Pumpkin: cultivation and care in the open field with video

Useful and tasty pumpkin, growing and caring for it in the open field is not difficult even for an inexperienced gardener, has been cultivated in Russia since ancient times and was widely used in Russian cuisine for preparing various dishes. For some time, the vegetable was underestimated, but now, in the wake of the popularity of a he althy diet, it is regaining its lost ground.

Pumpkin: description of garden crops

Common pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo), or hardbark, is an annual herbaceous creeping plant of the Cucurbitaceae family, with thin five-sided sharp-ribbed and spiny stems, reaching 8-10 m in length.The root system is highly branched with a central stem extending up to 3 m deep and a branched surface periphery.

Five-separate or five-lobed large leaves up to 25-30 cm in diameter, heart-shaped at the base, alternate, sit on long petioles and are covered with hard, spiny short hairs. Large monoecious unisexual bell-shaped flowers of bright yellow or orange-yellow color on ribbed pedicels bloom in June-July, cross-pollinated, most often by bees.

Berry-like multi-seeded hard-core fruits with an average diameter of 15-40 cm and a weight of about 20 kg (there are specimens of more than 100 kg) ripen on a melon, garden or cottage in the open field in August-September. The shape, size and color of pumpkins vary greatly depending on the variety. Flat oval seeds 1-3 cm long are covered with a woody yellowish-white shell, have a pronounced rim around the edge.

Experienced vegetable growers recommend the following outdoor squash varieties that are suitable for growing in almost all regions:

1. Smile. Bush high-yielding early ripe (85-90 days after germination) with a large number of small bright orange striped fruits weighing up to 1.5 kg. The pulp is sweet, crispy, with a melon flavor. Stores at room temperature for up to 5 months.
2. Freckle. An early ripe variety with rounded flattened small (up to 3 kg) light green spotted fruits. The orange flesh tastes sweet and resembles a pear. It tolerates sudden temperature changes well, the keeping quality is good.
3. Russian woman. Early maturing cold-resistant climbing shrub with shiny dark orange fruits weighing 3-4 kg, inside of which there is a delicious sweet orange pulp. Tastes like melon.
4. Dawn. Medium-early ripening with dark gray segmented fruits weighing about 5 kg, covered with bright orange-pink spots.Juicy bright orange pulp is sweet, tasty, with a high content of carotene. The variety is characterized by increased resistance to various diseases.
5. Therapeutic. Early variety (90 days), fruits are large, flattened, weighing from 3 to 5 kg, gray in color with a mesh of a lighter shade. May last until spring.
6. Vitamin. Late-ripening nutmeg variety with elongated oval green fruits weighing up to 6-6.5 kg.
7. Butternut. Small-fruited (up to 1 kg) nutmeg pear-shaped late-ripening variety with light gray fruits.

Features of growing pumpkins: how to choose a site for planting

Cultivating pumpkins outdoors is easy, but to get a bountiful harvest, you need to follow some rules. Special requirements are imposed on alternation or crop rotation; it is impossible to plant any gourds (watermelons, zucchini, melons, cucumbers) after a pumpkin.The best predecessors for pumpkin will be cruciferous or legumes (cabbage, beets, tomatoes, onions). They can be planted again in the same place no earlier than after 5-6 years.

Lighting Requirements

Growing pumpkin is best in open, well-lit, sunny, ventilated and dry areas. A heat-loving culture cannot tolerate gusty cold winds. Therefore, it is recommended to plant it on the south side of buildings, along a fence or wall, which will protect against wind during the daytime, and at night they will give off the heat accumulated during the day.

Long lashes of the plant can be directed to the vertical surface of the fence, house or barn, as the fruits ripen faster and better when they are well lit by the sun. Pumpkin requires at least 6-7 hours of direct sunlight per day.

Optimal temperature for seedlings or seeds

Pumpkin seedlings are planted and seeds are sown in the soil on the site only after the soil at a depth of 10-12 cm warms up to +10 °C. At the same time, the daytime temperature should be kept above the mark of +8 … +10 ° С, with the seed planting method, this figure should be more than +13 … +15 ° С. At night, the air should not cool below +3 °C. In other cases, it is necessary to cover the seedlings at night.

