Pumpkin is a genus of annual plants belonging to the Pumpkin family. The root system is pivotal. Stems well branched, creeping, with prickly pubescence. The leaves are large, long-leaved, five-parted, with hard villi. The flowers are single, yellow-orange in color, same-sex. You can distinguish them by the length of the peduncle: in female flowers, it is short.
Among the many types of pumpkins, the best in quality and taste is nutmeg pumpkin. Its cultivation is long (up to 140 days), and high temperatures are required, which somewhat limits its mass production.
The successful cultivation of pumpkins in the open field depends on many components:
- proper soil preparation;
- high-quality seedlings;
- care;
- formations depending on climatic conditions.
For planting pumpkins, you need to take a well-heated and lit area. The soil needs to be dug to a depth of about 30 cm and applied to 1 square. m. up to 8 kg of decomposed compost or manure, about 20 g of potassium-containing and 30 g of phosphorus-containing fertilizers.
Pumpkin growing technology begins with the formation of seedlings. Seeds must be warmed up for 3 hours at a temperature of 60 0 C, and then germinate in a moist tissue. Each hatching seed should be planted in a separate pot with a diameter of about 15 cm, filled with a nutrient mixture. It is necessary to germinate in room conditions, and when
the emergence of seedlings, the temperature will need to be reduced to 14
0 C. Watering seedlings should be moderate, but not often. In the seedling period, two fertilizing with
complex fertilizers will be required
. Young plants are planted on a prepared bed at the end of May.
Considering that the pumpkin is cross-pollinated, for a guaranteed harvest, it makes sense to conduct pollination by hand. To do this, use a soft brush to gently draw along the anthers inside one flower and transfer the pollen to the stigma of another, or carefully approach the flowers, connecting the anthers and stigma.
This plant has a huge leaf mass, evaporating a lot of water, so growing pumpkins in open ground involves frequent and plentiful watering. Even short-term droughts can greatly affect the result. During the flowering period, the amount of watering should be slightly reduced, so the fruits will be better tied. It should be fed regularly, preferably every week, starting from 10 days after transplanting.
Growing pumpkins in open ground in cold summers will require artificial acceleration of the formation and ripening of fruits. To do this, limit the number of shoots, leaving a maximum of 3. After the formation of 5 ovaries,
reaching 15 cm in diameter, the main stem should be pinched when the 7th leaf grows after the last fruit.
If you want to grow large pumpkins, then for bush varieties you need to leave 3 ovaries, and for climbing varieties - 2. It should be noted that the most delicious pumpkins are medium in size, moreover, they are easier to transfer. Shaded leaves should be removed above the grown fruits to expose them to the sun.
Pumpkin cultivation in the open ground can be carried out on trellises or fences. In this case, the fruits should be placed in bags or nets and tied to a support. If pumpkins lie on the ground, then boards should be placed under them to exclude the process of decay.
Pumpkin harvesting should be done after the first freeze. You can determine maturity by pressing with a fingernail: if the bark is not pressed, then it is time to collect. Pumpkin in honor of its usefulness you can sing praises, so it is worth growing.