The homeland of gourds is tropical and subtropical latitudes, so they need light sandy lands. Bakhcha cannot consist of chernozem. But climatic conditions do not matter much. Fruits from the Pumpkin family grow well both in the south and in Far East. The exception is the regions of the Far North. Difficulties in obtaining a crop will arise when planting watermelon and melon, but for these plants there are technologies for growing in greenhouses.

Characteristics of melon varieties

The list of plants growing on melons includes watermelons, melons, zucchini, squash, pumpkins. Most of them have long creepers creeping along the ridges with large leaves and yellow single flowers. They tolerate dry weather well, as their powerful and strong root system can "extract" moisture from the deepest layers of the soil.

Melon growing is a simple science. Cultures require a lot of sun and heat, the weather at the time of growth should be hot and dry. But when purchasing seed material, it is important to pay attention to the duration of the growing season. If the landing area involves a rapid summer, only early species are planted with a ripening cycle of no more than 90 days.

Watermelon

There is a huge variety of varieties of melons such as watermelon. In addition to the fact that there is a division into table and fodder species, this berry is different in weight, shape, color of the pulp and peel, taste, place and method of cultivation.

General characteristics of the plant:

1. 1. Stem resembling a creeper - long, flexible, curly, rounded, can reach 5 m in length.
2. 2. The leaves are wide, attached to the trunk with short petioles. The leaf plates are large - about 25 cm long, 20 cm wide.
3. 3. The flowers are yellow - 2.5 cm in diameter, unisexual.
4. 4. Fruits are oval, round, square, pyramidal.
5. 5. Pulp with numerous seeds - yellow, red, pink.

To date, more than 1000 varieties of the largest berry in the world have been grown, and all of them are not alike. Unusual can be not only the form, but also the content. Recently bred seedless fruits are surprising. They are grown using a special pollination technology.

The following groups of watermelons are conditionally distinguished:

No. p / p		Description	Photo
	Colocynth	The plant has round leaves, large flowers, small fruits. The peel of a ripe watermelon is yellow, dense. The flesh is white with a slight yellowish tinge. It has many useful substances. In some countries it is used as a remedy. Suitable for the preparation of powders, extracts, oil is squeezed out of seeds
	Ordinary	The largest species group of watermelons, annual. The shape is ellipsoid or round, the peel is green to dark green in color with or without stripes. The flesh is red, white, yellow. It has a high sugar content, the size depends on the place of cultivation. The seeds are dark, flat, the stems are like a creeping liana, the leaves are fleecy, hard about 22 cm. Excellent taste
	Square	Similar to ordinary. The unusual shape facilitates easy transportation and storage. The cubic configuration is obtained due to the peculiarities of growing: when the future watermelon reaches the size of a large onion, it is covered with a cube of plywood or wood

In areas with a cold climate, seeds are not planted directly into the soil to increase the ripening period. The first step in growing watermelons is planting seedlings in early spring. Only in this case, a fully matured product is obtained by mid-September.

Melon

The fragrant fruit belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family. The pulp contains a large indicator of easily digestible sugars, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and more. Recommended for use in case of deteriorating health:

Unlike watermelon, which is considered a berry, melon is recognized as a vegetable.

Melon is an excellent adjuvant for many diseases, it is recommended by doctors as a nutritional component. But still, this fragrant fruit has contraindications:

1. 1. Not recommended for diabetics, as the product contains up to 13-15% sugars (depending on the variety). If the patient has a disease of the 2nd degree, you can use a bitter variety, it reduces the glucose index.
2. 2. With liver diseases.
3. 3. Children under one year old.
4. 4. With great care for those who have gastritis and ulcers.
5. 5. Diarrhea and other gastrointestinal disorders.
6. 6. In diseases of the spleen, the fruits are consumed with honey.

Melon is 90% water, in addition it contains a huge amount of carbohydrates. Therefore, nutritionists recommend using it as an independent dish, without mixing with other products.

Pumpkin

The shape of the fruit can be very diverse - round, oval, small (decorative) or large, have a hard crust on top and pulp inside. All these parameters depend on the variety and growing conditions. Flat seeds about 3 cm have nutritional and medicinal value.

Pumpkin is a very important agricultural plant, it is easy to grow, and subsequently there are no difficulties with storage. In cooking, the vegetable is used to make mashed potatoes, soups, for sweet pastries, jam, juice, etc.

Vegetables are used for the following diseases:

• anemia and other types of anemia;
• male weakness;
• cardiovascular disorders;
• diseases of the nervous system;
• various disorders of the gastrointestinal tract;
• obesity
• chronic tuberculosis, etc.

However, there are a number of contraindications and limitations:

1. 1. Not used for diabetes of all degrees.
2. 2. Raw fruits and juice are prohibited in ulcers.
3. 3. Juice in its pure form is not drunk in case of violations of the digestive tract.

