How to grow pumpkin crops in an open area

Pumpkin crops have a special place in our family. It is used both for the preparation of side dishes and pies, and for desserts. It is difficult to calculate how many years pumpkins have been grown on plots in our region, not paying attention even to bad weather. Some fruits tend to exceed the fifteen kilogram mark, which is pretty good. The article will be entirely devoted to the cultivation of pumpkin crops in the open field.

Pumpkin crops

Breeders bred more than a dozen pumpkin varieties that differed in taste, resistance, and ripening period. The following groups can be distinguished: It is used both fresh and in the form of blanks. Rounded in shape, with a slightly soft crust.

There are such varieties as: Therapeutic, Smile, Amazon, Volga gray, Sweetie; Muscat. It has a short shelf life. Vegetable patterns range from round to cylindrical. The inside is sweetish, the bark is rather tender. The most famous varietal varieties: Vitamin, Prikubanskaya and Zhemchuzhina; Hard-faced. Well suited for conservation and long-term storage. Vegetables can be of absolutely any shape, the crust is strong. The best varietal varieties: Freckle, Adagio, Gribkovskaya bush.

All types of varieties are divided into: dining, fodder and decorative. Based on the variety, the pumpkin can be in the form of a bush, or compact, and also has a long or medium lash. Pumpkins can be subdivided according to the ripening period: early varieties, mid-season and late varieties.

Pumpkin crops: cultivation

Pumpkin crops: photos

Although the pumpkin culture is not very whimsical to the environmental conditions, but still against the background of frosts, young shoots may die. To prevent death, it will be possible to plant a pumpkin in an open area after the air temperature warms up to ten to twelve degrees.

In order to plant pumpkin crops, the region must also be taken into account. For example, in the southern part of Russia, pumpkin is planted in the second half of April, in the northern part and in the middle lane - in the second half of May. Early peonies and viburnum bloom can be considered prerequisites for planting.

Pumpkin crops: choosing a place

Pumpkin crops: photos

Pumpkins, although not a whimsical plant, still love warmth. When planting a pumpkin, it is advisable to choose a hill that is well illuminated by the sun, this will speed up the process of its ripening. It is possible to plant a pumpkin in a greenhouse, this will also have a beneficial effect on its growth.

You can often observe a pumpkin planted along the fence, this is done in order to protect it from the adverse effects of the wind. It's not a secret for anyone that for good growth of this or that plant, crop rotation must be observed. For example, it is good to plant a pumpkin after:

• Legumes
• Tomatoes
• Zlakov
• Potato

It is not advisable to plant a pumpkin if pumpkin or root crops grew there last season.

Site preparation

The preparatory work of the site before planting is usually carried out in the fall. It is necessary to remove all residues from previous plants and fertilize the soil (compost). If possible, you can add mineral compositions at the rate of twenty grams of ammonium nitrate, twenty grams of superphosphate and fifteen grams of potassium sulfate per meter.

Pumpkin seeds

Pumpkin crops: photos

Pumpkin seeds are rather large and have a dense shell, in order to accelerate their germination, it is necessary to prepare them for planting. Pumpkin seeds are soaked for a day in a sodium humate solution and placed in a damp cloth for two days. After some intervals (five to six hours), it is necessary to moisten the material.

The optimum temperature for the content is twenty to twenty three degrees of heat. To avoid seed infection, it is advisable to treat the sprouts with a 1% manganese solution.

Planting pumpkin crops

Pumpkin crops: photos

It is recommended to plant pumpkin crops in two ways: simply sow the seed directly into the soil, or by the seedling method. Seedling method, the most correct, based on the fact that prepared sprouts increase their immunity, frost resistance and ripening period.

Growing seedlings

Sowing seeds of pumpkin crops is carried out twenty five to thirty days before the planned planting them directly into the soil. To grow strong pumpkin seedlings? you need to prepare containers, for example, peat pots, as well as soil-mixture, which will include: turf soil, peat soil and organic humus.

