumpkin seeds retain their germination for 8 to 9 months.

Growing seedlings at home

In temperate latitudes, pumpkin is obtained from seedlings, which are grown indoors.

Pumpkin seeds for seedlings are subjected to treatment designed to accelerate their germination:

for 2 hours place them in hot (45 ° C) water;
germinate in a warm (22 - 25 ° C) place, wrapped in moist porous material.

Having prepared the seeds, they begin to sow. To carry it out, containers and substrate will be required.

As containers, boxes or containers are used, on the bottom of which a 3-4 cm layer of sawdust is poured. An alternative is the use of peat cups with a diameter of at least 6 cm. This will avoid the transplant, which pumpkin seedlings carry quite hard.
The containers are filled with a substrate - purchased universal vegetable soil, recommended for growing cucumbers or a self-prepared mixture of peat, rotted sawdust and humus, taken in a ratio of 2: 1: 1.
For each kilogram of the mixture add 1 teaspoon of nitrophoska.
Before sowing, the soil is moistened.

Seeds are planted to a depth of 4-5 cm and covered with an airtight transparent material. Capacities with crops are placed in a bright place with daytime temperatures from 18 to 25 ° C, at night 15 - 18 ° C.

Seedlings are looked after:

regularly and moderately watered, preventing waterlogging and drying out of the soil;
7-10 days after the appearance of the sprouts, the seedlings are fed with a solution of nitrophoska (15 g per 10 liters of water) or a mullein infused for 3-4 hours (1 part per 10 liters of water), diluted in 5 parts of water.

Young plants 15 to 20 cm tall with 2 to 3 true leaves are planted on beds.

How to plant pumpkin seeds in open ground

Planting pumpkin seeds can be carried out immediately in the open ground. This is true for regions with a warm climate. Understanding how to plant a pumpkin in open ground seeds, you should familiarize yourself with some rules.

Landing time frame

More reliable criteria for selecting the sowing time are temperature conditions. Planting a pumpkin in open ground is possible only after the threat of frost disappears completely, when the average daily air temperature exceeds 20 ° C and the soil warms up sufficiently (at least 10 - 13 ° C).

In the southern regions, this happens around the middle of May, in the middle lane - by the end of this month.

Soil and seed preparation

Before sowing, pumpkin seeds are sorted, checked for germination and soaked.

Some vegetable growers practice seed hardening, which is important for growing heat-loving varieties. For this purpose, after swelling and “pecking,” the seed for 2 to 3 days is placed on the lower shelves of the refrigerator.

With the place of sowing pumpkins are determined in the fall. It is desirable that this is a quickly heated and protected from the wind section, on which perennial grasses or cereals had previously grown.
In the autumn, the soil in the selected area is dug up (up to 40 cm) and fertilized, introducing for each square meter a manure bucket or a nutrient mixture prepared from 200 g of nitrophosphate and 500 g of wood ash mixed with 4 kg of sawdust and 15 kg of humus.
In the spring, the soil is once again dug, harrowed and beds 60 to 70 cm wide are formed.

How to plant a pumpkin

Sowing begins with the marking of beds and the formation of holes with a depth of 40 - 45 cm. For climbing forms, the holes are made in 1.5 - 2 m, and the seeds of bush forms are planted in a nesting manner at a distance of 0.8 to 1.2 m.

If for some reason fertilizers were not applied in the fall, this is done before sowing, pouring ½ buckets of manure into the hole, over which 5 cm of soil is distributed.

Several seeds are placed in each well:

when sowing large-fruited varieties - from 2 to 5 pieces;
nutmeg - from 5 to 8.

Seeds are placed at a distance of 3-4 cm, “beaks” down.

The depth of their incorporation depends on the type of soil:

for the lungs - 5 - 8 cm;
heavy - 4 - 5 cm.

A plot with crops is mulched with peat or humus. Some gardeners cover the crops with a film, after making small cuts in it for air intake. This speeds up the emergence of seedlings.

Aftercare

With proper sowing and the use of quality seeds, the first pumpkin sprouts appear in a week. They need care, which consists of watering, cultivating and feeding. With prolonged cloudy weather, additional measures are taken to prevent pests and diseases, as well as artificial pollination.

