Their distinctive feature is their long stems with tendrils. If supports are placed next to these crops, the vines will begin to “climb” them. In order to correctly apply the growing technology, which will be outlined below in the article, you need to know exactly which crops are melons.

These are melon, pumpkin, watermelon, squash, zucchini and some others.

In melon crops, two-year-old seeds are considered the most suitable for sowing. If it is not possible to obtain such planting material, you can also use annual ones. However, in this case they need to be heated to 60 degrees for 2 hours. In order for the shoots to be more friendly, the seeds of melons and melons are also germinated. To do this, they are wrapped in gauze and dipped in warm water for four hours. Then they are placed in damp burlap and kept for a day or two.

Melon crops for the most part prefer sunny places, warm weather and are resistant to long-term absence of moisture. The thing is that the homeland of all these crops is the hot regions of the planet. Watermelons, for example, grow wild in South Africa, and melons and pumpkins grow wild in Asia.

Melons not only tolerate dry air well, but also produce tastier and sweeter fruits in such conditions.

Seeds are planted in the ground only when the summer weather becomes stable, that is, in early June. In order to get the harvest a little earlier, melons can be grown in seedlings. Peat cups are used for this, because these plants do not tolerate transplantation well. Melons are planted in the ground either in a nesting manner or in rows. Each such plant requires a lot of space. Firstly, they have long vines that need space to develop, and secondly, they have large fruits, which is why they require a huge amount of nutrients.

Melon crops are planted in groups of 2-3. Melons and watermelons - to a depth of 4 cm, pumpkins - 6 cm. In warm weather, seedlings appear on the tenth day of sowing, and the first true leaf - another week later. Depending on the variety, the main shoot may begin to form in 15-40 days.

Then shoots of the second order, third, etc. branch off from it. The flowers of these plants are heterosexual - both female and male specimens bloom on the same plant.

As for fertilizing, during the season melons are early stages development can be fertilized with mullein infusion. In the fall, after harvesting, potassium and phosphorus fertilizers are applied during digging, and in the spring, when preparing the beds, nitrogen fertilizers are applied. Although plants of this family are drought-resistant, they still produce higher yields when watered. During the season, the soil under them is well moistened 9-12 times. However, during fruit ripening, plants should be watered as little as possible. Otherwise, the fruits will grow watery and not too sweet.

Growing melons and melons is quite a difficult task, since the climate in Russia is not very suitable for them. Often, even with proper care, the gardener still does not receive a harvest. The result largely depends on weather conditions. If you still want to grow watermelons or melons on your plot, then you should try it. If you're lucky, you can diversify your diet with tasty and incredibly healthy fruits.

* The calculations use average data for Russia

Melon crops include annual or perennial plants of the pumpkin family (Cucurbitaceae), which have long spreading or climbing stems with tendrils: watermelon, melon, pumpkin, squash, squash, etc. The most popular, for obvious reasons, are watermelons and melons, which are cultivated for the production of juicy fruits with high taste. Watermelon and melon are consumed mainly in fresh as a dessert. However, jam, preserves, molasses, watermelon honey (nardek, bekmes) are also made from the fruits of these melons, candied fruits, marshmallows and pickles are prepared; they are still quite widely used in the canning and confectionery industry. Valuable vegetable oil is obtained from the seeds of many plants of the pumpkin family.

In this article, we will look at the seasonal business of growing watermelons. Watermelon owes its high popularity to its valuable dietary, taste and nutritional properties. Watermelon contains large amounts of sucrose and fructose, which give it sweetness, and the pulp and rind of watermelon contain various beneficial amino acids, macro- and microelements, including antioxidants, fiber, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, sulfur, folic acid and sodium.

General information about watermelons

In our country, watermelons are grown on an industrial scale in the Volga region and in some areas of the southern regions, as well as in the Crimea. Watermelons are heat-loving plants that are well cultivated in steppe climates with long, hot, dry summers, so in these regions they ripen freely in the open air, acquiring excellent taste. In the middle black earth regions of Russia, as well as in more northern regions, watermelons are grown, as a rule, not in fields (in open ground), where they simply do not have time to ripen during the season, but in greenhouses (under film). Watermelon has a powerful root system, which provides the plant with enough moisture and nutrients to ripen large, juicy fruits. The main root of watermelon plants can penetrate the soil to a depth of two meters, and the lateral roots form a large number of second and third order roots, reaching a depth of 3-4 meters.

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At first, the vegetative mass of plants develops rather slowly, since during this period the root system grows intensively. But already 20-30 days after the emergence of seedlings, the plants begin to actively grow, forming side shoots. Their growth can reach two meters in just one day. The flowering time of watermelon depends on its early maturity. As a rule, flowers can be observed within a month and a half after germination, and flowering continues until the end of the plant’s growing season.

