30.05.2017 27 400

How to pinch a pumpkin open ground and further care?

If you don’t know how to pinch a pumpkin in open ground, then read what rules you need to follow to get a tasty and rich harvest. Also from the article you will learn how many vines to leave on a pumpkin and how many ovaries, how the bush is formed, what needs to be done to make the pumpkin sweet, and how the variety affects cultivation, as well as others useful recommendations experienced gardeners and summer residents.

Pumpkin in open ground - pictured

Let's figure out whether you need to pinch the pumpkin?

Almost every garden blooms with bright large balls by the end of summer different color, - this pumpkin has gained unprecedented popularity among gardeners today, and for good reason. The fruits contain incredible amounts of vitamins and microelements; people have learned to cook delicious healthy dishes from pumpkin. gardening is a relatively easy task, the plant develops well at high sunny place, moisture and heat are required, but stagnation of water is contraindicated.

The culture grows quite quickly, soon a powerful fruit with large leaves, long stems. In order for the fruits to be large and sweet, you need to know how to pinch a pumpkin in open ground. Before learning how to pinch, it is important to understand why the procedure is needed.

A good support for a pumpkin can be a fence along which the lashes will crawl, braiding the whole thing. Some crafty people even grow pumpkins on the roof, and the results are impressive. If it is not possible to use a fence or a roof, then the formation of pumpkin vines becomes a necessity. In addition, devoting a lot of space to pumpkin on 6 acres is, at a minimum, not rational; not every summer resident can afford this.

a mesh fence serves as a support for the pumpkin - in the photo

It is very important that by pinching the period when the pumpkin fruits become ripe is adjusted, the quantity and quality of the ovaries are adjusted. A pumpkin with only 3-4 leaves already has flowers containing future harvest. The gardener’s task is to increase the number of flowers or leave the existing ones to collect bountiful harvest. The summer resident creates a pumpkin bush, namely, pinches, trims, stepsons, removes excess ovaries, spoiled fruits, leaves, and all these operations lead to an excellent result.

If you are going to grow a pumpkin in the conditions of Siberia and the Urals, as well as other northern regions of the country, where the climate is not so hot, keep in mind that you need to leave no more than 3-4 ovaries on the vines of large-fruited varieties, otherwise the fruits may not have time to ripen before the arrival of frost .

How to pinch a pumpkin - basic rules and techniques

Beginners in gardening often have a problem: how to pinch a pumpkin in the open ground so that it is correct and does not harm the harvest? Let's figure out how to pinch a pumpkin, based on the experience of experienced gardeners and summer residents with experience:

1. The first rule is to start pinching a pumpkin when there are fruits on the vines reaching a diameter of 10 cm
2. The stems need to be pinched so that 4-6 leaves remain above each fruit.
3. Be sure to decide how many ovaries to leave on the pumpkin, since to obtain large fruits it is better to leave 1-4 ovaries, depending on the variety grown and the region of cultivation
4. When solving the problem of how to pinch a pumpkin in open ground, it is better to use the tips and lead to one, two (main and lateral) or three stems (main and two laterals). Most convenient way to get large fruits, leave the main stem with 2-3 fruits and one side shoot with one pumpkin.

formation of a pumpkin bush - in the photo

Experienced farmers advise beginners not to grow all the bushes in one way, but to try to form one plant into one stem, another into two, etc. This is the only way to choose the most suitable way maintaining culture. If you form a pumpkin into three stems, then you need to leave one main shoot and two side shoots, and there will be one fruit on each of the shoots.

It is worth noting that a pumpkin can grow perfectly without shaping. If the variety is not large-fruited, medium or small in size, then in good weather the harvest will please you in any case. When you leave a larger number of ovaries on large-fruited varieties (5-7), the ripening period automatically increases, and the size of the fruit decreases.

Don’t forget that pumpkin is a heat-loving plant, so ripening requires a lot of sun and heat, fertilizing and the quality of the bed are also important, and the characteristics of the variety have not been canceled - all this must be taken into account in complex, in order to correctly calculate how many lashes leave on the pumpkin.

The need to form a pumpkin and regulate the number of fruits is determined based on the purpose of cultivation - exhibition varieties (as a rule, one fruit is left on one stem to make it as large as possible), for home preparations, etc.

Caring for a pumpkin after pinching

You can choose any of the methods of forming a culture, but in any case you need to sprinkle the lashes with soil. When their length reaches about a meter, they are separated and sent to necessary side. The lashes take root in sprinkled areas, further fertilizing the plant. A gardener must know not only how to pinch a pumpkin, but also how to create conditions for its successful growth.

pumpkin care - pictured

Often pumpkin flowers need to be pollinated artificially, since weather sometimes they are not happy and pollination does not occur, so the process of starting to set fruit is postponed indefinitely.

The operation is carried out early in the morning; for this, male flowers with the petals removed must be pressed well against the stigma of an open female flower. How to distinguish male flowers pumpkins from female ones, you ask, but it’s very simple - the male flower will stick out on a long thin stalk, and the female one can be recognized by the base, in which the round rudiments of future fruits will be visible.

