Melon is a fragrant guest on the autumn table. Planting, growing, care. Melon: planting seedlings, growing melon in open ground How to care for melons in open ground

Definitely best melons grow in the countries of Central Asia, but in a significant part of the territory of our country you can get tasty and aromatic fruits. Sometimes this is done in a greenhouse, but melon loves the sun very much, and the most delicious specimens grow in open ground. If climatic conditions allow, then you must plant it on your site, and growing it is as easy as shelling pears.

What kind of soil does melon like?

Melon is a heat- and light-loving plant that does not tolerate shading, so you need to choose the sunniest garden bed for it. The crop grows well in hot and even dry weather, but humidity above 70% is no longer very good for it. Melon has very powerful roots, penetrating up to a meter deep and extracting the necessary moisture from there. A plant that is not very large in appearance requires a large plant for its comfortable existence. free space, so you can’t save on beds. When choosing a location, it must be taken into account that the plants must be protected from northern winds. At the same time, it is better if it is a small hill where it does not accumulate excess water. Moisture has a detrimental effect on melons, causing rot and fungal diseases.

Melons should be exposed to sunlight as much as possible.

Melon is very demanding regarding the chemical and fractional composition of the soil. The plant loves light soils, preferably medium loams with an acidity close to neutral. If clay predominates in the area, when digging it is necessary to add river sand (half a bucket per 1 m2). Acidic soils should be limed in advance by adding dolomite flour, chalk or slaked lime. When choosing a place in the garden, you need to remember what crops grew there before. The best predecessors are garlic, onions, legumes, cabbage, corn, cucumbers. Melon grows poorly after carrots and tomatoes. It should not be planted after repeated cultivation of melons. They can grow in one bed for a maximum of two years in a row, after which a five-year break must be provided.

Like most vegetable plants It is better to prepare the bed in the fall, although there will be time for this in the spring: melon is not planted very early. The area must be dug up with a shovel, adding the necessary fertilizers. For 1 m2 of beds, about a bucket of rotted manure or good compost is required. In the spring, you need to go over the bed with a cultivator, first adding superphosphate and wood ash (40 g and a half-liter jar per 1 m2, respectively). In order for the soil to ripen and warm up faster, immediately after the snow melts, you can cover the soil with plastic film.

Preparing seeds for planting

Melon can be planted through the seedling stage and by direct sowing in open ground, but seed preparation is the same in both cases. They are not always specially purchased in stores; sometimes they are chosen from the fruit they like, bought for food. The second case will not always lead to success. Firstly, like most crops, melon has hybrids (F1), and taking seeds from them is useless: it’s not clear what can grow. Secondly, markets often sell crops grown in other climates, and planting Central Asian varieties in the middle zone is completely futile. Therefore, it is better to study the literature, find out which varieties are zoned, and buy reliable seeds in a specialized store. If you are planting a melon not for the first time and taking seeds from your harvest, you need to select the largest and sweetest fruits for this purpose.

Important! Do not plant fresh seeds. The best ones are between the ages of three and six years. The fact is that young seeds produce a huge amount of barren flowers: male flowers significantly predominate in number over female ones, and the harvest is scanty.

To disinfect, melon seeds are soaked for 20–30 minutes in a pink solution of potassium permanganate, then washed with clean water. To increase germination, some gardeners soak seeds in solutions of growth stimulants or boric acid with the addition of zinc sulfate. Actually, if pickling in potassium permanganate is necessary, since it significantly reduces the risk of diseases, then growth stimulants are not needed. Good seeds germinate well in warm weather.

Melon seeds are very similar to cucumber seeds and are easy to handle.

When growing melons in central Russia, it is advisable to pre-harden them. To do this, they are soaked in warm water (30–35 °C), after cooling, they are kept in the water for another couple of hours, and then transferred to a damp cloth and sent to the refrigerator for 12–15 hours.

Do I need to soak melon seeds before planting?

If you carry out preparatory operations, the question of the need for soaking is removed by itself. In fact, the seeds are no longer dry, but even slightly swollen. But many gardeners sow them already sprouted, and to do this, after hardening, they are sent back into the water room temperature. After 4 hours, remove and lightly dry. The soaking and drying operations are alternated up to three times, after which the seeds are scattered on a damp cloth and monitored for their pecking. As soon as the shell bursts slightly and the beginnings of roots appear, begin sowing.

Soaking melon seeds is one of the conditions for obtaining a bountiful harvest.

The question of the need for soaking is not idle. We all know the theory called “Vegetable garden for the lazy”. If you do everything “as written”, there will be no energy or time left for life, and especially for work in production. Therefore, we often neglect operations that seem unnecessary to us. The author of these lines (who lives in the Middle Volga region) has never in his life pickled melon seeds or soaked them. It cannot be said that the yields are always high and stable, but there are several beautiful fruits without unnecessary hassle It grows every year in a small garden bed.

Sowing dates

The timing of planting melons in open ground depends on whether it is planting seedlings or direct sowing of seeds in a garden bed. Sowing seeds directly into open ground is recommended only for the southern regions. An attempt to do this in the middle zone and in the north of the country can lead to the fact that the fruits of even the earliest varieties will have time to set, but will not ripen. The best time to sow melon at home or in a greenhouse for seedlings is the end of April.

Planting seedlings in open ground is possible only when daytime temperatures are stable at 15–20 o C, and at night they do not drop below 6 o C. In the middle zone, this does not occur before the end of May. Of course, at earlier times there are also periods of warm weather lasting even up to two weeks, but usually they are replaced by cold snaps, so there is no need to rush to plant seedlings. In the north, the dates shift another couple of weeks towards summer. If it gets sharply cold, and the seedlings have already been planted, they should be covered with non-woven materials, and more solid shelters should be added at night.

Melon seedlings are recommended to be planted in open ground after the threat has passed. return frosts

Sowing seeds directly into open ground is possible a week earlier. As a rule, the soil in mid-May, even in the middle zone, has already warmed up, the seeds will not die, and by the time they decide to sprout, the threat of frost will go away.

Is it possible to plant melons in June?

It may seem that the melon planting dates can be shifted even to June in order to avoid unnecessary risk. This is quite possible if we are talking about planting strong, prepared seedlings, the seeds for which were sown no later than the beginning of May. Is it possible to sow in open ground in June? This question is quite subtle. Yes, the plants will have time to grow, bloom, produce a harvest, and the early ripening varieties will gain sugar and produce quite edible fruits. But there is another side to the problem.

Melon is a short day plant. This means that for the timely onset of flowering, it needs not too long daylight hours, and in June in the middle zone it reaches 17 hours. Therefore, the sooner the seeds are placed in the ground (even in seedling cups), the less time is required for flowering to begin.

In addition, experience shows that melons sown from mid-May and later produce much fewer flowers than those whose life cycle began earlier, in February-April. Excessive sunlight is not very beneficial for young plants. Therefore, if possible, you should not delay sowing melons.

How to plant a melon

Melon can be sown in a garden bed with seeds or planted with pre-grown seedlings. And if in the south no one is engaged in growing seedlings, then in the northern regions it is impossible to do without it.

Distance between seedlings

Regardless of the planting method, the placement pattern is the same. It is based on the requirements of the plant for its growing conditions. And melons, in addition to the usual care, also require the formation of bushes (removing excess vines, pinching, etc.), without which the harvest turns out to be meager. This means that when planting plants, it is necessary to provide for the convenience of subsequent care for them.

There are different schemes for growing melons, but in any case the plants should grow freely. The most popular is line planting, in which a minimum of 70, and preferably 90, cm is left between the rows. In this case, the holes are made in a checkerboard pattern, but in each of the rows the distance between adjacent holes must be at least half a meter. With denser plantings, caring for the plantation is difficult, and the likelihood of diseases is increased.

Melons need to be given a lot of free space, because they will soon completely occupy it

There are people who like to make a flower bed out of melon plantings. It is made in the form of a circle with a diameter of about one and a half meters. One hole is made in the center of the circle and 5–6 pieces around the circumference.

Planting melon seeds in open ground

Planting melon seeds is as easy as planting most vegetable plants. To do this you need to do the following:

1. In the places designated for planting according to the chosen pattern, make shallow holes up to 5 cm.
2. Add half a glass of wood ash and a teaspoon of urea to each well and mix well.
3. Gently pour warm water into the holes from a ladle until the moisture is absorbed into the soil.
4. Place several prepared seeds in each hole at a distance of 3–5 cm from each other.
5. Cover the seeds with soil and lightly compact the soil.
6. If the weather forecast is unfavorable, cover the bed with spunbond or lutrasil.

Shoots can be expected in 1–1.5 weeks, and when will the most strong plants in each hole, the excess will need to be removed.

Video: sowing melon seeds in the garden

Planting seedlings in open ground

When sowing seeds at home or in a greenhouse for seedlings, it must be taken into account that transplanting seedlings into open ground will take place no earlier than in a month. Only when sowing seeds in peat pots or tablets can this be done a little earlier without disturbing the root system. Taking this into account, the start date for work should be determined.

The optimal soil mixture for seedlings consists of equal parts turf soil, sand, peat and humus. You can limit yourself to a peat-sand composition, but then peat should make up slightly more than half of the total volume. You can sow in a box, but transplanting melons from a common container into a garden bed will be very painful, and it is better to take a separate glass for each plant. Optimally - peat pots with a diameter of about 10 cm. Sowing is carried out to a depth of about 2 cm, 2-3 seeds per glass, and a little clean sand is poured on top. Before sowing, the soil is slightly moistened. The optimal temperature for growing seedlings is 20 °C during the day and 15 °C at night, but immediately after emergence it is lowered by 3–5 degrees for several days. Moderate watering is needed. After the seedlings grow a few centimeters, one plant at a time is left in the pot.

Each melon plant needs its own cup; you should not disturb the roots when transplanting into the ground

By the time of planting in the garden, the seedlings should have several pairs of true leaves. Planting seedlings has small features:

1. Before planting in open ground, seedlings must be watered well.
2. The seedling must be removed from the reusable container as carefully as possible without destroying the earthen lump. The whole peat pot is planted in the hole.
3. In the designated places, use a scoop to make holes the size of an earthen clod and water them with warm water.
4. Carefully lower the seedlings into the holes so that they are 1–2 cm above the surface of the ground. Deepening is strictly prohibited.
5. Carefully water the seedlings in the garden bed with warm water from a ladle so that the earthen ball drops no lower than the soil level. Add soil without filling the root collar.
6. Place around plants thin layer clean sand.
7. For the first few days, cover the bed with seedlings with non-woven material.

Is it possible to plant a melon in a barrel?

In recent years, it has become fashionable to plant various vegetables and even strawberries in old, unusable barrels. This saves space in the dacha and makes it easier to care for the plantings. Some gardeners plant melons in this way.

To do this, an old barrel is painted with light paint (the roots do not need overheating) and half filled with hay, straw, mown grass, sawdust and other debris. Several buckets of fertile soil are poured on top, adding a couple of cans of wood ash. The soil is spilled with a solution of potassium permanganate and the seeds are sown in a barrel. In a standard barrel, it is possible to make only two holes; several seeds are placed in them in the same way as in a regular garden bed. For the first time, cover the crops with non-woven material or simply cut-off halves of plastic bottles.

Melons are heat-loving, so they feel good in a barrel. Watering is carried out with warm water, and the fertilizers will ripen by themselves at the right time, since there is grass below. Melon vines can hang freely from the walls of the barrel, but at first they try not to let them do this. Only when a really warm summer arrives can they behave as they please.

You can plant any vegetables in a barrel: cucumbers, pumpkins, melons

If you try, you can build a similar structure on the balcony and grow melons right in an apartment building. Of course, there is no need to drag a huge barrel there, but in a bucket of soil it is quite possible to grow one melon and get several fruits from it.

Neighborhood with other cultures

Our summer resident cannot allow space on the site to be empty, and rightly so. If nothing can be planted next to some plants, then melon is not one of them. The best neighbors for melons are radishes, beans, corn, and herbs. Undesirable neighbors are cucumbers and potatoes. Potatoes emit substances that cause melon plants to wilt, and cucumbers are so related to melons that in some cases they can cross-pollinate, which spoils the quality of the crop. And, of course, there should be no trees near the melon, since shading is contraindicated for this crop.

The question often arises about planting melon and watermelon together. It turns out that they coexist perfectly with each other, especially since their growing conditions are almost the same. However, it is necessary to take into account that both crops grow very much, so when planting you need to leave significant distances between them.

Melon care

Melon care includes the most common agronomic activities. Watering is needed infrequently, only in obviously dry times, but before the fruits appear, it is still advisable to do it weekly: at the root and always with water heated in the sun. When the fruits appear, watering is reduced and then stopped altogether. Loosening with the simultaneous destruction of weeds is possible until the melons have grown and filled the entire space. When side lashes appear, the melon is lightly hilled. Feeding is needed three times:

• 2 weeks after disembarkation;
• at the beginning of flowering;
• at the beginning of fruit growth.

There is no need to give a lot of fertilizers; it is best to limit yourself to diluted mullein.