Watermelon flowers are usually dioecious, that is, both male and female flowers can form on the same plant. The most common varieties, however, often produce bisexual, that is, hermaphroditic, and male flowers, and in some species - female, male and bisexual. Female and male flowers can be distinguished by size: the former, as a rule, are larger, have a wide five-lobed stigma on a short style. Bisexual flowers are similar in appearance to female flowers. They differ only in that they form both stamens and pistil at once. The flowers open in the morning at dawn and fade after 15-16 hours. Female and bisexual flowers open earlier than male ones and, if fertilization does not occur, remain open during the next day. The male flowers fade within a few hours.

Depending on the duration of the growing season (that is, from the moment of germination to the onset of biological maturity of the plant), watermelon varieties and hybrids are divided into several main types: ultra-early (up to 70 days), early (71-80 days), mid-season (81-90 days). ), medium-late (91-100 days) and late-ripening (over 100 days). Keep in mind that ultra-early and early varieties of watermelons are usually less sugary and more watery than mid- and late-ripening ones. However, for industrial cultivation these varieties are considered more preferable.

Watermelon fruits can vary greatly in shape, color and size. In most cases, they have an oval-round shape with an average diameter of 20-25 cm and average weight 3-6 kg. The surface of the watermelon bark is usually smooth, but there are also segmented fruits, and the thickness of the bark depends on the variety, growing method and soil quality. In most fruits, the thickness of the bark is from one to one and a half centimeters. In some varieties, the thickness of the bark does not exceed half a centimeter, and in thick-skinned watermelons it can reach 4 cm. The most popular are still watermelons with an average thickness of the stern of 1-1.5 cm. Although thick-skinned watermelons are more convenient to transport and are stored longer, but buyers as a rule, they do not want to overpay for the “extra” weight of inedible fruit bark. Thin-barked watermelons have a very short shelf life and require careful transportation.

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Watermelon flesh is usually red, but in some varieties it can be orange, yellow, or even pearly. However, experienced entrepreneurs rely primarily on traditional rather than exotic varieties. The seeds also differ in shape, color and size. They can be large, medium or small, weighing from 30 to 150 grams/1000 pcs. black, yellow, white, reddish brown or even greenish in color. Seed germination usually lasts for 4-5 years.

Of all the types of these melons, the most widespread is the common watermelon (Citrullus lanatus). It is a herbaceous annual plant with fruits of spherical, oval, cylindrical or flattened shape with bark of various shades from white and yellow to dark green with a pattern in the form of stripes or spots. Its flesh is usually pink, red or crimson, but there are also varieties with white or yellow flesh. The stems of this crop are thin, creeping or climbing, and very flexible. They can reach four meters in length. The seeds of the common watermelon are flat, often bordered, with a ridge. This plant blooms throughout the summer months, but the fruits usually ripen no earlier than August-September.

Growing watermelons in open ground

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First, you will need to choose the appropriate varieties for growing watermelons in melon fields. Approach this issue with great care. Do not pay attention to the bright pictures on the websites and the assurances of the sellers. To get started, read the growing recommendations or consult an experienced agronomist. When choosing, pay attention to the fact how many days it will take this variety to ripen.

The best varieties melons watermelons Astrakhan, or Bykovsky (white), Monastic (green with white stripes and with red or gray seeds), Kamyshinsky (of the same color), Crimson Sweet (early ripening) and a number of others are considered. Seeds are usually sold in bags of five for 35-45 rubles per pack. At the same time, some suppliers set a minimum purchase quantity of 500-700 rubles.

Melon crops are planted only when hot weather finally sets in. As a rule, this is mid-late May (in the southern regions) or early June. Watermelon is a heat-loving plant; it cannot withstand freezing and does not tolerate temperatures dropping to 5-10 °C. For normal plant development, the temperature should be from 20-25 °C and above (optimal - 30 °C). Air humidity (it should ideally be 60%) and soil is also of great importance. On the one hand, thanks to its powerful root system, watermelon survives even in arid regions. However, if you want to get large, juicy and tasty fruits, then you need to maintain soil moisture at a certain level.

As mentioned above, watermelon seeds remain viable for 4-5 years. In this case, two-year-old seeds are considered the most suitable for sowing, since plants grown from fresh seeds (from the previous harvest) are not particularly fertile. As a last resort, you can also plant annual seeds, but in this case it is recommended to warm them to 60 ° C for a couple of hours. To obtain uniform seedlings, melon seeds are pre-germinated. To do this, they are wrapped in gauze, immersed in warm water for four hours, and then laid out on damp burlap, wrapped in cloth and kept in it for two days. After this, they can be planted in the ground.