The body of some people does not tolerate any variety of pumpkin, an allergic reaction is possible.

Zucchini and patisson

The list of gourds additionally includes squash and zucchini. They are similar in taste, the presence of nutrients and minerals, useful properties for the body and contraindications.

The benefits of vegetables:

1. 1. Squash skin contains antioxidants that rid the body of free radicals, prevent the development of oncology, and preserve youth.
2. 2. They contain potassium, which is necessary for the heart muscle and normalization of pressure.
3. 3. Both vegetables contain fiber, which reduces the risk of neoplasms in the rectum.
4. 4. Squash serves as a natural source of the substance folate. It is important in cell division and DNA synthesis.
5. 5. Controls the level of bile and glycogen.
6. 6. Due to the diuretic property, excess fluid and sodium salts are removed, causing its retention.
7. 7. Squash is useful as an adjuvant in prostate cancer.

Medicine claims that both zucchini and squash contain quite a large number of vitamins (C and group B). But it must be remembered that the data presented in various sources correspond to fresh vegetables.

Harmful properties of zucchini and squash:

1. 1. Canned gourd derivatives are not recommended for use by those with diabetes.
2. 2. Not indicated for hypotensive patients.
3. 3. Should not be used for digestive disorders and gastrointestinal problems.

Growing crops of the Cucurbitaceae family

There are cardinal differences in planting and growing vegetables depending on the region. If in the south it is enough to plant seeds in the soil, perform minimal care manipulations and harvest after a while, then in the central part of the country and the Far East it is necessary to carry out preliminary work both before planting and for growing melons.

Experienced melon growers advise sowing seeds for seedlings as early as March. Until the summer, she is kept in the apartment on the windowsill. And only at the end of May - the beginning of June they are planted on a prepared garden bed. Transplantation is carried out extremely carefully, since the root system of gourds is very fragile and delicate. A method of transshipment of an earthen coma is suitable.

The nuances of melon growing in cold regions

And watermelons, and melons, and zucchini are grown almost everywhere. In order for this to be possible, experts advise:

1. 1. In the middle zone of the country, plant melons in the ground, but at the same time cover each sprout with a cut in half plastic bottle. The lid should be removed before watering. On top of the 1.5-liter bottle, place a 5-liter container, cutting off the bottom. When the plant outgrows a small container, it should be removed, leaving a large one. This will turn out a mini-greenhouse for each sprout.
2. 2. In order for the vegetable to be filled with sunlight, the melon should be arranged in an open space without shaded areas. But with strong sunshine, the plants should be covered for a short time with large leaves of burdock or use a light awning.
3. 3. For ease of care and space saving, it is better to start the vine on supports. Along the beds with plantings, you need to stick the poles, pull the wire in 2-4 rows on them, and let the stem run along this support.
4. 4. During prolonged rains, the fruits lying on the ground will begin to rot, so under them it is necessary to put small boards, polystyrene, build sand mounds, create some other safety cushion.
5. 5. In the central and eastern regions, very often groundwater occurs close to the surface. Therefore, the overgrown roots, having reached them, begin to rot. If you initially water the plant not under the bush, but a little far away, the root system will not go deep, but will grow to the sides.
6. 6. On melons, whips that have arisen are subject to mandatory pruning. Leave one large stem-liana with flowers.
7. 7. Pinching is carried out after 6 flowers. If you leave more, the fruits will be small and tasteless.

All care for gourds after planting seeds or seedlings in open ground consists in abundant watering, pinching, fertilizing, protection from decay and protection from diseases.

Disease Control Measures

The first step in the fight against diseases of gourds is the disinfection of seeds before planting. Etching is carried out using a solution of copper sulphate or zinc sulfate.

Other measures are presented in the table:

Growing any variety of gourds in Russia is not very difficult. It is enough to observe elementary rules and timely prevent diseases.

* Calculations use average data for Russia

Melon crops include one- or perennial plants of the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae), which have long outstretched or climbing stems with tendrils: watermelon, melon, pumpkin, zucchini, squash, etc. The most popular, for obvious reasons, are watermelons and melons, which are cultivated for juicy fruits with high taste. Watermelon and melon are eaten mostly fresh as a dessert. However, jam, jam, molasses, watermelon honey (nardek, bekmes) are also cooked from the fruits of these gourds, candied fruit, marshmallow and pickles are prepared, they are still quite widely used in the canning and confectionery industry. From the seeds of many plants of the gourd family, valuable vegetable oil is obtained.

As part of this article, we will look at a seasonal watermelon growing business. Watermelon owes its high popularity to its valuable dietary, taste and nutritional properties. Watermelon contains high amounts of sucrose and fructose, which give it sweetness, and watermelon pulp and skin contain various beneficial amino acids, macro- and micronutrients, including antioxidants, fiber, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, sulfur, folic acid and sodium.