As soon as the seedlings continue to grow in a new place, their main stem is pinched so that the plant spends all its resources on the formation and growth of fruits. Ultimately, each bush should have one main stem and two side stems. (For hybrids, it’s the other way around: after the third leaf, the side stems are pinched, the main female flowers are formed on the main shoot).

The maximum number of fruits that one bush can bear is 6–7 pieces. Often trellises are installed for melons. In this case, tying is required - these plants do not tend to climb up on their own. If trellises are not installed, care must be taken to ensure that the fruits do not lie on bare ground and rot. Place a piece of board or plywood under each melon.

Growing melons on trellises saves space and protects the fruit from damage.

Features of planting melons in the regions

The main difference in climatic conditions between regions for growing melons is the number of warm summer days. This is what leaves an imprint not only on the conditions for caring for plants, but also on the method of planting them in beds. Growing melons is extremely difficult only in regions with a harsh climate, for example, in Siberia.

Central Russia

In central Russia, a few varieties of melons are grown. The most traditional are Altai and Kolkhoznitsa. It is not easy to harvest a good harvest here, and direct sowing of seeds in open ground is almost never used. First, seedlings are grown at home. Work on growing seedlings begins after April 20, and at the end of May they are transferred under film covers. Hardening of seeds before sowing is mandatory. You can transplant seedlings into open ground no earlier than the tenth of June.

The melon variety Kolkhoznitsa is one of the most popular in central Russia.

The success of the entire event depends on the current weather. In other years, the harvest manages to ripen and is quite decent. But there are very rainy and cold seasons, and then the melon in the open ground may not even start, limiting itself to growing abundant green mass. In good years, melons are successfully grown in the Bryansk, Novgorod, Vladimir, and Kaluga regions. New varieties are appearing, so this crop will soon move even further north.

Moscow region

The Moscow region also belongs to the middle zone, and this is an area in which growing melons is risky. You can get a normal harvest in the Moscow region only by using seedlings. Seeds should be sown no earlier than mid-April; there is enough daylight at this time. Seedlings are planted in early summer on small mounds. They often set up a “smart bed” for this: the soil, well seasoned with organic fertilizers, is covered with black film, and melon seedlings are planted in holes cut in it. And even in such a bed, for the first time, young shoots are covered with spunbond overnight. As soon as the flowers begin to appear, the covering is removed: by this time real warmth has already arrived.

Historical fact. In the Moscow region, melons were planted on warm manure beds already in the 16th century. True, they did this using greenhouses, which were opened only in the most sunny days. They used “biofuel” to grow melons – sheep or horse manure, which slowly decomposes and heats the greenhouse. And now they try to plant melons in greenhouses, but sometimes good results are obtained in open ground.

Planting melon in Belarus

The Belarusian climate is similar to Moscow, but milder: in winter there is no sharp alternation of frost and thaw, and spring comes a little earlier. Melons here, as in the Moscow region, are grown through seedlings, which are planted in a permanent place in early summer. Not all varieties in Belarus can produce a good harvest of tasty fruits; hybrids are most often sown: Aikido F1, Caramel F1, Petra F1, etc. Seedlings are planted on ridges with a distance of more than a meter between them. Planting on the plain is used less frequently.

Many people try to sow melons directly into the ground, sometimes this option leads to success, especially in the southern regions: Minsk, Gomel. But even there you can sow in the ground no earlier than the end of May, and the crops have to be covered with film for the first time. Growing melon through seedlings allows you to bring the harvest closer by two weeks, and the use of film coverings gives you an advance in terms of almost a month.

Melon variety Caramel F1 is characterized by stable fruit formation under stressful conditions

Ural region

Summer in the Urals is short and cold, so melons often do not have time to ripen. Here it is necessary to use the seedling method, and often the seedlings are planted not in a garden bed, but in a greenhouse. There are only a few suitable varieties; the most popular are Sybarite's Dream and Cinderella.

Planting seedlings in open ground is possible only in mid-June, and even at this time for the first couple of weeks it is covered with film or cut plastic bottles. Most often you have to stretch the film onto a high frame and not remove it for the first one and a half to two weeks. Getting good harvests is not guaranteed in this case either, but most often it is possible to get quite tasty and fully ripened fruits.

Melon of the Sybarite Dream variety has sweet pulp with a delicate aroma

Video: melons in the Urals

Melon is a southern plant, but enthusiasts are trying to plant it in most regions of our country. In harsh regions you cannot do without seedlings; in the middle zone you can sometimes sow melon directly in open ground, and in the south it grows freely after simply sowing the seeds. You often have to take risks, but the Russian summer resident respects the risk and tries to promote this culture further and further to the north.

Melon – heat-loving plant, the sweet, aromatic fruits of which came to Europe from Central and Asia Minor. In a temperate climate it is difficult to grow large melons weighing up to 10 kg, as in Asian countries, but interesting hybrid varieties open up new opportunities for gardeners. Favorite heat-loving varieties of melon can successfully bear fruit in a greenhouse.

There is an opinion that the best varieties of melons are grown in the south. But even in a temperate climate you can get tasty, aromatic fruits. Breeders have developed many varieties that differ in ripening time and taste.

The best hybrid varieties of melons for central Russia:

• Amal - is resistant against fungal diseases - fusarium, dry rot and downy mildew, the fruits are large, oblong, weighing 2.5-3 kg;
• Mae is a mid-early hybrid, resistant to fungal diseases, melons are formed uniformly and abundantly, their weight is 3.5–4 kg, the plant is powerful;
• Caramel is an early hybrid of the Pineapple variety, the ripening period from planting seedlings into the ground is 50–55 days, it produces a large harvest, the fruit weight is about 2 kg, and has an excellent taste and aroma.

When buying the seeds of the melon you like, you need to inquire about what climatic conditions she is growing. For growing in cool climates, it is better to choose ultra-early and early-ripening varieties.

A popular variety, known since the 40s of the last century, which is suitable for areas with risky agriculture (Ural, Volga region, etc.) is the “Kolkhoznitsa” melon. Its fruits are small, no more than one and a half kilograms, but sweet and aromatic, with thin skin and white pulp. This variety is mid-season, so it is recommended to grow it only through seedlings.

Planting melon seedlings

Before planting, the seeds are germinated by placing them between two wet wipes. After 3 or 4 days, fresh seeds sprout. You can sow dry seeds. They are carefully placed in moist, loose soil, and sprinkled with a layer of soil of about 3 cm on top.

When the first leaves appear from the ground, the plant is placed in additional light. If the seedlings do not have enough light, they will stretch out. For normal development, seedlings need 10 hours of daylight. The air temperature for germination is about +25–30 °C.

It is important not to overfeed the melons and water them moderately so that they do not stretch too much. It is not necessary to use a large container for them; seedlings grow well in pots with a diameter of 10 cm (1 seed in each container). The soil for seedlings is prepared from 1 part humus, 2 parts garden soil and 1 part sand.

When to plant melon seedlings

Since melon has a long growing season, it is advisable to grow it through seedlings. From the moment the seeds germinate until they are planted in open ground, about 25 days should pass.

Taking into account the climate of the region, you can accurately calculate when to plant melon seedlings. In central Russia, where seedlings can only be transplanted into open ground at the end of May, the seeds should be sown in mid-April.

Nuances of caring for seedlings

In addition to long daylight hours, seedlings need additional feeding. You can use store-bought complex fertilizers or prepare nutrient mixtures yourself.

The first feeding is done in the phase of appearance of the first leaf. You can feed melon seedlings with yeast (add 10 g of pressed yeast and 4 or 5 tablespoons of sugar per 1 liter of water). After 4 or 5 hours, the feeding is ready.

The second feeding is needed 2 weeks after the first. It is prepared from a solution of ash. For 3 liters of water add 1 tbsp. wood ash (water should be hot). Let it sit for a day, dilute it 1 to 10, and water the seedlings. The last fertilizing is done 5 days before planting in the ground.

Selecting a site and preparing the soil for planting seedlings

Melon should not be planted next to cucumbers; if they are pollinated, the fruits will turn out bitter. The proximity to pumpkin is not harmful for the melon, and does not affect the taste in any way.

The bed for planting is prepared in the fall. They clear the weeds, dig them up, and add rotted manure or compost to the soil. If the soil is heavy, add coarse sand. In the spring, before planting seedlings in the garden bed, it is leveled and the holes are prepared.

Planting seedlings in open ground

Melon seedlings are planted in open ground in May, when the weather is consistently warm. The holes are filled with fertile soil, the same in which the seedlings were grown. You can use a mixture of garden soil, vermicompost and ash.

The planted plants are watered abundantly with warm water and mulched with peat on top. Planted at a distance of 50–60 cm from each other.

Between the seedling bushes it is advisable to dig 5-liter plastic containers without bottom. It will be convenient to water the plants through them when the vines grow, so that a dry crust does not form on the surface.

It is advisable to cover newly planted seedlings with spunbond, stretching it over special round frames. Covered plants grow faster and are not damaged by insect pests. In summer, spunbond will protect plants from sunburn.

How to properly care for melon

Growing melon in open ground begins with the correct formation of seedlings. It is necessary to pinch the seedlings in time so that they can grow stronger and grow in a short period. On the melon, the central stem is pinched, since male flowers are formed on it, which do not set an ovary. Female flowers grow on the side shoots and form ovaries.

The stem is pinched over 3 or 4 leaves, leaving 2 or 3 side shoots. 2 or 3 fruits are left on each shoot; the more ovaries there are, the smaller the melons will be. The ends of the shoots are then also pinched so that the plant spends energy only on ripening the crop.

During the growing season, it is advisable to feed the melons to get a larger harvest. For fertilizer, you can use preparations intended for melons. It is advisable to do foliar feeding 2 or 3 times per season. When the plant begins to grow, then, when buds and flowers appear, and during the filling of fruits.

Melon needs moderate humidity; water it constantly, but not excessively. If the soil is too wet, the roots may suffocate.

Growing melon in a greenhouse

At the beginning of May, melon seedlings are planted in a greenhouse at a distance of 60 cm from each other. Add 2 tbsp to the well. compost, 1 tbsp. ash, 1 tsp. superphosphate, water with a weak solution of potassium permanganate or Fitosporin. The seedlings are not deeply buried. Pinch off the central stem, and then the side ones, leaving the required number of ovaries on each.

By growing melons in a greenhouse where there are no pollinating insects, the flowers pollinate on their own. To form ovaries on the side shoots, you need to pick a male flower from the central shoot on one of the plants and pollinate the female flowers with it. Without this procedure, the harvest will not be possible.

Ripening fruits in the greenhouse are tied up, placed in nylon nets so that they do not lie on the ground. Fertilize 3 times during the growing season, and water as the soil dries. High humidity Melon does not like air or soil.

Melon, although it belongs to the southern heat-loving crops, with the right agricultural technology, also works well in the capricious climate of the Middle Zone. You may not be able to harvest abundant exhibition harvests, but you are welcome to enjoy the juicy melon aroma and taste. It is best to grow melon through seedlings during short, cool summers and be sure to warm the beds. The most important condition is that the melons have time to ripen, because it will not be possible to ripen them under the bed.

Melon varieties for the Middle Zone

Summer in the central zone is quite fleeting and can be quite cool, so first of all for planting you need to choose F1 varieties and hybrids as early as possible, for which no more than 73 days pass from the appearance of seedlings on the soil surface to harvesting.

Of the new products recommended for cultivation in the Middle Zone, you can safely grow: Azovka F1, Indian Summer F1, Galileo F1, Kapitoshka F1, Rugby F1 and Turkish Delight. Yes, the fruits of these hybrids and varieties are far from the same size as in the south, but growing a 1.5-2 kg melon on your own plot is also an achievement. You can try it if you want variety.

Planting melon seedlings in open ground

The chances of getting melons in the middle zone by growing them are much greater; the harvest with this method is almost guaranteed. It is advisable to grow it in so as not to injure the roots during transplantation.

Timing for planting melon seedlings

Warm bed for melon

A good solution when growing melons in the middle zone would be to make dung. They should be at least 3 m wide, because melon is a climbing plant. Approximately in the middle, dig a groove half a meter wide and a little deeper than the bayonet of a shovel. Place any plant debris at the base of this groove - I usually collect grass clippings and last year's fallen leaves. Next, place well-rotted (cow only!) manure on the plant residues in a layer of 8-10 cm, and then add the soil that remains after digging the hole to the top of the ditch. If there is no manure, then you can get by with humus or add 250- 300 g of organic fertilizer in each hole before planting.

Planting melon seedlings

Seedlings that are completely ready for planting in a greenhouse or soil should have 3-4 true leaves. Before planting melons, the beds are thoroughly soaked so that a nutritious slurry is formed from water and added fertilizer (humus, compost). It is in this slurry that the seedlings should be placed, lightly filling the empty spaces of the hole with soil so that a crust does not form.

Melon planting scheme

The optimal melon planting scheme is when 75-85 cm are left between plants and approximately 1 m between rows.

Melon shelter

After planting the seedlings, I strongly recommend installing film covers. The simplest option is arcs made of rigid wire covered with film. If there are no arcs or film, then you can simply cut the plastic bottles in half and cover the plants with the halves. Only in this case the seedlings quickly take root and begin to grow quite actively.