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If you want to plant watermelons earlier than usual (in the second half of May), then you can grow them in seedlings using peat cups, since melons do not tolerate transplantation well. When planting watermelon seeds early, they must first be hardened to increase their resistance to cold. To do this, they are first soaked and then hardened for 1-2 days at a temperature of 0 to 20 °C.

Watermelon prefers mechanically light or sandy loam soils that quickly warm up in the sun. It is best if perennial grasses were grown on the field before melons, winter wheat, corn for silage, green fodder or legumes. Experts recommend returning watermelon crops to the previous place of cultivation of the same or other crops of the pumpkin family no earlier than after 5-8 years. However, this rule is often not observed.

Experienced people advise placing watermelon seeds in the soil not vertically, but horizontally on their side. This way, it will be easier for the leaves to break through the thick shell of the seed. Watermelons are planted in open ground in rows or in a nesting manner. Take into account the fact that there should be a fairly large space per plant. This requirement is determined, firstly, by the length of the vines, and secondly, by the size of the fruits, for the ripening of which plants need a very large amount of nutrients. Watermelon seeds are sown by hand in shallow holes 4-6 cm deep. 2-3 seeds are placed in one hole, then it is filled with water and covered with earth.

Shoots appear, as a rule, on the tenth – eleventh days of sowing. After another week, the first leaf blooms, and the main shoot begins to form at least two weeks later, or even later, depending on the variety. Care melons standard – weeding and loosening the soil, removing weeds and regular watering. During the entire season, you need to weed and loosen the melon at least four times, but water it - from 3-4 to 9-12 times per season, depending on the weather and the condition of the plants. When the central leaves of plants begin to wilt, this is a sure sign that they are not getting enough moisture. Watermelons need to be watered warm water(temperature from 15 ° C) to the very root. Watering should be relatively abundant so that the moisture penetrates deep into the entire arable layer. Water consumption is from 50 to 100 cubic meters per hectare. If the weather is not very dry, the next, more abundant watering is carried out after the formation of the ovary and when the fruits reach a weight of 3-5 kg. In this case, the water consumption can be 150 cubic meters per hectare. It is extremely important to develop your own schedule and watering norms, depending on the region and weather conditions, and strictly adhere to them. Lack or excess of moisture can reduce the resulting yield by more than half. With excessive watering, there is a high risk of developing various fungal plant diseases, and excess moisture during fruit ripening can negatively affect their quality: watermelons will turn out unsweetened and watery.

At the beginning of growth, it is recommended to fertilize melon crops with cowshed infusion (rotted manure). After harvesting, potassium and phosphorus fertilizers are applied to the melons for digging (half the dose of phosphorus and nitrogen and half the dose of potassium). In some manuals you can find recommendations for additional fertilization of melons in the spring with nitrogen fertilizers. However, they must be used with extreme caution. Excessively large doses of nitrogen fertilizers reduce the taste of fruits, which, although they grow larger, do not have a characteristic sweet taste. Moreover, high levels of nitrates can be harmful to human health.

With proper care (with regular weed removal), suitable climate, favorable weather conditions, fertile soil and watering, 20-40 tons of crops can be harvested per hectare of sown area when grown on the ground, and 40-70 tons when grown on film. As we mentioned above, the ripening process for early-ripening fruits takes 60-85 days, for mid-ripening and late-ripening fruits - an average of 100 days. You can determine the maturity of the fetus by its appearance– elasticity and shine of the bark, its color, brightness of the pattern. If you hit a ripe fruit with your palm, the sound will be dull. When you squeeze such a watermelon, you can hear the crackling of the pulp inside. In cool weather, ripe watermelons can remain on the melon patch for up to a month. However, in extreme heat, they burn in less than a week under the scorching rays of the sun, so take care in advance of a storage room for ripe fruits and timely harvesting.

Growing watermelons in greenhouses

If you want to get an early and/or more abundant harvest, if you plan to grow watermelons in regions whose climate is not suitable for melons, then you cannot do without greenhouses. The following varieties of watermelons are suitable for greenhouse cultivation: “F1 Gift to the North”, “Cinderella”, “Ultra Early”, “F1 Moscow Region Charleston”, “Ogonyok”, “Pannonia F1”, “F1 Pink Champagne”, “Sibiryak”, “F1 Crimstar” "

It is recommended to sow seedlings for the greenhouse in the second half of April. To force seedlings, a special mixture is prepared, which includes three parts of humus with one part of soil, a tablespoon of potassium and nitrogen fertilizers, and three tablespoons of phosphorus fertilizer. Also if you don't use mineral fertilizers, you can add a glass of wood ash and one teaspoon of potassium sulfate per bucket of soil mixture.

