Small-fruited Vietnamese melon is a selection of gourds from the pumpkin family. Its homeland is Central and Asia Minor. The closest relative is the cucumber. This thermophilic plant does not tolerate high humidity, but it perceives an abundance of light. The pumpkin (the so-called melon fruit) has a small round shape of various colors, usually with small stripes.
On North
In modern conditions of climate warming, some southern cultures have the opportunity to move to the central and even northern regions. As a rule, this also contributes to the breeding of new varieties, more frost-resistant, with the ability to grow in more severe environmental conditions. In this regard, growing melons with medium-sized fruits, which include Vietnamese melon, is becoming increasingly popular in the plots of central Russia .
Reasons for popularity
The thing is that even in favorable years, more than two or three fruits of such early ripe varieties such as Pineapple or Golden are rarely grown in the middle lane. These melons do not tolerate fairly sharp temperature fluctuations that occur in this area. Their growth slows down, and it is simply not possible to expect when the plant forms a fruit weighing up to two kilograms - the weather does not allow it. Such varieties need to be grown in film greenhouses, low greenhouses (just above half a meter), which is associated with additional difficulties and material costs. And here melons with medium-sized fruits (one hundred to four hundred grams) come to the aid of an amateur gardener, which show themselves well in such conditions. According to recent results, the Vietnam melon variety has established itself well.
Specificity
The motivation for growing such varieties is as follows: it is better to ripen several small fruits of one plant in time given by the weather than one large traditional varieties (and it is not yet known whether it will be able to ripen at all). In addition, small fruits of such a variety as the Vietnamese melon, themselves indicate that it is characterized by early ripeness and productivity. Indeed, the formation of medium-sized fruits takes much less time!
Properties of small-fruited varieties
In Europe, the following classification of the main varieties of melons is adopted:
- net melon
- cantaloupe melon ,
- sugar melon,
- honey melon.
The rest, in view of the mediocre taste, are not of particular importance.
Vietnamese melon. Description
This plant can be attributed to the sugar-bearing subspecies. The variety is early ripening and much more powerful than, for example, Sybarite Dream. Fruits are round or oval. Color - orange with yellowish stripes. It looks very elegant, as if the suns are burning right on the bed, emitting its own fluorescent light. The mass of melons is small - 100-200 grams. But the number of fruits that can ripen in a season, sometimes reaches thirty. The pulp of the fruit is bright and light orange in color. It is tender and juicy, buttery and sweet, with a very strong pronounced aroma, quite pleasant. Such a melon growing in the southern latitudes is common. Under the climate of the middle strip, it is rather an exceptional phenomenon (it is known that watermelons and melons taste characteristics largely depend on how mature they are in the beds). It is noted that varieties intended for long-term storage do not smell so much and taste much less juicy and tender.
Vietnamese melon. Growing
The plant manifests itself in the middle band as a complexly resistant variety. When grown, for example, in greenhouse conditions, it is formed into one stem on trellises (with twisting of the stem on the twine as it grows using the technology of growing cucumbers). The formation of fruits occurs in the sinuses of the first and second leaves on the side shoots. Moreover, the shoots are attached immediately after the occurrence of the ovary. At the same time, there is no need to garter the fruit in the nets, as is usually practiced when growing large-fruited melons. Seedlings are planted in a row through 50-70 centimeters (it is not recommended closer to avoid excessive density of shoots).
If the Vietnamese melon is grown in open ground, then it makes sense to pin the plants over the second leaf in order to transfer the melon into two lashes with subsequent rooting. It is necessary to use fertile soils, so there will be a higher yield and growth rate. The most suitable are sandy and loamy with the introduction of manure into the ground. Humus is introduced up to six kilograms per square meter. Seedlings are supposed to be planted when the danger of frost has already passed (usually it is 20-25 days old), the root neck cannot be sprinkled with soil. The Vietnamese melon does not tolerate transplanting from place to place, so you need to do this together with a lump of land. Vietnamese melons are watered only with warm water. This must be done in the morning, so that the soil has time to warm up before evening. The temperature necessary for the emergence of seedlings is over twenty degrees Celsius. If the plant is grown in a greenhouse, it will be necessary to open it so that the bees have access to the flowers, or pollinate the plants manually.
This variety is still characterized by fruiting up to frost. It stretches for a rather long period, as when collecting, for example, cucumbers. Ripe fruits - with well-defined signs of ripening (acquire a characteristic color of fiery orange and a strong aroma). The stem is easy to detach. Pests and diseases Vietnamese melon is rarely affected.
When growing, fruit ripening occurs at approximately the same time as cucumbers: in the greenhouse - from mid-June, in open ground - from mid-July. Thus, the Vietnamese melon selection variety ( its seeds can be purchased in specialized stores) is gaining more and more attention from gardeners in central Russia.
Incidents
And finally: the Vietnamese melon-chest, a photograph of which circled the entire Internet, is not a plant, but a work of art. And the Vietnamese creative artist, of course, became famous thanks to her imagination.