Melon is a popular culture that is successfully cultivated throughout the world. Therefore, having your own plot and the desire to create your own hands, attention should be paid to the cultivation and rules of planting in the open field of this favorite summer-autumn delicacy so that it can look healthy and with a wonderful taste.
In different regions, you can sow melon seeds at once, or plant them first on the seedlings. Cultivation and care should be carried out regardless of the terrain, it may also be necessary to form and feed or bind to the trellis.
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Is it possible to grow melons in the country in the open field
Melon - heat-loving plant, which need a lot of light. She feels good in hot weather and even drought. The maximum humidity for this culture is 60-70%.
Culture has a massive root system, which is able to get moisture to a depth of one meter. This plant requires a lot of free space for intensive development and comfortable growth.
Although melon and a southern inhabitant, it can be grown in almost any locality, the main thing is to know how to do it. Now a sufficient number of varieties that are well acclimatized and bear fruit in moderately warm and cold climatic conditions.
The most popular melon varieties to plant in the Middle Band and in Ukraine
According to experienced gardeners, the best varieties to plant in the country in central Russia or Ukraine, in the climatic conditions of the Moscow region are the Altai and Kolkhoz Woman.
Altai
Precocity allows harvesting after 70 days the growth of culture from the period of formation of seedlings. The average size of the plant forms a moderate length of the whip.
Fruits of golden color, have the form in the form of an oval. Observed ability to reach 1.5 kg. Gentle flesh is painted in a light orange color, characterized by drowsiness, sweetness and grain.
Of the positive characteristics: adaptability to adverse weather conditions, excellent transportability and keeping quality.
Collective farmer
Melon belongs to the early ripening variety. The first harvest can be harvested after 75 days after disembarkation.
The plant forms small orange-yellow round fruits with convex attachment of the stem. On average, the weight of one fruit is 1.5 kg. Dense pulp and durable crust allows you to easily transport the crop, which can be stored after harvest for a week.
In such conditions only certain varieties can grow, including the Early 133 and Amber.
Early 133
The variety is early ripe, the growing season - 60-70 days. The fruit is in the form of an oval and with a yellow skin. It has a white, dense, tender, sweet flesh of great taste and aroma. The weight of one fruit is approximately 1.5 kg.
It is appreciated for its excellent commercial quality, good transportability and high immunity to the main diseases of the culture.
Amber
A variety of medium early ripening. The growing season from germination to ripening melons 70-85 days. A plant with long lashes of average power. Juicy fruits of spherical shape with juicy, rather thick flesh and weight up to 2.5 kg.
What varieties are suitable for sowing in Bashkiria and the Urals
Vegetable growers of the Urals and Bashkiria who want to grow melon on their plots should choose a more suitable variety for the Urals region. The best seeds of melons are the dream of sybarite and Cinderella.
Sybarite dream
Early variety reaching technical ripeness through 50-55 days. The fruit has an original elongated shape and green striped peel. The mass of one fruit is equal 400 g.
Juicy crunchy flesh whitish shade with a specific honey aroma and taste. The main advantages are increased yield, continuous fruiting until frost, good resistance to diseases.
Cinderella
The variety belongs to early ripening crops, since the growing season is 60 daysfor which fruits are gaining up to 1.5 kg weight.
Melons are colored yellow with a convex mesh pattern. The flesh has a white color and is characterized by juiciness and sweetness. Due to its rich aroma, it is valued in the culinary business.
The advantages include high resistance to temperature extremes, various diseases and attacks of pests. The disadvantage is short storage and poor transportability from a rather thin melon rind.
Planting rules
There are several ways to plant a crop:
- sowing seeds;
- seedling method;
- using grafted seedlings.
Preparation for planting seeds
To obtain a quality crop, it is important to properly prepare the seeds for sowing. Planting material to buy in special stores or independently collect from the fruit grown in their own garden and germinate at home.
Collecting seeds at home, you must follow the basic rule: harvest only from large sweet melons.
One more thing is important: only in the third year after collection You can use seeds as a material for planting. As from fresh specimens, the development of a plant with the absence of female inflorescences occurs, as a result of which they do not have the ability to bear fruit.
To seedlings were friendly, and the plants developed strong, seed need pickle in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for an hour. After that, soak at 20-25̊ degrees in a thick layer of gauze fabric, which is immersed in a container so that the water only slightly covers the seeds.
Every 4-6 hours the seeds need to be aired and again immersed in water.The total duration of soaking - 12 hours. Then scatter the seeds in a thin layer on a damp cloth and hold until the first sprouts appear.
Site selection and soil preparation for planting seedlings
Melon - light-loving plant, which does not tolerate shading. Therefore, for this culture fit well-lit areas of the sun, as protected from the cold winds.
When planning the planting of melon beauty in the garden, you need to take into account which crops grew in the garden last year and the neighboring influence of different plants on the melon. As predecessors can be garlic, onions, cabbage, peas, beans, winter grain crops.
Good neighbors who will scare off pests, improve taste and promote growth are considered turnip, basil, radish.
The plant is not recommended to be planted in one place. more than two years. Return it to the previous place of growth without compromising the yield can be for 5 year.
Melon is very demanding on the soil, so it is suitable light, organic medium-loamy soil, with neutral acidity.
The site for the cultivation of plants must be properly prepared:
- autumn ground dig on the bayonet of a shovel and add humus, in the presence of heavy soil to saturate it with river sand;
- when spring comes, sprinkle the beds, using peat or ash to accelerate the snow melting, then cover with foil to ensure maximum warming up of the soil;
- when the surface layer of the soil warms to a temperature of +13 degrees to hold deep loosening with the addition of potash and phosphate minerals, strictly observing the amount of fertilizer applied by manufacturers on the packages;
- before beginning the process of planting, re-dig the area again, filling with fertilizers that contain nitrogen.
Conditions for proper cultivation and care
Planting a melon in the ground gardeners recommended only in the southern regions. In the northern latitudes and in the middle lane, it is better to grow only using grown seedlings, because melon may have time to germinate from the seeds, but it will not bear fruit before the cold weather. Favorable time for disembarkation - the last days of April.
To do this, you must perform the following procedure, take care and love the plant properly:
- Make holes, 5-6 cm in depth. The landing pattern is 1 m between rows, the distance in the row is 0.7 m.
- Equip each hole with humus and irrigate with warm water.
- Put 3-4 seeds in each well.
- Planted seed watered and covered with dry soil.
Fruits are ripening in late July - early August. When ripe, the vegetable acquires its characteristic color, the pattern is clearly revealed and the characteristic aroma inherent in the melon appears. Signal full maturity is easy separation from the stalk.
According to the lunar gardener's calendar in 2018, the process of planting melons can begin on March 27.28, from April 20 to April 24 and in May on any day from the 19th to the 23rd.
The key to successful cultivation of melon beauty is sunny, warm weather, when pollination and development of sugary juicy fruits are actively taking place.It is important to choose a suitable variety and follow simple agrotechnical methods, swoop down and pinch seedlings if necessary, and then a rich increase in the yield of melons is ensured.