As when sowing seeds in open ground, when planting seedlings they are planted at a shallow depth - up to 2-3 cm. Before germination, the soil from the seeds should be kept at a temperature of 22-25 ° C. When the first shoots appear, the temperature can drop at night to a maximum of 15-17°C.

In general, caring for watermelon seedlings is the same as caring for cucumber seedlings. It is necessary to provide the shoots with a long daylight hours - from 12 to 14 hours, otherwise, if there is not enough light, they will begin to stretch out too quickly, producing long but weak shoots. You can provide the necessary lighting using special lamps that are used for greenhouse crops. A week after germination, it is recommended to shade the seedlings using black film from 18 to 8 hours (from evening to morning). On the tenth day after the shoots appear, the plants are fed with mineral fertilizers (10-15 grams of potassium chloride, ammonia sulfur, 20-25 grams of superphosphate per 10 liters of water).

Don’t forget to prepare the soil in the greenhouse for planting seedlings in advance. It is planted only in “warm” beds. To prepare them, a 15-20 cm thick layer of soil is removed from the soil a week before planting. Hay with humus is placed in this trench, which is sprinkled with nitrogen fertilizers and moistened abundantly hot water, and then covered with soil and black film. After the soil warms up to at least 10-12 °C, seedlings can be planted into it to a depth of 10 cm. In the southern regions this happens in the first or second ten days of April, in the central regions - in the second or third ten days of April, in forest-steppes – in the third ten days of April - the first ten days of May. When the vines appear and as they grow, they are tied to trellises, and the fruits themselves, due to their large weight, are recommended to be hung in nets. For rapid plant growth, pinch the lashes, leaving three leaves above the fruit and removing weak shoots.

The greenhouse must be regularly ventilated, avoiding drafts. It is desirable that insects that pollinate female flowers enter the greenhouse. However, you can do this yourself. To do this, carefully monitor the appearance of male flowers, which fade very quickly. During hand pollination, they are torn off, the petals are carefully removed and the anthers are applied to the stigma of female flowers several times. Experts advise doing this in the morning when the air temperature is about 20 °C, but only on the condition that the night before the air temperature did not drop below 12 °C.

After harvesting, do not forget to leave enough seeds for the next crops. Watermelons that grow from these seeds are better able to resist various diseases and grow faster.

Ripe watermelons are sold to wholesale companies, private retailers, directly to end customers and through fruit and vegetable stores. For small volumes, it is most profitable to sell watermelons yourself, since wholesale prices differ significantly from retail prices.

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Greetings, dear friends!

If you want to grow melon crops, a novice melon grower should first tackle the capital cultivation and fertility of the area planned for the cultivation of melons and watermelons. Balancing soil nutrition in the agricultural technology of the pumpkin family is the main component of productivity, sugar content and quality of grown fruits.

Use of fertilizers when growing melons

With fertilizers for melons, pumpkins and watermelons, care and literacy are required, since these crops are poorly adapted to the synthesis of useful microelements and, like a sponge, accumulate heavy compounds and nitrates in their fruits. Therefore, all types of fertilizing during the growing season should be in an easily digestible form in the form of humic, ash and green concentrates, and active organic matter with granular minerals should be introduced in advance during the autumn digging of the site. If you use manure or minerals in their natural form, feeding melons during the growing period, for example watermelon, its fruits will be oversaturated with nitrates, with tasteless pulp, speckled with white inedible veins, with a thrice thickened rind and unripe seeds.

Irrigation technology for growing melons and melons

With active watering, you can increase the yield of melons by two to three times. The most important period for water to reach the roots is the time from the appearance of the first shoots in the garden bed to the beginning of fruiting. At this time, the root system of melon crops is not yet strong enough to provide the required amount of moisture, especially for melons. During the entire season, it is necessary to carry out at least three abundant waterings on the melon patch. The first irrigation is needed during the appearance of the first shoots and the formation of dense foliage. Second watering is important during active flowering plants. It is necessary to water the plantings for the third time at the very beginning of the formation of fruit ovaries, after which the irrigation of the melon is completed. If you continue " water treatments", they will already be harmful - the likelihood of cracking of ripened fruits, low sugar content, deterioration increases taste qualities, reducing the shelf life of crops. After the final third irrigation, a good humic feeding of the plantings will not hurt.

