Pumpkin Marble: description, cultivation

The article presents the Marble pumpkin: description, advantages, rules of cultivation, protection from diseases, pests.

Pumpkin Marble: variety description

Pumpkin Marble: photo

This pumpkin variety is quite famous and popular among many gardeners in our country. It appeared relatively long ago. Marble gourd has a high taste, and also shows good results in terms of yield. The inside of the pumpkin has a lot of juice, the pulp is sweet, with a delicate structure. If you want to get a stable harvest of delicious vegetables, you need to adhere to certain growing rules.

The Marble Pumpkin variety belongs to the late-ripening varieties in terms of ripening. The marble pumpkin is represented by the agro-technical firm "Biotekhnika". After the seeds are planted, you need to wait about one hundred and forty days. Such a pumpkin is quite large, it grows very actively over the site. Stems are generally strong and long. The foliage has a dark green color with an emerald hue. The sheet has no cuts. In early June, large bright yellowish flowers are formed. They are very popular for pollination insects.

Vegetables are large enough, have a slightly flattened shape. The surface of the fruit has a soft wrinkled texture. The skin color is dark with an emerald tint. Sometimes you can find light small spots of a grayish tone. This is how the name of the Marble Pumpkin variety appeared.

Vegetables are large enough in size, in their weight can reach from six to ten kilograms. The inside of the pumpkin has a bright orange color, the texture is quite dense, but delicate. The aroma is bright. The seeds are about three centimeters long. They are cream colored. In their chemical composition, such vegetables have many useful vitamins and elements.

In its aroma, Marble Pumpkin has a distinct nutmeg hue, which makes it a good addition to various dishes, including soups, sauces, and snacks. Juice and desserts are also made from such pumpkin. The pumpkin can be stored well, it can be frozen and can also be used for canning. The skin has a rather dense structure, which helps the pumpkin to maintain its presentation for a long time, as well as aromatics. At the same time, many summer residents say that if the pumpkin lies for too long, this can negatively affect the taste of the fruit.

This pumpkin variety is very well able to withstand low temperatures, as well as short dry periods. Best of all, the Marble Pumpkin feels in the south of the country. Cold weather does not have a very good effect on the palatability of the fruit. At the same time, the sugar content drops significantly, and inside the pumpkin becomes too loose in texture. Marble pumpkin shows high results in terms of yield, but for this it is necessary to follow the basic rules for care. Many summer residents get about twenty kilograms of vegetables from one square meter.

Pumpkin Marble: a description of pests and diseases

Pumpkin Marble: a description of pests and diseases

The Marble pumpkin variety is not too picky in its care, however, if you do not follow the basic principles for growing Marble pumpkin, then the crop can be severely affected by the attacks of various diseases and harmful insects.

As a rule, such a pumpkin variety is most often affected by bacteriosis, powdery mildew, and various rot.As for harmful insects, you should be wary of slugs, melon aphids, as well as spider mites. If you do not want to endanger your vegetable harvest, then take preventive measures against these ailments, and also, when the first signs appear, carry out medical procedures for your plants.

