Growing and planting watermelon seedlings in open ground

Watermelon produces very tasty and juicy fruits.But at the same time, this “overseas guest” is distinguished by its pickyness to the conditions of cultivation and to the observance of the norms of agricultural technology. It is very important to know all the details before planning the order and schedule of upcoming work.

Growing a watermelon will not bring many problems with strict adherence to instructions. It is recommended for any Russian region, even the warmest, to choose hybrid varieties. Ordinary varieties can not be compared with them in the resilience of ailments and infections, in their ability to develop when temperature rushes. On the territory of the Russian Federation is clearly recommended greenhouse cultivation of watermelons. Open land is suitable exclusively for southern areas when using early varieties - but in this combination the risk is unusually large.

If you choose not a seedling method, but cultivation with the help of seeds, you need to wait until the soil warms to 15 or 16 degrees. The depth of the seed is 100 mm or more. Since at home seedlings are definitely better than seeds, it is required to place all seedlings in separate containers. It is advisable for this purpose to use containers that have a diameter of 0.1 m and a height of about 0.12 m.

Accurately determine the time of disembarking a watermelon is no less important than observing the formal technology of its cultivation. Usually seedlings are moved to free land around the last days of May. By this time, they should already have grown, strengthened and lived for 35 days. Based on this, in most cases, it will take no less than half and no later than the end of April to plant the seeds in the seedling containers.

If all typical agronomic standards are observed, the emergence of shoots can be expected within 5-6 days after planting. Then comes the time of adaptation, at which the seedlings are hardened, deliberately lowering the temperature to 12 degrees. Then it is raised to 20 degrees, while at night they vary from 18 to 20. After 19-21 days of such treatment, watermelon seedlings can already be moved to free land, achieving success even in Siberia and the Urals.

It does not matter whether it was decided to use seedlings, or the brave gardeners decided to take a chance and try to grow watermelon right from the seeds. In both cases, both the seeds and the ground must be prepared very carefully and even scrupulously. Three parameters of the site are critical:

• lighting;
• sufficient heat;
• corresponding predecessors.

Like all southern cultures, watermelon clearly prefers those places that warm up well during the day. But at the same time, one cannot ignore the mandatory ventilation of such a place. Very well, if earlier on the selected site grew:

• carrot;
• cabbage of early varieties;
• garlic or onions.

But the landing of a watermelon on the place where melons and gourds had previously grown is a sure way to provoke the spread of root rot. Its causative agent is guaranteed to die only when the plant is returned to its original place at least after 6-8 years. Direct preparation for planting a watermelon includes improving the soil by growing:

• corn sugar;
• perennial fast-growing herbs;
• winter wheat.

These crops need to be grown for about a couple of years before the target plant. Once they form young green shoots, this whole mass is buried in the soil and dug up. It is possible to accelerate the saturation of the earth with useful substances from organic matter by adding 10-15 g of urea per 1 square meter.

It is not recommended to plant a watermelon in the acidic soil, because there are too many harmful metal compounds.The situation is even worse with saline soils, where, in addition to toxicity, there is a problem of obtaining moisture. Eliminating these difficulties, in addition to the choice of normal previous cultures, helps:

• planting sideratov;
• adding chalk and lime, crushed eggshell;
• the use of organic fertilizers (but in the spring it is prohibited to introduce fresh manure!).

Correction of acidity is possible due to wood ash. This is a safe method, at least 500 g of the composition will be consumed per 1 square meter. Additional benefits from it are associated with feeding plants with important trace elements. But it is important to remember that ash is not able to provide them with nitrogen. Before sowing in March or April, the soil is harrowed so that the water accumulated during autumn and winter does not leave it, and also loosen deeply three times in a row.

In addition to the soil, you need to spend time on the preparation of seed, to improve its basic qualities. A suitable starting point will be the selection of the most resistant plant varieties. Also important is the calibration of seeds, which excludes the suppression of relatively weak plants by stronger plants. But as for scarification, it is just not a mandatory procedure, but still recommended for harsh climatic conditions. In any case, the seeds should warm up, because such processing is the ideal growth accelerator and forces the main biological processes.

To heat the seed, a deep tank filled with water with a temperature of 50 degrees is used. The processing time is ½ hour. Once this is done, it remains to sanitize the seeds. The best option is considered to be an unsaturated solution of potassium permanganate (aged from 15 to 20 minutes and followed by washing with water).