Caring for melons

Conducting growing melons During the summer, plant shoots must be pruned, since unregulated growth of tops will deteriorate the productivity and quality of the crop. After waiting for 5-6 leaves to appear on the shoot, you need to trim it above the second leaf. At the cut site, a pair of shoots are subsequently formed, which also need to be pinched, and when 8-9 leaves appear, the shoot is shortened to the sixth leaf.

When the ovaries appear, the upper part of the petiole is trimmed so that a couple of leaves remain on top. As soon as the melon ovaries become visually comparable in size to an apple, the least strong of them are cut off. The remaining canes with ovaries should be placed on the ridge so as to prevent interference with their growth: provide access to sunlight and avoid growing beyond the boundaries of the plantings. It is undesirable to leave unfruitful vines; it is better to cut them out completely so that they do not take over the nutrition, water, light necessary for the ovaries and do not interfere with the ventilation of the fruit-bearing, green mass.

I wish you a good harvest of melons and melons. See you!

Lecture outline

a) choice of soil and relief, predecessor;

b) basic and pre-sowing soil preparation;

c) preparing seeds for sowing;

d) timing of seed sowing;

e) caring for plants and harvesting.

1. Selection of soil and relief, predecessor.

Melon crops grow better on light sandy and sandy loam soils; they grow worse on chernozems and chestnut soils. Heavy loams with little structure are especially unsuitable for them.

The topography of the site also plays an important role in the life of melon plants. Based on the orientation of the site to the cardinal points, the most suitable slopes are those that are better illuminated and warmed up - usually the southern and southwestern ones. However, it should be taken into account that in very dry conditions, southern slopes dry out faster and, due to lack of soil moisture, are unsuitable for melon crops. Typically, crop rotations with melons and melons are located mainly on flat steppe spaces.

Melon crops are placed in field or forage crop rotation. To obtain high yields, these crops are grown in layers perennial herbs or on virgin soil. Virgin lands and fallow lands are most often used for melon growing on sandy soils. In non-grass crop rotations, fallow winter wheat or row crops such as corn are a good predecessor. Of the main vegetable crops and potatoes, the best predecessor for melons and melons is potato; good predecessors are also: vegetable crops, like onions, cabbage and carrots.

It is undesirable to continuously cultivate melons for several years in one place or to frequently return them to the same field where they were already grown. This promotes the development of diseases and, as a rule, leads to a sharp decrease in yield. This is evidenced, for example, by an experiment conducted at the Uzbek vegetable and melon station. So, if in the first year of cultivating melon in one plot the yield was 164.6 c/ha, then in the third year it decreased to 71 c/ha. Condensed planting of melons with corn and sorghum, as well as placing melons in the rows of gardens and vineyards, is also undesirable. This significantly delays the ripening of fruits and reduces yield. The melons themselves are good predecessors for other crops.

2. Basic and pre-sowing soil preparation.

One of the main conditions for obtaining high yields is the use of the correct soil cultivation system. In the arid climate of southern Ukraine, the soil cultivation system should include: increasing the loose arable layer to accumulate and preserve moisture, creating favorable conditions for the water, air and food regime of the soil for the growth and vital activity of the root system. In addition, proper tillage is a means of controlling weeds and diseases. When autumn tillage, the timing and quality of fall plowing are of particular importance. The timing of fall plowing depends on the time of harvesting of previous crops, the humidity level and the degree of weediness of the field. Many years of experience show that the earlier autumn plowing is carried out, the greater its effectiveness. With early autumn plowing, more nutrients and moisture accumulate in the soil.

In areas freed from early cultures, plowing of plowed land for melon crops begins with peeling the soil immediately after harvesting the previous crops. Preliminary peeling destroys plant residues, loosens the top layer of soil, which sharply reduces the evaporation of moisture from the soil, and with light precipitation, it promotes the rapid germination of weed seeds. Depending on the germination of weeds, 2-3 weeks after peeling, autumn plowing is carried out with a plow with a skimmer. If the previous crop is harvested late, then the plowed land is plowed without preliminary peeling, immediately after harvesting.

The main plowing is carried out, as a rule, in the fall, but on sandy soils the soil is plowed in the spring to prevent blowing. The plowing depth should be at least 25 - 30 cm; plantation and semi-plantage plowing is even better.

A large increase in the yield of melons with deep plowing can be achieved by increasing the volume of the loose soil layer, which improves its aeration and nutritional regime, increases the amount of water-soluble phosphoric acid, nitrates and moisture reserves in its deeper horizons. At the same time, a powerful root system develops, which penetrates much deeper into the soil than with conventional plowing. In addition, at deeper plowing, melon crops, as a rule, develop a two-tiered root system, and not a single-tiered one as with conventional plowing.