Pumpkin crops: photos

The container should be up to fourteen centimeters in diameter, it needs to be filled with soil to about sixty percent. Then slightly moisten it with liquid. The seeds must be deepened into the ground vertically, and then added to the container of earth. Containers with future seedlings should be placed in a warm and well-lit place, and also covered with a transparent film to create a greenhouse effect.

The very first sprouts will appear after about ten to twelve days, as soon as they sprout, you can get rid of the film. Before you decide to plant your seedlings, they need to be watered in a timely and stable manner so that the top layer of the soil does not dry out. You can transplant in May. Before transplanting, it is recommended to harden the plants, for this you need to take them out to the balcony for a short time (one to two hours) every day.

How to transplant correctly

In order for the transplantation of pumpkin crops to be successful, it is necessary to prepare the surface, you need to make holes no deeper than ten centimeters. Sprinkle wood ash on the bottom of the recess to avoid infections. The distance between plants is eighty to one hundred centimeters, the spacing between rows is one hundred to one hundred and fifty centimeters. Seedlings are transplanted together with the earth from the container, sprinkled on top with a fertile layer of soil. After this, the plants must be moistened with a lukewarm liquid.

Pumpkin crops: photos

Based on the selected seedlings, some varieties can be planted directly into the ground, even without sprouts. This is due to their frost resistance and germination capacity.

Landing technology: Smooth the prepared area, pour lukewarm water over it. Divide the planting site so that the distance between the bushes is eighty centimeters, and the row spacing is at least one hundred centimeters. Seeds in several pieces, deepen into the ground to a depth of six to eight centimeters, after which, water again. Each planting site must be protected from pests, for example, with a bottle with a cut off bottom. The bottles can be removed after the first shoots appear. Subsequently, it is necessary to thin out the seedlings, removing the weak and sick.

Pumpkin crops: care features

Subject to all of the above conditions, pumpkin crops will require minimal personal care.
Basic Rules:
Pumpkin is a moisture-loving crop and therefore needs regular watering. Throughout the growth stage, planting should be watered every two days at the rate of five to seven liters per bush. When fruits begin to form, or the weather is too hot and dry, the frequency and volume of watering should be increased.

The liquid for irrigation needs a settled and warm; fertilizers are applied at the stage of forming three to five strong leaves, for this purpose it is advisable to use nitrogen compounds, for example, nitroammofosk with the calculation of fifteen grams for every hundred centimeters.

Top dressing with a mineral component can be easily changed to a solution of organic matter or manure. The second period of feeding should be carried out at a time when the ovaries begin to form. A complex composition or a combination of potassium sulfate and super-phosphate is well suited; pumpkin prefers loose soil, so every few days it is necessary to loosen the soil; in order to increase yields, it is necessary to prune. For example, forming into one stem - removing all unnecessary ovaries and shoots. No more than three flowers and three leaves are left on the lash. It is imperative to pinch the growth point. Forming in two stems is used only for high-yielding varieties. The pruning is carried out so that two ovaries remain on the main whip, and one on the side. The growth point must also be removed. A piece of material (slate, plastic, etc.) must be placed under the forming or already formed fruits.

Pumpkin crops: pests and diseases

Pumpkin crops: photos

With not proper care and not following the above rules, there is a chance that the pumpkin culture will be attacked by pests or become infected with diseases. The most dangerous diseases: powdery mildew; olive spot; root rot; bacteriosis.
Signs of infection are a decrease in the growth rate, characteristic traces, the ovaries turn yellow and fall off, which affects the yield. For treatment, chemical agents such as fungicides are used. The plant is processed twice with an interval of fourteen days. For prevention, it is recommended to periodically spray the planting with a solution of wood ash.
Of the pests of pumpkin crops, spider mites, melon aphids and slugs can be distinguished. Save the plant
it is possible by processing folk remedies, for example, with ash or a solution of onion peels.
If we take as an example treatment with a chemical insecticide of a wide spectrum of action, then you can use: Aktara, Intavir, Iskra, Aktellik. Pumpkin - has become very popular among gardeners and gardeners. From pumpkin crops, you can prepare a huge variety of dishes. When choosing the right variety, following the rules, you can get a rich harvest of pumpkin crops, without any problems.