• Bacteriosis When this ailment appears on the leaf plates, spots of a dark emerald hue appear, they, as a rule, have an irregular shape. By location, such spots can be found on a leaf between the veins. If the necessary measures are not taken in time, then the foliage will be in brown spots with a brown tone. Then, as a rule, the sheet dries up, holes with an irregular shape begin to form. As for the treatment, it is imperative to remove areas of the plant that have been affected. Then you need to process the infected plantings with the help of special preparations that contain copper in their composition.
• Powdery mildew. When such a disease appears, white spots form on the leaves. After a while, they cover the foliage completely. To prevent the plant from dying from powdery mildew, it is necessary to take the necessary measures. Many experienced gardeners use Topaz in this case, this is a special preparation that can be purchased at garden stores. Also, a colloidal sulfur solution is well suited for these purposes.
• White rot. Such a fungal disease, as a rule, attacks the part of the plant that is above the earth's surface. A plaque in the form of flakes forms on top of the stems and foliage. Those parts of the plant that have been infected take on a soft and slimy texture. White rot covers the plant sufficiently in a short time. This is usually due to too high humidity and low temperatures. When the first signals of the appearance of white rot were noticed by you, it is necessary to apply a solution (half a percent) of copper sulfate.
• Spider mite. As a rule, this harmful insect is recognized by a thin cobweb on the leaf plates. The spider mite deprives your pumpkins of plant sap, because of this, yellow spots form on the leaf plates. After that, they dry up and begin to fall off. To get rid of a spider mite, experienced gardeners use infusions, they can be based on onions, garlic. Such infusions contain a lot of alkali. Also for this purpose, you can purchase insecticidal preparations with a wide range of effects.
• Melon aphid. Usually, such pests are located on the leaf plate from the inside, and also attack the ovaries and buds. Melon aphids need vegetable juice for nutrition. Signs that your plantings have been attacked by a melon aphid are that the foliage begins to curl, the flowers fall, and the fruits themselves stop growing and developing. Such a harmful insect negatively affects the yield in general, and also acts as a distributor of other diseases dangerous to plants. In order to solve this problem, it is necessary to apply insecticidal preparations. Also, onion-based infusion and herbal infusion, which contains a lot of phytoncides, will do well with this.
• Slugs. These insects have a very good appetite. As for the diet of slugs, they are most interested in plant leaves, flowers, and ovaries. To get rid of this scourge, many gardeners prefer folk methods of struggle. To do this, you can set up a kind of trap, which consists of cabbage leaves and a damp cloth. It is also a good idea to sprinkle the soil with wood ash, tobacco, or pepper. A good remedy for fighting slugs is an infusion of tomato tops, wormwood, and garlic infusion.

If you do not want to have such problems as the appearance of diseases and harmful insects on your plantings, then it is best not to forget about preventive measures.It is imperative to follow the basic rules of crop rotation; you need to regularly remove weeds from your area where pumpkin grows. Among other things, when planting, it is necessary to follow a certain scheme, the plants should not grow too densely. If you find signs of disease or pest attacks, remove the affected leaves and vegetables. In order for the immunity of your plants to be at a high level, it is necessary to apply complex fertilizers based on mineral elements on a regular basis.

If you follow the basic rules when planting and caring for plants, then problems such as pests and diseases, most likely, will not prevent you from harvesting a rich harvest.

Pumpkin, grade Marble: pros and cons

Photo of a variety of pumpkin Marble

Like any variety of any crop, Marble Gourd has many positive characteristics, as well as some disadvantages. Let's start with the pleasant. Firstly, Marble Gourd usually produces large fruits, they have a high taste. Such a pumpkin can be stored for quite a long time. The fruits have an original color that can surprise even the most demanding summer residents. Vegetables almost never crack. This applies even to not the best weather conditions. The variety is well suited for commercialization, since such a pumpkin can be transported over long distances.
With all the advantages, the Marble Gourd has a certain amount of negative aspects. Firstly, this variety does not perform well in areas that are shaded. Secondly, this variety is quite picky about the composition of the soil, so you need to periodically apply top dressing. Thirdly, the Marble Gourd responds extremely badly to dry weather conditions, as well as to too low air temperatures.

How to grow a Marble Gourd?

This variety is the variety that ripens quite late. For this reason, in areas where the summer period is not long and cool, the fruits simply may not have time to ripen completely. So Marble Gourd is best grown in the south of the country.

It is necessary to sow seeds of such a culture in warm soil, which contains a sufficient amount of nutrients. The site for planting the Marble Pumpkin must be prepared in the autumn. To do this, you need to dig up the site and add rotted manure to the ground. Compost is also suitable for this.

To get a good result with Marble Gourd, you need to plant it on the ground where there is a lot of nutrition. The acidity level should be at a neutral level.