General information about watermelons

In our country, watermelons are grown on an industrial scale in the Volga region and in some areas of the southern regions, as well as in the Crimea. Watermelons are heat-loving plants that are well cultivated in the steppe climate with long, hot, dry summers, so in these regions they ripen freely in the open air, acquiring excellent taste. In the middle black earth regions of Russia, as well as in the more northern regions, watermelons are usually grown not in the fields (in open field), where they simply do not have time to ripen during the season, but in greenhouses (under the film). Watermelon has a powerful root system, which provides the plant with enough moisture and nutrients for the ripening of large juicy fruits. The main root of watermelon plants can penetrate the soil to a depth of two meters, and the lateral roots form a large number of roots of the second and third orders, reaching a depth of 3-4 meters.

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At first, the vegetative mass of plants develops rather slowly, since the root system grows intensively during this period. But already 20-30 days after germination, the plants begin to grow actively, forming side shoots. Their growth can reach two meters in just one day. The timing of the flowering of watermelon depends on its precocity. As a rule, flowers can be observed already a month and a half after the emergence of seedlings, and flowering continues until the end of the plant's growing season.

Watermelon flowers, as a rule, are dioecious, that is, both male and female flowers can form on the same plant. In the most common varieties, however, bisexual, that is, hermaphroditic, and male flowers are more often formed, and in some species, female, male, and bisexual flowers. It is possible to distinguish female and male flowers by size: the former, as a rule, are larger, have a wide five-lobed stigma on a short column. Bisexual flowers are similar in appearance to female ones. They differ only in that they form both stamens and pistil at once. The flowers open in the morning at dawn and fade in 15-16 hours. Female and bisexual flowers open earlier than male ones and, if fertilization does not occur, remain open during the next day. Male flowers fade after a few hours.

Depending on the duration of the growing season (that is, from the moment of germination to the onset of the biological maturity of the plant), varieties and hybrids of watermelon are divided into several main types: ultra-early (up to 70 days), early (71-80 days), mid-season (81-90 days ), medium-late (91-100 days) and late-ripening (over 100 days). Keep in mind that ultra-early and early-ripening watermelons tend to be less sugary and more watery than mid- and late-ripening ones. However, for industrial cultivation, these varieties are considered more preferable.

Watermelon fruits can vary greatly in shape, color and size. In most cases, they have an oval-round shape with an average diameter of 20-25 cm and an average weight of 3-6 kg. The surface of the watermelon bark is usually smooth, but there are also segmented fruits, and the thickness of the bark depends on the variety, cultivation method and soil quality. In most fruits, the thickness of the bark is from one to one and a half centimeters. In some varieties, the thickness of the bark does not exceed half a centimeter, and in thick-skinned watermelons it can reach 4 cm. Watermelons with an average thickness of stern of 1-1.5 cm are still the most popular. Although thick-skinned watermelons are more convenient to transport and store longer, but buyers as a rule, they do not want to overpay for the "extra" weight of the inedible fruit bark. Thin-skinned watermelons have a very short shelf life and require careful transportation.

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Watermelon flesh is usually red, but in some varieties it can be orange, yellow, or even pearly. However, experienced entrepreneurs rely mainly on traditional rather than exotic varieties. Seeds also differ in shape, color and size. They can be large, medium or small in weight from 30 to 150 grams / 1000 pieces. black, yellow, white, reddish brown or even greenish. Seed germination is usually maintained for 4-5 years.

Of all the species of these gourds, the common watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) is the most widespread. It is a herbaceous annual plant with fruits of spherical, oval, cylindrical or flattened shape with bark of various shades from white and yellow to dark green with a pattern in the form of stripes or spots. Its flesh is usually pink, red or crimson, but there are also varieties with white or yellow flesh. The stems of this culture are thin, creeping or curly, very flexible. They can be up to four meters long. The seeds of the common watermelon are flat, often bordered, with a scar. This plant blooms throughout the summer months, while the fruits usually ripen no earlier than August-September.

Growing watermelons in open ground

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To begin with, you will need to choose suitable varieties for growing watermelons on melons. Approach this issue with great care. Do not pay attention to the bright pictures on the sites and the assurances of the sellers. To get started, read the growing guidelines or consult an experienced agronomist. When choosing, pay attention to the fact how many days this variety will need to ripen.

Astrakhan, or Bykovsky (white), monastic (green with white stripes and with red or gray seeds), kamyshinsky (of the same color), Crimson Sweet (early) and a number of others are considered the best varieties of gourds. Seeds are usually sold in packs of five for 35-45 rubles per package. At the same time, some suppliers set a minimum purchase lot - from 500-700 rubles.

