Is it possible to spray watermelons with boric acid: feeding rules, how to process

Seeing the endless fields on which the crop of melons is ripening, summer residents are trying to grow sweet fruits in their area. If the seeds fall into the wet and cold ground, they simply do not germinate. Even when sprouts appear, it is not a fact that melons and watermelons will ripen. In addition to the sun and heat, these plants need nutrients. Tender leaves curl when aphids appear, die from fungi and bacteria. Can watermelons really be sprayed with boric acid, summer residents ask, having heard that the antiseptic that is used in the household also acts as an insecticide.

What is boric acid

A colorless substance naturally found in mineral springs, artificially obtained by mixing borax with hydrogen chloride, looks like scales, has no smell, has a layered lattice.

Boric acid is used in medicine for disinfection, in the food industry as an additive, in nuclear reactors, in foundry and ceramic production. White powder is used to kill cockroaches and ants, with its help they cope with bedbugs, in agriculture they are used as fertilizer.

What is good for watermelon

To grow tasty and large fruits, gourds need to be fed at each stage of growth. If a plant is deficient in any micronutrient, it develops poorly and yields a defective crop.

One of the simple and inexpensive mineral fertilizers is boric acid, which is used:

during seed sowing;
to strengthen seedlings;
when flowering and ovary formation.

The main element of the substance is boron, which is involved in all processes that occur in horticultural and melon crops, accelerates their growth and development, helps absorb calcium, delivers sugar to the leaves, improves root formation, promotes adaptation plants to the environment.

Feeding with boric acid allows you to increase the size of watermelons, as it stimulates the formation of flowers and ovaries, directly affects the amount of chlorophyll.

Signs of a lack or excess of boron in watermelons

The lack of microelements negatively affects the condition of plants. The growth of gourds slows down, the leaves become twisted, turn whitish and dry out if they lack boron.

When component is deficient:

Flowers fall.
The stems are dying.
Ovary does not develop.

Watermelons, if ripe, are small in weight, have no taste. With an excess of boron, the culture grows poorly, suffers from toxicosis. The trace element accumulates in the leaves, which leads to the fact that they turn yellow and curl, the fruits do not develop, but dry up.

If watermelons get enough phosphorus and calcium, the toxicity limit of boron increases.

When the indicator of its presence in the soil exceeds 30 milligrams per 1 kilogram, gourds begin to hurt.

Preparation of boric acid top dressing at home

Of all the chemical compounds, the substance that is obtained from hydrogen chloride and borax does the least harm to plants. With concentration, it gives the leaves a bright green tint, adds sweetness to watermelons.

Boric acid, which is often sold as a powder, must first be poured into a small amount of hot water and stirred until no sediment remains. The concentrated solution is diluted and used for top dressing.

In order for watermelon seeds to germinate faster and take root better, they are soaked for 12 hours, preparing a remedy from 5 grams of the substance and 5 liters of water.

Before flowering and the formation of the ovary, the same amount of boric acid is taken, and the liquid - 10 liters. The second time the culture is sprayed in a week. One teaspoon contains 5 grams of powder, 1 gram is a quarter of it. If the antiseptic is used with other ingredients, the concentration is approximately halved.

Methods of feeding plants with boric acid

The substance serves not only as a mineral fertilizer, but also as a growth stimulator.Seeds are soaked in its solution. For gourds, foliar top dressing is more suitable, since the result is noticeable almost immediately, the composition falls directly on the leaves. Before sowing and planting in open ground, the plot is watered by stirring 5 grams of powder in a bucket of water. A liter of solution is used per square meter. Land cultivation is carried out in order to prevent boron deficiency.

Root top dressing

If watermelons grow slowly, bend, their leaves turn white, the ovaries fall off, the stems dry up, this may indicate that the plants lack boron, since the land is infertile, and this component is present in it in insufficient quantities.

In this case, root top dressing is recommended. Plants must first be watered, and then treated with a composition with boric acid. Two tenths of a gram of powder is mixed in a liter of hot water, the solution is used cooled down.

This method of feeding is effective if watermelons are planted on podzolic or sandy soil.

Foliar

When spraying gourds, flowers are preserved, the ovary is less shed, the yield increases by at least 20%, larger fruits grow.

In addition to seed soaking, foliar top dressing of watermelons using boric acid is carried out several times a season, namely:

when buds appear;
at the beginning of the appearance of flowers;
during ripening.

Spray solution is prepared at the rate of 1 gram of powder per liter of water. Spray the composition on both the inside and outside of the leaves. After such treatment, gourds get sick less.

Errors in application

To make watermelons happy with the harvest, you need to learn how to properly use and dilute boric acid. Many summer residents complain that processing with such a tool did not bring the desired result.

This happens for a variety of reasons, but mostly:

High concentration applied.
Incorrectly preparing the composition.
The solution is not distributed over the entire surface of the leaves.

Crystals do not stir in cold water, but settle to the bottom. When spraying with such a tool, the plant can be burned. Unlike phosphorus or nitrogen, when spraying, boron does not fall on the inside of the bush, so you need to treat the leaves from both sides.

If all the requirements for the preparation of the composition are observed, the correct concentration of the main substance increases the yield of watermelons by at least 20%.

Spraying gourds should be in the evening or in the afternoon, when there is no sun and it is cloudy.
Sprayer for use in the garden or vegetable garden is selected with a mist effect.
Young plants should be worked over the entire surface of the leaves, paying attention to increments.
You can't use more than a gram of acid powder per liter of water.

In specialized outlets you can buy fertilizers containing boron. Ripe watermelon has a low calorie content, a pleasant taste. When it is used, thirst disappears, toxins and toxins are removed from the body. The sweet berry is rich in folic acid, which is necessary for pregnant women with anemia. Watermelon eliminates swelling, decoctions are prepared from the peels of a ripe fruit, which alleviate the condition with rheumatism and colitis. Seeds are used in the fight against worms.