The landing time is determined by the climatic features of the region. Sowing dates in the Moscow region most often occur in the first ten days of May, when growing pumpkins in the Urals and Siberia, they shift closer to the middle of the month.

What should be the soil for planting?

Cucurbits grow well and give a bountiful harvest on rich, fertile, drained and heated soils. In clay, heavy and too damp soil, this plant will not grow. The soil for pumpkin should be neutral or slightly alkaline.

Acidic soils are categorically not suitable, they must be deoxidized with fluff or dolomite flour, you can use crushed wood ash.

In order to properly grow a pumpkin in a summer cottage in the middle lane, it is recommended to prepare a bed for it in advance in the fall. The area cleared of previous crops and weeds must be well fertilized. When digging to a depth of at least 20-25 cm, the following components are added per 1 m²:

• humus - 5 kg or manure - 7 kg;
• potassium chloride - 15g;
• superphosphate - 30g

If the mail is heavy, then it is loosened by adding coarse river sand. All components must be mixed, then the bed must be shed with hot water with a temperature of about +80 ° C for disinfection.

Planting pumpkins in the garden (planting dates, sowing technology, picking seedlings, seed preparation)

Agrotechnology for pumpkins in a garden plot or vegetable garden is highly dependent on local climatic conditions. Before deciding whether to grow a seedling crop or to sow seeds directly into the ground, you should first study the characteristics of the local regional climate and evaluate natural factors. In the middle lane and northern latitudes, pumpkin cultivation is possible only with the help of seedlings, otherwise the heat-loving plant does not have time to fully bear fruit.

Sowing seeds in open ground

The planting material must be sorted out before sowing, leaving only whole, dense and intact seeds. Then they are soaked for 3 hours in a container with warm water, the temperature of which is stably kept within + 40… +50 °С.After that, proceed to the procedure of germination of grains. To do this, the swollen seeds are wrapped in a soft, damp cloth, placed for 3-5 days in a warm, bright place (on the windowsill) and periodically moistened. The temperature should be at the same time not lower than +20 ° С.

Sowing seeds is carried out according to the following technology:

1. On a pre-prepared bed, holes are made at a distance of at least 0.6-0.8 m from each other, for long-climbing varieties it is increased to 1.2-1.5 m. Leave about 1-1 between rows, 2 m.
2. Pour about 2-3 liters of warm water into each hole.
3. Seeds are planted to a depth of 8-9 cm (in light soil), in heavy and dense soil, the planting depth does not exceed 5-6 cm. 2-3 seeds are placed in each hole, then the strongest sprout is left, the others cut off.
4. Sprinkled with a nutrient mixture of peat, humus, garden soil and manure. Then mulch with humus or peat.
5. Plantings are covered with a film or other covering material, which is securely fixed around the perimeter.
6. After germination, the shelter is removed or lifted on the frame. You can leave it in the garden by making cross cuts for sprouts.

Growing pumpkin seedlings

The process of pumpkin ripening is quite long in time, fruits from late-ripening and large-fruited varieties can be harvested only 120-140 days after sowing. To get the earliest possible harvest, it is recommended to grow a seedling crop. You can grow seedlings in an apartment on a windowsill; greenhouses, panics or film frames are also used for this.

When growing seedlings in a greenhouse way, it is necessary to choose the seed material more carefully. Plants must be resistant to disease, and greenhouse varieties are selected accordingly.

After soaking and sprouts appear, germinated seeds are planted in plastic cups, cut plastic bottles or milk bags, peat or simple pots with a diameter of about 10 cm. . It is recommended to add superphosphate (5 g), potassium s alt (4 g) and ammonium nitrate (4 g) to a bucket of such a mixture.

The soil in the bowl is watered with warm water and 1 seed is planted in the center to a depth of 1.5-2 cm, sprinkled with peat on top. Then the containers are covered with glass or film and put on the windowsill or in the greenhouse. The grown seedlings are planted in the ground on the site after it warms up well (at least +12 ° C). You can pre-prepare the soil by covering it with a film for several hours or pouring about 2-3 liters of hot water into each hole.

The plants are placed in holes, on the bottom of which a layer of humus mixed with ash is poured, then they are covered with garden soil, watered again and mulched. In the case of using the seedling method of growing pumpkins, planting and caring for the crop in the open field will be similar to the seed method.

