Pumpkin in Russia is widely cultivated as a garden and feed crop. The main species of this plant exist about 20. In the wild, pumpkin is found mainly in the warm regions of Asia, Africa and America. In Russia, two species of this plant are cultivated. Most often, domestic summer residents grow ordinary pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo). This plant is characterized by high productivity and unpretentiousness. Sometimes in the gardens in Russia you can also find a giant pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima).
Productivity of pumpkin from 1 hectare and from a hundred
This culture has been cultivated in Russia for more than one hundred years. And of course, we have developed very effective pumpkin cultivation techniques in our country. The technology of growing this plant does not differ in particular complexity. But they should be followed exactly. In this case, the cultivation of this crop will be very profitable.
On average in Russia, the yield of pumpkin per 1 ha is 30 tons per hectare. In small areas, when using intensive cultivation technology, this figure can increase to 40 t / ha. Approximately the same pumpkin crops are received by summer residents in their suburban areas. That is, with a hundred parts, with proper care, you can collect about 400 kg of pumpkin.
Climate Impact on Yields
This unpretentious culture can be grown on the territory of Russia in almost any region, with the possible exception, perhaps, of the far North. One of the features of a pumpkin is its resistance to low temperatures. Thus, cultivation of this crop not only in the Middle Strip, but also in the Urals or Siberia, can become quite successful.
The impact of climate on pumpkin yields is usually negligible. This culture is unpretentious, and any summer resident can get a good harvest on its site even in the most adverse conditions.
The only choice for cultivation in the garden (as on the fields of agricultural enterprises) is still zoned varieties of this plant. In this case, the yield of pumpkin from 1 ha and from one hundred square meters is guaranteed to be high.
How to choose the right variety
Selection work with pumpkin, as with all other popular garden crops, is very active in our country. Therefore, there are many varieties that are excellently suitable for cultivation in a particular region. For example, for cultivation in Central Russia, you can choose this. pumpkin:
Don sweet.
Large-fruited.
Record;.
Baby
For the Urals and Siberia, varieties are excellent:
Amazon.
Russian woman.
Smile.
Mushroom bush.
Therapeutic.
All these varieties are distinguished by early ripening. Therefore, when grown in the Urals and Siberia during a short growing season, they manage to give a good harvest. All these pumpkins ripen in about 3 months after the appearance of the first shoots.
Variety yields per hectare
Thus, an average of 30 tons of this crop is harvested per hectare in Russia. But the pumpkin yield per 1 ha, like any other garden or agricultural plant, of course, can vary significantly depending on the variety. So:
The fruits of pumpkin Don Don are harvested up to 19-18 t / ha.
Large-fruited - from 29 to 49 t / ha.
Record - 45-50 t / ha.
Crumbs - 22-38 t / ha.
Smiles - 28-29 t / ha.
Gribovsky - 24-25 t / ha.
Sometimes pumpkins in Russia are grown, of course, in greenhouses. But such a method, even in cold regions, gardeners rarely use it. The greenhouses on the site are usually allotted for tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant or, in extreme cases, cucumbers. Pumpkin is most often planted on the beds in the street.
What can affect the harvest
Thus, pumpkin cultivation can be successful only if all the rules of agricultural technology of this crop are strictly observed. First of all, the yield of this plant is greatly influenced by how correctly the place for its cultivation will be chosen. The best predecessors for pumpkins are:
legumes;
potatoes;
roots;
greens;
cabbage.
Pumpkin is a vegetable that cannot be planted, for example, after crops such as zucchini and cucumbers. This will lead to the accumulation in the soil of larvae and eggs of the pests of the Pumpkin family. This plant produces the largest crops on sunny, sheltered from the wind slopes, on nutritious soil.
Also, when growing this crop, you must follow the correct seeding pattern. Plants should be sure to provide an optimal nutritional area. Pumpkin is usually planted according to the schemes 1.4x1, 1.4x2, 2x2 m.