Watering. Pumpkins are often and plentifully (10 liters under 1 plant) watered using water heated in the sun. The amount of moisture is increased as the leaves grow, promoting moisture evaporation, until flowering begins. This measure promotes better fruit setting.
Loosening. After emergence, regular soil loosening is practiced. Directly under the plant - to a depth of 6 - 8 cm, in row-spacings - 12 - 18 cm. After loosening, to give the plants more stability, the plants are slightly spud.
Thinning. Pumpkin seedlings thin out twice. The first time is after the growth of the 2nd true leaf, leaving 2 plants each in the cultivation of nutmeg and durum honeycombs in one well, one in large-fruited varieties. The next thinning is carried out after the appearance of the next pair of leaves. "Extra" plants are cut at soil level.
Top dressing. To replenish the supply of nutrients spent on the formation of large leaves and fruits, pumpkin is regularly fed using organic fertilizers: infusions from manure or chicken manure (1: 4) or wood ash (1 glass per bucket of water). The first top dressing is carried out approximately a month after sowing. The infusion is poured into the grooves with a depth of 6 - 8 cm, previously dug in a circle at a distance of 10 - 12 cm. Similar procedures are repeated weekly, gradually deepening the grooves to 10 - 12 cm and placing them at a distance of 40 cm from the plant. After top dressing, the grooves are covered with earth.
Prevention of pests and diseases. During periods of prolonged coolness and frequent rains, the pumpkin weakens and can become ill or be attacked by pests. To strengthen immunity in such periods, pumpkin is sprayed with a urea solution: 10 g in 10 liters of water.
Pollination. If pumpkin flowering occurred during the period of cloudy weather, then it is pollinated artificially. They tear off a male flower (it is easy to distinguish it from a female by an elongated leg), break off the petals and touch the anthers on the pistils of the female flowers.

A little knowledge, attention, labor - and the pumpkin will delight you with its beautiful and healthy fruits. It will reign not only on the garden bed, but also on the table, supplementing and enriching the diet with useful substances that help to survive the winter without loss of health.

It contains a large amount of vitamins, micro-, macrocells, protein and useful plant fiber. Due to its properties, it is one of the components of a balanced diet for various diseases. In almost any garden you can see a growing pumpkin. If you plant seeds in open ground, provide proper care, you can collect a really rich harvest. Choosing the right place and meeting the planting dates are important factors for growing a thermophilic vegetable.

Soil selection and preparation

The birthplace of pumpkin is Mexico, so it loves warmth and tolerates exposure to sunlight. The leaves have a huge number of special hairs that protect the plant from burns. Seasonally warm, unshaded soil is perfect for planting. Weak lighting will lead to slow growth, thin shoots brighten, fewer flowers, therefore, fruits are formed. Most of all, the pumpkin is afraid of frost, in which the seeds simply rot, so it is better to start digging in the second half of May, when the average daily temperature is at 20 ° C.

Attention! In colder weather, germination is also possible, but proper development will not succeed.

It is useful for an experienced vegetable grower to understand the important properties of the soil, pumpkin grows best:

in a nutrient substrate containing a large number of organic compounds, minerals;
with neutral or weak acidity, a pH of about 6.5-7;
in loose, well-ventilated soil without the threat of water retention, rotting of the root system.

If the land of the existing site does not meet the stated requirements, you can try to maximize bring its characteristics to the recommended. With increased acidity, chalk or lime is used, heavy clay soils require fertilizer with humus or compost. It is best to do this in the fall, but if time is lost, and sowing is not far off, in the spring you can make leafy humus. For each square meter, about 6-8 kg of humus, 3 kg of wood sawdust, 200-300 g of nitrophosphate containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are needed.

After top dressing, the bed should be dug to a depth of about 50 cm, pour hot water. Thanks to such preparatory work, aeration of the soil is significantly increased. Good predecessors of pumpkins on the site are: pepper, garlic, onions, lettuce, cabbage, beets, radishes, and legumes. It is undesirable to plant after tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, corn, sunflower, any representatives of the Pumpkin family.

Seed preparation and planting

The emergence of sprouts can be accelerated if the seeds are soaked in liquid organic fertilizer "Potassium Humate" or "Humate of sodium" in about a day, covered with a damp cloth and left in a room with a temperature of at least 20-25 ° C. In order not to lose time and avoid planting poor-quality seeds that can produce too few sprouts or develop poorly, for a month they check their germination: they are moistened with water, laid out on a wet cloth until they hatch.

Fungal damage can be prevented by etching in a solution of 1 g of manganese in half a glass of water for 30 minutes.

The optimal planting time is the second week of May, depending on the established warm weather according to the 1 × 1.5 m scheme. The formed holes are impregnated with warm water, 3-4 seeds are placed, it can be at different depths, then in case of significant cooling and death of the upper ones, the remaining will sprout.