The main thing is not to forget to remove the bottles during the midday hours and lift the film or remove it completely so that the plants do not get burned.
I noticed that on initial stage During the development of the melon (usually a week), sufficient heat is extremely important for it.

Planting melon seeds in open ground

Usually, it is reasonable to resort to growing melon by sowing seeds in the ground if something does not work out with the seedlings.

Timing for planting melon seeds in the ground

It is permissible to sow seeds as soon as the soil at a depth of 7-8 cm warms up to at least 15 °C. For accurate measurements, immerse the thermometer in the soil in the morning, not at noon. As soon as the soil warms up, you can start sowing the seeds, but it is important to have time to sow the seeds before mid-June, otherwise the crop simply will not have time to ripen.

Scheme for planting melon seeds in the ground

Seeds should be planted in the soil to a depth of 3 cm. Before sowing, I advise you to add 50-100 g of wood ash mixed with soil into each hole, then water the soil with water at room temperature.

Don’t skimp on seeds, sow at least 2-3 seeds per hole, then simply select the most well-developed plant from them, and try to plant the other two. After sowing, be sure to cover the soil with film - this will speed up the emergence of seedlings, after which the film can be removed.

Melon care in the middle zone

To get smooth, sweet and tasty melons, you need to properly care for them. For example, to give an even shape, do not be lazy at least once every two days to turn the melons onto another side, carefully so as not to tear them away from the vine. Well, don’t forget about plant formation and fruit rationing, etc.

Melon formation

Formation is very important in melon care, and the formation of the F1 variety and hybrid is different. In a varietal melon, the central stem should be pinched approximately above the 5th or 6th leaf - this will activate the growth of lateral shoots, on which female flowers will subsequently form. In hybrids, female flowers are placed precisely on the central shoot, so you need to pinch the side shoots immediately after 2 or 3 leaves. If you are lazy and don’t do this, the plant will thicken very much.

The number of fruits when growing melons in the Middle Zone must be mercilessly regulated. The climate in the central region differs significantly from the southern one, which means that in order to get normally developed fruits, you can leave two, or maximum three, on one plant. At the same time, do not leave fruits close to each other. It would be more correct if there is a distance of 15-20 cm between the melons.

Watering melon

Many gardeners think that the more water, the better - the fruits will be larger and sweeter. Actually this is not true. The fact is that the root system of the melon is quite powerful and penetrates to a depth of more than 1 m. Therefore, the melon does not need abundant watering; moderate watering is suitable for it and only when there has been no rain for a long time (about a week).

Melon feeding

Melon is not particularly demanding of mineral nutrition, and if the bed is located on fertile soil filled with organic matter, then you can completely do without mineral supplements. Yes, this may result in smaller fruits, but the taste is better. If the soils are poor and your hand reaches out to fertilizers, then still try to do without “chemistry” and ferment the soil with fermented weeds.

In order for the melons to be as juicy and sweet as possible (if they have not been so for several years in a row on organic matter), you can still apply mineral fertilizers. So, for example, a week after planting seedlings, it is advisable to water the soil with a solution of ammonium nitrate (dilute 1 tablespoon in a bucket of water and water 1 m² of soil). After a week, repeat feeding with the same volume.

Melon harvest

When harvesting melon in the central zone, it is important to remember that if you pick an unripe fruit, it will not “reach” under the bed and will last no more than 15-20 days. Therefore, you need to pick melons at full ripeness. In the central zone, melons begin to ripen at the very end of July or beginning of August. Notice the ripe ones and pick only them, even if you have to visit the garden every day.

A melon is considered to be ripe if the ripe fruit has acquired the typical color of the variety or hybrid and begins to emit a melon aroma.

Melons... With this word, the taste of their pulp immediately comes to mind. Sweet, juicy, melting in your mouth. You just can't buy enough. Of course, it’s easier for residents of the southern regions. They grow and ripen calmly.

What should those who live in the middle zone do? How to grow melons in open ground? It turns out that this is quite possible. Let's look at all the steps in detail so you can adapt them to your region. If you have a greenhouse, you can grow melons even closer to the north, but we are now interested in open ground.

Seed selection

It is quite natural that the early ripening variety should be chosen for planting. No matter how wonderful words praise the taste, color and size, we are only interested in the ripening period. With the right agricultural technology, the fruits will already have excellent taste.

An important feature of melon seeds: female flowers are obtained from seeds older than 3 years. Fresh seeds are produced by plants with a large number of male flowers, so they bear little fruit.

To check for hollowness, fill the seeds with plain water. The good and full ones will remain at the bottom, the empty and unusable ones will float to the surface. Let's move on to the next stage.

Soaking and preparation for sowing

Now you need to take a shallow bowl. Place several layers of loose paper or 2 layers of cotton fabric on the bottom. Soak the whole thing in warm water, lay out the swollen seeds in one layer. Cover the top with a light cloth or white paper, and cover with a bag. Next, the entire structure is placed in a dark, warm place for germination.

The optimal temperature for melon germination is +25-27°C. Periodically look under the cover to lightly moisten the seeds if necessary. As soon as the first sprouts begin to hatch, a new stage begins.

Sowing

Melons are not planted as usual seedlings in a bunch. For initial development, sprouts need space. Therefore, each seed is placed in a separate container. These can be peat cups or small containers with soil. A depth of 10 cm will be quite enough.

The soil mixture should be light, loose and nutritious. It must be pre-frozen outside or in the freezer. Then they are thawed and treated with a strong solution of potassium permanganate or phytosporin. You can use a weak solution of em-drugs. For additional disinfection, the soil is calcined in the oven at a temperature of +100-105°C.

Place one seed in each glass. After all, the plant will remain there until the 5th true leaf appears. And if there are 2 or more of them, then a struggle for food and light is inevitable. By the way, by the time of planting in open ground, young melons should be at least 31-33 days old. Take this into account for your region so as not to be late with sowing.

After you place the seed in the ground, you need to cover the container with transparent plastic or glass. Thick film will also work. Again we return the cups to darkness and warmth, waiting for the sprouts to peck. The next stage begins when the first shoots appear.

Seedling care

It is not anything complicated. The cover is removed completely, the cups are transferred to a warm place with plenty of light. As a rule, additional lighting is rarely required. Because seedlings begin to be prepared no earlier than mid-April, and at this time the daylight hours are already quite long.

Periodically moisten the soil, but do not flood it until it becomes damp. During the seedling period, melons are fed twice with complete mineral complex fertilizer. 1 - when the first true leaf appears, 2 - a week before planting in the ground.

To prevent melon blackleg disease, it is necessary to carefully ventilate the seedlings, but without a draft. And further. While on the windowsill, the seedlings should not touch each other's leaves. It’s just that now there is a certain struggle for a place in the sun. Melons don’t know that you have enough space for them to fully develop, so they will stretch out. It’s better to move the cups further away in advance.

You can carefully sprinkle the soil surface with dry, clean sand. This will create an imitation natural conditions. By the way, it is better to make drainage holes. This way you will be sure that the roots breathe freely and do not float in the slurry.

A week before planting melon seedlings in the ground or a little earlier, you need to pinch the top of its head. This is done after about 5-6 true leaves. This procedure will stimulate the growth of side shoots. In general, pinching plays an important role in the formation of a melon, but more on that below.

As soon as the wound heals after this procedure, you can plant the seedlings in the ground. In this case, the soil temperature should be at least +16°C. Usually this is the third ten days of May.

Where to plant melon

The place for planting seedlings begins to be prepared in the fall. To do this, the bed is carefully weeded to remove weeds. Then you need to dig it up, choosing weeds. If the soil is not loose and nutritious enough, then you must add clean sand, rich manure or good leaf humus.

In the spring, immediately after the snow melts, the bed is dug up again. At the same time, mineral fertilizers with a high content of potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen are added. What can you do, melons love to eat. Recommendations for exact dosage should be found directly on the packaging. Each manufacturer has them differently.

Residents of regions closer to the north can plant melons on warm beds. You can find out how to arrange them correctly on the Internet. Although, given their climate, they probably already know this information well. These beds will not interfere with the cultivation of melons in open ground for residents of the middle zone.

This method is good because it provides heating of the root system for about 2 months. Melons are very thermophilic.

After preparing the bed, you need to carefully plant the seedlings. To do this, make shallow holes and pour them thoroughly with warm water. It is better to plant melons using the transshipment method. That is, they pull out the entire earthen lump from the glass, trying not to destroy it. Carefully place it in a hole with earthen slurry, burying the melon up to the very cotyledon leaves. Sprinkle the top with dry, loose soil. This will allow less moisture to evaporate.

Choose a place for planting melons that is well lit by the sun. It is desirable that it is blown by the wind as little as possible and there are no drafts.

That's it, they forget about planting for a week so that they adapt and get started.

Advice. Keep an eye on the weather forecast. If recurrent frosts occur, make sure to install temporary arches and apply covering material. The melon cannot withstand even short-term cold temperatures below +3°C and dies immediately.

Care

Caring for melon is quite simple. All conditions are not the ultimate truth. They can be easily adjusted to suit your capabilities and region of residence.

Watering. Melon doesn't like water. It is only necessary when the summer is hot and dry. At the same time, you need to water the plantings so that the liquid does not fall on the leaves and stems. If dew is noticed in the morning, then you don’t have to water at all today.

A day after each rain or watering, be sure to loosen the soil. Just don’t do this at a distance closer than 10 cm from the stem. Root system melon is located almost at the surface. It is very easy to damage.

Hilling. Be sure to mound the soil to the stem at least 3 times during the season. This will allow additional roots to grow. This means that the melon will receive more nutrients.

Feeding. Melons need to be fed approximately once every 12-15 days. It can be:

• mineral fertilizers
• green infusions
• infusions of mullein or bird droppings

All fertilizing is applied strictly the next day after watering, so as not to burn the thin feeding roots.

Attracting bees. As soon as the flowers appear, you need to spray them with a weak, sweet solution. You can use jam, honey, sugar. Just don’t water it from a watering can, like from a shower. Bees are very good at smelling over long distances. It will be enough to lightly spray the flowers.

Pinching. After the ovaries appear, all flowers are removed. It is customary to leave no more than 4 fruits on one plant at some distance from each other. Preferably 2 fruits per shoot. The rest of the stepsons are sure to pinch.

This procedure should be carried out approximately once every 2 weeks. By regularly removing new shoots, we force the melon to spend all its energy filling the remaining ovaries.

Just don't tear off the leaves completely! They are vital for the plant for the normal process of photosynthesis.

Substrate. Often gardeners walk around and admire the growing melons. And they don’t see that rot has already begun to spoil the fruits from below. Yes, the skin of a melon is very thin; a simple scratch immediately begins to deteriorate. Therefore, we strictly exclude contact of fruits with soil. Under them you can put:

• planks
• plywood panels
• cork coasters for hot drinks
• foam plates
• pieces of thick foam insulation

Whatever is available will do.

Hide and hide from birds. Often, almost ripe melons are pecked by birds. In some regions, this is simply the scourge of gardeners. It’s not good to sit in ambush with a slingshot or a gun. Still, birds eat a lot of pests. What to do? Use Features taste preferences feathered scoundrels.

Have you noticed that birds never touch cabbage? Regular, white cabbage. They don't like it, and there are no seeds in it. This is what is important to us. Take the largest cabbage burdock, preferably semicircular and not flat. And just cover the melons with it.

Birds from above see the burdock, think it is a head of cabbage and fly past. Why is cabbage sticking out among the melon leaves - they are not interested. There are no seeds, which means they are looking for food elsewhere.

Harvesting. If you did everything correctly, then in mid-August you can begin to harvest the first harvest. How can you tell if a melon is ripe without cutting into the fruit? Just take it in your hand. A fully ripened melon will fall off the vine on its own. Then smell the peel. This characteristic honey-sweet aroma cannot be confused with anything else.

What to do if the cold weather is approaching, but the melons are not quite ripe yet? There are two options:

1. Place a shelter over the beds. It can be a thick film or dense non-woven material. Just be sure to ventilate the plantings at least twice a day. Otherwise, there is a high risk of rot and other diseases.
2. Remove all the fruits and put them in a dry, warm place to ripen. At a temperature of +25-27°C, melons finally ripen in about 5-9 days. It all depends on the variety and size of the fruit.

It is best to place sawdust or straw under the fruit. Hay will do just fine. The main thing is that the litter is hygroscopic and retains heat well.

1. About a month before the expected fruit harvest, the melon stops watering and feeding. This will give her the required amount of sugar. Information on ripening times can be found on the seed packet. If they were given to you as a gift or sold without packaging, then aim for mid- to late August.
2. Melons are planted according to a 60 by 80 cm pattern. During growth, the vines need to be guided so that they do not get tangled and do not block the sun from each other.
3. Melon loves potassium. Therefore, along with mineral water or organic water, treat her with an infusion of ash. Just be sure to dilute it, otherwise you will burn the root system.
4. Try not to apply large amounts of nitrogen. This makes the foliage lush and powerful, but has a very bad effect on the texture and taste of the fruit. Melons grow loose and watery.

How to grow melons in open ground? After reading our recommendations, you can say yes, very easily. And after putting them into practice, provide proof: a sweet, fully ripened, aromatic fruit.