Of course, the yield of this crop will directly depend on timely watering and top dressing. Pumpkin cultivation will be effective only if there is a sufficient amount of nutrients in the soil.
How to water
Humidify the soil in the beds with this crop can only be warm, settled in some kind of garden capacity, clean water. Watering pumpkins is usually done in the morning or in the evening using the "root" method. At the same time, when wetting the bed with such plants, summer residents try to make sure that water drops do not fall on their leaves. This can cause severe burns to the green parts of the crop.
The leaves of the pumpkin are very large and the evaporation from their surface is always intense. In addition, the fruits of this culture themselves are usually quite juicy and have significant dimensions. The weight of 1 pumpkin can reach 10 kg. Therefore, water for the successful development of this garden plant, of course, needs a lot. This crop is watered abundantly and with such frequency that the soil on the bed never dries up with it. Summer residents in most cases irrigate the land under the pumpkin once a week.
The next day after watering this crop produce loosening, destroying the crust. This procedure prevents capillary evaporation of moisture from the soil. During loosening the bushes at the same time weed.
Growing pumpkin and care in the open ground: how to fertilize
As already mentioned, pumpkin loves nutritious soil with good moisture and air permeability. Since the fruits of this culture grow very quickly and are large in size, it needs a lot of various micro and macro elements during the growing season. Therefore, fertilizing the soil in the beds with pumpkins, if you want to get a good crop, you must.
Before planting this crop, a large amount of manure is added to the ground. Organics is a very good fertilizer for pumpkins. Many summer residents even simply sow the seeds of this plant in compost heaps. Using this method of planting, you can get huge crops of this crop. Unfortunately, compost heaps in suburban areas are usually stored in the shade. Pumpkin, as already mentioned, loves the sun. Therefore, for its cultivation, summer residents often use a slightly different technology. In autumn, gardeners simply rake up all the plant residues from the garden in a sunny place, cover with agrofibre, and in the spring plant pumpkin seeds in them. Fertilizing plants using this technology in the future does not need the entire warm season before harvesting.
If the pumpkin is cultivated simply on the beds, for the first time it is fed with a working solution of mullein 1:20 in the phase of 2-3 real leaves. Then the plants are fertilized every 2 weeks, alternating organic and mineral complex compounds.
How to artificially increase productivity
Growing a pumpkin and caring for it in the open ground is, therefore, a simple matter. Many large and juicy fruits are capable of producing modern varieties of this crop even in the most adverse weather conditions. But if desired, the pumpkin yield can also be increased artificially. To do this, you just need to use growth stimulants. For example, a very good solution could be:
presowing seed soaking in a solution of sodium humate or succinic acid;
spraying plants in the phase of the third leaf with the preparations “Zdraven” or “Heteroauxin”;
basal watering of plants in the phase of active growth of lashes with the preparations “Kornevin”, “Zircon”, “Epin-Extra”.
When can I harvest
In order for the pumpkins to be well stored in the future, they must be removed from the lashes, of course, on time. Of course, you need to collect only the fully ripened fruits of this culture. It is easy to determine the ripeness of pumpkin by the following signs:
dried dry and hard stalk;
bright orange or dark green (depending on the variety) color;
drying and yellowing of leaves on the shoots of the whip;
very hard peel.
Experienced gardeners check the maturity of the pumpkins and their readiness for laying for storage in a very simple way. To determine the degree of ripeness of the pumpkin, you just need to press on the skin with a fingernail. If you do not manage to pierce it, it means that you can safely lay the vegetable in the cellar. Also, to determine the maturity of the pumpkin, experienced summer residents recommend knocking on its bark. If the sound is deaf, then the pumpkin has ripened.
The timing of pumpkin harvesting in different regions and depending on the variety may vary. But in Russia, the crop of this crop in most cases ripens in September-October.
Useful advice
So that later ripe pumpkin fruits are better stored, under each of them, during ripening, it is worth putting pieces of waterproof geotextile or, for example, several times folded fabric. This will prevent the onset of rotting processes in the fruit cortex. Instead of fabric, you can, of course, use plywood, a board or a piece of plastic.
