How to grow a melon?

Juicy and sweet plants from the southern countries attract not only gourmets. Many gardeners try to “conquer” these cultures, having grown them in somewhat inappropriate conditions.But before entering into the fight against climatic limitations, it is necessary to take care of the selection of a suitable variety of melons.

As early as the second millennium BC, the ancient Egyptians used the fruits of a melon plant for their rituals. This culture reached the territory of modern Russia by the 15th century, and over the past centuries many attractive varieties have been created. Breeders brought them out, based on the basic specifics of certain localities. So, if summer is not too hot in your region, and its duration is not long, you should choose early and soon ripening plants. The recommended growing season is up to 90 days.

It so happens that you have to grow melons in places where weather vagaries are common. Cold-resistant varieties help to compensate for the harmful effects of low temperatures and overwetting. Early ripening species will have to cover from the frosts of the last period of spring.

But these recommendations are more of a general plan; they do not take into account the peculiarities of cultivation in a certain territorial zone. Melon, which grows in central Russia, will definitely not achieve the same results as its counterparts from Central Asia. However, there are still a number of agrotechnical methods that allow to compensate for negative phenomena. Contrary to popular belief, it is not only the “Kolkhoznitsa” and the “Altai” variety that are completely adapted to local conditions. It is recommended to choose early and middle late varieties of plants.

At the same time, the early should be given preference, although they are less tasty. Time to enjoy the late culture may not be enough. According to the state selection register, the Princess Svetlana melon best meets the requirements of the middle band. You can also experiment with varieties:

• Lesya;
• "Tender";
• "Cinderella";
• "Lolita".

In the regions of the Central Federal District, ground melon can be sown only for the earliest varieties. Almost always use seedlings. And even in this case, its cultivation in vegetable gardens is carried out under a light cover of film, which is removed not earlier than the second decade of June. Warm dung beds in greenhouses are recommended to cover with dark polyethylene with manually made holes. This film can not be removed the whole summer, when returning the cold produces additional shelter due to nonwoven materials.

If already in the middle belt the culture of melons encounters obvious difficulties, then in Siberia the conditions for it are on the verge of extreme, but this problem is also resolved. Moreover, the experience of gardeners demonstrates the possibility of using an open culture. The minimum temperature on average per day should be 15 degrees Celsius.

In the Siberian regions, according to botanical research, later confirmed by farmers, the ideal result is given by:

• Mohawk F1;
• Siberian Honey;
• "Early Sweet";
• "Dream of Sybarite" and some other varieties.

To compensate for the negative properties of climate helps processing accelerators development. It is even better not to sow the seeds directly into the ground, but rather to sprout them in peat pots. Sowing there is made in the first days of April, but the sprouts that have appeared cannot be transferred to free land earlier than in 1.5-2 months.

Growing melons in the Urals implies the obligatory hardening of seeds before planting in the soil. The same requirement is imposed on seedlings. Professionals advise to put an exotic "guest" in the greenhouse in the company of tomatoes and cucumbers. The earth must be saturated:

• coarse sand;
• sawdust;
• other loose solids.

There are some nuances that must be observed, regardless of the climatic zone. Oddly enough, the cultivation of melons is more complicated than the cultivation of watermelon. But strict adherence to the basic rules makes it possible to achieve success. Any melon is extremely resistant to drought, but excessive moisture affects it very badly. Therefore, watering should be carried out even if it is abundant, but only occasionally.

You can only sow seeds collected from two or three year old melons. They allow you to get more ovaries, but the excess vegetable fruits are also not very good. It is optimal when 3 or 4 melons appear on a single plant. Before planting, seeds are soaked for about 48 hours, this will allow separating sprouted and useless seed. Planting is performed by nesting technique (5 or 6 seeds per well).

Subsequently, you can easily remove excess sprouts, leaving only the best shoots. Between the holes leave a gap of 150 to 200 cm, the embedding of seeds is performed on 30-40 mm.

To loosen the aisles, as well as spud the plants themselves are required when a true leaf appears. The second time the same treatment is done when the bushes are pulled along the ground. The time after the dew dries is chosen to weed and loosen the soil. Watering is done only on special furrows, laid in the gaps between the rows. Water on the leaves or under the root is detrimental to the plant.

Since the melons are not too favorable for transplantation, they should be grown in pots with peat and humus or in peat tablets. When the planting is done, the seedlings are covered with a film ball, which should be removed only during the daytime, if the weather is hot and dry.

Among the pests in the first place is the danger of a melon fly. The struggle with it should begin even when the fruits develop only up to the size of a walnut.

It should be borne in mind that no preparation will help if used in the middle lane and especially in the northern regions of the seed material intended for Central Asia and other hot spots. When buying pay attention not only to the target area, but also at the time of procurement. Taking the seeds collected in the previous summer, you can achieve very high germination, but the fruiting plants will be limited. In the absence of special solutions allowed soaking seeds just in clean water.