When the preparatory phase is completed, germination begins. Seeds are placed for about 10-12 hours in the nutritional mixture, so that they are saturated with important trace elements. When this treatment is done, washing is not allowed, only drying in the sun. It is possible to increase the efficiency of stimulation by placing the seed for 10 minutes in hot water just before processing. Then increase the permeability of the upper shell for nutrients.

For germination take small "bag", twisted from gauze, and saturate it with seeds, not forgetting to maintain a certain distance. Such a “bag” is required to be put into a container of a small depth and wetted, but not covered with water. The reservoir is transferred to a warm place, abundantly illuminated by the sun. From time to time the gauze is touched, controlling its humidity, and if necessary, water is added again. Since the germination of watermelon seeds is relatively slow, you should not count on the detection of sprouts in less than a week.

But the high-quality and honest preparation of watermelon seeds is completed. Now you need to properly plant them on the seedlings. As always, it is possible to prevent transplanting into the open ground, which complicates the development of the plant, from the very beginning using containers with a capacity of at least 300 ml. The height of each such container should be from 120, and a diameter of 100 mm. Earth combination is formed from:

• sod land;
• sand mass;
• peat

For every 5 kg of this composition, you must additionally enter:

• potassium sulphate and dolomite flour (50 g each);
• ammonium nitrate (also 50 g);
• double superphosphate (0.1 kg).

The tanks, where they will sow seedlings, saturate the prepared mixture with a reserve to the upper edge of about 30 mm. When the plants begin to develop, it will only be necessary to add new portions of soil to the pots using the same recipe. Half and last part of April is ideal for sowing seedlings. Having achieved germination in the seeds of the rootlet with a length of 10-15 mm, they are required to be buried by 30 mm.4 or 5 plants are planted in one pot, the ground is poured, watered and covered with polyethylene or glass.

This capacity is recommended to put on the brightest window in the house. At the time of growing watermelon seedlings in the house should not be drafts. The recommended insolation time is 12 hours each day. If this is not possible to provide in a natural way, it is required to compensate for the lack of light with special lamps. Immediately after sprouting seedlings, the weakest need to be removed and left only one germ each.

Water the seedlings with several tricks, carefully preserving the foliage. When 3 true leaves appear, the watermelon needs to be fed with a fermented mullein in the form of a 10% solution. It is allowed to replace it with complex liquid fertilizer. Seedlings that have not lived for 30 days or have less than 3 leaves should not be planted in open ground. In the last decade before transplantation it is required to temper the seedlings: they put it on the street, systematically increasing the exposure time.

Fertilizing seedlings of watermelons is crucial for its full development. During the growth period, the entire need for planting in useful substances can be closed by introducing special mixtures 1 or 2 times. It is generally recommended to feed the watermelon seedlings with chicken manure in liquid form. The proportion for dilution is 10%. An alternative is cow dung as well as urea. All three options are saturated with nitrogen.

In order to grow watermelon seedlings, for the first time they are given extra food as soon as 1 or 2 true leaves come out. The following treatment is carried out when approximately 14 days remain before transplantation into free land. Watermelon seedlings are greatly improved if wood ash is added to them. Along with dressing around the root, there is another option in which 50 g of ash dissolves in 10 liters of warm water, and plants are watered with this solution. It is not necessary to invent your own original schemes.

Sometimes the question arises whether watermelons should be watered frequently in the seedling phase. The correct answer is - you need to, otherwise they will not be able to grow. High-quality watering involves the use of small watering can, and the water is poured so much that the earth was wet, but not washed away. Check in advance what it looks like capacity for seedlings. It must be made special holes that help leak excess fluid.

The emergence of seedlings occurs at 7-10 days after disembarkation. The interval between irrigation is 48 hours; for this purpose, only warm water is used. Pour it into the ground closer to the initial part of the stem. At the same time beware of moistening foliage.

Caring for seedlings will only make sense if farmers know how to properly plant them in free ground. The optimal time for planting occurs 30 days after seed planting. This period, if you follow the standard schedule, comes in the last 7 days of May or in the first decade of June.

Before planting, it is recommended to make sure that the soil is warmed to 15 degrees and above. Work begins with digging dimples, the perimeter and the depth of all of them is exactly 0.5 m. And the distance between the landings is approximately twice as large. Most experienced agronomists recommend distributing the holes in a chess way. Any prepared "nest" must be fertilized:

• 5-7 kg of humus;
• 3 kg of sand;
• 12 g of superphosphate.

