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Melons ... With this word in memory immediately pops up the taste of their pulp. Sweet, juicy, melting in the mouth. Just do not nakibishsya. Of course, residents of the southern regions are easier. They grow quietly and mature.
And what about those who live in the middle lane? How to grow melons in the open field? It turns out that it is quite real. Let's look at all the stages in detail so that you can adapt them to your region. If there is a greenhouse, you can grow melons even closer to the north, but we are now interested in open ground.
Seed selection
It is quite natural that the variety for planting should be selected precocious. Whatever beautiful words would not praise the taste, color and size - we are only interested in the ripening period. With the right agrotechnology, the fruits will be of excellent taste anyway.
An important feature of melon seeds: female flowers are obtained from seeds that are older than 3 years. Fresh seeds give plants with a large number of male flowers, so they bear little fruit.
To check for hollowness, fill the seeds with plain water. The good and full will remain at the bottom, the empty and worthless - will float. We proceed to the next stage.
Soak and Sowing Preparation
Now you need to take a shallow dish. Put several layers of loose paper or 2 layers of cotton fabric on the bottom. Soak the whole thing with warm water, put the swollen seeds in one layer. Cover from above with a light cloth or white paper, cover with a package. Next, the entire structure is put on germination in a dark warm place.
The optimum temperature for melon germination is + 25-27 ° С. Periodically look under the shelter to slightly moisten the seeds, if necessary. As soon as the first shoots begin to hatch, a new one comesstage.
Sowing
Melons are not planted as a handful of seedlings. For initial development, sprouts need space. Therefore, each seed is placed in a separate container. These can be peat cups or small containers with soil. Depth of 10 cm will be quite enough.
Soil mixture should be light, loose and nutritious. It must be pre-frozen on the street or in the freezer. Then thawed and treated with a strong solution of potassium permanganate or phytosporin. You can use a weak solution of em-drugs. For additional disinfection, the soil is calcined in the oven at a temperature of + 100-105 ° C.
In each cup is placed one seed. After all, the plant will remain there until the appearance of the 5th real leaf. And if there are 2 or more of them there, then the struggle for food and light is inevitable. By the way, by the time of landing in open ground young melons should be at least 31-33 days. Keep this in mind for your region, so as not to be late with the crop.
After you put the seed in the ground, you need to cover the container with transparent plastic or glass. Thick film also fit. Again, return the cups in the dark and warm, waiting for the spitting sprouts.The next stage comes when the first shoots.
Seedling care
He is nothing complicated. Shelter is removed completely, the cups are transferred to a warm place with lots of light. As a rule, additional lighting is rarely required. Because they begin to prepare seedlings no earlier than mid-April, and at this time the length of daylight hours is already decent.
Periodically moisten the soil, but not poured until damp. During the seedling period, melons are fed two times with complete mineral complex fertilizer. 1 - when the first true leaf appears, 2 - a week before landing in the ground.
To prevent the disease of the black leg of the melon, it is necessary to carefully seed the seedlings, but without drafts. And further. Being on the windowsill, the seedlings should not touch each other with leaves. Just now there is a certain struggle for a place in the sun. Melons do not know that you have enough space for their full development, so they will stretch out. It is better to move the cups away in advance.
You can gently sprinkle the surface of the soil with dry clean sand. This will create an imitation of natural conditions.By the way, drainage holes are best done. So you will be sure that the roots breathe freely, and do not float in the fluid.
A week before the planting of melon seedlings in the ground or a little earlier, you need to pinch the top of her head. Do this after about 5-6 of this sheet. This procedure will force the growth of lateral shoots. In general, pinching plays an important role in the formation of a melon, but more on that below.
Once the wound after this procedure is delayed - you can plant seedlings in the ground. In this case, the soil temperature should be at least + 16 ° C. Usually, this is the third decade of May.
Where to plant melon
Place for planting seedlings begin to cook in the fall. For this bed carefully weed away from weeds. Then it is necessary to dig it, choosing weeds. If the ground is not sufficiently loose and nutritious, then it is necessary to introduce clean sand, oily manure or good leaf humus.
In the spring, immediately after the snow melts, the bed is dug up again. At the same time, mineral fertilizers with a high content of potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen are added. What to do, melons love to eat. Recommendations for accurate dosage should be viewed directly on the package.Each manufacturer is different.
Residents of regions closer to the north can plant melons on warm beds. How to arrange them correctly can be found on the network. Although, with their climate, they probably know this information so well. When growing melons in open ground, these beds and residents of the middle lane will not interfere.
This method is good because it provides heating of the root system for about 2 months. Melons are very thermophilic.
How to plant melons
After preparing the beds, you need to carefully plant the seedlings. To do this, make shallow holes and thoroughly shed them with warm water. Melons are best planted by transshipment. That is, they pull the whole lump out of the cup, trying not to destroy it. Carefully placed in the hole with earthen slurry, deep into the melon on the very cotyledon leaves. Top sprinkled with dry loose soil. This will allow the moisture to evaporate less.
