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How to grow watermelons and melons in a greenhouse? Vertical vegetable garden: when the plot is small Cabbage disease control measures

Last week they ordered me watermelons for the wedding, the customers themselves chose and brought berries - one large and two smaller ones. On the big one I decided to carve peacocks with rings, on the small ones - hearts with the names of the newlyweds.

I started with peacocks. Literally immediately, the watermelon began to crackle suspiciously and dangerously burst under the knife. For the time being, everything was almost fine, but on the last feather of the peacock's tail, when the whole drawing had already been completed, the watermelon nevertheless decided to burst!

I was upset, I rushed to look for a spare watermelon, but where can you get it in the middle of the night! She gritted her teeth and took up the inscribed watermelons. The bride's watermelon also crackled, but restrained its impulses, the groom's watermelon was cut so well that it was a balm for the soul - it reconciled me with reality and I fell asleep in the morning almost calm.

The customers woke me up - they came to pick up their gift for the newlyweds. They optimistically said that a crack on a watermelon with peacocks is not at all terrible - "we'll cover it with gypsophila." And they ran away happy.

And this would be the end of the fairy tale, but the story had a continuation. When the watermelons were brought to the restaurant, everything was in order, they laid them beautifully on the table next to the young people's seats and happily drove off to the registry office. When they returned, they discovered that the bride's watermelon was split (a piece of it can be seen in the top photo). The customer made a scandal to the restaurant workers, but they swore by their mother that they did not drop the watermelon, and claimed that "it was him."

In this regard, the question is: has anyone encountered the fact that a carved watermelon, after lying down overnight and transferring transportation, suddenly CAM burst? Of course, I will not present anything to the restaurant, I would just like to know for the future: does this really happen?

I started growing watermelons recently. It’s only the third time that small watermelons grow on my site. Just a few pieces. It seems that such cultivation is useless. But I think so. Country cottage area big. You have to seed it with something. If you leave a part of the site unplanted, then it will simply - simply overgrow with weeds and very quickly. If sowed with green manure, then they also need care. At least the fight against the same weeds. Then digging with embedding green mass in the ground. Planting watermelons is not such a hassle. Further care simple. Since the cultivation takes place under the film, there are no weeds. So a variety of crops when grown seems to be obtained necessary condition. Do not plant potatoes on the entire plot. It is much more interesting to grow something that has not traditionally been grown in our area. So we try to grow watermelons in various ways.

I once heard that watermelons can be grown in a greenhouse with early landing. I also tried this cultivation. I planted pre-grown seedlings. Three plants took root perfectly and started to grow.

The plants bloomed quickly.

Small fruits have appeared.
The greenhouse opens daily for the day and closes for the night. If there is no one left on the site, the door to the greenhouse remains open around the clock. That is, ventilation in the greenhouse is provided daily. Imagine my disappointment when small, only a centimeter in diameter, watermelons began to fall off one by one. None remained on all three plants. I removed already useless plants, despite the fact that they are large and outwardly healthy.

What was detrimental to watermelons? Neighbors - cucumbers grow well, peppers too. They did not have any death of the ovaries. Maybe it was still too hot for watermelons? Or did the watering need to be stopped in time? And one more "maybe".
In the compartment in the greenhouse where watermelons grew, three bushes of tomatoes grew.
These bushes remained after growing seedlings. They were tiny. Now these are huge bushes. Maybe this neighborhood has so adversely affected the watermelons?

In a word, the watermelons in the greenhouse failed.

What about the watermelons open field. Not so bad. Especially with the Ultra Early variety.
There are already several already large fruits with diameters of at least 25 centimeters.
If there are no night frosts in the coming days, then they will still grow. With other varieties of Thai fruits, things are worse. Apparently, they are precocious, and already ripe.
Two small watermelons with dead tails were ripe.
Watermelons are very sweet in taste and have already ripened, albeit small, but black seeds. By the way, these watermelons have a dirt bed on the garbage (plant residues). There are a lot of small watermelons there. The varieties were different and the fruits were also different colors and shapes.
And another ridge, where the bottom layer is cow dung, apparently more suitable for a crop like watermelon.

The fruits of watermelons and melons burst during the ripening period, and then rotted. Those that seemed to have been saved had flesh yellow color and there was no taste at all. Cracking of melons, and especially watermelon, has a purely physiological nature. This is facilitated by the violation water balance plant at high temperature.