But if you use fluids containing trace elements, the result will be much better. Seasoned seeds should be dried. For quenching, they are recommended to use first immersion in warm water, and then placement in wet paper or cloth. In this case, systematically reduce the air temperature to 1-4 degrees Celsius, cooling should occur within 48 hours. Then the temperature also gradually rises again to the room level (but after aging for 15-20 hours).

Growing a melon in the country in a greenhouse made of polycarbonate or other material is much easier than growing it in open ground. The farther north and east the household is located, the greater the reliability of such a solution. In addition, greenhouse cultivation of melons is able to produce crops year-round. Greenhouse mode facilitates:

• adherence to the temperature corridor;
• light dosage;
• maintaining rational humidity.

Greenhouses, even well-proven in dealing with other cultures, are not suitable for melon - their dimensions are insufficient. It makes no sense to buy a greenhouse less than 2 m in height for a vegetable. Violation of this rule may result in the impossibility of full development. If it is known that the daylight will be small, it is necessary to use agronomic lamps. Given the southern origin of the culture, the greenhouse should be heated according to all the rules. Planting is done exclusively in the form of seedlings, and to cope with the negative effects of transplantation, as well as when cultivating in free ground, it is recommended to use peat pots.

The wells, in which the seedlings are to be planted, are watered with warm water (1 l per hole). Scourge two seedlings that are placed in the hole, in the course of growth should be sent in different directions. The deadline for planting is determined by the territory where the garden is located. In most cases, half of May is already satisfying in temperature. The distances between individual seedlings in a row are 0.4 m.

Melon prefers a light fraction of the soil, such as medium-density loams with or near neutral acidity. In the case of a large concentration of clay you need, digging the ground, on 1 square. m make 5 kg washed and sifted river sand. For liming excessively acidic land is used:

• a piece of chalk;
• lime slaked;
• ground into flour dolomite.

The best crops of the previous year on the land are legumes, cabbage, cucumbers, various varieties of garlic and onions. Good results are obtained by cultivating the melon in the place where corn used to grow. But the areas where previously grown tomatoes and carrots or the melons themselves (even the same variety) are not suitable. It is recommended in one place to plant a sweet vegetable for 1 or 2 years in a row with a pause of 5 years. It is advisable to prepare the ridges in which the vegetable will be planted as early as in autumn.

Of course, the melon, as a later plant, can wait, but in the spring time gardeners are already busy tightly. The digging of the chosen place is made on 1 shovel deep into, it is combined with the introduction of fertilizers. On 1 square. m add about 10 kg of rotted manure or high quality compost. A more accurate dosage will tell the personal experience of the gardener and the assessment of the characteristics of the land. In the spring months, the beds are treated with a cultivator, adding 0.5 kg of wood ash and 40 g of superphosphate before.

Taking F1 hybrids for planting does not make any sense. It is recommended before sampling, even while thinking through the whole idea, to get acquainted with serious agronomic and botanical literature. After all, the melon does not tolerate dilettantism, and the slightest mistake can destroy the efforts of many months. You can ease the work if you consider that the basic techniques are similar to planting such a culture as a cucumber.

But just planting a melon is not enough, soon it will have to be engaged in the formation of a bush. This must be done before the shoots reaching the sides can have time to develop. Then they will take away the plant power from the most important stalk, worsen the process of setting and subsequent growth of the fruit. To pinch the melon should be when going out 4-5 true leaves or 3 pairs of any leaves. The number of stepsons strictly corresponds to the number of leaves.

The shaping scheme implies that after the formation of stepsons there should be only two escapes on the sides, while getting rid of all the others. The shoots of the first line are made the most powerful scourge that can give a first-class result. After about 14 days, the remaining parts will give shoots of the second category. Part of the hybrids can form the fruits already on the original stepsons. Shoots of the second line after a slight development should lose top growth.

Even if the grade is correctly chosen, the moment for planting is correctly determined, the soil is well prepared and the pinching is done in a timely manner - this is not a guarantee of success. It is very important to care for melons. When they get used to the weather conditions, the greenhouse can be removed for a day. But at night it is better to leave it. The recommended depth of loosening is no more than 12 cm, while working carefully to keep the roots intact.

As soon as the lash grows, the melon will need to be tucked up. There are no hard weeding schedules, you need to rely solely on the need. As for any melon plants, watering is critical for a melon tree. The lack of moisture in the soil impedes the development of both the green mass and the flowers and the ovaries emerging from them. But if there is too much water, the lashes and formed vegetables begin to rot, the sugar concentration goes down, tasteless, watery fruits appear.

