Their distinctive feature is long stems with tendrils. In the event that supports are placed next to these crops, the lashes will begin to "climb" along them. In order to correctly apply the cultivation technology, which will be described below in the article, you need to know exactly which crops are melons.

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

Two-year-old seeds are considered the most suitable for sowing in melons. If you can get such planting material no, you can also use annuals. However, in this case, they need to be warmed up to 60 degrees for 2 hours. In order for the seedlings to be more friendly, the seeds of melons and gourds are also germinated. To do this, they are wrapped in gauze and dipped in warm water for four hours. Then they are placed in a damp burlap and kept there for a day or two.

Melons and gourds for the most part prefer sunny places, warm weather and are resistant to a long absence of moisture. The thing is that the hot regions of the planet are the homeland of all these cultures. Watermelons, for example, in wildlife are native to South Africa, while melons and pumpkins are found in Asia.

Melons not only tolerate dry air well, but also give more tasty and sweet 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 and gourds can be grown seedling method... For this, peat cups are used, because these plants do not tolerate transplantation well. Melons are planted in the ground either in the nesting method, or in rows. Each such plant requires a lot of space. Firstly, they have long lashes that need space for development, and secondly, they have large fruits, which is why they need great amount nutrients.

Melons and gourds are planted in 2-3 pieces. 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 - after another week. Depending on the variety, the main shoot can begin to form in 15-40 days.

Then shoots of the second order, the 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 dressing, during the season melons in the early stages of development can be fertilized with mullein infusion. In the fall, having harvested, potash and phosphorus fertilizers are applied for digging, and in the spring, when preparing the beds, nitrogen fertilizers. Although the plants in this family are drought tolerant, they still yield higher yields when watered. During the season, the soil under them is well moistened 9-12 times. However, during the ripening of the fruit, water the plants as little as possible. Otherwise, the fruit will grow watery and not too sweet.

The cultivation of melons and gourds is a rather complicated matter, since the climate in Russia is not very suitable for them. Often, even with proper care of the crop, the gardener does not receive it. The result depends a lot on weather conditions. If you still want to grow watermelons or melons on your site, then you should try to do it. If you're lucky, you can diversify your diet with delicious and unusually healthy fruits.

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Melon crops include annual or perennial plants of the pumpkin family (Cucurbitaceae), which have long, outstretched or climbing stems with antennae: watermelon, melon, pumpkin, zucchini, squash, etc. The most popular, for obvious reasons, are watermelons and melons, which are cultivated to obtain juicy fruits characterized by high taste... Watermelon and melon are eaten mostly fresh as a dessert. However, jam, preserves, molasses, watermelon honey (nardek, bekmes) are also cooked from the fruits of these melons and gourds, candied fruits, marshmallows and pickles are prepared, they are still widely used in the canning and confectionery industries. Valuable vegetable oil is obtained from the seeds of many plants of the pumpkin family.

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As part of this article, we will look at seasonal business for the cultivation of watermelons. The high popularity of watermelon is due to its valuable dietary, taste and nutritional properties. Watermelon contains a large number of sucrose and fructose, which give it sweetness, and the pulp and rind of the watermelon contain various beneficial amino acids, macro- and micronutrients, 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 thermophilic plants that are well cultivated in the steppe climate 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 the more northern regions, watermelons are grown, as a rule, not in the fields (in open ground), where they simply do not have time to ripen in a season, but in greenhouses (under the film). Watermelon has a strong root system, which provides the plant with sufficient moisture and nutrients for the ripening of large juicy fruits. The main root of watermelon plants can penetrate into the soil to a depth of two meters, and lateral roots form a large number of roots of the second and third orders, reaching a depth of 3-4 meters.

At first, the vegetative mass of plants develops rather slowly, since this period grows intensively. root system... But already 20-30 days after the emergence of seedlings, the plants begin to grow actively, forming side shoots... Their growth can reach two meters in just one day. The flowering time of a 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.

The flowers of a watermelon are usually dioecious, that is, both male and female flowers can form on the same plant. In the most common varieties, however, bisexual, that is, hermaphroditic, and male flowers are formed more often, and in some species - female, male and bisexual. It is possible to distinguish between female and male flowers by size: the former, as a rule, are larger, have a wide five-lobed stigma on a short column. Bisexual flowers are outwardly similar to female ones. They differ only in that they form both stamens and a pistil at once. Flowers open in the morning at dawn and fade in 15-16 hours. Women and bisexual flowers open earlier than male and, if fertilization did not occur, remain open during the next day. Male flowers fade after a few hours.