Melon crops are planted only when hot weather finally sets in. As a rule, this is the middle-end of May (in the southern regions) or the beginning of June. Watermelon belongs to heat-loving plants, it does not withstand frost and does not tolerate temperature drops to 5-10 ° C. For the normal development of the plant, the temperature should be from 20-25 ° C and above (optimal - 30 ° C). Of great importance is the humidity of the air (it should ideally be 60%) and soil. On the one hand, thanks to a powerful root system, watermelon survives even in arid regions. However, if you want to get large, juicy and tasty fruits, then you need to maintain soil moisture at a certain level.

As mentioned above, watermelon seeds remain viable for 4-5 years. At the same time, two-year-old seeds are considered the most suitable for sowing, since plants grown from fresh seeds (from the previous crop) are not particularly prolific. In extreme cases, annual seeds can also be planted, but in this case it is recommended to warm them up to 60 ° C for a couple of hours. To obtain uniform seedlings, melon seeds are pre-sprouted. To do this, they are wrapped in gauze, dipped in warm water for four hours, and then laid out on wet burlap, wrapped in cloth and kept in it for two days. After that, they can be planted in the ground.

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If you want to plant watermelons earlier than usual (in the second half of May), then you can grow them in seedlings using peat cups, as gourds do not tolerate transplanting. When planting watermelon seeds early, they must first be hardened off to increase their resistance to cold. To do this, they are first soaked, and then hardened for 1-2 days at a temperature of 0 to 20 °C.

Watermelon prefers mechanically light or sandy soils that warm up quickly in the sun. It is best if perennial grasses, winter wheat, corn for silage, green fodder or legumes were grown on the field before melons. Experts recommend returning watermelon crops to the previous place of cultivation of the same or other crops of the pumpkin family no earlier than in 5-8 years. However, this rule is often not respected.

Experienced people advise laying watermelon seeds in the soil not vertically, but horizontally on their side. Thus, it will be easier for the leaves to break through the thick shell of the seed. In open ground, watermelons are planted in rows or nesting. Take into account the fact that one plant should have a fairly large space. This requirement is due, firstly, to the length of the lashes, and secondly, to the size of the fruits, for the ripening of which plants need a very large amount of nutrients. Watermelon seeds are sown manually in shallow holes 4-6 cm deep. 2-3 seeds are placed in one hole, then it is filled with water and covered with earth.

Shoots appear, as a rule, on the tenth - eleventh days of sowing. After another week, the first leaf blooms, and the main shoot begins to form at least two weeks later, or even later, depending on the variety. Caring for gourds is standard - weeding and loosening the soil, removing weeds and regular watering. For the whole season, you need to weed and loosen the melon at least four times, but water it - from 3-4 to 9-12 times per season, depending on the weather and the condition of the plants. When the central leaves of plants begin to wilt, this is a sure sign that they are not getting enough moisture. Watermelons need to be watered with warm water (temperature from 15 ° C) to the very root. Watering should be relatively plentiful so that moisture penetrates deep into the entire arable layer. Water consumption is from 50 to 100 cubic meters per hectare. In not very dry weather, the next, more abundant watering is done after the formation of the ovary and when the fruits reach a weight of 3-5 kg. In this case, the water consumption can be 150 cubic meters per hectare. It is extremely important to develop your own schedule and watering rates, depending on the region and weather conditions, and strictly adhere to them. A lack or excess of moisture can cut the resulting yield by more than half. With excessive watering, there is a high risk of developing various fungal diseases of plants, and excess moisture during fruit ripening can adversely affect their quality: watermelons will turn out unsweetened and watery.

At the beginning of growth, melons and gourds are recommended to be fertilized with cowshed infusion (rotted manure). After harvesting, potash and phosphorus fertilizers are applied for digging melons (half the dose of phosphorus and nitrogen and half the dose of potassium). In some manuals, you can find recommendations for additional fertilization of melons in the spring with nitrogen fertilizers. However, they must be used with extreme caution. Excessively large doses of nitrogen fertilizers reduce the taste of fruits, which, although they grow larger, do not have a characteristic sweet taste. Moreover, high levels of nitrates can be harmful to human health.

With proper care (with regular weed removal), suitable climate, favorable weather conditions, fertile soil and watering, 20-40 tons of crops can be harvested per hectare of sown area when grown on the ground, and 40-70 tons when grown on film. As we mentioned above, the ripening process for early-ripening fruits takes 60-85 days, for mid-ripening and late-ripening fruits - an average of 100 days. You can determine the maturity of the fetus by its appearance- elasticity and brilliance of the bark, its color, brightness of the pattern. If you hit a ripe fruit with your palm, the sound will be deaf. When squeezing such a watermelon, a crackling of the pulp inside is heard. In cool weather, ripe watermelons can remain on melons for up to a month. However, in extreme heat, they burn out in less than a week under the scorching rays of the sun, so take care of the room for storing ripe fruits and timely harvesting in advance.