This phenomenon can often be observed in film greenhouses. There can be several reasons for fruit cracking:

• violation of the ratio of air and soil temperature with soil moisture and relative - air;
• cold heavy soil that slowly warms up in the morning;
• a sharp influx of moisture after a drought;
• soil salinization;
• varietal response to the combination of all factors land plot;
• insufficient provision of plants with calcium.

Other reasons are also possible, the determination of which requires specific observation of plants on melons. For example, according to our observations, varieties and hybrids with cylindrical and oval fruits most often respond to violations water regime and calcium intake. This is manifested in the form of dried fruits. In China, an interesting phenomenon was recently observed when almost all watermelon fruits “exploded” on the field. It is also interesting that the young fruits of watermelon are a kind of moisture accumulators. At night root system pumps water into the young cells of the fruit, and during the day the leaves use it. It is important not to disrupt this process.

Elena Kislaya, p. Kosari, Kanevsky district, Cherkasy region, Zenoviy SYCH, Doctor of Agricultural Sciences, Professor of the National University

There is a widespread stereotype that in our climatic zone it is impossible to get watermelons larger than 8-10 kg. I will share my experience of growing them. In almost any, even the coldest summer, the weight of many specimens exceeds 10 kg, and some reach a pound.

Last year, our family got a good polycarbonate greenhouse, now we grow not only tomatoes and peppers, but also watermelons there. My children, when they found out that I planted watermelons, were simply delighted. They helped take care of the plants all summer, and in September they enjoyed eating sweet fruits with pleasure.

How many times, having eaten a delicious watermelon, have I collected seeds to grow my plants from them next year. But usually nothing of my idea worked out: the plants got sick or formed lush bushes and did not bloom, and if the fruits were tied, they did not have time to ripen before frost.
I began to receive the first regular harvests after I looked into the Register of Breeding Achievements Approved for Use in Russia. It turned out that all the time I grew varieties of watermelons intended for the Volgograd and Astrakhan regions.

The variety of watermelon Spark is truly very popular among summer residents. It can be grown in a variety of climates, including middle lane. Watermelon Spark has established itself as one of the most unpretentious varieties of watermelon. This is an early maturing variety. It is disease and temperature resistant.

What features does the watermelon variety Spark have?

Watermelon Spark and its characteristics

The ripening period of the Ogonyok variety is 71-87 days. Watermelons have a spherical shape and bright red flesh, which is how they got their name. The fruits are small. Weight 1.7-2.7 kilograms. The dark green peel is very thin, the seeds are small. The variety has excellent taste qualities - it is sweet, juicy, grainy. Due to the fact that the Spark matures quickly and is resistant to low temperatures, watermelons of this variety can be enjoyed even faster than other foreign hybrids. The variety is high-yielding, resistant to anthracnose, Fusarium leaf wilt. The method of growing watermelons of the Ogonyok variety depends on the region. In the southern climatic zones, they are sown directly in open ground. In colder regions, they are cultivated through seedlings or in greenhouses. »

How to plant watermelon seeds?

In open ground, seeds are sown from the second half of April to the first week of May. If you use seedlings, then it must be planted from the second half of May to the first week of June.

Planting scheme: bushes should be located at a distance from each other from 60 centimeters to 1 meter; the width between the rows is 1.4 meters.

The soil is preferably light, water and breathable, certainly warmed up. For additional warmth, it can be covered with oilcloth before germination. Night temperature is not lower than 15 degrees. Planting depth - 8-10 cm. In the greenhouse, watermelon bushes can be planted more often - at a distance of 70 centimeters. When using trellises, watermelons can be hung in nets.

Seeds must be processed before sowing: in a weak solution of potassium permanganate, soak them overnight, rinse soda solution or clean water and dry. It is not necessary to harden the seeds of the Fire at zero temperature.

Council number 1. To enjoy ripe watermelons as early as possible, it is better to use seedlings.

After the last frost, bushes sprouted up to 4 leaves can be planted. After the formation of one stem, you need to pinch - remove side shoots and leave 2-3 ovaries on each bush.

After that, they observe the irrigation regime, the procedures for loosening, top dressing, powdering the lashes to protect the bushes from turning over by the wind. »

What does a watermelon of the Ogonyok variety look like in a section

The main indicators of different methods for obtaining early fruits of the Ogonyok variety

Let's take a closer look various methods receiving early harvest watermelon Spark.

Care for watermelons of the Ogonyok variety

The development of fruits in the open field will be accelerated by shelters - they will protect the bushes from dampness and rain. On hot days, the film is removed. The surface of the soil must be monitored, weeded and loosened the beds if necessary. Weeds that shade the fruits are very harmful. These fruits love the sun and tolerate drought well.

