Pumpkin: rules for growing and care

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

Pumpkin is the largest vegetable in the garden. Therefore, a few bushes of this culture are enough to supply the whole family with useful nutrients for the whole winter. Pumpkin recipes can be found in both old cookbooks and modern ones.

The fruit is successfully used in dietary and baby food. Pumpkin has long been used in folk medicine. Gardeners love this plant for its beauty and unpretentiousness.

Soil preparation

It is necessary to start preparing the soil in the fall immediately after harvesting vegetables. Dig up the soil to the depth of a full bayonet of the shovel, adding fertilizer as you dig. The soil for the pumpkin should be light, breathable. In heavy soil, the roots do not receive enough oxygen, which affects the growth and development of the plant.

In addition to the main long root, the pumpkin has a large number of small roots, which are located at a shallow depth.

Therefore, it is from above that the soil should be well fertilized. Only on such land can large fruits be obtained. Excessive acidity of the soil must be compensated for by adding ash or lime to it. The pumpkin planting bed needs sufficient light throughout the day and must be protected from the wind.

Seed preparation

It is better to form planting material from seeds that have lain for several years. Before planting, the seeds must be sorted, choosing only the largest ones. You can disinfect them in two ways: warm them up for a while under the sun's rays or treat them with a manganese solution. Then the seeds must be soaked in water for several hours, held in a growth stimulator and kept warm on a wet cloth until they hatch.

This will significantly speed up the germination process in the soil. The seeds must be hardened by periodically bringing them into a room with a lower temperature for several hours.

Growing seedlings

Prepared and hatched seeds must be placed in special cups with soil to a depth of no more than three centimeters. Then the seedlings can be carefully transferred into the ground without damaging the earthen coma, since the pumpkin cannot tolerate transplanting. The cups of seedlings covered with plastic should be kept in a warm and dark place for a week.

After the appearance of the cotyledon leaves, the film must be removed and the seedlings must be provided with good lighting. With a lack of light, it will stretch and fall.

Planting a pumpkin

A well-suited place for planting where they previously grew:

1. Beet.
2. Carrot.
3. Pepper.
4. Tomatoes.
5. Cabbage.

It should not be placed after related crops:

• cucumbers;
• squash;
• zucchini.

In sufficiently prepared soil, seeds can be planted on a flat surface of the garden, keeping a distance of half a meter.

This distance is necessary for the spaciousness and free branching of the pumpkin. With the seedling method of growing, seedlings should be planted in open ground only during a period when there are no light frosts in the morning. Seedlings, which have three true leaves, are placed in holes poured with warm water.

Pumpkin care

The pumpkin should be regularly watered and loosened until the leaves cover all of its space. Ten days after transplanting, the seedlings can be fed with fertilizers. The pumpkin successfully tolerates a dry time, and excessive watering can cause rotting of the plant and the development of fungal diseases. When the fruit ripens, you need to water the pumpkin less, otherwise its taste will be watery.

After setting several fruits, the main stem and shoots are pinched, after which all the nutrition will go to the development of the existing ovary. It also prevents the overgrowth of the pumpkin in adjacent areas.

Cleaning and storage

You can determine the ripeness of the pumpkin by the dry stalk and hard bark. The pumpkin is harvested all at the same time in September, and the unripe fruits reach their ripeness during storage. It is not necessary to remove the stalk from a pumpkin subject to long-term storage.

Before laying the fruits for storage, they must be dried in the sun. Pumpkin can be stored for up to six months in a dark, cool and ventilated place.

There are several problematic points:

1. The seeds do not germinate. Happens when landing in the ground. Seedlings do not appear either because they are bored in the ground, simply rotted. Or they are lazy because of the low temperature. Therefore, it is important to sow seeds in warm soil. Or use a trick. When sowing, put a dense cloth on the bottom of the hole, and put seeds on it. And so bury it.
2. The seeds have sprouted, but the shoots are weak. Give them a magic kick in the form of ammonium nitrate solution or bird droppings. If infirmity crawls out for several seasons in a row, raise the seeds to a pedestal, making mounds of potato tops and compost when planting.
3. After planting the seedlings, the roots rotted. Pumpkin does not tolerate transplanting well. Therefore, it must be planted either directly into the soil or in peat pots that will dissolve. It was probably too early for nitrogen fertilization. The sprouts were cold, they could not get food, and together it began to rot. The optimum ground temperature for feeding is 12-13 ° C. If the roots of the seedlings rot, then it is not necessary to pull out weak shoots, along the way damaging the neighbors. Gently cut the stalk and that's it.
4. Few ovaries and rot again. This means that pollination does not occur. Damp rainy weather is often to blame. When it gets dry, you need to carry out artificial pollination. Lack of ovaries. Generally.
5. Too much fertilizer. Excess nutrition is good for growth, bad for reproduction. The shoots are long, the leaves are large, but there are no fruits. The next time is to plant a pumpkin in an area that was fertilized a couple of years ago.
6. Excess ovaries. In addition, the irregular shape. Not ripe, dry up. Pinching to help. As already mentioned, the harvest must be formed. After flowering, leave 1-2 lashes with the same number of ovaries.
7. The fruits ripen slowly. There is probably little sun. Remove interfering leaves. Probably low in nutrients. Sprinkle the ovary with earth. Then it will put down more roots.
8. The fruits break off and rot. Rotting follows the pumpkin throughout its development. To preserve the fruits, they also need to be lifted onto a pedestal - put a plate. Hang the hanging ones in a net on a support post.

Growing pumpkin is a laborious and delicate process. What will not be difficult is harvesting. You can determine that the pumpkin is ripe by the hardened peel, rich color, hard stalk and dry lash. Cut with the stalk, let it sunbathe for 2 weeks, and can be stored all winter.

Feast on a platter

Pumpkin is a source of all kinds of joys. At the beginning, the growing process goes with interest. For example, you can set a goal to grow a giant, compete with the inhabitants of the German city of Ludwigsburg. There, at the annual pumpkin festival in the framework of the competition "Who has more" pumpkins were seen weighing 600 kg.

In the fall, carve the crooked grins of mocking scarecrows on ripe fruits, and have fun celebrating Old Irish Samhain or American Halloween. Or scare the neighbors by placing creepy lanterns in the garden, and arrange a harvest festival. And roast pumpkin slices over the fire, as the Maya Indians did.

Winter will have a sweet pumpkin flavor and aroma of home cooking, because you can make pie, soup, mashed potatoes, jelly, cookies, jam, squeeze juice from the pulp. Even make champagne for the New Year. Pumpkin has not only seeds that are edible, but even flowers.

A perfect end to the season for the hardworking gardener - sitting in the "Cinderella's carriage", drinking pumpkin juice in his block to the songs "Smashing Pumpkins".