During the fallow season, organic and mineral fertilizers are applied to melon crops. In the steppe zone of Ukraine, rotted manure is used on chernozems at a dose of 10 t/ha. It is recommended to increase the application rate on chestnut soils in the central part of the southern zone and in Crimea to 15 t/ha, and on saline soils - to 20 t/ha.

Following autumn plowing, the site is graded in two tracks.

In the southern arid zone, autumn harrowing and plow cultivation are becoming increasingly common, which give especially good results in years with insufficient moisture reserves in the soil in the fall and during dry winters.

In early spring, at the first opportunity to go into the field, harrowing must be carried out. As a rule, this work is done quickly, in one to three days, with elevated areas being harrowed first, where the soil dries out faster. Particular attention must be paid to fields with alkaline soils, since delaying harrowing on such soils even by one day leads to the formation of a crust that is difficult to process.

Harrowing, used in all zones of Ukraine, is accompanied by single and double cultivation, depending on spring conditions. The depth of cultivation should be such that no lumps remain on the soil surface after it is completed. Pre-sowing cultivation is carried out to the depth of seed placement. It must be done in such a way that immediately after it the seeds can be sown.

3. Preparing seeds for sowing

Sowing of melons and melons must be done with seeds of promising varieties and hybrids that are of good germination quality. For sowing, it is better to use well-sorted large, full-bodied seeds (class I seeds). Large, full-fledged seeds contain more nutrients for the embryo and therefore produce more complete plants and higher yields. Seeds are sorted by specific gravity by immersing them in a 3% solution of table salt. Seeds can also be sorted by size by passing them through a sieve with 1.5x1.5 cm cells. However, various centrifugal sorting machines are more productive; the pneumatic sorting table SP-0.5 is especially convenient for these purposes.

In order to combat fungal diseases, melon and pumpkin seeds are pickled. Many melon growers prefer two to four year old seeds, and when using one year old seeds, they heat them at a temperature of 35 - 40 ° C for five hours. This ensures a more uniform emergence of seedlings, accelerates the appearance of female flowers, ripening of fruits and increases the yield. So in this case, the increase in the yield of melon fruits from heating can be 30 - 40%.

To speed up the emergence of shoots, melon seeds are soaked. Soak the seeds in a wooden, glass or stainless steel container, spreading them in a layer of 15 cm. You can also soak the seeds in bags. In this case, the seeds should occupy no more than half of the bag. Soak the seeds in water at a temperature of 18 - 22 ° C for 20 hours, changing the water after 10 hours. Seeds soaked in this way begin to grow faster.

The method of pre-sowing seed preparation proposed by P. Genkel gives good results. The seeds are alternately soaked for 48 hours at temperatures of 18 and 30 ° C and dried. This increases germination energy and seed germination, increases respiration rate, activates enzyme activity and increases yield.

Germination is an effective method of pre-sowing preparation of gourd seeds, which significantly accelerates the emergence of their seedlings. Seeds are germinated so that they start growing, or, as they say, peck. Seeds are germinated in a bowl, on burlap or boiled sawdust with a layer of no more than 5 - 6 cm. Germination is carried out at a temperature of 25 - 30 ° C for 70 - 100 hours, while every 8 - 10 hours the seeds must be mixed. When slightly noticeable seedlings appear in 1/3 of the seeds, they are slightly dried and sown. Germinated seeds should be sown only in moist soil. If such seeds fall into dry soil, the seedling will dry out and die. From sprouted seeds in moist soil, seedlings appear already on the 3rd - 4th day.

4. Timing of seed sowing.

The timing of sowing will depend on local soil and climatic conditions and crops. Usually, the sowing of watermelon and melon begins when the soil temperature at a depth of 10 cm reaches 12 - 13 ° C. In the south of Crimea this happens on April 5 - 15, and in the steppe regions on April 20 - 28, and on the Kerch Peninsula - in mid-April. Some melon growers prefer to sow in warmer soil - in the first days of May. Pumpkin is sown 8 - 10 days earlier than watermelon and melon.

The correct choice of sowing time is a very important matter, since the frequency of emergence of seedlings and the size of the harvest largely depend on it. If sowed very early in unheated soil, the seeds will swell, but will not germinate and may die; if sowed too late, the soil may dry out and seedlings may not appear. Typically, dry seeds are sown earlier, and wet and sprouted seeds are sown later, but in such a way that the soil has sufficient moisture reserves.