Depending on the duration of the growing season (that is, from the moment of emergence to the onset of biological maturity of the plant) varieties and hybrids of watermelon are divided into several main types: ultra-early (up to 70 days), early (71-80 days), mid-ripening (81-90 days ), medium late (91-100 days) and late ripening (over 100 days). Keep in mind that ultra-early and early watermelon varieties tend to be less sugar-rich 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 an average weight of 3-6 kg. The surface of the bark of a watermelon 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 bark is between one and one and a half centimeters thick. In some varieties, the thickness of the bark does not exceed half a centimeter, and in thick-baked watermelons it can reach 4 cm. The most popular are still watermelons with an average feed thickness of 1-1.5 cm. Although thick-baked watermelons are more convenient to transport and are stored longer, buyers, as a rule, they do not want to overpay for the "extra" weight of the inedible bark of the fetus. Thin-bored watermelons have a very short time storage and require careful transportation.

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Watermelon flesh is usually red, but in some varieties it can have an orange, yellow, or even pearl hue. However, experienced entrepreneurs rely mainly on traditional rather than exotic varieties. The seeds also vary in shape, color, and size. They can be large, medium or small, weighing from 30 to 150 grams / 1000 pieces. 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 common watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) is the most widespread. It is a herbaceous annual with fruits of a 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 pulp is usually pink, red or crimson, but there are also varieties with white or yellow pulp. The stems of this culture are thin, creeping or curly, very flexible. They can be up to four meters long. The seeds of an ordinary watermelon are flat, often bordered, with a scar. This plant blooms throughout the summer months, while the fruits usually ripen not earlier than August-September.

Growing watermelons outdoors

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First you will need to choose suitable varieties for growing watermelons on melons. Approach this issue with great care. Ignore the bright pictures on the sites and the assurances of the sellers. To get started, read the growing guidelines or consult an experienced agronomist. When choosing, pay attention to the fact how many days it will take for a given variety to ripen.

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

Melons are planted only when hot weather finally sets in. As a rule, this is mid to late May (in southern regions) or early June. Watermelon belongs to heat-loving plants, it does not withstand freezing and does not tolerate temperature drops to 5-10 ° C. For the normal development of the plant, the temperature should be from 20-25 ° C and above (optimal - 30 ° C). Great importance has both air humidity (it should ideally be 60%) and soil. On the one hand, thanks to its powerful root system, the 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. At the same time, 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 plant annual seeds, but in this case it is recommended to warm them up to 60 ° C for a couple of hours. To obtain uniform shoots, the seeds of melons and gourds are pre-germinated. To do this, they are wrapped in cheesecloth, dipped in warm water for four hours, and then laid out on a damp burlap, wrapped in a cloth and kept in it for two days. After that, 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 a seedling method using peat cups, since melons do not tolerate transplanting well. At early landing watermelon seeds, they must be pre-hardened in order to increase their resistance to cold weather. To do this, they are first soaked, and then within 1-2 days they are quenched at temperatures from 0 to 20 ° C.

Watermelon prefers mechanically light or sandy loam soils that warm up quickly in the sun. It is best if perennial grasses, winter wheat, corn for silage, green fodder or legumes were grown in the field before the melons. Experts recommend returning the crops of watermelon 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 followed.

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

Seedlings 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 for melons and gourds is standard - weeding and loosening the soil, removing weeds and regular watering. For the entire season, it is necessary to weed and loosen the melon at least four times, but to water it 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 lacking moisture. You need to water the watermelons warm water(temperature from 15 ° C) to the very root. Watering should be relatively abundant so that moisture penetrates deep into the entire arable layer. Water consumption ranges from 50 to 100 cubic meters per hectare. In not very dry weather, 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 rates of watering, depending on the region and weather conditions, and strictly adhere to them. Too little or too much moisture can cut the resulting crop by more than half. With excessive watering, there is a high risk of developing various fungal diseases of plants, and excess moisture during the ripening of fruits can negatively affect their quality: watermelons will turn out to be unsweetened and watery.

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

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

Growing watermelons in greenhouses

If you want to get an early and / or more bountiful harvest, if you plan to start growing 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 Charleston near Moscow, Ogonyok, Pannonia F1, F1 Pink Champagne, Sibiryak, F1 Krimstar ".

It is recommended to sow seedlings for the greenhouse in the second half of April. For distilling seedlings, a special mixture is prepared, which includes three parts of humus with one part of the earth, a tablespoon of potash and nitrogen fertilizers, three tablespoons of phosphorus fertilizer. Also if you are not using mineral fertilizers, you can add a glass wood ash and one teaspoon of potassium sulfate per bucket of potting soil.