Video: growing melons in open ground

Melon is a popular crop that is successfully cultivated all over the world. Therefore, having own plot and the desire to create with your own hands, attention should be paid to the cultivation and rules of planting this favorite summer-autumn delicacy in open ground so that it can look healthy and have a wonderful taste.

IN different regions You can sow melon directly with seeds, or plant it first as seedlings. Cultivation and care must be carried out regardless of the area; shaping and feeding or tying to a trellis may also be necessary.

Is it possible to grow melons in the countryside in open ground?

Melon is a heat-loving plant that need a lot of light. She feels good in hot weather and even drought. The maximum humidity for this crop is 60-70%.

Culture has massive system roots, which can reach moisture at a depth of one meter. This plant requires a lot of free space for intensive development and comfortable growth.

Even though the melon is a southern resident, it can be grown in almost any area, the main thing is to know how to do it. Nowadays, a sufficient number of varieties have been developed that take root well and bear fruit in moderately warm and cold climates.

The most popular melon varieties to plant in the Middle Zone and Ukraine

There are many varieties of melons with different characteristics for open ground. When choosing a variety for planting, it is important to take into account the climate of the area.

According to experienced gardeners, the best varieties to plant in a dacha in central Russia or Ukraine, in the climatic conditions of the Moscow region - Altai and Kolkhoznitsa.

Altai

Altai

Early ripening, allows harvesting in 70 days crop growth from the period of seedling formation. The plant is medium in size and forms a vine of moderate length.

The fruits are golden in color and have an oval shape. The ability to achieve 1.5 kg. The tender flesh is light orange in color and is characterized by sleepiness, sweetness and graininess.

From positive characteristics: adaptability to adverse weather conditions, excellent transportability and keeping quality.

Collective farmer

Melon belongs to the early ripening variety. The first harvest can be collected after 75 days after disembarkation.

The plant produces small orange-yellow round fruits with a convex stalk attachment. On average, the weight of one fruit is 1.5 kg. The dense pulp and durable crust makes it easy to transport the crop, which can be stored for a week after harvest.

Collective farmer

Growing a heat-loving vegetable is difficult in areas with a harsh climate, such as Siberia.

In such conditions, only certain varieties can grow, which include Early 133 and Yantarnaya.

Early 133

Early ripening variety, growing season - 60-70 days. The fruits are oval-shaped and have a yellow skin. It has white, dense, tender, sweet pulp with excellent taste and aroma. The weight of one fruit is approximately 1.5 kg.

It is valued for its excellent commercial qualities, good transportability and high immunity to major crop diseases.

Early 133

Amber

A mid-early ripening variety. Growing season from germination to ripening of melons 70-85 days. A plant with long vines of medium thickness. Juicy spherical fruits with juicy, fairly thick pulp and weight up to 2.5 kg.

Amber

What varieties are suitable for sowing in Bashkiria and the Urals

Vegetable growers in the Urals and Bashkiria who want to grow melon on their plots must choose a more suitable variety for the Ural region. The optimal sowing material for melons is Sybarite's Dream and Cinderella.

A sybarite's dream

An early variety that reaches technical ripeness after 50-55 days. The fruits have an original elongated shape and a green striped peel. The mass of one fruit is equal to 400 g.

Juicy crispy whitish flesh with a specific honey aroma and taste. The main advantages are increased productivity, continuous fruiting until frost, and good disease resistance.

A sybarite's dream

Cinderella

The variety belongs to early ripening crops, since the growing season is 60 days, for which the fruits are collected up to 1.5 kg weight.

Melons are yellow in color with a convex mesh pattern. The pulp is white in color and is characterized by juiciness and sweetness. Thanks to its rich aroma, it is valued in culinary matters.

The advantages include high resistance to temperature changes, various diseases and pest attacks. The disadvantage is short storage and poor transportability due to the rather thin rind of melons.

Cinderella

Planting rules

There are several ways to plant a crop:

• sowing seeds;
• seedling method;
• using grafted seedlings.

The simplest available method for any gardener is planting seeds in open ground. Other options are considered more complex and not suitable for everyone.

Preparation for planting seeds

To obtain a high-quality harvest, proper preparation of seeds for sowing is important. Buy planting material in special stores or collect it yourself from fruit grown in your own garden and germinate it at home.

When collecting seeds at home, you must follow the basic rule: prepare only from large-sized sweet melons.

Seeds should be harvested only from large-sized sweet melons

One more nuance is important: only in the third year after collection You can use seeds as planting material. Because from fresh specimens, plants develop with the absence of female inflorescences, as a result of which they do not have the ability to bear fruit.

In order for the seedlings to be friendly and the plants to develop strong, seed material is needed etch in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for an hour. Then soak at 20-25 degrees in a thick layer of gauze, which is immersed in a container so that the water only slightly covers the seeds.

Every 4-6 hours, the seeds need to be ventilated and immersed in water again. The total soaking time is 12 hours. Then scatter the seeds in a thin layer on a damp cloth and keep until the first sprouts appear.

Selecting a site and preparing the soil for planting seedlings

Melon is a light-loving plant that does not tolerate shading. Therefore, areas that are well-lit by the sun and maximally protected from cold winds are suitable for this crop.

Melon does not tolerate shade when grown

When planning to plant melon beauty in the garden, you need to take into account what crops grew in the garden last year and the neighboring influence of different plants on the melon. As predecessors there may be garlic, onions, cabbage, peas, beans, winter grains.

Good neighbors that will repel pests, improve taste and promote growth are considered turnip, basil, radish.

It does not get along well with potatoes, which can cause them to wilt, and cucumbers, as the plants can become dusty with each other and become bitter in taste.

Melon is very demanding of soil, so light, medium-loamy soil with neutral acidity, rich in organic matter, is suitable for it.

The area for cultivating the plant must be properly prepared:

• autumn earth dig on the bayonet of a shovel and add humus, if there is heavy soil, saturate it with river sand;
• with the onset of spring, sprinkle the bed, using peat or ash to speed up the melting of snow, then cover it with film to ensure maximum heating of the soil;
• when the surface layer of soil warms up to a temperature of +13 degrees, carry out deep loosening with the addition of potassium and phosphate minerals, strictly observing the amount of fertilizer applied, which is indicated by manufacturers on the packaging;
• Before starting the planting process, re-dig the area, filling it with fertilizers that contain nitrogen.

Conditions for proper cultivation and care

Gardeners are recommended to plant melon in the ground only in the southern regions. In northern latitudes and in the middle zone, it is better to grow only using mature seedlings, because melon may have time to sprout from seeds, but will not bear fruit until the cold weather. Favorable time for landing - last days of April.

To do this, you need to follow the following procedure, care for and love the plant properly:

1. Make holes 5-6 cm deep. Planting pattern: 1 m row spacing, row distance 0.7 m.
2. Equip each hole with humus and water with warm water.
3. Place 3-4 seeds in each hole.
4. Water the planted seed and cover it with dry soil.

It is better to carry out the planting process after rain in moist soil, then seedlings will form earlier. If cold weather is expected, you should cover the beds with film at night before seedlings appear.

Planting melon seedlings in the ground

The fruits are ripe late July - early August. When ripe, the vegetable acquires its characteristic color, the pattern is clearly revealed and the characteristic aroma inherent in melon appears. A signal of full maturity is easy separation from the stalk.

According to lunar calendar Gardeners in 2018 can begin the process of planting melons on March 27-28, from April 20 to 24, and in May on any day from the 19th to the 23rd.

The key to successful cultivation of melon beauty is sunny, warm weather, when pollination and development of sugary, juicy fruits actively occur. It is important to choose the appropriate variety and observe simple techniques agricultural technology, dive and pinch seedlings if necessary, and then a rich increase in the melon harvest is ensured.

An indigenous inhabitant of Central and Central Asia, the melon is gradually expanding into more northern territories. Thanks to the successes of breeders, honey fruits can be grown not only in the southern regions of the country, but also in the middle zone. Moreover, fruits with excellent taste ripen not even in greenhouses, but in open ground and on the balcony.

Of course, the melon is more capricious and more demanding in terms of living conditions than its closest relatives - cucumbers and pumpkins, but with proper care, this species is also submissive to the diligent gardener. What are the features of growing melon in open ground? What difficulties can you encounter, and how can you get plants to bear fruit at home?

Preparing melon seeds for planting

For sowing, strong, well-formed seeds are used, while experts advise taking seed obtained from the harvest two or three years ago. Watching how the melon grows in the photo, you can notice:

• powerful plants from fresh seeds produce male flowers in abundance, but there are very few ovaries on them;
• Melon vines made from older seeds are more productive.

To increase the germination of seeds, they are immersed for 12 hours in a solution of boric acid and zinc sulfate or another growth stimulant.

If you are going to grow melons in open ground in the middle zone, it is better to worry about hardening the seeds in advance, for which purpose:

• first immerse in warm water with a temperature of about 30–35 °C;
• then leave for a day at room temperature;
• for stratification, they are transferred to the refrigerator for 18 hours, where the temperature is close to zero.

The swollen seeds are ready for sowing in open ground or for seedlings.

How to grow melon seedlings at home?

Since all members of the pumpkin family do not like replanting due to the risk of damage to the roots, and the crop is very heat-loving, you need to consider that:

• the soil in the area intended for melons should warm up to 12–13 °C before sowing;
• sowing in peat tablets or small cups is carried out no earlier than two weeks before planting in the ground;
• In larger containers, seedlings can last up to 30 days.

For example, for the middle zone, it is acceptable to sow seeds for seedlings in late April, then by June the young plants should move to a permanent place.

Using peat pots allows you to avoid the pain of transplantation and save up to three weeks when growing melon in open ground.

To grow seedlings, make a soil mixture of equal parts:

• humus;
• peat cleared of impurities;
• sand;
• garden soil.

Before sowing, the soil is moistened and enriched with complex fertilizer containing microelements for melon growth. Two seeds are planted in each pot with a diameter of 10–11 cm, so that, depending on how the melon grows, in the photo, you can choose a stronger sprout and cut off the weak one without damaging the root system.

To prevent rot of young stems, the surface of the soil in seedling pots is sprinkled with a layer of clean sand.

To grow melon at home, maintain a daytime temperature of about 20 °C, but at night the air can cool to 15 °C. Watering for melons, including melons, needs to be moderate, as the top layer of soil dries out.

Selecting and preparing a site

For a southern culture that loves warmth and sunlight in open ground, they choose areas that are maximally illuminated, but protected from drafts and cold winds.

It is important that moisture does not stagnate in the melon plot, otherwise rot and fungal diseases of the plants cannot be avoided.

At the same time, for growing melon in open ground, the soil is prepared in advance. In the fall, I'll plant the future melons:

• dig no less than a spade's length;
• fertilize with organic matter, adding 4–6 kg of humus or rotted manure per meter of area.

Melon loves loose soils, so on loamy soils it is recommended to add river sand to the beds. In the spring, potassium and phosphate fertilizers are added to the melons before digging.

Planting a melon in the ground

The basic rules for growing melon in open ground are very simple:

• Young plants need protection from rain and cold.
• The quantity and quality of the harvest depends on the correct formation of the plants, removal of the tops of the lashes and excess ovary.
• A well-established watering schedule will help you get sweet, full-bodied fruits without cracks.
• Melon requires regular, competent feeding.

Planting of seedlings and seeds is carried out at a distance of at least 60 cm from each other.

The seeds are buried 5 cm, and, as with the seedling method, 2-3 seeds are placed in a hole. An additional teaspoon of nitrophoska or other nitrogen-containing fertilizer is added to the hole for both seeds and seedlings.

If plants are planted on the melon in peat pots, the earthen ball should not be buried. After sprinkling with soil, it should rise slightly above the general level, only after this the plants are watered and the already moist soil is mulched with dry soil.

In the future, it is better to protect melon seedlings from the sun, rain and possible cold snap for the first time, while acclimatization is underway. As they get used to it, the greenhouse is removed during the daytime, and at night the plants are again hidden under the covering material.

Features of melon care

When growing melons in open ground, the melon grower must pay attention to watering, loosening the soil, fertilizing and weeding the beds. Besides, good harvest you won’t be able to wait if you don’t pinch off the vines that already have an ovary in time, and don’t remove the empty shoots that take away the strength of the bush.

Loosening is carried out very carefully, to a depth of 10–12 cm, without damaging the roots. When the lashes grow, the melon is hilled. Weeding is carried out as needed.

Watering melons plays a special role in the success of growing melons in open ground. If plants do not receive enough moisture, they develop worse, bloom and set ovaries. Excessive watering leads to rotting of the vines and fruits, and the melons themselves lose their sugar content and become watery. Observing how a melon grows will help you understand the needs of plants, and the photo shows a drip irrigation system that allows you to use moisture as efficiently as possible:

• Usually, while there are no ovaries on the melon, the plants are limited in watering, preventing the formation of many side shoots.
• When the ovaries are already formed and need to develop, watering becomes more intense.
• A month before the approximate dates of ripening, the melons gradually stop watering so that the fruits gain sweetness and aroma.

Beginner melon growers often have a question: “Why does the melon in the garden crack and begin to rot? Obviously, the error lies in the watering schedule and its intensity.