Growing watermelons in greenhouses

If you want to get an early and / or more abundant harvest, if you plan to grow watermelons in regions where the climate is not suitable for gourds, then you can not do without greenhouses. The following varieties of watermelons are suitable for greenhouse cultivation: F1 Gift to the North, Cinderella, Ultra Early, F1 Charleston near Moscow, Ogonyok, Pannonia F1, F1 Rose Champagne, Siberian, F1 Krimstar ".

Seedlings for the greenhouse are recommended to be sown in the second half of April. For forcing seedlings, a special mixture is prepared, which includes three parts of humus with one part of the earth, a tablespoon of potash and nitrogen fertilizers, three tablespoons of phosphorus fertilizer. Also, if you do not use mineral fertilizers, you can add a glass of wood ash and one teaspoon of potassium sulfate per bucket of soil mixture.

As with sowing seeds in open ground, when planting seedlings, they are laid to a shallow depth - up to 2-3 cm. Before germination, the soil with seeds should be kept at a temperature of 22-25 ° C. When the first shoots appear, the temperature can drop at night to a maximum of 15-17 ° C.

In general, care for watermelon seedlings is the same as for cucumber seedlings. It is necessary to provide the shoots with a long daylight hours - from 12 to 14 hours, otherwise, if there is a lack of light, they will begin to stretch too quickly, giving long but weak shoots. You can provide the necessary lighting with the help of special lamps that are used for greenhouse crops. A week after germination, it is recommended to shade the seedlings with a black film from 18 to 8 hours (from evening to morning). On the tenth day after the shoots appear, the plants are fed with mineral fertilizers (10-15 grams of potassium chloride, ammonia sulfur, 20-25 grams of superphosphate per 10 liters of water).

Do not forget to prepare the soil in the greenhouse in advance for planting seedlings. It is planted only in "warm" beds. To prepare them, a week before planting, a layer of earth 15-20 cm thick is removed from the soil. Hay with humus is laid in this trench, which is sprinkled with nitrogen fertilizers and abundantly moistened with hot water, and then covered with soil and black film. After the soil warms up to at least 10-12 ° C, it will be possible to plant seedlings in it to a depth of 10 cm. - in the third decade of April - the first decade of May. When the lashes appear and as they grow, they are tied to the trellises, and the fruits themselves, due to their large weight, are recommended to be hung in nets. For the rapid growth of plants, the lashes are pinched, leaving three leaves above the fruit and removing weak shoots.

The greenhouse must be regularly ventilated, avoiding drafts. It is desirable that insects that pollinate female flowers get into the greenhouse. However, you can do it yourself. To do this, carefully monitor the appearance of male flowers, which fade very quickly. With manual pollination, they are plucked, the petals are carefully removed and the anthers are applied to the stigma of female flowers several times. Experts advise doing this in the morning at an air temperature of about 20 ° C, but only on condition that the night before this the air temperature did not drop below 12 ° C.

Do not forget to leave enough seeds after harvesting for the next crops. Watermelons that grow from these seeds resist various diseases better and grow faster.

Ripe watermelons are sold to wholesale companies, private sellers, directly to end customers and through fruit and vegetable stores. With small volumes, it is most profitable to sell watermelons on your own, since wholesale prices differ from retail ones at times.

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Usually watermelons and melons are grown in the open field in the southern regions of our country. These melons grown in the Astrakhan and Volgograd regions, the Krasnodar Territory and other regions where climatic conditions are similar are considered the best. After all, these plants are extremely sensitive to heat and the duration of daylight hours.

Grow gourds in the beds of garden plots and in central Russia However, due to the shorter warm period in these regions, seedlings of watermelons and melons grown at home are planted in open ground.

The main varieties for open ground

All of the above varieties of gourds are suitable for growing in open ground.

Growing seedlings of watermelons and melons

• These heat-loving plants need, first of all, good lighting during the day, as well as warmth. If these two conditions are not met, then healthy and strong seedlings are unlikely to grow.
• Since the seedlings of these gourds grow quite quickly - about a month passes from the moment the seeds are planted to the receipt of full-fledged seedlings - it is important to plant the seed on time. In the conditions of the central regions of Russia, melon seeds are planted for seedlings in the third decade of March - in the first decade of April.