Attention! If the surface is too superficial, the pumpkin emerges in a “shirt”, seeds are visible from the ground, which the birds must pull out.

Under favorable conditions, germination occurs after 6-7 days. After the appearance of these 2-3 leaves, thinning is performed, weak small plants are removed. In a hole with large-fruited pumpkin, leave one, and with nutmeg and hard-bark no more than two sprouts. When the last species have 5 leaves, they re-thin out, excess shoots are carefully cut so as not to damage the main root system.

If you do not know how to plant a pumpkin from seeds, follow the advice of experienced farmers who recommend using a film to protect it from frost and retain moisture in the ground. A small incision is made above each plant that appears, and after eliminating the likelihood of cooling, it is increased to 15 cm. The shoots are arranged so that they spread on top of the film. This reduces the evaporation of water, slightly increases the temperature of the soil.

Secrets of Proper Growing

Pumpkin is a water-loving plant, so watering should be carried out in a timely manner, especially in a drought, to be quite plentiful. A well-developed root system that nourishes the shoots and fruits requires a large amount of water. Do not delay watering during the period of active growth, flowering, the formation of pumpkins. During high heat it is recommended to use water with a temperature of at least 20 ° C, preferably from clean wells, otherwise the plant may die. Weeds should not be allowed to grow, the soil must be loosened periodically, and then watered.

The grown vegetable should be not only beautiful and large, but also healthy. To do this, pumpkin is fed with various organic fertilizers, which are added before sowing, as well as during growth. Most suitable:

compost;
humus;
humus;
chicken droppings;
rotted manure.

To supply the soil with mineral components, complex fertilizers with nitrogen, potassium, phosphate are used, in the absence of those, ash is suitable as a substitute. In the spring, before planting on the future beds, siderata plants are planted that can improve the soil structure, enrich it with nitrogen, and inhibit the growth of wild crops. During the period of active vegetation, watering with organic raw materials will not be superfluous. Feeding begins after the formation of the first 3-5 leaves. In wet rainy weather, dry fertilizers are more suitable. A good option is to prepare a mixture, which is subsequently diluted 1:10 with water:

1 liter of mullein;
2-3 tbsp. tablespoons nitrofoski;
a bucket of water.

It is very important for the proper formation of the plant to remove excess shoots and ovaries. Pinch the main stalk up to a length of 1.5 m, leave several lateral shoots about 70 cm with a fruit set on each of them. As a result, each pumpkin will produce three pumpkins, which can be accelerated by pressing the shoots to the ground, covering 7-8 cm with a layer of earth to form roots. When germination occurs, these places will also need to be watered.

What you can face

Like many other crops, pumpkin is prone to certain diseases. Most common:

Powdery mildew - whitish spots on the upper and lower sides of the leaves, the plant gradually turns yellow and disappears, with inaction, the fruits deteriorate.

Olive spotting affects the whole plant, oily traces on the leaves turn into brownish sores, affected pumpkins are deformed, lose their useful qualities. The appearance of the disease is facilitated by severe differences in day and night temperatures.
Brown spotting - with a sharp change in weather, cold snap, brown spots with a lighter center are noticeable in the affected areas, a loose black coating is present, a fungus develops.
White rot can affect leaves, stems, and the root neck. Tissue softening occurs. High humidity, dense sowing provoke the appearance of light gray plaque with subsequent dark dense formations.
Root rot can overtake a plant due to excessive irrigation, poor aeration of the soil, due to plant debris of a diseased crop.

Of the pests, slugs that spoil almost ripened fruits are the most annoying. It will be possible to reduce the likelihood of their occurrence if the earth near the shoots is sprinkled with tooth powder, wood ash, superphosphate. Some gardeners lay wet rags around the stems and collect them daily. In the fight against diseases and harmful insects, special preparations are often used that are commercially available. Compliance with the instructions for use makes their use quite effective.

The harvest of the long-awaited crop is held in the first half of September. A drying stalk is a sign of ripening pumpkin. When cutting the fruit, leave about 7-10 cm of coarsened ponytail to extend the shelf life of the vegetable and prevent premature decay. The optimum temperature at which the pumpkin does not lose its properties is considered to be 7-10 ° C, it can lie until spring. If you adhere to the recommendations on soil preparation, observe the planting dates, ensure proper care, in the fall you will find a rich harvest with high nutritional value.