The best harvest is usually obtained in well-lit areas. In this case, the bed should be well protected from the winds. In the spring, it is necessary to dig up the area, as well as apply fertilizing based on phosphorus and potassium. If the soil contains too much alkali, and has a too high level of acidity, then wood ash or lime is introduced during digging.
Seeds also require some preparation before sowing. A couple of days before this event, you need to warm them up for twelve hours. The temperature should be about forty degrees. For one night, you need planting material in an ash solution. It is prepared as follows: in one liter of water, dilute two tablespoons of ash. In this case, the water should not be cold. Directly before sowing seeds, they must be thoroughly dried.

Marble pumpkin planting material sprouts quite well, so there is no need to germinate additional seeds. The landing algorithm looks like this:

• The landing site must be initially prepared, the hole is made to a depth of five to six centimeters. The distance between them should be about fifty - one hundred centimeters.
• The planting pit must be spilled with two liters of water. The water must be hot.
• When the moisture is completely absorbed into the soil, it is necessary to put two to three seeds in each hole.
• Cover the seeds with soil, and lay a layer of mulch on the ground.

Pumpkin Marble is a rather thermophilic variety. After planting, you need to cover your plants with agrofibre. Thanks to this measure, seedlings will appear faster, and it will also be a good protection against return frost.
The first pumpkin sprouts appear after a couple of weeks if the weather is favorable. After one month has passed, the weak plants must be removed, while leaving the strongest and healthiest. In order not to damage the still weak root system, you need to remove excess plants with a pruner. It must be sterilized before use.
If you want to get a fairly plentiful pumpkin crop, then be sure to carry out timely fertilization, as well as weeding and regular watering.

In order for the shoots and fruits of the Marble Gourd to develop and grow well, you need to regularly and abundantly water your plants. After the first shoots appear, it is necessary to irrigate the plants about three to four times in seven days. When the pumpkin has grown enough, it must be watered after the top layer of the earth dries out. Usually, one plant consumes about five liters of water. It is worth remembering that the water should not be cold and, preferably, settled for at least one day. When irrigating, make sure that the water does not get on the foliage of the plants, otherwise fungal disease may develop.

After you have thoroughly watered your plants, you need to loosen the soil shallowly, and then remove weeds from the site, and lay mulch near your plantings. Soil mulching is a good weed control and also allows water to stay in the soil longer. In addition to the above advantages, flour is a good feeding for your pumpkins. Do not forget about weeding your site, thus, the soil receives a sufficient amount of oxygen, which the plants need for normal development.

Good results Marble gourd shows only on well-fertilized soil. The first time feeding is applied one and a half months after the seeds have been planted in the ground.

For this purpose, many gardeners use poultry droppings. Slurry is also good for this. Dilute these fertilizers in a ratio of one to ten. While your plants are blooming and bearing fruit, it is necessary to make top dressing with a high content of potassium and phosphorus. Such fertilizers are applied throughout the growing season. An interval of about two weeks is observed between dressings.

One hundred and forty days after the seeds have been sown in the ground, you can start harvesting the fruits. Several factors indicate whether the pumpkin is ripe or not. First, the leaves of the plant begin to wilt. Secondly, the stalk of the plant begins to dry out and acquire a lignified structure. Thirdly, the surface of the fruit itself begins to acquire a marble hue.
It is not recommended to postpone the harvest of the Marble Gourd for too long. This is due to the fact that with the onset of cold temperatures, the taste may deteriorate, and such a pumpkin will be stored for a much shorter period. For long-term storage, you need to choose fruits that have not been damaged. Such pumpkins are cut together with the stalk.

Before sending the fruits for storage, they do not need to be washed or cleaned. Keep the pumpkin storage room cool and dark. If the surface of the pumpkin has mechanical damage, then this can lead to a fairly rapid decay of the fruit. If all storage conditions are met, Marble Gourd can retain its qualities for about one year.

This pumpkin variety is a variety that belongs to the nutmeg.Ripening occurs quite late. If you follow all the rules for care, you can get very good harvest results. At the same time, the fruits will have high taste, as well as bright aroma. According to its application, marble pumpkin belongs to the universal varieties. It is a good addition to soups, vegetable stews, and is also suitable for canning and juicing.

Pumpkin Marble