Where to store
Of course, many summer residents are interested in including the question of how to keep the pumpkin crop fresh until spring. One of the features of this garden crop, in addition to high productivity, is a good indicator of the keeping quality of the fruit. Pumpkin pulp can hold out under certain conditions without changing the properties of the pulp until the next harvest. However, so that the fruits of this culture do not rot in the winter, of course, certain rules must be observed during their storage.
You can keep pumpkin fruits in winter:
Cellar Bookmark
Owners of summer cottages store the grown pumpkin crop in winter most often this way. A month before laying fruit in it, the cellar is treated using a sprayer with a solution of lime and copper sulphate. Further cleaning is carried out here, removing last year's vegetables and garbage. At the final stage of preparation, the cellar is thoroughly aired.
For storage, pumpkins in such a room are usually laid out on shelves pre-lined with paper in several layers. At the same time they are placed in the cellar so that they do not touch each other or any other vegetables. It is believed that the fruits of this plant are best preserved at an air temperature of + 3-5 ° C and a humidity of 70-75%. The fruits of some varieties of this culture feel good at + 10 ° C.
Storage in the apartment
Unfortunately, not all domestic summer residents have a cellar. But pumpkins can lie until spring when using other storage technologies. In the absence of a cellar, the fruits of this culture are usually kept on a glazed balcony in the cold season. Stacked for storage pumpkins for the winter when using this method is also most often on racks. Then they are simply covered with a dense fabric.
If desired, the fruits of this culture can be put in the apartment and on the mezzanine of the cabinet. But in this way it is allowed to store only nutmeg cultivars in storage. The fruits of this variety in the cupboard on the mezzanine can lie right up to the next harvest. Conventional varieties using this storage method will most likely begin to rot in late February - early March.
Cold storage
Most often, in the apartment, the fruits of the pumpkin are still kept in the mezzanine or on the loggia. In most cases, this vegetable retains its properties under such conditions not bad. However, the air temperature in the apartment or on the loggia, of course, can still be far from ideal + 3-5 ° C. Therefore, sometimes, using this storage method, pumpkins still begin to rot. In this case, the remains of the spoiled fetus can be tried to transfer to the refrigerator. This will keep them fresh for a couple of months.
For laying in the refrigerator, the pumpkin is first cut into large pieces. The peel from the fetus is not previously removed. Next, each piece is wrapped with a thin cling film and placed on the top shelf of the refrigerator.
Pumpkin blanks
To keep the fruits of this culture fresh in the cold season, so, most likely, it will not be difficult. But of course, pumpkin can also be used to prepare delicious winter preparations. Like any other garden culture, it is allowed:
Pickled and salted pumpkins, of course, after cutting the flesh into pieces. Caviar from the fruits of this plant is also very tasty. They make it almost according to the same recipe as the squash.
Pickled and salted pumpkins, like any other vegetables, in jars. The latter, like covers, are pre-sterilized. To do this, the banks keep some time above the steam. The covers are simply boiled in a small amount of water for about 3-5 minutes.
Harvest "Pumpkin like pineapple"
According to this recipe, you can preserve unusually tasty pumpkin for the winter. In this case, the fruits prepared in such a way in jars will also be very original. The ingredients for making Pumpkin Like Pineapple will need the following:
water - 1 l;
citric acid - 1 tsp;
sugar - ½ tbsp .;
salt - ½ tbsp. l .;
lemongrass - 5 leaves;
Radiola rosea - 5 g.
To prepare such a workpiece, the pumpkin is peeled and the seeds are removed from it. The pulp of the fetus is cut into cubes or long thin slices and boiled in boiling water for 5 minutes. Next, blanched pumpkin is laid in a glass dish and poured with sweet marinade. To prepare the latter, all the ingredients are simply added to boiling water. After pouring the pumpkin, the jar is rolled up with a lid.