Except the right choice optimal sowing time, the yield size is affected by the feeding area. The feeding area of ​​melon and pumpkin depends on the nature of the soil, the amount of precipitation and the length of the variety. For melons, the feeding area is 1 - 2 m2. A smaller feeding area is provided on rich chernozem soils, a larger area is allocated on dry and sandy soils. Melon and pumpkin seeds are sown in three ways: square-cluster, row and strip. Square-cluster method, leaving two plants in the nest, late varieties of melon according to the 140x140 cm pattern.

Early ripening varieties of melon are sown in a row method according to the pattern 140x70 cm, pumpkins according to the pattern 280x70 and 280x140 cm.

More promising are the belt crops of gourds, as they allow to lengthen the period of mechanized processing of row spacing. Melon is also sown with a two-line ribbon according to the pattern (140+70)×70 cm.

Sowing is carried out with seeders, which can be used to pick up interchangeable discs of sowing machines for each variety. These seeders provide the required feeding area and good seed placement.

However, in the spring in the southern regions of Ukraine, the weather is dry and windy, the top layer of the soil dries up very much, and therefore it is difficult to get shoots on rain-fed lands. Previously when manual way water was added to the sowing holes. This is very labor-intensive work. Less time-consuming is mechanized sowing with adding water from tanks suspended on a tractor and connected by hoses to the seeder coulters. Such a unit is designed on the basis of the SKGN-6A seeder, sowing in a similar way allows you to get normal seedlings.

The seeding rate varies depending on the sowing scheme and seed size, and is 3-4 kg for watermelon, 2-3 kg for melon and 3-4 kg/ha for pumpkin.

Seeding depth depends on crop, sowing time, seed size and soil conditions. On heavy clay soils, melon seeds are sown to a depth of 3–4 cm, watermelons to 4–5 cm, pumpkins to 7–8 cm; on light sandy loamy soils, the sowing depth increases by 1–2 cm, respectively.

The sowing depth can be much greater: for melons and watermelons up to 8 cm, for pumpkins up to 10 cm.

After sowing, the soil is rolled with ring rollers. This allows you to create better seed-to-soil contact and get more, better seedlings.

5. Plant care and harvesting.

Caring for melons and gourds consists in the timely breakthrough of plants, loosening the soil and the destruction of weeds, in the fight against diseases and pests. Timely correct and thorough care of gourds is a decisive goal good harvest, because due to the loosening of the soil and the destruction of weeds, moisture and nutrients are retained in the soil.

Caring for melon plants begins with cultivation and the so-called row-spacing, which is often carried out before full shoots appear.

In some melon and melon crops, transverse cultivation is used. Bouquets are left with sizes of 35 - 50 cm, and the gaps between bouquets are equal to the future accepted distance between plants in a row.

The first inter-row cultivation of crops begins at the time when the plants develop their first true leaf. Since the root system of melons at that time mainly develops in depth, to destroy weeds it is better to cultivate the row spacing to a depth of 14 - 16 cm.

The second cultivation of melons begins in the phase of formation of 4 - 5 true leaves to a depth of 10 - 12 cm. The first two cultivations must be completed within 30 days after emergence.

The third and fourth cultivations are carried out as weeds appear and the soil compacts, but no later than 12 to 16 days after each other. To avoid damaging the root system of plants, the cultivation depth should be no more than 8 - 10 cm, and in wet years deeper cultivation is acceptable, and in dry years the depth can be reduced.

If during the 3rd and especially the 4th cultivation there are large vines, then they should be moved closer to the nests if possible, and after the machines have passed, they should be laid out again in the inter-row spaces.

Simultaneously with the cultivation of melon crops, manual loosening of the soil in nests or rows is carried out. During the period of these works, it is necessary to carry out thinning of plants. Melon seedlings are thinned out twice: the first time when 2 - 3 true leaves form on the plants, leaving 2 - 3 plants in the nest, or one in a row every 15 - 20 cm; the second end of thinning with leaving one most developed plant in the nest is done in the phase of 3 - 4 true leaves. This period usually occurs 25 to 30 days after germination. Plants removed during thinning must be plucked off and not kept, since in this case the root system of the remaining plants is disrupted. It is very important to thin out plants in a timely manner and preserve nutrients and the amount of their growth. A delay in thinning even by 5 to 7 days leads to varying yield reductions (often up to 20% or less).

Recently, efficiency has been proven in some top dressings of melons. For foliar feeding using different micronutrients. The most effective are boron and manganese. So, according to Karpov, it is sprayed with a three percent solution boric acid in a proportion of 0.5%. And a solution of manganese sulfate at a concentration of 0.1% at the beginning of flowering and at the beginning of fruit formation increased the yield of watermelons by 30 - 34%. For foliar top dressing, various sprays are used.