How to properly care for a pumpkin?

No matter how the seedlings are planted, care for the pumpkin before harvest should be the same. 5-7 days after planting, the soil in the holes must be mulched again with compost, peat, chopped nettles, humus or pine needles. Loosening and weeding the aisles is required 1 time in 10-14 days. At first, you can deepen up to 12 cm, but after 4-5 weeks they loosen no deeper than 5-8 cm, so as not to damage the roots.

To attract insects (bees) that pollinate flowers, pumpkin bushes are sprayed with sugar or honey water (1 tsp.l. per 10 liters of water). In inclement cloudy weather, when the bees do not fly, pollination is done by hand to avoid rotting of the unpollinated ovary. Petals are cut off from the male flower and the remaining anthers (stamens) touch the pistil on the female flower.

How to properly form a plant?

Green mass on young pumpkin seedlings grows rapidly, long lashes spread in different directions. In order for the plant to remain within the territory allotted to it, their number must be normalized. At the bush, pinch the apical bud with part of the shoot to stimulate the development of lateral stems, on which the formation of female flowers takes place.

At the same time, pinching is carried out and excess axillary shoots that have grown to 6-8 cm are removed, and unnecessary leaves are also cut off. Each lash is pinched when it reaches 1.5 m, laid out in the right direction and sprinkled with soil.To make the fruits larger, cut off the extra ovaries and leave 1 on each stem.

Water and fertilize pumpkins

The correct technology for growing pumpkins in open ground provides for regular and abundant watering with warm water (not lower than +20 ° C). Cold artesian or well water can lead to rotting of the root system and death of plants. Warm watering favors the formation of female flowers. Moisture is especially needed during the period of flowering, fruit set and growth. With poor watering, they will be small.

Pumpkins start to be fed after the appearance of 5-6 leaves. The next procedure is carried out when the side lashes begin to develop. In the future, plantings are fertilized every 2 weeks during the entire growing season.

For top dressing you can use:

• dry granules of nitrophoska - 10 g per 1 plant (they are scattered under the bushes);
• nitrophoska solution - 15 g per 10 liters of water (each bush is watered with fertilizer);
• wood ash - 1 cup per bush;
• mullein solution (1:8) at the rate of 1 bucket for 5-6 plants (during the fruiting period 1 bucket for 3 bushes).

How to protect a pumpkin from pests and diseases?

Growing pumpkins outdoors is associated with the risk of developing fungal diseases caused by excessive dampness, among them:

1. Powdery mildew. Leaf plates are covered with white bloom, which passes to the petioles and stems. Sprayed with a solution of copper sulfate (2 g per bucket of water), potassium permanganate (3 g per bucket) or Bordeaux liquid (1%).
2. Bacteriosis. Brown spots and ulcers appear on the leaves and fruits. Spraying with Bordeaux liquid (1%) and a solution of zinc sulfate (0.02%) helps.
3. White rot. A greasy white coating covers all the ground parts of the plant, the bush gradually rots. Plantings are sprinkled with crushed charcoal or fluff.
4. Root rot. Leaves and lashes turn yellow, then crumble. For prevention, bushes are treated with Previkur every 2-3 weeks.

Of the insect pests, the pumpkin is most often attacked by: spider mites and aphids. To combat them, an infusion of potato tops and onion peels, a solution of table s alt or soap, and wormwood decoction are used. In case of severe damage, they are sprayed with insecticides (Karbofos, Aktellik, Tsitkor and others). When buying seeds, it is recommended to take into account the characteristics of the variety depending on the local climate. Disease-resistant pumpkin varieties are planted in regions with high humidity.

Pumpkin: when and how to harvest

Ripened fruits are cut with a sharp knife, leaving 5-6 cm of the stalk. Ripeness is determined by the following criteria:

• stem lignified;
• the foliage turned yellow and dried up;
• the crust has become hard and bright.

Harvest should be on a dry sunny day, before the onset of frost. Not quite ripe specimens are immediately eaten or processed. Ripe fruits are stored for storage, pumpkins can be kept at home in winter at room temperature (under the bed, in the pantry).

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