During each growth period, the pumpkin requires a large number of water. It is especially needed when mass flowering and fruit formation, the plant needs abundant evening watering. The water should not be colder than twenty degrees. After watering, it is recommended to remove weeds and loosen the soil.

If the ovary is not yet comparable in size to a fist, then you should not water it, otherwise only leaves will grow. To give the pumpkin time to ripen and gain sugar, the access to water should be stopped; it does not tolerate soil dampness. While the fruit is small, a piece of board or plywood or something like that is placed under it to save it from rotting.

The plant is responsive to feeding, but the main thing is not to overdo it. If the garden bed is fertilized in the fall, then in the summer the pumpkin is not given organic matter. Pumpkin is well received liquid fertilizer with alternating mineral and natural preparations. With a lack of phosphorus, the pumpkin ovaries may fall off; the same problem can arise with excess moisture.

To prepare organic matter, take 2 liters of slurry and wood ash weighing 50g. In the first month of pumpkin growth, 6-8 plants need about a bucket of this fertilizer at a time. Alternate this feeding with mineral fertilizer - dilute superphosphate (40 g), potassium salt (30 g), saltpeter (20 g) in 10 liters of water.

Now the gardener knows how to pinch a pumpkin in the open ground and how to further care to obtain tasty, large and sweet fruits. Have a good harvest!

Sweet watermelons, grown in abundance around the world, are called Citrullus lanatus in Latin. This large plant, forming lashes up to 3 meters long, belongs to the pumpkin family. The closest wild-growing related species are still found in southern Africa, and the history of watermelons is like cultivated plant, goes back more than one thousand years. It is most cultivated in China, followed with a noticeable lag by Turkey, the countries of America, as well as Russia and Uzbekistan. Wanting to taste a ripe watermelon, we head to markets or supermarkets. But in this case, there is no guarantee that the purchased product will not harm our health. This is precisely what forces many to think about the possibility of growing such a crop on their own. personal plot. And here they become topical issues agrotechnical plan. Not everyone knows whether there is a need to pinch watermelons and how to do it correctly. Meanwhile, experienced gardeners They claim that growing watermelons is no more difficult than growing tomatoes. And so our article is all about pinching watermelons.

Do I need to pinch watermelons?

It should be noted that the primary task of any gardener is to obtain large harvests with high-quality fruits. When growing watermelons, the ultimate goal will be to obtain large, sweet and juicy berries, and pinching the bushes will help in this difficult task. The process in question is somewhat reminiscent of removing side shoots from tomatoes or pinching other plants.

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Pinching involves removing the top parts of new shoots to stop their growth, which leads to shading of crops when grown in a greenhouse. It should be noted that pinching watermelons should only be done in northern latitudes (middle lane Russia, Siberia, Ural). After such an operation, two or three ovaries are left, and due to the fact that a limited number of shoots remains on the plant, they develop much faster than under standard conditions. When growing watermelons in film greenhouses, only the side shoots are removed, because in most varieties the fruits develop only on the main stem, and the ovary on the remaining shoots is not capable of forming a full-fledged harvest.

What varieties of watermelon require pinching?

Summer gives us many positive emotions and memories; it is during this period that the largest flow of harvest of the year falls. An integral attribute summer period is a large ripe watermelon. The only question is how to break this “watermelon tradition” and harvest a generous harvest in season.

Do the pinching as carefully as possible - the watermelon does not at all tolerate having the whip turned over, much less trampled underfoot.

In order for a watermelon to grow tasty, large and healthy, you need to strictly follow the rules of its cultivation and provide conditions conducive to this. Each region has its own unique climatic characteristics, which directly affects the cultivation of watermelon. So, before planting a watermelon, it is important to choose the right variety.

For clarity, the features of pinching varieties are shown in the table:

Experienced summer residents who have been growing melons for many years give a lot of recommendations to get good fruits, not small balls. The formation of watermelons can be done different ways, but the most important thing is to choose one that is suitable for your region and easy to care for.

When to pinch a watermelon

During the development of watermelons in a greenhouse, you need to monitor the growth of crops. If plants interfere with each other, it is necessary to remove unnecessary shoots. It should be noted that in most regions of the Russian Federation, melon growers try to put 3-5 fruits on watermelons. Thus, the plant is freed from the burden of the harvest, and the remaining fruits grow quickly, becoming large and sweet. During the period of intensive fruit growth, pinching of plants is stopped in order to speed up the development of the crop. There is no need to cut off all the leaves, because for normal growth, watermelons require photosynthesis, which occurs through the leaf surface. Try to leave two or three leaves after each fruit, so trim the unnecessary shoot higher.

Rules for pinching a watermelon

In order not to harm your future harvest, when pinching, you must follow following rules and at the same time know that the berries grow on the central stem.