Most often, fruits crack when, after a dry period, already formed ovaries receive an excessive amount of moisture at one time.

Fruit damage is also observed if the ripening melon lies on wet soil. Therefore, melon growers advise placing a shard or small plank under each ovary. You can avoid spoilage if you use trellises when growing melons in open ground and secure the heavy fruits with a net or fabric.

For the first time, the melon plant is pinched after the third or fourth leaf to induce branching and produce lateral shoots. When 5–6 ovaries are formed on the plant, the free tops of the vines are cut off, leaving 2–3 leaves until the last fruit. Further, as the plant grows, unnecessary flowers and empty shoots are torn off so that all the melon’s strength goes into filling and ripening the already formed fruits.

Regular feeding should help the plants with this, the first of which is carried out when the first true leaf appears. This time, fertilizers containing nitrogen and phosphorus are applied to the melons, and then fertilizing minerals and alternate with organic matter. The feeding schedule can be adjusted. Most often, the frequency of watering with fertilizer solutions is 10–14 days.

During mass flowering, it is better to give plants potassium-phosphorus mixtures. And fertilizing is completed at the first signs of the melons beginning to ripen.

Do not forget that melons easily accumulate excess chemicals and, especially with a lack of light, can become a source of dangerous nitrates. Therefore, melon growers should be careful with nitrogen fertilizers.

How to grow melon at home

With a little effort and patience, a sweet melon can be cut from a plant grown on own windowsill or balcony. First of all, for the melon you will need to choose a pot or container of sufficient capacity, with a diameter of at least 20 cm. Drainage is required at the bottom of the pot, and the soil can be used the same as that used for planting the seedlings.

If in spacious beds the growing canes can lie quietly on the soil, then you can grow a melon at home only using a trellis. As it grows, lashes are attached to it, but since the plant is in a limited volume of soil, it would be reasonable to grow the melon in one stem.

We must not forget that melons are extremely demanding on lighting, so the main reason for the failure of growing this crop on balconies, window sills or terraces is the lack of light. You can compensate for it by organizing additional LED backlight, providing the needs of plants for 14–16 hours a day.

To conserve moisture, prevent weeds from germinating and provide the melon with a soil temperature of about 20–25 °C, the surface of the soil is lined with a special film or material. The supply of moisture can be entrusted to the drip irrigation system, adding or decreasing the amount of water supplied depending on how the melon grows.

When home-grown melons become the size of a fist, excess shoots, flowers and the top of the main vine are pinched off. At home, it is better to leave no more than three ovaries per plant, which are tied to a trellis using a net or soft cloth.

Video about forming a melon in open ground

Is there anyone who doesn’t like juicy, sweet melon? We are all waiting for the season when we can buy this magnificent southern fruit. Is it possible to grow melon in open ground in our not-so-warm latitudes? Today we will talk about how to provide yourself with melons yourself.

Growing seedlings

Melons of different varieties

Growing melon in open ground: varieties, planting and care

If you wish, melon can be grown anywhere, even in the North. Juicy, sweet, fragrant melon melts in your mouth and brings pleasure! There are many varieties of melons, different in shape and taste. But they all like to grow in the same conditions - dry and hot air. They do not like excessive watering and moisture. Sunshine for them best friend and comrade, and they are not at all afraid to expose their sides to the open rays of the sun. So it turns out that the best settlement for growing melons in open ground will be the south of our big country.

And how offensive it is to the northern peoples, and even to those who live in central Russia, that they cannot plant a melon in a garden bed or in a country house, and in the fall enjoy the wonderful taste of this southern beauty. But no! Don't be upset! You can grow melon both here, in the middle zone, and in Siberia.

Selecting and preparing a site

Since this southern beauty loves to grow in fertile warm areas of land, and even hidden from the wind, we will cook what she loves. And we’ll start preparing in the fall. In the fall, dig up the melon bed not deeply, using a spade, and apply humus as fertilizer, 3-4 kilograms per square meter. If your site has more clay soil, you will also need to “fluff” it with river sand (half a bucket of sand per square meter).

Fill plastic or cardboard pots with soil for garden crops or a soil mixture of the following composition: mix peat with sand (9 parts peat and 1 part sand) and one glass of wood ash per 10 liters of soil

So we’ll leave the garden bed until spring. In the spring we get to work again: dig up one more time and apply fertilizers with potassium and phosphate. And the proportions will be written on the fertilizer packaging. Before planting, you will need to add rotted manure or nitrogen fertilizers.

Seed preparation

The soil has been prepared, now you need to prepare the seeds to grow seedlings. You can buy seeds in the store, or you can prepare them yourself. Melons, as it turns out, are very interesting plants: from the seeds of last year's harvest, strong and strong plants can grow, but they will not produce hearths. This is because the flowers on them will be male and there may be no ovary. And in order to have a good harvest, it is advisable to take seeds that are three or four years old.

You need to choose large seeds for sowing seedlings and you need to treat them with a compound for such seeds (you can buy them in the store). You can treat the seeds with a solution of boric acid and zinc sulfate. The seeds need to be soaked in this solution for 12 hours.

The seeds for sowing seedlings need to be large and they need to be treated with a compound for such seeds (can be bought in the store)

To grow melon in the Non-Black Earth Region, wise gardeners advise hardening the seeds. Immerse in warm (up to 35 degrees) water, remove and leave for one day at 18 to 20 degrees, then gradually reduce the temperature to 0 degrees and keep the seeds for another eighteen to twenty hours. After this, increase the temperature again to 20 degrees. And this needs to be done three times in the last week before planting the seeds.

All the time the melon grows in the ground, it must be loosened, weeded, watered and hilled

We grow seedlings

To grow seedlings, you need to purchase peat pots (or peat tablets) with a diameter of up to ten centimeters. Fill plastic or cardboard pots with soil for garden crops or a soil mixture of the following composition: mix peat with sand (9 parts peat and 1 part sand) and one glass of wood ash per 10 liters of soil.

By soaking the seeds for a day before planting, you can discard the empty seeds (they will float). You need to plant the seeds in prepared pots, two or three at a time, up to five centimeters deep. Pots with seeds should be kept indoors at a daytime temperature of 18-20 degrees until the first sprouts appear, and the night temperature should not be lower than fifteen.

In a melon patch, melon grows almost without moisture, then create the same conditions for it and water as moderately as possible

In about a week, the first shoots should appear; they need to be thinned out and one strong sprout left in the pot. When the third or fourth true leaf appears, the seedlings need to be pinched, this can lead to the development of side shoots. Care for the seedlings in the usual way, only water less, and without getting water on the leaves and stems. To prevent black legs, you can sprinkle a layer of river sand around the leg, only dry sand. The seeds need to be sown in April, and only after twenty-five days can they be transplanted into the ground.

Video - how to grow a melon

Planting melons in the ground

In the soil you have prepared, make holes 70-80 centimeters apart from each other both in width and along the length of the bed. During frosts, seedlings cannot be planted; it is better to wait them out. This will be in early June in central Russia.

Melon should be fed. And the first time this should be done after two weeks, planting in the ground

The most important thing when transplanting seedlings is not to damage the roots of the future melon. It is better to plant it together with the soil in which it grew in the pot. Before planting, pour water into the hole and add a little humus. The seedlings need to be planted so that the stem does not go deep. The lump of earth with which the seedlings were planted should be slightly on the surface of the earth. Water the planted seedlings again and sprinkle with dry soil. The first two days the seedlings need to create shade, so they will be better accepted. If there are strong temperature changes between day and night, create a film covering for the still fragile planting. Such covers can be installed at night and removed during the day. They can be used to protect against the rain that melons don’t like.

If you have your own greenhouse, we recommend that you read the article “Growing melon in a greenhouse.”

The beds where the melon grows should be weeded only when necessary.

When describing melon care, you can understand that caring for it is very similar to caring for cucumbers

Melon varieties

Alushta(Crimean experimental station), ripening period - 70 days. The fruits are large, oval, ripen up to 1.3-1.5 kg, orange-yellow, with rare elongated dark orange streaks. White, sweet, juicy pulp. Tasting score: 4.6. The yield is high, 145-175 centners per hectare.

Dessert 5 (selected by the Krasnodar Research Institute of Vegetable Farming), small, short-oval, fine-mesh surface, reaches 1.6 kg, a lot of pulp, white-green color, very sweet, tender. Tasting score: 4.8. High-yielding variety - 40-160 centners per hectare. It has good keeping quality.

Among the mid-ripening varieties (80-90 days), it is worth noting the variety Golden(created by the Krasnodar Research Institute). The shape of the fruit is close to round, the network is weakly expressed, the color is yellow with an orange tint, weight is 1.3-1.6 kg. This variety has juicy, white pulp. Tasting - 3.9-4.0. The average yield is 120 centners per hectare. The advantage of this variety is its resistance to disease.

Southerner, or it is also called water lily. (Kuban experimental station VNIIR). The fruits are round with longitudinal ribs, orange-yellow, large, 1.8-1.9 kg. Tasting score - 4.7 points. This variety is considered high-yielding; in good years, you can harvest up to 220-240 centners per hectare. Sugar content is like Kolkhoznitsa's.

The most stable, widespread and most suitable variety for the middle zone is Collective farmer(derived by the Biryuchekutsk experimental station). Melons of this variety are orange, round, weighing about 1 kg. The pulp is light, white, unusually sweet. Tasting - 5.0. You can collect about 100 centners per hectare per season.

It is better to take into account the weather conditions of your region and choose early ripening varieties for planting in the ground.

Melon care

The whole time the melon is growing in the ground, it must be loosened, weeded, watered and hilled. You also need to pinch the melon vines.

Loosening

The first two loosening of row spacing should be carried out no deeper than 15 centimeters. Next time, loosening should be carried out no deeper than 10 centimeters; this should not be done near the melon stem. After the first lateral vines appear, the melon should be hilled up by raking a roll of soil to the melon stem.

Watering

In a melon patch, melon grows almost without moisture, then create the same conditions for it and water as moderately as possible. And if there is dew on the grass in the morning, watering is canceled altogether. You need to water carefully between rows so that water does not get on the leaves and vines of the melon.

Topping

As we said before, the first time a melon is pinched is when it is still in seedlings. After planting the melon in the ground and adapting it, you need to pinch the main stem again (above the seventh leaf). The same should be done with the side lashes, then remove all excess flowers and leave three already tied fruits, which are not next to each other, but at a distance. All shoots that are left without fruit should be removed so as not to draw juices from the main stem.

The growth of the lashes should be regulated and directed so that they do not fall into the aisle

Top dressing

Melon should be fed. And the first time this should be done after two weeks of planting in the ground. Top dressing can be saltpeter, chicken manure or mullein. And the next feedings are carried out every 10 days. You can buy complex fertilizers for this or also diluted chicken manure and add ash. When the fruits begin to ripen, feeding is no longer necessary.

The beds where melon grows should be weeded only when necessary. The growth of the lashes should be regulated and directed so that they do not fall into the aisles. And under each melon that has set, you need to place plywood or planks, this way you will save the fruits from rotting when they touch wet soil.

When describing caring for a melon, you can understand that caring for it is very similar to caring for cucumbers. And if you know how to grow cucumbers, then you can also grow melons. The melon will also have time to ripen, and if you have to pick it up not very ripe before frost, it will perfectly reach ripeness at your home.

Of course, it is better to take into account the weather conditions of your region and choose early ripening varieties for planting in the ground.

And the main thing to remember is these three conditions:

• protect seedlings planted in the ground in time from late frosts;
• correctly form, pinch and remove unnecessary ovaries;
• Fertilize on time, repeatedly and systematically to stimulate melon growth.

If desired, melon can be grown anywhere, even in the North, there are simply greenhouses there. Try, try and you will definitely succeed!

How to grow melon?

Who is not familiar with the unique taste of melon, which delights us at the end of summer? You can eat melon just like that, make jam, jams, dry it, or dry it. This dietary product It is useful for everyone, it has a very beneficial effect on health, is easily digestible, and helps with anemia and exhaustion. Melon is necessary for babies and old people, as it contains many useful substances, microelements, vitamins.

Melon has a beneficial effect on human health.

If you have a summer house or small area land with a vegetable garden and a garden, then it is quite possible to grow a melon on your own. Both open ground and a greenhouse are suitable for this. To grow melon, you do not need special agricultural technology; it is enough to properly prepare the soil (and the greenhouse, if the cultivation will be carried out in it), and fertilizers. You will also need patience, because almost all plants require careful care. When growing in open ground, it is necessary to take into account that melon loves warmth, bright light and scanty watering (water is needed only when the top layer of soil is dry). There are also special requirements for the soil, which must be neutral or slightly alkaline and breathable. Mineral fertilizers (very weak solutions) are used for fertilizing; it is necessary to systematically loosen the soil. Melon does not like conditions such as:

Melons are best grown in greenhouses.

• slightly acidic and acidic soils, which are characterized by high density, as this prevents the roots of the plant from eating and breathing normally, and moisture from evaporating;
• stagnant, very wet air, cold drafts;
• watering with cold water, and generally cool weather;
• use of manure as fertilizer, concentrated and excessive doses of mineral and organic fertilizers.