At the end of June, the first flowers of watermelons appear. It is desirable to pollinate gourds with your own hands: for this you need to pick male flower and touch them to the female inflorescences. This operation should be repeated every day - until the fruit ovary is formed.

Council number 2. Watermelons of the Ogonyok variety have a long and powerful rhizome, thanks to which they extract moisture from the deep layers of sandy soil.

In the Moscow region, watermelons should be watered moderately: for each bush - up to 1.5 liters warm water. During the period of fruit formation, watering should be stopped, since excess liquid can slow down their development.

When cold, watermelons begin to hurt and die. In order for plants to grow and develop normally, they need a temperature of + 25-30 degrees, which in the above areas is feasible only in greenhouses. In cloudy weather gourds poorly pollinated, infected with gray rot - because of this, greenhouses or hotbeds are also recommended. In addition, despite the fact that watermelons grow normally in the middle lane, but under conditions high humidity plants often suffer from powdery mildew, bacteriosis.

Growing watermelon Spark has little care conditions

Top dressing of watermelons of the Ogonyok variety

Thanks to top dressing, to which watermelons always respond positively, gardeners get a good harvest. When young plants form 5 true leaves, they must be fed with a solution of cow dung infused for several days. For watering watermelons, you need to take 500 ml of fertilizer and mix it with 10 liters of heated water. For each bush should be about 1 liter of top dressing.

In order to increase the resistance of watermelons to diseases and to accumulate sugar, they are fertilized useful trace elements. To provide high yield plants need nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, potassium, nitrogen, magnesium. Water and loosen the soil, and then apply the following substances:

• superphosphate (40 g);
• potassium chloride (30 g);
• ammonium nitrate (10 g).

Additives should be diluted in 10 liters of warm, settled water and watered bushes at the rate of 1 liter per bush. Plants should be watered so that water does not fall on the bush or root. It must be poured 40 cm from the root. Excess flowers and ovaries are removed. On one bush, 3-4 berries will be enough.

Top dressing for watermelons of the Spark variety can be made from mowed nettle grass. It is poured into a bucket with water and allowed to stand for 3 days, until the smell appears. Dilute the solution with water (1: 1) and water the wells near the bushes. Each well should have 2-3 liters of solution. Such top dressing will be an excellent alternative to chemical fertilizers and manure. »

The likelihood that the plants will disappear during frosts is reduced to zero if you grow watermelons of the Ogonyok variety through seedlings. Fertilize them 10 days after germination and repeat every 2 weeks. Water plants regularly during active leaf and stem growth. When fruits ripen, water consumption should be reduced by 2/3. If you are growing watermelons in a greenhouse, start hardening them off as soon as the first male flowers appear. Do not rush to remove shelters, as in the Moscow region and the middle lane, cold snaps and frosts are possible until mid-June.

Since there is not much space in the greenhouse, the berries can be tied up, and durable material can be placed under the specimens lying on the ground. female flowers will appear on the bushes closer to July. For getting good harvest it is worth leaving 3-4 berries, and when they grow to the size of an apple, pinch the lashes. Each hole should contain no more than 3-4 plants. The soil is fertilized with manure (7-8 kg / sq. M).

Between the rows it is worth leaving a distance of 1.4-2 meters - it must be borne in mind that the watermelon will spread the whips for several meters. In order for the fruits to ripen evenly, they are periodically turned over. Harvest in August.

Watermelons of the Ogonyok variety grow in a dark peel

Features of growing watermelon Spark in the Moscow region

The climatic conditions in this region during the summer months are unpredictable. In June, the air warms up to +19 degrees during the day, but cold snaps and prolonged rains are not uncommon. Meteorological observations testify: average daily temperature air in the first month of summer in the suburbs is slightly above +15 degrees.

Many summer residents are still skeptical about the idea of ​​growing watermelons in a temperate continental climate in the open field. However, in the Moscow region, this is successfully done by the seedling method. Seed material is planted from the beginning to the second decade of May. The time is calculated so that at the time of transplanting the seedlings into open ground, it would be at least a month old - in this case, it will quickly take root in a new place and will actively grow.

When planting seedlings in a permanent place, you need to know what crops grew here before. For watermelons, the area where legumes and cabbage used to grow is suitable. And it is best to plant this culture in a new place every year.