1. It is necessary to leave about 2-3 ovaries on the plant, for some varieties it is possible to have 5-6. The rest, as you understand, are circumcised. You just need to start pruning from a very early stage. From the first shoot, which has grown to 5 leaves, we cut off everything that is under the second leaf. New shoots may soon appear from the remaining axils - we cut them off completely.
2. After the first ovaries appear, you need to work with each upper part of the lash and pinch it so that a few leaves remain above the last part.
3. Sometimes it happens that some shoots do not bear fruit. There is no need to try to bring them into a fruit-bearing state, but they must be removed immediately, since by giving up their strength to such idle shoots, the plant itself becomes weaker.
4. Once the young watermelons begin to grow, all pinching should be stopped. From this moment the plant begins to gain strength. If you get a little carried away, and as a result, at the stage of fruit growth, there are too few leaves left on the plant, then you need to pinch the shoot located above the fruit, this will provoke the growth of leaves, which are necessary for any plant.

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Formation of watermelons in a greenhouse

Watermelon lash early age do not pinch, since the fruits grow at their ends; Only weak shoots are removed. When growing watermelons in a greenhouse, a mandatory technique is to standardize the number of watermelon fruits. 2-3 fruits are left on one plant. This operation is carried out when the ovary reaches a diameter of 5-7 cm. Lateness delays ripening. To speed up the growth of the remaining fruits, pinch the vines, leaving 5 leaves above the fruit.

To care for watermelons in a greenhouse as proper agricultural technology suggests, water the plants carefully, wetting only the soil and leaving the stem dry. It is convenient to water along the furrows. After each watering, it is advisable to loosen the soil. During the ripening period, the amount of watering is reduced. During flowering, it is useful to carry out refreshing watering. IN hot weather It is advisable to water every other day.

If you have planted enough large-fruited variety, make sure that the plant is regularly monitored. During the period of active appearance of ovaries on the plant, carefully monitor their number. If extra ovaries appear at a time when you are no longer expecting them (this means specimens in excess of the norm), in mandatory remove them. They will not bear fruit, but will take away a lot of vitality from the plant.

If you got a little carried away and removed too many leaves during the formation of the plant, you can correct the situation by carefully pinching the shoots above the fruits, thus provoking active growth new leaves.

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I was prompted to write this article by a question asked by an elderly woman at one of the agricultural exhibitions in Eurasia. She asked: why she can’t grow watermelons, and how they should be grown in greenhouses in the North-West region.

I explained to her that many authors wrote about watermelons in great detail in the magazine, introducing useful information to the treasury of gardening knowledge. Why couldn't this woman make watermelons? Either the variety is wrong, or they weren’t pollinated, the woman noted. They bloomed, but there was no point. It turned out that she fully understands the theory of growing this huge berry. And she told me in detail about the flowering of the watermelon, that the female flowers are located at the end main lash and in vines of the first order, and male ones are smaller and bloom for one day, female ones are large, bloom for two days. Male flowers begin to bloom, and then, after 10-15 days, female flowers begin to bloom. The duration from germination to this moment is 75-80 days, and then the cold is close.

Historians say that Tsar Peter, when he was in the Caspian Sea, admired the local watermelons. He wanted to grow them near Moscow. Hired best workers, brought from the Volga "watermelon craftsmen", local seeds, even local soil - all to no avail. So it turns out that Astrakhan watermelons grow better in Astrakhan.

Then, at the exhibition last year, I advised her to try growing an early ripening watermelon hybrid Sorento F1 . And everything worked out for her: two watermelons, 7 kg each, grew from the vine. Well matured. They turned out to be very sweet. Perhaps the warm summer contributed to this. This year she came to the exhibition again and thanked her for the advice in choosing a variety. But she didn’t end with questions. And there were many of them. This time she was already interested: how to get more watermelons on the lash? Is this possible in our area, and why do the berries set faster on the side vines? How to properly form plants. Question after question followed.

And I promised to write an article about growing watermelons to answer not only her questions, but also the questions of many other gardeners in our region who want to grow these delicious berries.

Forming watermelons

I’ll say right away about the formation of plants. Here are some options. In a greenhouse, watermelon is grown on a vertical trellis. Twine is tied to each plant. At the same time, they are formed - the two lower lateral shoots (first-order shoots) are removed, since female flowers on them usually appear late. Shoots on which no female flower has formed up to the 6-7th node are removed. The main stem is tied to a vertical trellis, its top is regularly twisted along the twine and not pinched. First-order side shoots of the middle and upper tiers are pinched 2-3 leaves above the female flower. Standardization of ovaries accelerates the formation of the first fruits and improves their marketability and taste. The normal load on the plant is 4-5 fruits weighing 0.8-1.2 kg. If the fruits are large, then leaving more than two does not make sense. If there is an abnormally hot summer, then you can leave more.

The fruits are formed on the main stem, middle and upper side shoots, they are placed in special nets, which are suspended from the upper horizontal wire of the trellis or from the greenhouse frame. The distance between plants and rows in the greenhouse is 70 cm. As the vines grow, they are tied to trellises, and new fruits are hung on nets. No more than 2-3 fruits are left on one plant, the remaining ovaries are removed, preventing them from growing to a diameter of more than 5 cm.

To speed up the growth of the fruit, pinch the vine, leaving 5 leaves above the fruit. Weak shoots are removed altogether.

Vladimir Stepanov, Doctor of Biological Sciences
Photo by E. Valentinov

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