Growing in a greenhouse is more simple, but all the above conditions apply here too. Warm, dry air, lots of light and proper watering. Here's everything you need to get your own sweet, delicious melon!

Conditions for growing melon

In order to grow a melon, all conditions and requirements must be strictly observed. This plant loves comfortable conditions.

What kind of lighting is required?

For melon of any variety, it is important that the lighting is sufficient, in which case its growth and development will be normal, the lighting intensity ranges from 5000-6000 lux. Despite all the requirements for excellent lighting, melon is a short-day plant. Its flowering occurs earlier with a shortened twelve-hour day, but a day that is too short can inhibit its development, so when growing it is necessary to remember this feature. The time at which the seeds were sown is also important.

The process of growing melons.

The experiments proved that melons that were planted from May to June had fewer female flowers than those that were sown from January to April. That is, excess light is not very useful for young plants, which affects fruiting in adulthood. Growing in a greenhouse makes it quite easy to solve such problems. When organizing additional artificial lighting we must remember that the optimal wavelength for melons is 550 nm at high light levels and 675 nm at lower levels (from 13 W/m2). Optimal time March is considered for planting melons, when there is sufficient light; growing in a winter-type greenhouse allows you to get large quantity harvest with the best qualities. Planting in December and January will prevent the formation of the right amount pistillate flowers, neither pinching nor special treatments with growth regulators will help. It is in the initial period that the melon is very sensitive to lighting conditions; in normal light, the formation of pistillate flowers takes up to five days, but when the lighting decreases, it can take more than a month. Growing melons in a greenhouse in the conditions of our region is possible until October, it is at this time that the plant receives everything it needs for its development and fruiting.

Temperature conditions

It is important when growing to ensure proper temperature conditions, since the collective farm melon, and other varieties, are very heat-loving. Seeds begin to germinate at a temperature of plus fifteen degrees, but twenty-five degrees is considered optimal for their development. thirty degrees Celsius. It is quite difficult to provide such conditions in the open ground in the spring, but growing in a greenhouse is quite suitable for this.

If such conditions are created, the seeds will germinate within forty-eight hours, but at more high temperature this process is delayed. If you drop it below fifteen degrees, then development will stop; at a temperature below ten degrees, the assimilation process will completely stop; at one degree, after two to three hours, the seeds will begin to die.

Growing melon seedlings.

The collective farmer melon needs certain temperature ambient air, conditions at plus twenty-eight suit her perfectly. thirty degrees and dry air. In general, this variety is an early ripening variety, so compliance with all conditions will allow you to quickly reap an excellent harvest!

Growing in a greenhouse requires compliance with the following temperature schedule:

• after planting, it is recommended to reduce the temperature to twenty degrees so that the seedlings take root better;
• as soon as the seeds have sprouted, it is better to increase the temperature level to twenty-two during the day and eighteen at night;
• after the fruits have set, it is necessary to lower the temperature slightly to nineteen to twenty degrees during the day and to fifteen to sixteen at night.

Great demands are also placed on the soil; its temperature should be at the level of twenty to twenty-four degrees; if growing in a film-type greenhouse, then it is permissible to drop it to fifteen to twenty degrees.

Humidity conditions

Kolkhoznitsa melon, like other varieties, is quite resistant to drought and is not afraid of lack of moisture. But at the same time, its transpiration coefficient is quite high, that is, melon requires a lot of moisture to ripen. Therefore, watering and humidity are considered the most difficult and important option when growing. The need for water varies depending on the period of development; it is highest at the time when lashes and fruits are formed. In general, this process can be divided into the following stages:

Melons are quite resistant to drought, so lack of moisture is not a problem for them.

• 21% of moisture is consumed during the emergence of melon shoots;
• 37% of moisture is lost during flowering and fruit setting;
• 32% is lost during fruit growth;
• 10% . during ripening.

In a day young plant you need about 0.8 liters of water, up to one and a half liters on a sunny day and up to three to three and a half. during the period of growth. Growing in a greenhouse requires careful watering, usually it is moderate, but when the first fruits appear, the amount of water must be increased. When watering the plant, you need to make sure that water does not get on the ground parts, as this can cause bacterial and fungal diseases. It is also unacceptable for moisture to get on the root collar. The air humidity in the greenhouse should be at 60-70%; dry air is necessary when the fruits begin to ripen.

Learning to fertilize melons

Growing it yourself in a greenhouse also requires proper fertilizer. This applies to any variety, even such early ripening ones as collective farmer, Altai melon and others. The soil for planting in a heifer should be fertile, but not dense. Before planting, a root layer with a thickness of up to thirty centimeters and excellent drainage is poured. The soil should contain elements such as potassium, calcium, sulfur, phosphorus, sodium, manganese. The use of fertilizers should be minimal; melons respond best to potassium fertilizers. All solutions must be fairly weak; excess or too intense solutions are unacceptable; they cannot be fertilized with manure.

Melon varieties and their features

Today, the most various varieties melons, among which the most popular in our region is the early ripening collective farmer. But others like the Altai melon also stand out. This variety also belongs to the early ripening varieties, it includes such varieties as Luna, Gruntovaya Gribovskaya, Altai melon ordinary, Barnaulka 191, Gorkovskaya 310. Such varieties are resistant to frost and differ high yield, but their taste is improper care will be low.

Golden melon, which belongs to the mid-early varieties, is excellent for greenhouses. Its ripening time from the appearance of the first shoots to tasty fruits is up to eighty days. The melon pulp is pale in color and has a strong melon aroma. Golden melon can be grown in cold climates in film greenhouses without losing its excellent properties. taste qualities. We hope our tips will be useful and you will be able to grow excellent melons. We wish you a good harvest and the first juicy fruits!

ParnikiTeplicy.ru

Planting seeds

Melon seeds are planted in separate pots at the end of April. Pots with a diameter of 8 cm are filled with soil prepared from a mixture of peat and humus, with the addition of turf soil (1: 2: 1). Superphosphate and wood ash are placed in each pot to a depth of 2 cm.

The pots are covered with film to prevent the soil from drying out and placed in a warm place. After the melon sprouts appear, the film is removed.

The temperature in the room should not fall below +18 °C; water the emerging sprouts only with warm water; if growth is poor, feed them with nitrogen fertilizer. The pots should be placed freely, without the leaves touching.

Plants must be ventilated and hardened. Melon seedlings in cloudy weather needs additional lighting. Seedlings ready for planting should have 3 leaves. Seedlings are planted:

• in open ground;
• in the greenhouse.

Planting in unprotected soil

The place for planting melon seedlings is prepared in advance. After thoroughly removing the weed rhizomes, the ground for seedlings is prepared 15 days before planting:

• the melon bed is dug to a depth of 20-25 cm, manure is added;
• a groove 35-40 cm deep is dug in the center of the bed, it is filled with dry leaves or sawdust;
• the garden bed is well watered;
• cover with black film so that the bed warms up well before planting;
• after two weeks they begin planting seedlings.

Transplanting

An important condition for growing melons is low air humidity; when it increases, more than 70% of the plants develop fungal infections. Melon also does not tolerate waterlogging of its roots; you need to plant a melon plant by lifting the root ball along with the soil by 2 cm.

Make a hole for each plant, do not compact the soil, water it so that the plant, along with a lump of earth, settles into the soil. After this, add fertile soil without filling the root collar.

A mixture of sand and charcoal. Plant the plants at a distance of 1 m in a row, cover the planting with film until rooting, and be sure to ventilate. The seedlings are protected from the bright sun with lutrasil and also protected from the coolness of the night.

Melon is valued for its excellent taste and pleasant aroma and is used mainly fresh as a dessert. According to the recommendations of the Institute of Nutrition, the consumption rate of melons and melons is 30 kg per person per year, of which 25% (6-8 kg) is melon. Let us recall the basic agrotechnological methods of its cultivation.

Predecessors. The best predecessor for growing melon is winter wheat, especially that which was placed after black fertilized fallow, perennial grasses, and corn for green fodder. An acceptable precursor may be barley. In vegetable crop rotations, melon can be grown after root vegetables, onions, cucumbers and cabbage.

Soils. Melon grows well on soils fertilized with organic fertilizers, preferably on light and medium loamy soils. Soils with a heavy mechanical composition are less suitable for growing melons, however, when applying fertilizers, high yields can be obtained here, but the quality of the fruit decreases.

Melon does not tolerate saline soils well, therefore, when the salt concentration in the arable layer is 0.5-0.7%, incl. 0.05-0.07% chlorine salts, melon plants die.

Pre-sowing tillage. After harvesting the previous crop, the stubble is peeled to a depth of 8-10 cm with disk ploughers LDG-5, LDG-10, LDG-15 or disked with a BDT-7 harrow, mineral fertilizers are applied, plowing is carried out with a plow with a skimmer PN-4-35, PLN- 4-35, PLN-5-35, etc. to a depth of 25-27 cm.

To preserve moisture in the northern regions, autumn plow harrowing is carried out. In the spring, the soil is harrowed (3BZS-1, 0; BZSS-1, 0), two continuous cultivations are carried out with a KPS-4 cultivator: the first to a depth of 12-15, the second to a depth of 6-8 cm. The gap between the first and second cultivation is 2 -3 weeks. Before sowing melons on soils of light mechanical composition, the soil is rolled with ring-spur rollers ZKKSH-6 for the appearance of friendly shoots.

Sowing dates. Early sowing dates ensure a high-quality harvest. Optimal time sowing occurs in the period from April 20 to May 10, or when the soil at a depth of 10 cm warms up to 14-16 ° C. The last date for sowing is June 10.

Seed preparation. When preparing seeds for sowing Special attention is given to the mass of 1000 pieces, which affects the seeding rate and the future harvest, so it is advisable to calibrate the seeds. One of these methods is to calibrate melon seeds by specific gravity - immersing them in a 1-2% solution of table salt, followed by washing with water. High-quality seeds settle at the bottom of the container with the solution, while low-quality seeds float to the surface.

Disinfection, or the destruction of pathogenic microflora on the surface of seeds, is achieved by treatment with chemical disinfectants, solar or ultraviolet irradiation.

To stimulate seed germination in the soil, it is soaked in aqueous solutions of microelements and biologically active substances. Among the biostimulants, the most effective are emistim C, fumar, succinic acid, biological growth stimulant (BSS), and agrostimulin.

Sowing. In the early stages, sowing is carried out with dry seeds. Warming the seeds at a temperature of 35-40 ° C for 3-4 days increases the yield by up to 10-15%, and at 60 ° C for 4 hours up to 24%. Solar heating for several days accelerates the germination of seeds in the soil and has a detrimental effect on pathogens.

At late sowing dates, the seeds are soaked in warm water at a temperature of 25-30 ° C, and when 10% of sprouted seeds appear, they are sown. The depth of seed placement is 4-6 cm. Sowing is carried out using a seeder SPC-6, SUPN-6, SUPN-12 SBU 2-4A, SBN-3. When sowing with a precision seeder, the seeding rate is halved.

Sowing pattern: 1.4 x 0.7; 1.4 x 1.0 m - for early varieties and 1.4 x 1.4; 1.8 x 1.0; 2.1 x 0.5 m - for mid-season and late varieties and hybrids. Sowing rate of melon (weight of 1000 seeds - 38.0-41.0 g) - 1.2-1.6 kg / ha.

Caring for crops. After the emergence of seedlings in the phase of the first true leaf, the first cultivation is carried out with a KRN-4-2 cultivator; KRN-5, 4; KOR-4-2, to a depth of 14-16 cm and manual weeding in rows.

The second cultivation is carried out in the phase of 5-7 true leaves to a depth of 8-10 cm and a second manual weeding is performed, during which one plant is left in each nest.

After the third cultivation, the tops are laid out and sprinkled if necessary.

The main difficulties of the growing season

The duration of the growing season characterizes the degree of early ripening of varieties. It is determined by climatic factors:

• The duration of the frost-free period;
• The sum of active temperatures;
• The amount of precipitation that falls during this period.

For plant development great importance has a length of growing season, i.e. period with temperatures at which the complete development cycle of the plant is possible. The duration of the growing season depends not only on the biological characteristics of the crop or variety itself, but, no less importantly, on the processing conditions.

Melon is very sensitive to environmental conditions and often dramatically changes its varietal appearance with changes in temperature, humidity, light, and the nature of the soil.

The most important valuable economic traits for a variety are more variable. The most studied in melon is the variability of the growing season - one of the main varietal characteristics that has important with agroclimatic placement of varieties.

The growing season of melon can be divided into two main interphase periods:

• From germination to the beginning of flowering of female flowers;
• From fruit set to the beginning of ripening.

The period from sowing to germination often depends on weather conditions and the quality of the seed. The increase in the growing season of melon occurs due to the first interphase period (sprouting - flowering). This is explained by unfavorable conditions during the initial period of plant growth, often a lack of moisture in the soil. A lack of moisture, as well as an excess of it, lengthens the growing season of plants.

In some years, the difference between the ripening of mid-ripening and late-ripening varieties is smoothed out. Variability of the growing season is observed due to both phenological phases, but mainly due to the period from flowering to ripening and to a lesser extent from germination to flowering, which should be taken into account. The growing season of melon varies due to both phenophases, but to a greater extent due to the period from flowering to ripening.

