Melon

Melon mankind has grown more than four thousand years. From Asia, it penetrated the Volga steppes, then spread to the southern regions of Russia. With the advent of greenhouses melon began to grow even in the Non-Black Earth and the royal court in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Monks of the Valaam Monastery knew how to grow melons and watermelons in the open.

As the melon comes from Iran, Middle Asia and Asia Minor, it is a plant that is heat-resistant and drought-resistant.

What melon likes? Heat, light, neutral or slightly alkaline, breathable, moderately moist soil( watering only when the top layer is dry) and dry air( constant greening of the greenhouses is required when growing not outdoors), systematic loosening of the soil, moderate fertilizing with a weak solution of mineral fertilizers.

What melon does not like? Sour, even slightly acid, dense soil, stagnant, moist air, fresh manure, cold weather, excess doses of mineral and organic fertilizers, watering cold( below 20-22 degrees) water.

Choice of variety

In regions with short or cool summers, it is better to grow early varieties and hybrids of melons, which last 30-40 days from flowering to maturation( 50-60 for middle-aged melons).

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The maturity of the melon fruit is determined by the color of the peel and the flavor. If you press on the fruit from the side opposite the pedicle, then the ripe melon crouches the crust.

Grow early, small, up to 1-2 kg, melons. They are not subject to storage and do not ripen in the room, if they are removed immature. Melons of medium ripening time can ripen in the room, since they are stored for about a month. Large Asian melons in such regions do not grow, but they can be vaccinated for pumpkins - then you can grow large, long-preserved Asian melons.

Small melons weighing about 1 kg can be grown on a balcony or loggia in the same way as in a greenhouse. You just need to provide them with a sufficient area of ​​food( a plastic bucket with a capacity of at least 5-6 liters is quite suitable for this).

In the Northwest and in the Non-Black Earth Region of Russia, of course, it is impossible to grow Central Asian large melons. Here, small melons with a weight of no more than 1.5-2 kg are possible.

Duration of sowing

Melon can be sown with dry seeds right into the ground after the night frosts pass and the soil warms up at a depth of 10 cm to a temperature of 15-16 degrees, ie later on June 10, otherwise the fruits will not ripen. When sowing, the seeds are buried in the soil for 3 cm.

In a greenhouse melon can be sown already on May 15 on the warmed ground, like watermelon or cucumbers.

You can grow it through seedlings, this will allow you to harvest 2-3 weeks earlier, which is an important factor in the conditions of the North-West or Non-Black Earth Region, as well as for the regions of Siberia. For this, the melon is sown in pots 30-35 days before transplanting to a permanent place.

If you grow a melon in the open ground or under cover, then it should be planted in seedlings at the end of April.

If you grow it in a greenhouse, then you can plant seeds for seedlings in early April.

Seed preparation

Before sowing the seeds can be soaked, then they will ascend faster, the seeds are sown in the soil at the moment they are just pierced.

You can immediately sow dry seeds in moist soil, then shoots will linger for 2-3 days. Melon, like all pumpkin, can not be dived, so it must be sown immediately into pots of sufficient capacity( diameter not less than 10 cm).Seeds germinate at a temperature of 15-30 degrees. Seedlings appear after 10-14 days. Soaked seeds at a temperature of 25 degrees can ascend already on the 4th day.

Peculiarities of cultivation of

Plant seedlings in place at the age when she will have 5-6 of these sheets.

Before transplanting it is necessary to make holes, to make in them 1 tbsp.spoon ash, pour the soil with a weak solution of potassium permanganate, to avoid the appearance of mold, completely pour warm water and, when the water is absorbed, plant the seedlings from the pot into the hole. Seedlings a day before the transplant watered with warm water. Plants do not penetrate into the soil.

In melons, melons are tied up, as well as cucumbers. But the melon does not curl and does not cling to the twine, so it should be twisted around the twine as it grows. Plant plants should be at a distance of 40-50 cm from each other.

If you grow a variety, you need to pinch the central stem above the 5-6th leaf to cause a rapid growth of the lateral shoots with female flowers. The lateral shoot, replacing the main stem, is tied to the trellis.

When the hybrid is grown, the lateral shoots are plucked after the 2-3 leaves to avoid excessive thickening, the central stem is not plucked, as in the hybrids female flowers are located on the main shoot. Melons are pollinated by insects, so in cold or rainy weather, when insects do not fly, you will have to pollinate the plants themselves. On one plant should be left no more than 2-3 fruits, located not in a row, but at some distance from each other. When the melon fruit reaches the size of a tennis ball, it should be suspended in a grid on a horizontal trellis, to which the plants are tied, otherwise the fruit will break.

As the melon comes from hot and drought-resistant countries, it is better to plant it in one greenhouse with tomatoes or peppers, but it should not be planted in one greenhouse with cucumbers.

Top dressing and watering

As soon as cotyledons are opened, fertilizing with "Uniflor-bud" fertilizer( 1 teaspoon of fertilizer per 5 liters of chlorine-free water) should be given immediately. Top dressing should be combined with watering and in no case do not over-moisten the soil( water only when the surface of the soil dries).Watering depends on the lighting: if it's overcast, then less often, if it's sunny, then more often. Dyne needs moderate top dressing, her agronorm N + P + K = 21, aN: P: To melon 29: 13: 58, that is, it is potassium, like cucumber and pumpkin. Before the appearance of the first female flower, it is fed with azofovskaya( 3 tablespoons per Yule of water) every week during watering( 0.5 liters of fertilizer per plant).

From the moment of flowering, nitrogen should be removed from the feeding and give only phosphorus-potassium top dressing( 1 tablespoon of superphosphate and 2 tablespoons of potassium sulfate).

But you can immediately make a planting in each hole for 4 pellets of fertilizer AVA and more melon is not fed. However, if the plant develops poorly, then before the flowering begins to give additional fertilizer infusion of weeds.

Diseases and problems

Melon is ill with fusariosis, anthracnose and powdery mildew. To prevent these diseases, the soil before planting and the plants before flowering should be sprayed with Bordeaux liquid or "Hom", you can use the biological preparation "Phytosporin".

A good result is preventive spraying with "Zircon", "Epinom-exstra" and "Cytovit"( take 2 drops each drug and dissolve it in 1 liter of water together).

This spraying should be done as soon as the melon has 3-4 real leaves, and again when buds appear.

There are few wreckers in melon: melon aphid, spider mite, whitefly, biting scoops. On the fight against them already written above. The safest means is "Fitoverm" or "Iskra-bio".