Due to the filling on top of the loose soil should be a kind of bumps. Already in them are made notches 100 mm each, and the notches should be poured 1.5 liters of water. When extracting seedlings from the container, care must be taken to ensure that each root remains in perfect condition. If provided, the seedlings are implanted in the grooves, sprinkled with soil and compacted.Above simple ground sprinkle sand mass.

When planting is completed, the seedlings are watered with warm water and covered for a short time from bright sunlight. This helps speed up the lifting of the sheet. Working with seedlings implies:

• regular watering;
• weed removal;
• vacuuming landings as necessary;
• loosening the land;
• pinching plants;
• the introduction of dressings.

Thinning is done immediately with the formation of 3 or 4 young sheets. At the same time on the hole should remain no more than two shoots, others are cut off on the surface. Watermelon plants categorically do not tolerate the appearance of weeds, therefore weeding requirements are very strict. The initial stage is especially important in this regard, and after the emergence of mature plantations weed thickets do not present any particular danger. During the pinching of the watermelon lashes, 2 to 4 sheets are left above the ripening fruits.

Be sure to pull out all the weak shoots, with the exception of 3-5 the strongest, in order to speed up obtaining an optimal result. Loosening of the land is carried out continuously, and even if the land is not crusted after precipitation, it is required to carry it out immediately after disembarkation. Ground shredding can be suspended at the moment when the fruits begin to increase their size. This is even better because the roots that have spread everywhere are very easily damaged. Watering adult watermelons produced in a volume of 30 liters per 1 square meter every 7 days, and if it comes to heat, it is doubled.

When the variety and the exact place for planting are determined, the time needed for seed and seedling development is subtracted from the approximate date of transplanting seedlings into the ground. In Siberia, in most of the Urals, in the regions of the Far East, it is recommended to use only early varieties. These are the species that are planted in May and transplanted a month later. Just the early types of watermelons are suitable for the middle band and the suburban areas. The opportunity to plant the plants in the middle of May will suit the Belarusian farmers.

The southern regions of Russia, the Central Asian republics and partly the chernozem region allow the use of late watermelons, which are planted not in seedlings, but directly in the ground. To accelerate the process by about 14 days and thereby expand the number of varieties used, the cultivation of seedlings in the greenhouse helps to simplify the work. If the greenhouse soil stably warms up to 12 degrees, sometimes it is possible to win 20-30 days.

The preparation of soil for seedlings on their own can be facilitated by using 1 share of sod for 3 shares of humus. As an option, sawdust (1 share), humus (½ share) and peat (3 shares) are used. To prepare the holes in the cups for a better introduction of seeds can be an ordinary pencil. Direct contact between plants in seedlings should not be allowed. Initial landing at a distance of 0.1 m helps to prevent it, if there is no desire to thin out the bushes later.

Not always, especially with such a capricious plant as watermelon, all the farmers do it perfectly. It is especially difficult to get a good result from the first time and without experience. Often the question is what to do if the watermelon seedlings are stretched. Guest from hot countries rushes to the sun, trying to lengthen the shoots to compensate for the lack of insolation. The conclusion is simple: timely artificial lighting reduces the risk of such a development.

But it is important to understand that thin oblong melons appear for other reasons. The main one is the unjustifiably dense disembarkation. The situation is generally similar, because by lengthening the upper parts, each sprout tries to get to a more illuminated point.Sometimes you have to face a situation in which the combination of excessive watering with overheating contributes to the elongation of young shoots. Now that the reasons are completely clear, it is possible to take adequate measures — highlight the seedlings, reduce watering, or remove plants from each other.

Transplantation as a compensation measure is not suitable, because it very much suppresses seedlings. Where it is more practical to pour additional land (this is when reserve, left in advance in tanks, is useful!). Quite serious problems for gardeners arise when the leaves turn yellow. This is usually triggered by a shortage of water. The appearance of yellow leaves is also likely:

• with extreme heat;
• with the onset of cold weather;
• in case of acute nutritional deficiency.

But do not assume that the simple elimination of such factors will always help solve the problem. Be sure to consider that yellow foliage is also a manifestation of diseases of melons and gourds. First of all, necrosis and fusarium (developing on the background of low heat and excessive humidity) are manifested in this way. About anthracnose says the appearance on the leaflets of watermelon is not just yellow, but with brown tint spots, which soon give way to ulcers.

All about growing watermelons in the open field, see the following video.