The best results can be obtained with correct selection varieties for different growing areas.

Analyzing the individual phases of plant development of different melon varieties, European and especially Central Asian, it should be noted that there is no significant difference between varieties in the duration of the sowing - shoots and flowering - fruit set phases. The greatest differences are observed in melon during the flowering period - fruit ripening. They indicate that when determining the early ripening of varieties and hybrids and when assessing the effect of certain agricultural practices on the early ripening of plants, attention should be paid to the period from flowering to ripening of melon fruits.

Melon varieties are distinguished by their demands on environmental factors and their resistance to unfavorable combinations of them. Being early-ripening in one area, the same variety in other soil and climatic conditions can be mid- and even late-ripening.

Melon fertilizer

Melons are demanding on soil fertility and respond well to fertilizers, especially nitrogen-phosphorus ones. Fertilization is carried out using mineral fertilizer spreaders NBU-0, 5; MVD-0, 6, etc. The optimal dose is considered to be within N60P90K60.

The coefficient of use of fertilizers, especially nitrogen, increases significantly with their fractional use. Applying the entire dose of nitrogen during the growing season in the form of fertilizing significantly increases the yield, but significantly reduces the sugar content in the fruits. High accumulation of sugar and improved taste of fruits is achieved by applying nitrogen fertilizers in the early phases of plant development.

Half the dose - before sowing or during sowing, which provides nutrition to the plants during the germination period - the beginning of flowering, and the second half - in the phase of 4 leaves or before the start of flowering of female flowers. All this helps to increase the yield and sugar content of fruits. You can fertilize with complete mineral fertilizer N10P30K10 during the formation and growth of tops, and the yield increases up to 40%.

Watering melon

Melon plants respond well to irrigation. Obtaining high and stable melon yields in the steppe zone, regardless of weather conditions, is achieved when grown under irrigation. After the first watering (phase of the first true leaf), it is necessary to maintain a period of no watering for up to 40 days and then constantly maintain the lower threshold of humidity at the level of 65-70% of HB. At the beginning of fruit ripening, one or two waterings are sufficient.

When growing melon under irrigation, boundary irrigation, sprinkling and drip irrigation are used.

Sprinkler irrigation is usually carried out in fields with flat surface.

When irrigated by sprinkling, melon is sown with the same row spacing as in non-irrigated conditions, while the number of plants per 1 hectare is increased by 1.5-2.0 times.

Furrow irrigation is used in fields with a flat surface and slight slopes. The irrigation rate for irrigation by sprinkling and furrows varies depending on weather and soil conditions and ranges from 5000 to 7000 m3/ha.

Features of drip irrigation

With drip irrigation, the increase in yield compared to sprinkling is 50-80%, fruit ripening is accelerated by 5-10 days, saving irrigation water is 40-50%, the amount of fertilizer applied is reduced by 50% by optimizing the nutritional regime taking into account the needs of plants depending on the phase of growth and development.

The peculiarities of the main and pre-sowing tillage are that the peeling is carried out to a depth of 10 cm using hydraulically powered disk cultivators LDG-10. On heavy soils, use the disc harrow BDT-3, 0 in two tracks. An important element of pre-sowing tillage is milling with a KPF-2, 8 or KFKh-3, 6 cultivator.

In spring, to cover moisture, use toothed harrows BZTS-1, 0 with a clutch. Depending on the weediness and compaction of the soil, one or two continuous cultivations (KPS-4) are carried out with simultaneous harrowing to a depth of 10-12 cm.

After laying out the main and water distribution pipelines along the selected area, they begin sowing; when sowing manually, markings are carried out according to the scheme for planting and laying out irrigation pipelines at a distance of 1.4 m.

In the absence of moisture, watering is carried out to create one continuous moistened line on the soil surface between the drippers, corresponding to an irrigation norm of 200-300 m3/ha. After the emergence of seedlings, they begin inter-row cultivation with the cultivator KOR-4, 2% KRN-4, 2A; KFL-4, 2. In total, during the growing season, three to five inter-row treatments are carried out in combination with manual weeding in the rows. The use of guide slots allows minimizing the protective zone of the row.

A significant reduction in irrigation water costs, acceleration of growth and development of melon crop plants, as well as complete suppression of weed growth in the tape is ensured by covering the irrigation pipelines of the drip irrigation system with opaque plastic film(mulch).

With drip irrigation, the timing and norms of watering are set taking into account the condition of the plants and soil. To measure humidity, tensiometers are used, installing one at a depth of 50 cm in a row, and the second at a depth of 30 and 20 cm towards the row spacing from the first, to control the moisture in the root zone of plants. Soil moisture in the 0-40 cm layer within the moisture contour is maintained at 60-70% HB. Vegetative irrigation is carried out with the simultaneous application of soluble mineral fertilizers.

Cleaning. Melon is harvested selectively as the fruits ripen. When the melon fruit ripens, the color and pattern of the bark changes, a network is formed, and in some varieties the stalk separates and a specific aroma appears. When selectively collected in field conditions they use special conveyors TN-12, TShP-25, TPO-50 or mounted trays, which are made from pipes of sprinkler machines, and in the absence of the specified devices - manually with removal to the road. Fruits for storage are harvested in the afternoon in clear sunny weather with the stalk, carefully placed on a straw bedding in one layer and transported to storage.

Selection of varieties

Choosing a variety is the most crucial moment, especially for a beginning melon grower. Today, more than 3,000 varieties of melon are known, and it is sometimes difficult even for experienced melon growers to comprehend the intricacies of such diversity. When choosing a variety, you first need to take into account the weather conditions of your region.

When choosing a melon variety, in addition to early ripening, it is advisable to give preference to varieties with a compact bush shape or short shoots. The latter is especially true if a cover crop is used.

Dido- mid-early variety. From germination to the beginning of fruit ripening - 70-75 days. Fruits are spherical and obtusely elliptical in shape, medium and big size. The background color of the fruit is yellow, the mesh is solid. The pulp is light cream color, thick (5.0-6.0 cm), crispy, juicy, sweet. Tasting score - 4.8 points.

The weight of an average fruit is 2.0 kg. Productivity - 24.3 t/ha. Transportability is good. The fruits do not crack. The fruits contain 13.0-14.0% dry matter, 10.5% sugar, 30.0-33.0 mg% vitamin C. The seeds are medium-sized, ivory-colored. Seed yield is 1%, weight 1000 pcs. - 40.0-45.0 g. The variety is relatively resistant to powdery mildew and bacteriosis. Intended for fresh consumption and processing.

Fortune- mid-early variety, from germination to the beginning of fruit ripening - 68-78 days. Fruit oval shape, background color is yellow, of different shades, sometimes with green spots. The mesh is full or partial. Pulp white, thick (up to 6.0 cm), juicy, sweet. Tasting score - 4.4 points.

The weight of an average fruit is 4.2 kg. Productivity on land is up to 28.0 t/ha. The fruits contain 11.5% dry matter, 9.8% sugar, 27.5 mg% vitamin C. Transportability is good. The seeds are medium-sized (length - 14.2 mm, width - 6.8 mm), white. Seed yield is 1%, weight 1000 pcs. - 48.2 g. The variety is highly resistant to fusarium wilt and powdery mildew.

Olvia- mid-season variety, resistant to powdery mildew and fusarium wilt. Intended for fresh consumption and canning. From germination to the beginning of fruit ripening - 75-85 days.

The fruits are short-oval, light yellow in color, with a network of mixed cracks. The pulp is thick, tender, sweet. Tasting score - 4.7 points. The weight of an average fruit is 2.5 kg. Productivity on land is up to 15.4 t/ha. Transportability is good.

New promising melon varieties

Fantasy- a new early-ripening melon variety with a growing season of 62 days. The fruits are spherical and slightly flattened, yellow in color with a partial mesh, the surface is smooth. Average fruit weight 2.9 kg, dry matter content 13.2-14.2%, white seeds, average, 10.0 x 5.0 mm. The pulp is white, 4.3 cm thick, juicy, sweet, productivity of one plant is 2.2 kg. Productivity on dry land is 15.0-18.0 t/ha. The variety is highly resistant to powdery mildew.

Prestige(photo on the right) is a new early-ripening melon variety with a growing season of 65 days. The fruits are oval-shaped with a dense net, yellow-orange in color. The productivity of one plant is 3.6 kg, the average fruit weight is 2.6 kg, the dry matter content is 11.0-12.0%. The pulp is white, average thickness 2.5-3.0 cm, juicy, sweet. Seeds yellow, 12.0 x 5.0 mm. The yield on rainfed soil is 15.0-16.0 t/ha. Highly resistant to powdery mildew.

First stage: site selection and seed preparation

As you know, melon is a very heat-loving plant. Therefore, the site for its cultivation needs to be selected appropriately: protected from the wind, well lit and warmed by the sun, fertile.

You need to prepare the site in the fall: dig up the bed shallowly (about the size of a shovel) and fertilize the soil with humus at the rate of 3-4 kg per 1 square meter. If clay soil predominates on the site, do not forget to fluff it up using river sand - half a bucket per 1 sq.m.

In the spring, continue preparing the beds. Dig it again and apply potash and phosphate fertilizers in the proportions indicated on the package. Just before planting the melons, add nitrogen fertilizer or composted manure.

Now start preparing the seeds for growing seedlings. You can buy them in the store or prepare them yourself.

Try to choose large melon seeds for growing

It turns out that melons have an interesting feature. Seeds from a previous harvest may produce strong, robust plants that do not bear fruit. This is explained by the fact that the flowers on such a plant will only be male and will not set an ovary. To get a good harvest, it is better to take seeds that are at least three years old.

When choosing seeds for seedlings, pay attention to the larger ones. Be sure to treat them with a special composition for such seeds, which you can buy in a store, or a solution of zinc sulfate with boric acid. The seeds are soaked in this solution for at least 12 hours.

Experts advise hardening melon seeds for growing in the middle zone. Dip them in warm water (up to 35 degrees), take them out, and keep them at a temperature of 18-20 degrees for 24 hours. Then gradually reduce the temperature to 0 degrees, and keep the seeds in these conditions for about 20 hours. Raise the temperature back to the original setting. This procedure must be repeated three times in the last week before planting the seeds.

Growing seedlings

Peat pots or peat tablets with a diameter of up to 10 cm are perfect for growing seedlings. You can also use cardboard or plastic cups. The advantage of peat containers is that they can be completely immersed in the soil along with the seedlings without removing them. Peat will act as a natural fertilizer over time.

Seeds should be planted in specially prepared soil

1. Fill cups and pots with special soil for vegetables. You can prepare the following mixture yourself: 1 part sand, 9 parts peat, mix thoroughly, add wood ash at the rate of 1 cup per 10 liters of soil.
2. Soak the seeds for a day before planting. Empty seeds will float, discard them immediately. This way you will cull.
3. Plant 2-3 seeds in prepared pots to a depth of 5 cm. Before the first shoots appear, keep the containers indoors, observing the temperature regime: 18-20 degrees during the day, at night - no lower than 15 degrees.
4. The first shoots should appear in about a week. Thin them out, leaving one of the strongest sprouts in the pot.
5. After the appearance of the third or fourth strongest leaf, pinch the seedlings. This promotes the development of side shoots.
6. Caring for seedlings is not at all difficult. The only feature is less watering without water getting on the stems and leaves. To avoid blackleg, place a layer of dry river sand around the stem.

Sowing seeds should be done in April, and seedlings can be transplanted into the ground after 25 days.

Planting melon seedlings in the ground

So, the melon bed on your site has already been prepared. Fluff the soil thoroughly using a rake. Make holes, maintaining a distance between them both in length and width, approximately 70-80 cm.

Please note: under no circumstances should you plant seedlings if frost has not yet passed. It’s better to wait until the final warming, otherwise the melons will die at the seedling stage.

Treat melon sprouts very carefully so as not to damage the roots in any way. It is best to plant seedlings along with the soil in which they grew in a pot or glass. It is in this case that you can be convinced of the benefits of peat cups or tablets: they are simply immersed in the hole and sprinkled with earth.

Maintain a distance of 70-80 cm between the holes in which the seedlings will be planted

Before planting, pour water into the hole and add a little humus. Plant the stem so that it does not go deep. The lump of soil with which you planted the seedlings should protrude slightly above the surface of the earth. Water the planted seedlings again and sprinkle with soil.

During the first two days, create shade for the seedlings to help them grow better. If there are strong temperature changes between day and night, cover the plantings with film, which will also protect the melons from rain.

The film can be replaced with the usual plastic bottles. Cut a large (2 to 5 liters) bottle into 2 pieces across. Cover each sprout with half the bottle. like this simple design It’s very easy to remove before watering, and then put it back in place.