Place for planting melons choose a well-lit sun. It is desirable that it be blown as little as possible by the winds and there were no drafts.
All for a week, forget about landing, so that they adapt and begin.
Council Watch the weather forecast.In the event of recurring frosts, it is necessary to place temporary arcs and throw covering material. Melon does not withstand even a short-term cooling below + 3 ° C, immediately dies.
Care
Care melon quite simple. All conditions are not at all true in the last resort. They can be easily adjusted to fit your abilities and region of residence.
Watering. Melon does not like water. It is necessary only when the summer is hot and arid. In this case, water the planting should be so that the liquid does not fall on the leaves and stems. If dew is noticed in the morning, then it is possible today not to water at all.
A day after each rain or watering necessarily loosened the soil. Just do not do this at a distance closer than 10 cm from the stem. Melon root system is located almost at the surface. It is very easy to damage.
Hilling. Be sure to season the ground at least 3 times to the stem. This will allow additional roots to grow. So, the melon will get more nutrients.
Feeding. About once every 12-15 days of melon should be fed. It can be:
- mineral fertilizers
- green infusions
- extract of mullein or bird droppings
All dressings are made strictly the next day after watering, so as not to burn the thin nourishing roots.
Attracting bees. As soon as the flowers appear, you need to spray them with a weak sweet solution. You can use jam, honey, sugar. Only it is not necessary to water from a watering can, as from a shower. Bees smell very well over long distances. It is enough to slightly sprinkle the flowers.
Pinching. After the appearance of the ovaries, remove all flowers. It is accepted to leave no more than 4 fruits on one plant at some distance from each other. It is desirable for 2 fruits to escape. The remaining stepchildren always pinch.
This procedure should be carried out about once every 2 weeks. Regularly removing new shoots, we force the melon to spend all its strength on filling the left ovaries.
Just do not tear off the leaves completely! They are vital plant for the normal process of photosynthesis.
Substrate. Often, gardeners go, admire the growing melons. And they do not see that the bottom of the fruit has already begun to spoil the rot. Yes, the melon's rind is very thin, it starts to deteriorate immediately from the usual scratch. Therefore, we strictly exclude the contact of fruits with the soil.Under them you can put:
- plank boards
- plywood shields
- cork coasters hot
- foam plates
- pieces of thick foam insulation
Everything that is in stock, everything will fit.
Hide and seek from birds. Often, almost ripe melons peck at birds. In some regions it is just a scourge of gardeners. With a slingshot or a gun to sit in ambush is worthless. Still, the pests and birds eat a lot. What to do? Use the features of taste preferences of feathered rascals.
Have you noticed that birds never touch cabbage? Normal, white. They do not like it, and there are no seeds in it either. This is important to us. We take the largest burdock cabbage, preferably semicircular, rather than flat. And just cover them with melons.
Birds from above see a burdock, think that it is a head of cabbage and fly by. Why cabbage sticks out among melon leaves - they are not interested. There are no seeds, so they are looking for food elsewhere.
Harvesting. If you did everything correctly, then in mid-August you can begin to harvest the first harvest. How to determine that the melon has ripened without cutting the fruit? Just take it in hand. Fully ripened melon itself will fall off the lash. Then sniff the rind.This characteristic honey sweet aroma is not to be confused with anything.
What to do if cold weather is near, and the melons are not quite ripe yet? There are two options:
- Put shelter on the beds. This may be a thick film or thick non-woven material. Just be sure to air landing at least twice a day. Otherwise, there is a high risk of rot and other diseases.
- Remove all the fruits and put them in a dry warm place for ripening. At a temperature of + 25-27 ° C, melons ripen finally in about 5-9 days. It all depends on the type and size of the fruit.
It is best to put sawdust or straw under the fruit. Hay is fine. The main thing is that the litter is hygroscopic and keeps warm well.
Some useful tips
- About a month before the intended harvesting of fruits, the melon stops being watered and fed. So she pick up the required amount of sugar. Information about ripening can be found on a bag of seeds. If they were presented to you or sold without packaging, then focus on the mid-end of August.
- Melons are planted according to the scheme 60 by 80 cm. At the same time, during growth it is necessary to direct the lashes so that they do not get confused and do not block the sun from each other.
- Melon loves potassium.Therefore, along with mineral water or organic treat her infusion of ash. Just be sure to dilute it, otherwise burn the root system.
- Try not to contribute a lot of nitrogen. This makes the foliage lush and powerful, but it has a very bad effect on the texture and taste of the fruit. Melons grow loose and watery.
How to grow melons in the open field? After reading our recommendations, it can be said — yes, very easily. And after their implementation - to provide proof: a sweet, fully ripe, fragrant fruit.
Video: growing melons in the open field
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