How to grow pumpkin: video

Pumpkin cultivation: photo

Pumpkin is planted in the garden with both seedlings and seeds. Of course, if possible, prefer the easier way. Sowing pumpkins of any kind with seeds is possible in the south, and in the middle lane it is problematic only in the case of nutmeg varieties. If you properly prepare the seeds and sow them in time in the garden, you can grow a wonderful crop of these very large vegetables.

Selection and preparation of the place, soil

Pumpkin grows in the form of a large bush, and most varieties also form long lashes, which spread in all directions for 2-3 meters or more. Therefore, it’s problematic to allocate a good plot for her in a small cottage, and the owners have to cunning, allocating housing to pumpkins in old barrels, large bags or on compost heaps. If they plant it on ordinary beds, they often provide a “second floor” for arranging lashes and fruits in the form of awnings or floorings over the beds so that a place for planting and other vegetables can be allocated nearby.

Since a pumpkin, like cucumbers, loves to climb any vertical obstacles, it is often planted next to the fence. If she herself refuses to let him scourge him, she just needs to help a little, and then the growing fruits will hang on the fence, like toys on a Christmas tree. True, so that they do not fall, the fruits also have to be firmly tied to a support. And since it is enough to plant only 3-4 plants for the average family to year-round consumption, the problem of space for pumpkins with such approaches becomes not very significant.

Pumpkins love to grow on various supports: both of natural origin, and specially built for them

When choosing the location of the garden, it is important to ensure that it is well lit by sunlight: in partial shade, plants feel worse. But the composition of the soil is of great importance: pumpkins take out a large amount of nutrients from the earth, and without high-quality fertilizers, the crop will be scarce. True, for a single plant, only about 1 m 2 of well-fertilized area is required, therefore this issue is completely solved.

The best in soil composition are light sandy loam of a dark color with an acidity close to neutral (the pH of the soil extract is 6.5–7.0). Pumpkin should not be planted after any kindred cultures (zucchini, squash, cucumbers). If a pumpkin is planted on a flat horizontal surface or in a low bed, it is possible not to dig the site completely, but just dig and fertilize the holes in the places designated for sowing. True, these holes will be more like planting pits: each plant must be provided with an almost full bucket of humus and a half-liter can of wood ash. Mineral fertilizers are best applied during top dressing.

Often a pumpkin is planted directly on compost heaps that are not yet fully ripe, or specially prepared for it are large pits or trenches (up to half a meter deep) that are filled with various garbage and waste (small branches, grass, tops, manure), mixing them with the ground . In spring, these pits are poured with warm water with a small addition of nitrate (up to 20 g / m 2), and by the time of sowing the seeds they are well warmed up due to rotting of the organic mass.

Video: sowing pumpkins at the fence

Seed selection and preparation

A wide selection of pumpkin seeds of various varieties is presented in stores, but gardeners planting pumpkins annually usually use seeds from their crops, only occasionally buying beautiful bags of unknown varieties for fun. This makes sense: unlike many other crops, it is very easy to collect pumpkin seeds, they are perfectly stored, and the quality of the fruits of the old deserved varieties is quite high, and it is not always worth spending money to buy seeds. But if the seeds are bought in a store, most likely they should be trusted so much that you do not have to spend time preparing them for sowing; moreover, often seeds from well-known companies are already fully prepared, they just need to be "put to the ground" in a timely manner.

How to collect pumpkin seeds

Not always the pumpkin has time to fully ripen in the garden, and some late-ripening varieties "reach" during storage. Unfortunately, this applies only to the pulp: if the seeds did not have time to ripen under natural conditions, they will be unsuitable for sowing. For seeds, you can use only fully ripened pumpkins in the garden. These should be healthy specimens, uniform in color, of the correct shape and size, characteristic of a particular variety.

If the cultivation of pumpkins for seeds is carried out purposefully, then under the appropriate bushes it is not necessary to add extra fertilizers, this slightly reduces the growing season. Since pumpkin plants are easily pollinated, it is undesirable to have nearby plantings of other varieties of pumpkins, zucchini, and even cucumbers.

Seed pumpkins up to the extraction of seeds from them even need to be stored correctly. You should not cut them immediately, you must let them lie down at room temperature for about a month. It’s not worth it longer: the seeds can begin to germinate already inside the fetus. If you miss this moment, you have to say goodbye to the seeds.

Unlike watermelon, pumpkin seeds are not distributed throughout the fruit, but are in the seed chamber, which in different varieties is located either in the center or on one side, but in any case it is large. Therefore, cutting a pumpkin, you can not be afraid to damage a lot of seeds, but still it should be done carefully, after washing the pumpkin and wiping it dry. You need to use a sharp, durable knife and do not stick it deep.

