Existing types of melons grown in different countries are striking in their diversity. Their fruits differ in shape, size, taste, but without exception, these plants prefer a sunny and warm climate.
Short description
Melon - a representative of the Pumpkin family, false berry, gourds. This is an annual plant with a long creeping stalk. The leaves are whole, palmate, composed of five lobes. Up to eight large aromatic berries can produce one melon. The appearance of the fruit in each variety is different and may have a round, cylindrical and even oblate shape. The flesh is greenish, yellow or orange.
A bit of history
Melons were cultivated in ancient Egypt. The first mention of it is found in the Bible. It is believed that the birthplace of this gourd is North India. From here it began to spread west and east. In Europe, only in the XV century began to grow some types of melons. In Russia, they first appeared a little later and were first brought in only in the Lower Volga region.
Beneficial features
Melon is widely popular due to the fact that it contains a complex of elements important for humans: iron, citric, malic and succinic acids, vitamins A, P, C. It also contains inosine, which helps cleanse the body of cholesterol and helps strengthen hair roots. Most often, fragrant melon is consumed fresh, but there are plenty of recipes for making delicious jam and marinade. Often, to create genuine culinary masterpieces, it is added to the meat.
Any kind of melon has a beneficial effect on strengthening the immune system and the nervous system, helping to cope with the problem of insomnia. Due to the low calorie content, this false berry can be included in almost any diet. It stimulates the cleansing of the body from slagging and helps the smooth functioning of the intestine.
Melon - types and varieties
Photos of these amazing fruits are striking in variety. A huge number of existing varieties are divided into 3 groups - cantaloupes, mesh and smooth-skinned.
The first includes ribbed melons with deep narrow grooves on the surface and having a flattened shape. Sweet flesh has a rich orange color. The fruit is 20–25 cm long. Not suitable for long-term storage.
Mesh melons usually have a regular spherical shape. Ribbing is weak. This species got its name due to the surface of the fruit covered with a grayish mesh. The flesh can be either orange, or greenish or white, depending on the variety.
Smooth-skinned melon species are usually oblong, with a thin skin. Ribbing is practically absent.
Grade selection
When planning to plant a melon in your area, you should remember that this plant is very thermophilic, and its fruits ripen at a temperature of at least 30 ° C. For central Russia, where the summer is unpredictable, it is important to choose the right variety depending on the growing season. For example, some types of late ripe melons take up to 120 days to ripen fruit.
Main varieties
These are the most popular types of melon. The list of them is quite large, but most often in our climatic conditions you can find the following varieties:
- Alushta. The fruits of melons are large, up to one and a half kilograms, yellow-orange in color. The pulp is juicy. Ripening time is up to 70 days, and fruiting is very high.
- Gerimus. The early ripe variety is distinguished by good productivity, the fruits are medium-sized, smooth, light gray in color, with juicy orange sweet flesh. The plant adapts perfectly to natural conditions.
- Armenian cucumber, or Silver. It has an exceptional shape. Young fruits with a characteristic aroma, reaching a kilogram weight, are ready to eat. Melon copes well with lowering temperatures and is resistant to a large number of diseases.
- Collective farmer. A very popular variety due to its exceptional taste. The weight of a bright orange round-shaped fruit is not more than 1 kg. The pulp is fragrant, sweet, surprisingly gentle.
- Musky. A real midget in the world of melons. The fruit has a round or slightly flattened shape, with clear veins. The pulp is fragrant and sweet, orange or light yellow in color.
Early ripe varieties
- Millennium. The fruit has a round shape, slightly flattened. The pulp is very sweet, white. To be grown both in greenhouse conditions or in greenhouses, and in open ground.
- Princess Anne. An early ripe hybrid, ready to please with fragrant fruits in two months. It features strong powerful bushes. The fruit is outwardly attractive, oval in shape, with an average weight of about 2 kg. The peel is milky white, the flesh is pale orange, with a honey flavor, juicy. The plant is very unpretentious, can bear fruit in the open ground, quite easy to care for.
- Aikido. The hybrid has appeared recently, but has already earned popularity due to its immunity to diseases. The fruit is yellow-brown, with veins, the flesh is white-green, high in sugar.