As when sowing seeds in open ground, when planting seedlings, they are laid at a shallow depth - up to 2-3 cm. Before germination, the soil with seeds must 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 for cucumber seedlings. It is necessary to provide the shoots with a long daylight hours - from 12 to 14 hours, otherwise, with a lack of light, they will begin to stretch too quickly, giving long, but weak shoots. You can provide the necessary lighting with the help of special lamps that are used for greenhouse crops. A week after germination, it is recommended to shade the seedlings with black film from 18 to 8 hours (from evening to morning). On the tenth day after the emergence of shoots, the plants are fed with mineral fertilizers (10-15 grams of potassium chloride, ammonium sulfur, 20-25 grams of superphosphate per 10 liters of water).

Do not forget to prepare the soil in the greenhouse in advance for planting seedlings. It is planted only in "warm" beds. To prepare such, a week before planting, a layer of earth with a thickness of 15-20 cm is removed from the soil.Hay with humus is laid in this trench, which is sprinkled with nitrogen fertilizers and abundantly moistened hot water, and then covered with soil and black film. After the soil warms up to at least 10-12 ° C, it will be possible to plant seedlings in it to a depth of 10 cm.In the southern regions this occurs in the first or second decade of April, in the central regions - in the second - third decade of April, in the forest-steppe - in the third decade of April - the first decade of May. When lashes appear and grow, they are tied to trellises, and the fruits themselves, due to the large weight, are recommended to be hung in nets. For the rapid growth of plants, the lashes are pinched, leaving three leaves above the fruit and removing weak shoots.

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

Remember to leave enough seed for the next planting after harvest. The watermelons that grow from these seeds will better resist various diseases and grow faster.

Ripe watermelons are sold to wholesale companies, private sellers, directly to end customers and through fruit and vegetable bases. With small volumes, it is most profitable to sell watermelons on your own, since wholesale prices differ from retail prices at times.

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Watermelon, melon, pumpkin - annual plants pumpkin family with dioecious flowers: their male and female flowers are laid separately on the same plant. Female flowers are easy to distinguish - they have an ovary visible. These plants form long, branched stems with tendrils. Usually such stems creep along the ground, but if there is a support, they rise along it, clinging to the antennae. The fruits of watermelon, melon and pumpkin are harvested in full ripeness when the seeds ripen in them.

The fruits of melons and gourds are a valuable food and dietary product. They are eaten fresh, baked, fried, pickled, dried and dried; candied fruits, honey, mashed potatoes are prepared from them. Pumpkin and fodder watermelon are used for livestock feed both fresh and silage with straw, corn and other feed.

Melons and gourds are very demanding for heat. Watermelons and melons are natives of dry steppes; homeland of watermelons - South Africa, and melons are regions of Asia Minor and Central Asia. They tolerate well not only high temperatures, but also significant dryness of the air. In such conditions, the plants produce especially sugary and aromatic fruits. Pumpkin is less drought-resistant and less heat-demanding. Her seeds begin to germinate at temperatures above 13 °. Optimum temperature for the growth and development of melons and gourds 25-30 °; at temperatures below 12-15 ° they develop weakly, and at temperatures close to 0 ° they die.

We have the main areas of melons cultivation - Volgograd, Rostov regions, Krasnodar Territory, Transcaucasia, Ukraine, Central Asian republics. In the southernmost regions of our country, melons are mainly grown on melons, to the north the main areas are occupied by watermelons, and even to the north - pumpkin.

Sowings of melons and gourds are placed in the fields in crop rotation, as a rule, after winter wheat, in a number of regions (Ukrainian SSR, Moldavia, Central Asia) they are used in vegetable crop rotations. Soil preparation for melons and gourds consists of deep autumn plowing by 25-27 cm, early spring harrowing and one or two spring treatments. For plowing, phosphorus and potash fertilizers, in the spring under cultivation-nitrogen. Phosphate fertilizers accelerate the ripening of fruits, increase their yield and quality. A moderate amount of nitrogen fertilization enhances plant growth. Rotten manure is introduced from organic fertilizers for melons and gourds.

Before sowing, the seeds of melons and gourds are warmed up, soaked and germinated in order to get earlier and more friendly shoots. Sow seeds when the soil warms up well. Seeds of pumpkin and zucchini are sealed to a depth of 8-10 cm, watermelon - by 6-8 cm, melons - by 4-6 cm. Sowing is carried out with ordinary or square-nested seeders.

Melon plants need a large area of ​​nutrition (from 1 to 8 m2), depending on the culture, variety, type of soil, climatic conditions... Care for melons and gourds consists in thinning the shoots, loosening the row-spacings two or three times, removing weeds, sprinkling the lash sections with earth, fighting diseases and pests.