• It is better not to buy it from hands from unknown manufacturers, but to buy it in specialized stores. These seeds must be zoned for the regions in which they will grow.
• The soil mixture in which the seedlings will grow should consist of one part soil and three parts of humus or compost. It is also necessary to add to this mixture a complex preparation, which includes fertilizers containing potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen. However you can buy a ready-made soil mixture for gourds in a specialized store.
• Since seedlings of watermelons and melons are very tender, they should not be pickled. That's why seeds should be planted singly in peat pots. In addition, the finished seedlings will be quite large in volume, and if they are planted several times in a container, these melons will interfere with each other during the growth process. If there is no suitable container for planting seed, a similarity of cups can be made by cutting plastic bottles.

• Seedlings should be watered as the soil dries out. During the growth of seedlings, it can be watered with a solution of mullein a couple of times until planting in open ground.
• Seedlings are considered mature enough if they have at least 5 true leaves.
• In the conditions of central Russia, seedlings should be planted in open ground when the danger of spring frosts has passed - in the third decade of May or in the first decade of June.

Planting seedlings in a permanent place

Before planting seedlings, it is necessary to choose a place where these gourds will grow.

The beds should be located in a place where the sun will illuminate them throughout the daylight hours. The place must be protected from drafts and strong winds.

How to plant watermelons (video)

Usually watermelons and melons are planted in a square - nested method. The distance in the rows between them should be about 0.5 m, the row spacing should be at least 0.7 m. The soil should be light enough and at the same time good enough to hold moisture.

After planting seedlings in open ground, each plant is covered with a plastic bottle, the bottom of which is cut off. So for melons and gourds, a greenhouse effect is created so that they acclimatize faster in a new place. In addition, this is a kind of precautionary measure so that the plants do not suffer if the night temperature drops below 15 ° C. After 7 - 9 days, when the plant starts to grow, the bottles can be removed.

Growing from seed

In the southern regions, much earlier than in other regions of our country, heat comes. Therefore, melons and gourds can be grown with seeds immediately in open ground.

• The place for planting is chosen in the same way as when planting seedlings of these heat-loving plants on the site - the main thing is that there is a lot of light.
• Seeds should be soaked for several hours in warm water before planting., to which special growth stimulants should be added. Then they can be planted in the holes.

• Plant two seeds in each hole.
• When shoots appear, they are carefully distributed in different directions so that melon plants do not interfere with each other in the process of their growth.

Care Technology

These cultivated plants, like others vegetable crops, need regular watering, weeding, hilling and loosening. All these activities are very important for the normal growth of watermelons and melons.

Watering watermelons and melons should be done carefully so that moisture does not get on the foliage. If the weather is dry, then these plants are watered no more than once a week, but plentifully. When flowers appear on the lashes, the amount of watering should be increased. But during the ripening of the fruits, it is no longer necessary to water melons at all.

Also, watermelons and melons in the process of their growth should be fed several times per season.

1. The first time to fertilize these plants should be immediately after they take root in the open field. The composition of this top dressing should include fertilizers containing P, K and N.
2. When the lashes begin to grow, the gourds should be fed again. This time, solutions based on organic fertilizers (chicken manure, manure) should be used, to which superphosphate and potassium salts are added.
3. The third time the plants need nutrients is when the ovaries begin to form. To do this, prepare a solution containing the following minerals: dissolve a teaspoon of superphosphate, a tablespoon of ammonium fertilizer and 1.5 tablespoons of any potassium salt in a bucket of water. Under each bush, 1.5 - 2 liters of such a complex fertilizer should be poured. The solution is poured into circular grooves located at a distance of 16 - 18 cm from the stems.

Growing lashes should be distributed over the garden, removing weak shoots, as well as those on which flowers and ovaries do not appear. This is how lashes of watermelons and melons are formed.

How to grow a melon (video)

It is possible to grow watermelons and melons in open ground both in the southern regions of our country and in the climatic conditions of central Russia. Plants are demanding for heat and light. By following all the rules for planting and caring for these melons, you can get good harvests.

Watermelons and melons on ridges in open ground are most often grown in the southern regions, but the use of competent technology, as well as the right choice of variety, make it possible to grow a quite decent crop of gourds in the middle zone of our country, as well as in more northern regions.

The best melon varieties for open ground

A properly selected variety is one of the components of obtaining a high-quality and plentiful harvest of such a heat-loving melon crop as a melon in home gardening.

If even late-ripening varieties and hybrids can be used for cultivation in the southern regions, then in central Russia and areas of risky farming, it is necessary to give preference to early and early-ripening varieties, the formation of the crop of which is carried out as soon as possible.

The best varieties of watermelon for open ground

Growing heat-loving watermelons in open ground is easiest in the south of Russia, and in other areas, amateur melon growers most often prefer greenhouse cultivation of sweet berries. However, in recent years, several fundamentally new, very promising varieties and hybrids of watermelon for cultivation in far from ideal conditions have been obtained.