In order to receive excellent harvest watermelons in the Moscow region, it is important to choose the right variety. It should be early ripe, which begins to bear fruit 60-80 days after germination. Very good for this unpretentious variety watermelons Spark, which is ideal for growing in the suburbs and even to the north.

Diseases and pests of watermelons

Watermelons most often suffer from fungal diseases:

• Powdery mildew. Its main feature is white coating on the leaves. Watermelons lose their taste, begin to rot.
• False powdery mildew(peronosporosis). Old leaves are covered yellow spots, and below - a gray-violet bloom. The fruits change shape, they stop growing.
• Bacteriosis (angular spotting). Oil spots appear on the leaves white color. Later, holes form on them. The leaves are starting to fall off. The fruits become transparent and spoil.
• Olive blotch. Spots form on all parts of plants irregular shape. The leaves become corrugated, ulcers appear on the cuttings. The fruits dry up.
• Anthracnose. Brown spots with pink formations appear on plants.
• Root rot white, gray, black. Plant roots are affected. The watermelons are gone.
• Viral disease cucumber mosaic. Sometimes it affects a whole plantation of watermelons. Signs: the leaves are covered with a mosaic pattern. Blisters and bumps form on watermelons.

Fungal diseases are fought with the use of fungicides: Bordeaux mixture, Fundazola, Skora.

Most dangerous pests watermelons:

• wireworm;
• winter owls.

Harvesting watermelons in August

Aphids and wireworms gnaw through the roots of watermelons, and aphids also drink the juice of its ground parts. It most of all affects young leaves. This insect covers the plants completely or the ends of the lashes. Watermelon bushes stop growing and die. They fight pests with insecticides - for example, Decis. In addition, in order to avoid damage to plants, it is necessary to strictly observe crop rotation, weed weeds, loosen the soil, after which the number of cutworm larvae is significantly reduced. The larvae are lured out of the soil, dropping pieces of sweet beets, carrot roots as traps. They are covered with roofing material, boards, etc. And two days later, the larvae accumulated on the fruits are collected.

Mistakes gardeners make when cultivating watermelons

Properly growing watermelons is not an easy task. Even if all the rules and conditions are met, there is no guarantee that the watermelons will grow large and tasty. Gardeners and gardeners try to choose the sunniest places for planting watermelons, diligently water them, weed them from weeds. And the result is deplorable: the fruits grow sour, small. Why?

• Watermelons ripen small when they are grown on black soil, which is rich in nitrogen. It nourishes the main leaves well. And for the development and growth of the berries themselves, minerals are not enough.
• Experienced gardeners recommend planting melons not with seeds, but with seedlings. In this case, it is more likely to grow large fruits. And we must take care that watermelons grow in a large area, where they are located freely and do not interfere with each other.
• As the watermelons ripen, they need to be turned over. When they lie in one place, moisture accumulates under them, as a result of which they begin to rot and suffer from the invasion of insects, such as ants. If an anthill has formed near the watermelons, then you need to get rid of it urgently. Otherwise, insects will deprive you of the crop.
• It is necessary to protect melon beds from birds that will peck watermelons.

It is better to plant watermelon Spark seedlings, not seeds

Rubric: "Questions and answers"

Question number 1. How to speed up the ripening of watermelons Spark in central Russia?

To speed up the ripening of watermelons and increase productivity, mulching with peat chips, compost or humus, which is applied in a layer of two centimeters, should be carried out. This mulching layer will serve as an excellent protection against seedling damage by spring frosts, reduce the risk of crust formation on the soil and make it possible to significantly improve air-water exchange processes in the soil.

Question number 2. Does the variety of watermelons Spark have disadvantages?

Watermelons of this variety are not adapted to long-term storage; they do not tolerate transportation over long distances. Variety Spark is not suitable for cultivation for sale. Watermelons of this variety are intended for those who will use them right in the country.

Question number 3. This year all my watermelons were pecked by birds. How to be in such a situation?

This is the "work" of the crows. There are several methods of struggle:

1. Put on your melon sticks about 1 meter high with ribbons tied at the top polyethylene film. They will scare away the crows.
2. Scatter branches on ripening watermelons, but so as not to obscure the plants.
3. Insert sticks into the ground with a thread stretched between them, creating an imitation of a grid. Or throw fishing nets on them.
4. We planted watermelons in the greenhouse. They grew in size from egg and started to crack. Why?

Question number 4. Watermelons crack from over watering.

After fruit set, watering should be significantly limited or not watered at all (if they grow in a greenhouse). Then they will grow, albeit small, but very sweet.