Before the ovaries come out, watering should be moderate, since the excess will increase the development of side branches. After this point, water is added more intensively. When it remains about 30-35 days before the expected harvest, watering is systematically reduced. It is this sequence of manipulations that allows you to get sweet and fragrant melons. Even with normal moisture levels, the melons lying on the wet ground can be damaged.

To avoid such a development of events helps the use of shards or small plates under all ovaries. Also a good protection is the garter to the trellis and the fixation of the fruit with a cloth or net. Top dressing should be regular. For the first time it is carried out as soon as the first true leaf appears. Compounds, including phosphorus and nitrogen, are then introduced into the earth, and then they are alternated with the use of organic matter. The recommended frequency of fertilizer is 1 time in 10-14 days.

When massed flowering begins, combinations of potassium with phosphorus are used. Last time you need to feed the melon before the first manifestations of ripening. After all, all melons actively absorb substances coming from the external environment. And even the most proven fertilizers can be hazardous to health. At the stage of folding the fruit, potassium can be used without any constraint.

From organic dressings it is advisable to give preference to rotted manure. Any organic material is introduced as a solution of high concentration, the proportion of fertilizer in relation to the dilution water is 20%. Having added a top dressing, it is necessary to water plentifully at once plantings. This will not only increase the absorption of useful substances, but also reduce the risk of poisoning.

Melon can please gardeners only subject to the requirements of care and planting - this is true. But no less significant is the fight against various pathologies and harmful insects; inattention to them can destroy even the most promising and vigorously ripening crop. Melon can ache both outdoors and in greenhouse conditions. Anthracnose, which is better known as Copperhead, is expressed in the appearance of rounded brown or pinkish spots, they gradually expand. The aggravation of the disease is accompanied by the occurrence of holes in diseased foliage, it gradually dries out and disappears, the fruits spoil.

Prevention of anthracnosis includes:

• prompt removal of remnants of previous crops from the bed;
• strict adherence to the principles of crop rotation;
• rational watering of melons;
• timely soil loosening;
• treatment 3 or 4 times per season Bordeaux liquid at a concentration of 1% or sulfur powder smoke.

All agronomists agree that among the fungal lesions of the melon culture, ascochitis is the worst. At first, it manifests itself only in pale areas, dotted with dots. The further, the more such zones are formed on the neck of the root. Crops are forced to thin, yield decreases. It is likely that the stems and fruits are affected, especially if the air is very humid and it is cold outside.

Help can deep plowing zyabi autumn and compliance with the principles of crop rotation. Preventive feeding and Bordeaux liquid are also useful. In wet seasons, the melon can fall ill even with septoria, a characteristic feature of which is round whitish spots. The appearance of dark centers in them indicates that the fungus has moved to the active phase, and it is time for farmers to count the losses. Probably long-term preservation of infection in the soil, on the seed and even on the remains of plants.

If the melon is weakened, it can get root rot. Brown color is manifested not only on the roots, but also on the stems. In the advanced stage, the affected parts of the plant become too thin and soon the vegetable dies.

The culture can also be affected by the cucumber mosaic virus passing from closely related plants. Mainly young plants are affected, which are covered with spots of an average between yellow and green color. It also helps to recognize the infection:

• twisting and destruction of foliage;
• early leaves falling away;
• flower thinning;
• covered with "warts" fruit;
• slow growth;
• cracking stem.

The virus is almost never transmitted in the seminal way. But if there were melon aphid, she may well tolerate it. But it is still recommended to plant seeds before sowing. Having finished each trimming of melons, knives and scissors are treated with a weak solution of potassium permanganate. It reliably eliminates viral infection and prevents the pathogen from transferring to new plants.

Very often, melons are affected by powdery mildew. Initially, white spots do not exceed 10 mm in length. But if you allow the disease to develop, the focus will cover the entire surface of the sheet. It is very important to bury deep or even burn everything that remains from old plants. Noticing even weak signs of powdery mildew, they treat the plantations with sulfur at a concentration of 80%.

Insects "love" a melon not less than residents of large cities. Gourd aphid settles on the leaves below, because this side should also be inspected daily. Timely weed removal helps to prevent or significantly reduce the scale of the aphid invasion. But the most important fighter of melon crops is the specific fly. In the shortest time the aggressor is able to attack over half of the crop.

The insect begins to go up after hibernation in the first days of June. The rotting of larvae melon unfolds with frightening speed. There is not a single variety that would be at least a little protected from a melon fly. Prevention is done twice during the vegetative season, with the use of drugs "Zenith" and "Rapier." The same mixtures are recommended for the elimination of enemy stock.

Spider mites, despite their small size, are very dangerous. They overwinter under fallen leaves, in the leaves and in weeds. Getting rid of all this, you can significantly reduce the risk of losing the crop. Before sowing, the land is still treated with bleach. Also useful precautionary measure will be the correct alternation of cultures.

How to grow a sweet melon, see the next video.