How to grow a watermelon (video)

Direct planting with seeds

To date, in the conditions of home gardening, three methods of growing melons and gourds are actively used:

• direct sowing of crops with seeds in open ground;
• planting ordinary potted seedlings;
• planting grafted seedlings.

The most commonly used are the first two options for growing melon and watermelon.

Both in the first and in the second case, before planting the seeds, pre-sowing preparation of planting material should be carried out:

• selection of the most full-bodied, with characteristic surface staining of the variety, seeds;
• heating seeds at high temperature;
• disinfection of planting material by soaking in a solution of potassium permanganate;
• germinating seeds on damp tissue at room temperature.

We plant germinated seeds in a permanent place in open ground only after the soil warms up well and the threat of return frosts has passed. It is desirable to lower a couple of seeds into each planting hole, which will allow in the future to leave only one, the most developed plant in the hole.

Before the appearance of mass seedlings, it is desirable to cover the crops with a non-woven covering material or garden film. The optimal temperature for seed germination should be above 15-16 ° C. Shoots at this air temperature appear within two weeks.

Growing seedlings

Only knowing what kind of soil gourds love, you can properly prepare the soil for growing high-quality seedlings:

• all gourds love soils that are neutral and fairly light, but rich in organic compounds;
• it is allowed to grow watermelon and melon on dry and saline soils with sufficient fertility indicators;
• it is impossible to cultivate gourds in areas represented by acidic and too wet soils;
• best used for planting and ridges with light medium loamy soils, avoiding cultivation on sandy and heavy loamy soils;

Growing melons in open ground (video)

• for deep digging of the soil, it is recommended to bring in half a bucket of humus or manure;
• clay soils should be improved by adding humus and coarse sand at the rate of a bucket per square meter of planting area;
• ready-made soil for growing seedlings should be improved with basic complex fertilizers;
• in spring, when preparing the site for planting seedlings, 15-25 g of potassium salt and 35-45 g of superphosphate must be applied per square meter;
• a very good result is given by the spring application of nitrogen fertilizers at the rate of 15-25 g per square meter of planting area.

It should be noted that sowing gourds for seedlings must be carried out no later than mid-late April, which will allow in a month to get a strong and well-developed plant ready for planting in a permanent place. Melon should be planted in a permanent place with a distance of a meter from each other. The planting pattern for a watermelon when placing two plants in a nest is 2.1 x 2.1 m, and with the method of alternating one plant in a nest with two seedlings, it is 1.5 x 1.8 m.

melon care

The melon should be taken care of extremely competently, since this melon culture is very responsive to the correct agricultural technology and forms the highest possible, high-quality crop when performing the following activities:

• melon is more moisture-loving than watermelon, so you need to water the plant weekly;
• plants should be fed three times during the growing season;
• the first top dressing with nitrogen fertilizers is carried out a couple of weeks after planting seedlings in the ground;
• the second and subsequent top dressings are made with an interval of two weeks with complex mineral fertilizers;
• weeding and surface loosening of the soil around the plants should be carried out regularly;
• the main stem of most varieties of melon is barren, therefore, unlike watermelons and pumpkins, it must be pinched after the fourth or fifth leaf;

To prevent melons from cracking, it is necessary to avoid waterlogging of the soil and to irrigate with exclusively warm water.

watermelon care

Proper care behind a watermelon is a guarantee of obtaining high-quality and useful garden products. The agrotechnics for caring for watermelon does not differ significantly from the cultivation of other gourds, so you should water, feed, weed the plants and loosen the soil in a timely manner.

Diseases and pests of gourds

In order to protect plants from leaf bacteriosis, watermelons and melons must be treated with Ridomil-Gold before the flowering period. Immediately after the appearance of the ovaries, it is required to use sparing fungicides with a short waiting period, for which it is desirable to use the drug "Kvadris-250".

Melons: shaping (video)

Of the pests, aphids are especially dangerous, against which the powder of the aerial part of the plant is used with a mixture of tobacco dust and ash, as well as the melon fly. Especially often this pest affects melons in the south-east of the Rostov region, as well as in the Volgograd and Astrakhan regions, and in the northern Caucasus. Organophosphorus compounds, neonicotinoids, pyrethroids and other modern insecticides are used to prevent and protect plants.

Watermelon and melon are associated with the taste of summer, and every gardener dreams of growing delicious fruits on his plot. Watermelon has long been used as a healing diuretic to cleanse the body. Melons are thermophilic and grow in a warm climate, so for their cultivation and planting watermelons in the open field, you need to have special knowledge.

Be sure to find out in advance whether it is possible to plant gourds if a cucumber, pepper, pumpkin or zucchini grows nearby.

Melons belong to the gourd family. Cultures are very useful and contain a huge amount of vitamins. If you learn how to properly grow these plants, you can get a high yield of delicious fruits.

Melon is quite suitable for "neighborhood" with watermelon. Plants tend to grow. It is not recommended to plant them too close together..

