Melon cultivation technology in our country house: choosing a variety, growing seedlings, planting and painstakingly looking after to get delicious fruits of nature. On the shelves of shops in August-September, you can find a huge number of fragrant and ripe melons delivered to us from distant southern places. But why not try growing them yourself? Fortunately, there are unpretentious varieties for this!
1. Choice of variety
Choosing the right strain will play a key role in successful melon cultivation. So, for the central European part of Russia, only early-ripening varieties are suitable: Gribovskaya soil, Skorospelka sibirskaya, Early 133, Kharkovskaya, Krinichanka, Limonnaya, Dessertnaya, Zolotinka, Tobolinka, Zolotistaya. It is desirable to grow them through seedlings, on the quality of which the future harvest will depend.
2. Growing seedlings
This period takes a month. Young plants should be grown in pots to avoid damage to the root system before planting. The optimum diameter of the pots is 10 cm, in which two plants are placed. Before sowing, the seeds are soaked (for 12 hours) and germinated (sprinkled in a thick layer on burlap) - in the future, this will accelerate the emergence of seedlings. To get good friendly shoots, when germinating, you need to ensure a high temperature within the range of 27-30 ° C. It is interesting that in the mountainous regions and Siberia, the procedure for hardening seeds is carried out: after swelling, they are cooled at a temperature of –1 ° C, –3 ° C for 2 days. Such hardening will improve the resistance of plants to low temperatures, which will accelerate the germination of seeds. It has been noticed that hardened seeds form female flowers earlier than others and, thus, fruits appear faster.
Melon seeds are sown in mid-April, so it is not necessary to light up the plants. However, for pots, it is better to provide the sunniest place in the house with southern windows, or better - a warm balcony. During the cultivation of seedlings, the plant is fed twice with complex mineral fertilizers. It is important to arrange them so that the leaves of each of them do not touch each other, so the pots are periodically moved aside. The seedlings prepared for planting should already have up to 3-5 leaves.
3. Planting a melon in the open field
Planting of a thermophilic culture begins in late April - early May. In the central European part of Russia by this time the weather is quite warm: in the daytime up to 20 ° С, at night up to 10 ° С. On such days, under a film shelter, the temperature rises to 30 ° C. Experienced melon growers advise keeping the seedlings under a film until May 20 to avoid the possibility of plant death due to a cold snap. Seedlings are planted according to the scheme 70x50 cm at a distance of fifty centimeters from each other. Before planting a melon, each hole is filled with compost or humus (1.5 kg), after which it is watered with warm water. A plant is planted in the resulting gruel and, so that a crust does not appear, dry soil is poured into the hole from the sides.
Gardening tips:
4. Melon care
The first week after planting, except for airing in good weather, no care for the seedling is required. Further care comes down to timely watering (as the soil dries up) and the introduction of nitrogen fertilizers (twenty grams of ammonium nitrate per ten liters of water). After planting in the greenhouse, a garter of plants is brought in (as in the cultivation of cucumbers) by tying the two strongest shoots to the trellis.
- Watering the melon: carried out every 7 days, reduced as the fruit ripens.
- Top dressing: feeding with nitrogen fertilizers is carried out at least 2 times (except for the first feeding) with an interval of 14–21 days.
So that the pouring fruits do not come into contact with the soil, it is better to put foam plastic or planks under them. With proper care, a good harvest can be expected in August.
How to identify a ripe melon?
And it is very simple: it is enough to feel the thick melon aroma and the appearance of a characteristic mesh on the skin, and the ripe fruits will be easily separated from the stem, as soon as you take them in your hand.
How to prevent diseases of melons in a greenhouse
Preventive measures are best done regularly to avoid pests. Keep the greenhouse clean, as well as the area around it. Put a sawdust mat in front of the greenhouse doors - it must be regularly moistened with a solution of formalin, sodium chloride or bleach. It is better to disinfect the film that was used earlier and the frame of the greenhouse with a 5% solution of potassium permanganate, and collect the dead, affected shoots and leaves in a separate container, then pickle with bleach and burn.
Melon growing technique video
Watch from 33:35