Usually the seeds are easily separated from the pulp, but some of them, especially not fully ripened, can be very surrounded by it. If possible, they are separated from the pulp manually, folding into any container, and then washed well with running water at room temperature. Sometimes a sieve has to be used to separate the seeds from the fibers. Bad seeds can be separated right away, flood everything extracted with water: that which has surfaced is thrown away.

Pumpkin seeds are familiar to everyone: they are large, and it’s easy to work with them

After sorting the seeds, they are well dried at room temperature and sent for storage. It is best to keep them in a paper or linen bag, but most importantly - at a constant room temperature and low humidity.

Shelf life of seeds and germination test

Proper storage of pumpkin seeds guarantees their germination for 7–8 years. Moreover, one should not try to plant last year's seeds: they give the best results in germination and yield when they reach the age of 3-4 years. Many seeds are always collected, therefore, before preparing them for planting, you just need to manually calibrate them by choosing the largest and densest, pot-bellied ones.

If there are doubts about the correct storage, you can check the seeds for germination. To do this, take as many seeds as they can afford, but at least a dozen. Germination is carried out in the usual way: on a plate spread a napkin or piece of cloth, lay out the seeds and pour enough water so that they are only covered with it. They put the plate in a warm place and make sure that the napkin is wet all the time, gradually add water.

The seeds swell first, then burst a little at the tip, and from there the tail is shown. True, this can happen in three days, and in eight. Therefore, the experiment is completed in ten days. If only one out of a dozen seeds does not germinate, excellent. If 2-3 is normal. Otherwise, it is better to purchase new seeds, although if every second sprouted, you can sow them, but with a margin.

Video: checking pumpkin seeds for germination

Soaking and germinating seeds

Pumpkin seeds are often planted dry, right from the bag. Sometimes it even says on the package that they are ready for sowing. Their seeds are often soaked before sowing, or even germinated. It is difficult to argue whether this makes much sense, but for several days the readiness of the crop brings such preparation closer. In addition, germinated seeds become not so tasty and attractive to pests, which means that the percentage of germination is increased. But even if you prepare the seeds for sowing, the first step should be their disinfection - a half-hour bath in a dark solution of potassium permanganate.

Then the seeds are kept for two hours in hot water. It is advisable to find a way at home to maintain the temperature (50 ± 2) ° C all this time. If after such warming up the seeds are placed in a damp cloth, they should hatch no later than 3-4 days later.

Do not wait until the tails become long, they can be broken off when sowing

As soon as small tails of individual seeds appear, all soaked seeds in the same cloth are sent for hardening in the refrigerator, where they are kept for 3-4 days. A more effective way of hardening is the effect of variable temperatures: the location (in the refrigerator and outside it) is changed with a frequency of 12 hours. Some gardeners dust seeds with wood ash before hardening. Especially diligent, instead of germinating on tissue, germinate seeds on important sawdust.

How to accelerate seed germination

Germination of pumpkin seeds is far from the only step in preparing planting material for planting. There are several more equally effective and not very complex techniques, for example:

warming up is the easiest way in which the seeds are laid out on a well-lit window sill in clear weather and warmed by the sun's rays all day, performing this treatment for at least a week. Instead, you can warm them up for 3-4 hours at a temperature of 60 ° C;
processing with fertilizer solutions: it can be just an infusion of 2 tablespoons of ash in a liter of water or a more complex mixture, made by adding 0.5 g of boric acid, the same amount of zinc sulfate and copper sulfate to this infusion. Seeds are kept in solution for 5-7 hours;
treatment with biostimulants: in this capacity, it is easiest to use a solution containing 0.5 g of salicylic or succinic acid in 1 liter of water. An excellent natural stimulant is the juice of the agave, which is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10. In such solutions, the seeds are also incubated for 5-7 hours. It is believed that this not only improves and accelerates germination, but also increases the quantity and quality of the future crop.

Possible reasons that the seeds do not germinate

Problems with the germination of pumpkin seeds are extremely rare. If you have previously checked the seeds for validity, they are simply obliged to sprout. Maybe not in 4 days, but in 10-12 days, but they will rise! Especially if they were sown dry. Paradox? Not. The reason that suitable dry seeds did not germinate is perhaps only one. They were eaten by pests. Either underground spider bugs, or birds unearthed.