The most popular melon varieties in the middle zone

1. The Kolkhoznitsa variety, bred by the Biryuchekutsk experimental station, is the most suitable for the middle zone. It is very stable and therefore has become widespread. The fruits of this variety are round, orange, and weigh about 1 kg. The pulp is white, very light and sweet. During the season, the harvest can reach up to 100 centners per hectare.
2. Variety Alushta, bred by the Crimean Experimental Station. The fruit ripening period is 70 days. The fruits are oval-shaped, large, orange-yellow, and weigh up to 1.5 kg. The pulp is white, juicy, sweet. Productivity can reach 175 centners per hectare.
3. Zolotistaya, a variety bred by the Krasnodar Research Institute, belongs to the mid-season varieties. The ripening period is 80-90 days. The fruits are round, yellow with an orange tint, with a weakly defined network. Weight up to 1.6 kg. The pulp is juicy and white. Productivity reaches 120 centners per hectare. The variety is very resistant to diseases.
4. Variety Dessertnaya 5, bred by the Krasnodar Research Institute of Vegetable Farming. Fruit small size, short-oval, with a fine-mesh surface. Weight reaches 1.6 kg. The pulp is sweet, tender, white-green in color. The variety is high-yielding and can bring from 140 to 160 centners per hectare. The advantages of this variety are the long-term storage of fruits.
5. Yuzhanka (sometimes the variety is called Kuvshinka) was bred by the Kuban experimental station VNIIR. The fruits are large, weighing 1.8-1.9 kg, round, with longitudinal ribs, orange-yellow in color. The sugar content is the same as that of Kolkhoznitsa. A high-yielding variety, the yield reaches 220-240 centners per hectare.

Melons of different varieties

We care for melon during the period of growth and ripening

Melon is not very demanding in care, but nevertheless, it is necessary to observe certain rules. During the entire growth period, the melon needs to be weeded, hilled, watered, and the soil around it loosened.

1. Do the first 2 loosenings between rows no deeper than 15 cm. The next time loosening is carried out to a depth of 10 cm, and the soil next to the stem is not affected. After the first side lashes appear, hill up the melon, raking a roll of earth towards the stem.
2. In melon conditions, the crop grows practically without moisture. Therefore, watering should be moderate. If dew falls in the morning, watering should be canceled. You need to water the row spacing so that water does not get on the vines and leaves.
3. The first pinching is done while the melon is still in seedlings. After the melon is planted in the ground and has gone through an adaptation period, perform another pinching over the 7th leaf of the main stem. Do the same with the side loops, and then remove the excess flowers, leaving 3 tied fruits, located at a distance from each other. Remove shoots without fruits so that they do not draw juice.

In addition, melon needs feeding. The first time this is done 2 weeks after planting in the ground. To do this, you can use saltpeter, cow manure or chicken manure. The following feedings should be done every 10 days. You can buy complex fertilizers or dilute chicken manure and add ash. Before the fruits ripen, fertilizing can be stopped.

To avoid rotting, place a board or plywood sheet under the ovary

Weeding the melon beds is carried out only when necessary. Do not forget to regulate the growth of the lashes; they should not fall between the rows. Place a board or plywood under each ovary to protect the fruit from rotting when it touches wet ground.

Please note: in the climatic conditions of the middle zone, the best option would be to choose early ripening melon varieties. Even if the melon does not have time to ripen before frost, and you have to pick it prematurely, it will reach ripeness at home.

When growing melons, always follow three main rules:

• timely protection of seedlings planted in the ground from frost;
• correct formation and pinching of stems, removal of excess ovaries;
• timely systematic feeding.

This way you are guaranteed to get a good harvest of melon.

Video about growing melon in open ground

We hope that our tips will help you grow sweet, juicy melons even in our short summer. If you have experience growing melon in the ground, share with us in the comments, tell us about your methods, and recommend more suitable varieties. Good luck and have a warm summer!

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Svetlana Kovaleva Good afternoon, Svetlana is with you, a philologist. During my student years I really wanted to earn money on my own, but working in the city was difficult. evening time I couldn't find it.

Melon is a fragrant guest on the autumn table. Planting, growing, care

In this article we will talk about a sweet and aromatic representative of the large pumpkin family - melon. It is not without reason that this plant has gained popularity among gardeners and ordinary consumers. The sweet and aromatic pulp of a well-ripened melon can not only significantly lift your mood, but also improve digestion. Let's take a closer look at this melon crop so that growing it is not difficult.

So, melon (Cucumis melo) belongs to the cucumber genus, the pumpkin family and is a heat-loving melon crop. Asia is considered to be the homeland of melon. The melon fruit is an elongated cylindrical or round pumpkin, of various colors: yellow, green, white, brown, often with green stripes.

The characteristics of the fruits, as well as their number on one plant, depend on the plant variety. Now in central Russia not only adapted melons are ripening, but also southern melons from India, the cultivation of which has become possible using closed soils, where growing conditions as close as possible to natural ones are created. Fruits can ripen from 2 to 6 months.

Melon culture dates back about 400 years. In central Russia, the most common type of melon you can find is the common melon. Therefore, in this article we will dwell in more detail on it and its varieties.

This summer my melons are somehow especially small, most likely due to constant rains and acidification of the soil; the temperature for growth was often insufficient, although the variety itself is of great importance. Last year I planted melon with early ripening and there was no rain for a couple of months in the summer. The fruits turned out sugary and very juicy. This year I chose a variety with an average ripening period, but summer let us down.

But you should still adhere to the basic features of growing melon in order to be guaranteed to get a harvest.

Melon planting

So, for melons you should choose open sunny areas, well warmed up, protected from cold winds. Preference should be given to southern slopes.

Choose light soils with a neutral reaction. Melon is resistant to drought and soil salinity, but does not tolerate soil acidification and high humidity. My aunt in Kursk has a huge melon tree in a field in the open sun; such melons are less likely to be affected by diseases and ripen better than their “brothers” in the shade. I have slightly acidic soil in my melon patch, so I always add wood ash before planting. Do not allow the ash to come into contact with the melon root system.

To get a good harvest, the soil needs to be filled with organic and mineral fertilizers. To do this, during the autumn digging it is necessary to add compost or humus, as well as mineral fertilizers in the form of double superphosphate. I liked the yield when adding fresh manure, the fruits were larger.

Melon is grown in central Russia seedling method. To do this, in mid-March or late April, we sow seedlings with a sowing depth of about 1.5 cm. I use soil purchased at a specialized store.

If you make the mixture yourself, then it should consist of turf soil, peat, humus, mixed with mineral fertilizer and wood ash. Take peat and turf soil equal proportions, humus - part more.

It is better to plant immediately in separate containers, the diameter of which is at least 10 cm. My seedlings were about 40 days old at the time of planting; the isolation of the cups helps not to injure the plant during planting.

Melon seedlings love sunlight while growing on the windowsill, and a temperature of 20-25 ºС. At night the temperature in the room can reach 18-20 º C. If it is raining and cloudy outside, you need to lower the temperature in the seedling room so that it does not stretch out, as in the photo below.

During the development of plants, it is necessary to provide fertilizing:

1. When the seedlings have their first true leaf, it is necessary to add mineral fertilizers (superphosphate, ammonium nitrate, potassium chloride according to the instructions on the package).

2. After 2 weeks after the first, a similar feeding is done.

From the second ten days of May, when the seedlings have reached the stage of 5-7 true leaves, it is time to plant them in the ground. Having moistened the seedlings well, carefully plant them in holes prepared in the soil. The distance between plants is about 55 cm.

Make sure that the root collar is not buried, otherwise there is a high risk of fungal diseases. For the same purpose, river sand should be sprinkled around the plant. While the sprouts are taking root, water the seedlings with warm water.

Care for melon plantings

The most familiar way for everyone to grow melons is with vines spread on the ground (in a spread). With this method, to obtain the best harvest, a shoot above the 4th leaf is pinched, as a result of which 2 strong side shoots grow, which can subsequently be pinned to the ground and the shoots can also be pinched. The “pinching” method is good because the nutrients are not wasted on the green mass, but go into the fruit.

But we should not forget about the trellis method of growing melon, in which a frame about 2 m high is prepared in advance and already on the 4th day after planting the plant is tied with a rope, the upper end of which is fixed to the trellis. The plant will twist up the rope. With the trellis method, the growing point is also pinched. This happens immediately after planting in the ground above 3-4 leaves. After pinching, side shoots form from the axillary buds of the plant. Leave the 2 strongest ones, remove the rest. Tie both shoots in turn to the trellis. The advantages of this method are that the lashes are better illuminated and warmed up, which has a qualitative effect on the harvest.

When the seedlings are tied up, they need regular watering, which should be stopped when the fruits appear so that they can pick up sugar. When watering, it is worth considering that if there is excess moisture, the melon roots can rot.

Don’t also forget about fertilizing: after planting, when side shoots begin to form, and also before the buds appear, it is worth feeding the melon with liquid organic and mineral fertilizers, alternating them with each other... Be careful with nitrogen fertilizers, their excess leads to an increase in the growing season and a delay fruiting.

Melon varieties

When starting to grow melon, you should remember that this is a heat-loving plant, the optimal temperature for the ovary starts at 25 º C, and for fruit ripening - from 30 º S. Therefore, I recommend choosing a variety based on the characteristics of the region where you plan to grow melon. Varieties are divided according to the growing season into early, middle and late. For central Russia with an unpredictable summer, of course, it is better to take early-ripening varieties, in which case there is a chance that they will ripen and produce a harvest.

Altai melon

It will take 60-80 days for this variety to fully ripen. The fruits are oval, yellow in color, with thin aromatic skin and juicy fleshy pulp. The fruit weight can reach 600-1200 g. The variety is well transported. The length of the lashes is up to 2 m.

Melon Blondie

It will take 80-90 days from germination to full maturity. I planted “Blondie” once under film in a bed with manure. I really liked the unusual aromatic pulp. When this melon ripens, it gives off a sweet, strong smell that tells you it's time to remove it from the garden. At the same time, its color becomes a little beige. The variety is characterized by large, round, slightly flattened fruits and long vines. My fruits were small, weighing only about 400 g. In the original, during hot summers they can reach up to 700 g.

Melon Zimovka

This variety is a late variety. Most likely, it will be quite difficult to grow it in central Russia. More than 90 days will pass from germination to ripening. In the State Register, the variety is recommended for planting in the Lower Volga region. A strong climbing plant. The fruits are light yellow-green, without stripes, but with a large mesh on the skin. Juicy pulp of light green color. Not very crispy, but tender. The weight of the fruit can reach up to 2.5 kg. Well transported and stored.

Marina, Nekrasovskoe

I like melon - its aroma immediately improves my mood)) But I didn’t even think about growing it in our area - I thought that the plant was too heat-loving and capricious for the unpredictable summer of the Middle Zone. Vera, now I understand how mistaken I was and how much I lost by refusing the experiment! I'll fix it! :)) Thanks for the useful article!

Vera, Orel

Marina, thank you!!! To tell the truth, I am the most talkative gardener on the site. Sometimes it even surprises me how my plants survive.

Last year I decided to improve, they built a fully glazed greenhouse as an extension to the bathhouse, I thought, well, finally I’ll start operating in the greenhouse like a “crop-grabbing maniac,” but the winter brought so much snow that the roof collapsed, and the glass still doesn’t work. I can choose from there. Therefore, all my plants continue to survive in open ground conditions. If the heat-loving melon survives, then you will succeed!!! It’s true that you can’t do without seedlings.

Marina, Nekrasovskoe

Oh, Vera, I’ve been planning to build a greenhouse for many years now - and every time something is missing to fulfill this intention))) So, for me, too, everything that wants to grow grows in open ground :))

But summer is getting hotter and hotter every year, so I’m afraid that soon the question of a greenhouse may disappear by itself - as unnecessary. It was decided: by spring I will choose some early-ripening and not particularly demanding melon variety and will certainly try to grow it! And then I’ll write and tell you what came of it)))

Vera, Orel

It will be very interesting! From source to result!

Andrey, Russia

Vera and I’m like you!)))) I’m from the Black Sea coast, here melons grow only with watering, I won’t even try it at home...

OLGA, Kaluga

AND MY SEEDLINGS HAVE BEEN EXTENDED... WHAT CAN BE DONE?

Irina Belova, Kazan

carefully replant it into a deeper container, I tried it, if you don’t damage the root, everything will take root normally.

Salchak Iraida, Kyzyl

Hello, Vera! I’m pleased that in the reviews you can learn something useful for yourself, I live in Siberia and I want to try to plant melon and watermelon seedlings. Of course, at the beginning of April I sowed watermelon and melon in cups, they stretched out for me - I’m thinking of transplanting them into deeper dishes, but the question is whether there will be a harvest. I planted them three years ago - they turned out small, but ripe. Thank you for the advice. Iraida, Tuva.

Oksana, Russia

Thank you for the interesting article)) I live in the Southern Urals (Magnitogorsk), I am a gardener for the second year. I immediately planted seeds from a greenhouse (polycarbonate), variety Serezhkina Lyubov (SibSad). Available information on caring for melons; due to the heat of this summer, I have to water them almost 2 times a week (I look at the condition of the soil; if it’s wet, I don’t overwater).

As soon as I sowed. covered with a thin covering material (during cold nights in May and when it suddenly warmed up (so that the young leaves would not burn)). She left it to trail with the whips and did not tie it up. I used the same fertilizer as for cucumbers (health, it says for cucumbers, zucchini and pumpkins).

Olga, Rybnitsa

if anyone needs Uzbek or Turkmen melon seeds - write [email protected]

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