Among the still little studied techniques that help increase productivity, accelerate fruit ripening and improve the quality of melon crops, pinching these plants deserves attention. In early ripe varieties of watermelon, melon, pinching must be done twice. The first time the plants will have 4 - 6 true leaves. The plants are pinched a second time during the formation of the link, and at this time the growing points of a larger number of developed stems, both fruiting and non-fruiting, should be removed. If the weather is hot, then the removal of growth points from the stems must be done in the afternoon so that the plants can more easily endure this operation. Pinching has a very great importance in areas with short growing seasons, such as middle lane, and when moving to more northern regions of the country.

Among other agricultural techniques, artificial pollination of melons and melons deserves attention. As is known, in the southern regions of Ukraine, during the period of the beginning and mass flowering of melons, prolonged high air temperatures, as well as drying winds, are observed. High temperatures and drying winds affect the process of normal pollination of delicate flowers, since these are far from optimal conditions, pollen quickly loses the ability to fertilize. If fertilization does occur, it is often insufficiently complete. In such cases, the fruits of melons and melons turn out to be somewhat ugly in shape, and for the most part, once they begin to develop, they fall off. In these unfavorable weather conditions, artificial pollination of female flowers becomes important. According to Makarovsky, additional artificial pollination of watermelon and melon flowers, carried out 5-6 times every 3-5 days, increases the yield of watermelon fruits by 90%, and melons by 200%. At the same time, the number of large fruits on additionally pollinated crops compared to unpollinated ones increased by 1.3 times in watermelon, and 5 times in dandelion. Makarovsky believes that thanks to additional pollination, approximately 50% of the ovary does not fall off.

In Zelenova’s experiments, additional pollination of pumpkins increased the fruit yield, depending on the variety, by 40 - 150%. Artificial pollination gourds should be carried out only in the morning from 6 to 10 o'clock.

For more complete natural pollination of melon crops, hives with bees are taken to the plantation for 10 - 15 days at the rate of one hive per hectare of melons. In order to improve the marketability of fruits, you can use a less common, but very effective method of fruit formation, developed by melon growers. It consists in the fact that the fruits are placed with the stalks facing up when the ovary is the size of an egg. All sides of the fruit develop evenly, its long diameter is slightly reduced, the fruits acquire the correct presentation and the quality of their pulp improves.

Table watermelons and melons are harvested selectively as they ripen; zucchini and squash are harvested when the fruits reach a standard size; pumpkins are harvested in the fall, when the crop mass ripens or before the end of the growing season.

The fruits of early-ripening varieties of watermelon and melon are harvested more often, while mid-ripening and late-ripening varieties are harvested more rarely. Depending on the variety and purpose, watermelon fruits are usually harvested in 3 - 4 doses, and melons - every 4 - 7 days. All varieties of pumpkin, as a rule, are harvested in one go after the green mass of the plants stops vegetating. It is better to harvest zucchini when they reach 10 - 12 days of age, as this increases plant productivity. Periodic harvesting of ripe fruits from watermelons, melons and pumpkins also contributes to better development and the formation of new fruits.

During ripening, significant changes occur in the mechanical structure of fetal tissues. The pulp usually softens and becomes more juicy; the bark becomes thinner, denser, and in some varieties of pumpkins even hardens.

A characteristic sign of fruit ripening of all melons is some lightening of their color, but, in addition to this, various types and even melon varieties have their own special signs of ripening.

When watermelon fruits ripen, the tendril located opposite them dries out, the bark pattern becomes more noticeable, and the sound when clicking is dull; When the fruit is squeezed, a cracking sound appears.

When a melon ripens, the color of its bark changes: the pattern becomes clearer, in some varieties the bark becomes covered with a network of small cracks, and an aroma appears. In many early and mid-ripening varieties, a sign of ripening is the ease of separation of the fruit from the stalk.

Watermelons, melons and pumpkins intended for local use are harvested when fully ripe; the fruits of watermelons or melons intended for long-distance transportation are harvested at the very beginning of ripening. The fruits of winter varieties of melons intended for winter storage are also harvested without waiting for full ripening, and when harvesting the fruits, a stalk 3-4 cm long is left.

Fruit picking is a very laborious job, but it can be facilitated by the use of various types trailed or mounted transport carts, and when leveling watermelons and pumpkins, use a square made from round slats at an angle of 85°. Using a square driven by a tractor, the fruits are separated from the vines and moved on both sides of the tractor into two continuous shafts. The productivity of a square for a 7 hour working day is 16 - 20 hectares. After harvesting, the fruits are sorted. Ripe and healthy fruits are sold for consumption or used for storage; ripe but damaged fruits are processed. Small, underdeveloped fruits of watermelons and melons are pickled or used as livestock feed.