But with soaked or sprouted seeds is more difficult. If, after sowing, it has sharply become colder, and the temperature of the soil has dropped below 8 ° C, it means that your seeds, which only started to live, simply died from the cold. Well, if there was no cold, perhaps they simply dried up: if germinated seeds are sown, conditions must be created in the hole of sufficient heat and high humidity.

There are many examples of when one gardener was shaking over seeds, spent a lot of time, waiting, but there were no seedlings. And the neighbor arrived at the weekend, buried dry seeds, and they sprouted beautifully. Unless, of course, the ground was warm and moderately moist. Therefore, it is worth recognizing that preliminary preparation of seeds is not very necessary for a pumpkin, and sometimes it only interferes.

Rules, terms and schemes for planting pumpkin seeds in open ground

Pumpkin seeds are guaranteed to germinate only in soil heated to a minimum of 12–14 ° C, but before sowing, you must be sure that serious cold will not return: seedlings die at 1–2 degrees of frost. The best temperature for the development of pumpkin plants, the nucleation and growth of fruits is 20–25 ° C. Therefore, the timing of sowing seeds must be determined, focusing not only on long-term observations of the climate, but also on the current weather.

Roughly in the middle lane, the time for sowing seeds begins when May exceeds the middle, but in this case each hole with crops should be covered with glass or film: the threat of frost remains in early June. If you wait for the summer, then you can not get ripe fruits: after all, the growing season even in the most early ripening pumpkins exceeds three months. In the northern regions, pumpkin in open ground is grown only through seedlings. In the south by seedling, it makes sense to grow only the latest varieties of nutmeg pumpkins, all the rest are sown with seeds in early May, and sometimes somewhat earlier.

The scourges of most varieties of pumpkins spread very far in the area, and if they are not supposed to be raised to supports, very large gaps must be left between the plants so that the plants are spacious and not very intertwined. And even with vertical cultivation, the holes are located no closer than a meter from each other: the minimum possible nutritional area for one plant is just 1 m 2. But for comfortable growth, experts recommend a more free placement of pumpkins, according to the 2 x 1 m scheme, having one plant per hole, or 3 x 2 m, in which case two plants can be planted in the nest.

Sowing seeds is not difficult, even for an inexperienced gardener.

At normal temperatures and soil moisture, seedlings appear after 5–8 days. When it becomes clear that the frost will not return, the film can be removed. But in not very warm regions, many gardeners cut holes for sprouts in it, and the film is temporarily left in the garden so that the soil does not cool down. After 3-5 days, the extra, weakest shoots are cut off: it is better not to pull them out so as not to harm the roots of the plants remaining in the hole.

Video: planting pumpkins sprouted seeds

Plant care

Caring for a pumpkin in the open field is not difficult and consists mainly in watering and feeding. True, it would be nice to form plants in time, too, but without this you can get good results. Weeding and cultivation are possible only at first, until the bushes grow. At this time, they try to water after shallow loosening so that the water penetrates deeper to the roots.

Watering should be carried out only with water warmed up in the sun, so it falls on the evening hours. Pumpkin for fruit setting necessarily requires moisture during intensive flowering, as well as during the rapid growth of pumpkins. Up to three buckets of water have to be spent on each bush. As soon as it is noticed by the fall that the fruits have stopped growing, watering is greatly reduced: this is necessary to set sugar content during ripening. The pumpkin will find the necessary moisture at this time itself: after all, its roots penetrate deep into the soil up to one and a half meters.

It is necessary to feed infrequently: after all, the hole was well fertilized in advance. For feeding around the bush, a shallow trench is made with a chopper, where the nutrient solution is poured. The first time it is worth doing when growing 5-6 leaves, the second - when the lashes grow to about half a meter. Fertilizer can be either azofoska (10–15 g per bush) or mullein infusion (based on a bucket of dry fertilizer for 6–8 bushes). From time to time around the bushes it is worth scattering wood ash with a thin layer.

After reaching the main stem with a length of one and a half meters, pinch it, and leave 2-3 pieces from the growing lateral shoots, no more than one fruit will grow on each. If you leave a larger number, they will also grow, but they will be smaller and worse quality. A small plank or piece of plywood is placed under each growing pumpkin so that they do not decay from contact with the ground. To improve the fruits and provide them with better nutrition, the whips are sprinkled with a small layer of soil at a distance of about 50 cm from the main shoot.

Sowing pumpkins in the beds with prepared or dry seeds is extremely simple, but not possible in any climatic region. Many varieties grow well and give a ripened crop, if you sow the seeds correctly and on time. Most modern summer residents have no time to deal with seedlings, and they go the easier way, often achieving good results.