- Canaria This hybrid has a very early ripening period of no more than 70 days (usually 60). The bush is quite easy to confuse with a cucumber, thanks to the long shoots resembling a vine. Fruits are oval in shape, weighing from 1.5 to 3 kg, smooth, without veins, covered with a slight pubescence, sunny yellow. Possess fresh tasty greenish pulp with a characteristic honey flavor. The edible layer is quite large and reaches 7 cm. This variety is very resistant to most diseases inherent in the culture: fusariosis, anthracnose, powdery mildew. He loves light and heat, so if it gets very cold at night, it is recommended to cover the bed with a film. In general, it is a melon very susceptible to light and heat.
Species and varieties bred in Russia are represented by Natalina. The fruit of such a melon is round, clean, yellow, the skin is thin, the flesh is white with a slight shade of green, the thickness is medium, juicy and sweet. Remarkably transported, can be stored for a long time. Many gardeners are familiar with lemon yellow melon, bred in the Krasnodar Territory. It is distinguished by a fruit of a slightly flattened shape, a lemon tint (hence the name), covered with small dots. Weight does not usually exceed 1.5 kg. The pulp is firm, has a characteristic smack of vanilla.
Mid-season varieties
Altai. Ripening term is up to 80 days. The fruit is oval, bright yellow, about 1 kg, with juicy pulp.
Early sweet. The shape of the fruit is close to spherical, slightly elongated, weighing up to 3 kg, bright yellow and smooth. The flesh of a yellow-cream tone, sweet, fragrant and surprisingly tasty. The bush and flowers are similar to cucumber. The variety perfectly copes with diseases of anthracnose and powdery mildew, is cold-resistant and unpretentious. To get a gorgeous crop, it is better to grow in a greenhouse, but in warm areas, open ground is also suitable.
Assol. Fruits are oval, saturated yellow with grayish stripes. The pulp is juicy, fragrant, of a gentle yellowish tint. The variety was specially created for cultivation on farms and in household plots. It has a very high yield.
Golden The fruit is oval, bright yellow in color, with stripes. The pulp is very juicy. The variety is characterized by a high content of vitamins. It copes well with diseases, grows well in open ground, but prefers greenhouse conditions.
Blondie. The time of the appearance of the fruit falls on 80-90 days from the moment of planting. The fruits are very large, slightly flattened round in shape, small in size. Very juicy aromatic pulp of amazing taste. When the fruits are ready for harvest, they signal this by the appearance of a specific aroma and a change in color to beige.
All of the above types of melon with good care give a good harvest not only in the southern, but also in the middle latitudes.
Late grades
One of these melons has the corresponding name - Zimovka. The variety is very difficult to grow in latitudes of the middle zone, but grows well in the south. The owner of light yellowish-green fruit covered with a net. The flesh is tender, greenish. Melon can be stored for a long time and is ideal for transportation.
Pineapple is a variety that requires at least 95 days to ripen. It is distinguished by oval mesh fruits with aromatic flesh, reminiscent of pineapple in taste.
Torpedo - these melons have a peculiar elongated shape. The yellow peel is covered with a fine mesh. It is highly resistant to disease and drought.
Foreign varieties
Some gardeners also grow foreign types of melons (a photo of one of them can be found below).
Charente originally from France, this amazing variety is distinguished by small round fruits with wonderful taste. Color - pale yellow, close to white.
Augen is a guest from Israel: the shape is round or slightly oval, with a smooth surface, with a large number of veins, a greenish-yellow tone. Differs in fragrant fleshy pulp of gentle green color.
Khandalyak is an Uzbek melon that tastes very similar to a pear. Small in size, with a thin peel and greenish color flesh.
Honey. The birthplace of the variety is Morocco, its features: elongated fruit shape, lack of veins, orange-green skin, flesh honey, juicy, pale yellow or with a reddish tinge.
Kassaba Came from Turkey, it differs in almost regular round shape. Fruits appear late enough, closer to winter. The pulp is juicy, but almost completely devoid of flavor.
Almost all varieties and types of melons, the photo and description of which can be found in this article, have their own advantages for growing in central Russia. But more suitable are early ripe hybrids, resistant to the vagaries of the weather, and to most diseases.