Melons are prone to infection with various identical diseases. Therefore, if you plant nearby, you need to understand the risks of spreading diseases from one culture to another.

Proper sowing of seeds for seedlings at home

Seeds for seedlings are planted approximately 60 days before planting in open ground. So, already in mid-March, the seeds should be bought. You can buy them at any specialized store or ask those who have already managed to grow a quality crop of watermelons and melons.

It is impossible to get a good harvest from the seeds of last year's watermelon. The best seeds to plant - 5 years ago. It is important to understand that only any early-ripening varieties with a ripening period of up to 70-85 days are suitable for our climate. It is better to give preference to hybrid varieties that are more adapted to adverse conditions.

When preparing seeds, you need to make sure that they are not empty. To do this, seeds are immersed in a container with water, Anything that comes up can be safely thrown away.. Watermelon seeds germinate more slowly than melon seeds. Therefore, it is recommended to scald watermelon seeds with boiling water, for better germination, and only then sow.

Preparation for planting and soaking

1. Soak. Each individual type of seed must be wrapped and soaked in cloth rags and maintain in a humid environment until germination. You can also soak in special napkins.
2. If the seeds have already hatched, but there is no way to plant them in a timely manner, you can leave the seeds in the refrigerator.

Seeds germinated at home are planted in separate small pots with a diameter of 10 cm, preferably peat. The soil should be a mixture of: humus, sod land 3:1, add peat, sawdust, humus 3:1:0.5.

planted in each pot 2 seeds to the depth 5 cm. Moisten the soil with a sprayer. Cover the container with cling film on top and put in a warm place +25 degrees.

It will take 40-45 days to grow watermelon seedlings, and 30 days for melon.

• when the seeds germinate, move them to sunlight at a temperature +22 degrees. Remove the film;
• the best place for seedlings is the windowsill on the south side of the house;
• a week after sowing, feed the seedlings with mineral fertilizers, and a week later - infusion of mullein with superphosphate.

Landing in open ground

When planting in open ground, you need to focus on climatic conditions, the selected crop variety, and the readiness of seedlings.

Soil selection

Before planting melons in open ground, you need to choose a place for planting. Exotic plants love sunny places where there is no shade and wind.

Melons and watermelons need rich soils, as well as those that can withstand moisture well. The ideal option is sandy and sandy loamy soil with a pH of 6-7 units.

Site preparation is carried out in the fall. When digging, they add 4-5 kg ​​of manure per square meter, 40 g of superphosphate, 30 g of potassium salt. and ammonium sulfate.

Preparing seedlings of watermelons

When the seedlings appear 5-7 leaves, it is ready for transplanting into open ground. Best time - the end of May. However, you need to focus on weather conditions so that at night the air temperature remains +15 degrees.

A week before planting in open ground, seedlings must be taken out for hardening at a daily temperature of + 16 + 20 degrees.

Outdoor Planting Pattern - Depth and Distance

For planting in open ground, you must adhere to the following rules:

1. Holes should be made in the garden at a distance 0.5-0.7 meters apart in a checkerboard pattern. Leave 70cm spacing between rows.
2. Seedlings are placed in holes so that the surface remains only a few top leaves. The soil should be crushed and sprinkled with sand around to protect the plant from rot.
3. Harvest after planting should be watered with summer or slightly warmed water.
4. To protect a young plant from the scorching sun, it is necessary to close the sprouts for 2-3 days with moistened caps made of plastic or paper.

10-14 days after planting, you need to feed the crop with a solution of ammonium nitrate 20g per bucket of 2 liters for each bush. During the period when the buds appear, you need to feed melons with infusion of mullein.

Features of growing melons

To ensure free access of oxygen to the roots, the soil needs to be constantly loosen to a depth of 10 cm. With the development of lateral loops, spud the culture. In order for the plant not to spend all its strength on gaining mass during the growth period, you need to pinch the main stem. For the full development of melons, three shoots are enough.

When fruit ovaries appear, 2-6 of the strongest and largest specimens are left on the bush. To reduce the load on the whip, it is recommended to tie the fruits into nets and hang on a support. The fruits are placed on foil linings to prevent rotting.

If watermelons will be used for storage and transportation in the future, then it is better to take a berry not fully ripe.

Advantages of planting in open ground:

• in warm weather, you can achieve maximum ripeness fruits;
• daily watering of the culture is not necessary;
• it is possible to increase the yield if the basic rules for selecting soil and planting seeds for seedlings are observed.

Growing watermelons and melons in a summer cottage is quite realistic. Some even grow them in bags or greenhouses. If you follow all the recommendations, then by the end of summer you can enjoy sweet, sugary fruits. The main advantage of growing melons in your garden is the absence of chemicals.