Most high yields watermelons and melons - up to 400 centners per hectare - are obtained by irrigation. During the growing season, 9-12 irrigations are carried out with an irrigation rate of 500-700 m3 of water per hectare.

It is very important to store crops correctly in autumn and winter. The optimum storage temperature for fruits of watermelons and melons is +1, + 3 °, pumpkin + 10 ° at a relative humidity of 80% for watermelons and melons, and about 70% for pumpkins. Pumpkin and fodder watermelon can be stored until the next harvest. Table watermelons last no more than 3-4 months.

Melon crops - watermelon, melon and pumpkin - are cultivated to obtain juicy fruits that are distinguished by high taste. The fruits of table watermelon and melon contain 6-12% sugar, vitamins B, B 3, C, PP, etc. Watermelon contains a lot of iron salts and folic acid. In addition to direct consumption, honey (from juice), candied fruit, jam, marshmallow and other products are prepared from these fruits in the canning and confectionery industry.

Pumpkin with yellow flesh is rich in phosphorus salts and carotene, contains many phytoncides.

Fresh fruits of fodder varieties of pumpkin and watermelon are usually used to feed livestock. They are considered a valuable lactic acid feed. 100 kg of feed pumpkin contains 10 feed. units and 70 g of digestible protein; 100 kg of feed watermelon - 9 feed. units and 40 g of digestible protein.

Edible oil is extracted from the seeds of melons and gourds, especially pumpkin.

The yield of the best varieties of watermelons on non-irrigated lands is 25-30 t / ha, and on irrigated lands - 40-50 t / ha or more. Melon yield is from 16-18 to 50 t / ha and pumpkin yield is from 35 to 70 t / ha and more.

Melons belong to the family of cucurbitaceae - Cucurbitaceae, which includes the three most important genus in culture: watermelon (Citrullus), melon (Melo) and pumpkin (Cucurbita). Plants of these genera are annuals, very similar to each other in the structure of vegetative and generative organs.

Watermelon. It is represented by two species: table watermelon (Citrullus edulus Pang.) And fodder watermelon, candied fruit (Citrullus colocynthoides Pang.).

Root table watermelon pivotal, strongly branched, reaches a depth of 3-5 m and extends to the sides up to 7 m. The stem is creeping, long-braided (2-5 m), with 5-10 branches, pubescent with hard hairs. Leaves strongly dissected into pinnately incised lobes, rigidly pubescent. Flowers of the quintuple type, yellow, dioecious; female flowers are larger than m ^ bk ones (Fig. 22). Cross pollination using insects. The fruit is a multi-seeded false berry (pumpkin) on a long stalk, spherical, oval or oblong, colored white-greenish or dark green, often with a marble pattern. The bark of the fruit is leathery, fragile, with a thickness of 0.5 to 2.0 cm. The pulp of various consistencies, carmine-red, pink, less often white or yellow, has a sweet or slightly sweet taste. The pulp contains from 5.7 to 13% sugar. Fruit weight from 2 to 20 kg. Seeds of watermelon are flat, ovoid, 0.5-2.0 cm long, with a scar along the edge and a hard peel of white, yellow, gray, red and black color, often with a spotted pattern. The mass of 1000 seeds is 60-150 g.

Fodder watermelon its structure is somewhat different from the dining room. Its root system is more powerful. Leaves with larger, shortened lobules. The flowers are large, with a pale yellow vein.

Rice. 22.

1 - female flower; 2 - male flower; 3 - pollen; 4 - part of the escape

chick. Male flowers are located on long pedicels, female flowers are on shortened ones. Fruits of various shapes - spherical or oval-oblong, green or light green in color with dark stripes, marble pattern. The pulp of the fruit is pale green, contains 1.2-2.6% sugar. Fruit weight from 10-15 to 25-30 kg or more. Seeds of fodder watermelon without rib. The mass of 1000 seeds is 120-130 g and more. Table watermelon is one of the thermophilic, heat-tolerant and very drought-resistant plants. In moist soil, its seeds begin to germinate at a temperature of 16-17 ° C. Seedlings appear on the 8-10th day. Frosts -1 * C are destructive for them. The most favorable temperature for the growth of stems and leaves is 20-22 ° C, and for the development of fruits 25-30 ° C.

Table watermelon is a light-loving plant for a short day. The best soils for him are sandy and sandy loam. Loamy and clay soils are of little use, since they firmly retain moisture and do not heat up well.

A fodder watermelon is less demanding in terms of growing conditions compared to a table watermelon.

The following varieties of table watermelon are widespread: Astrakhansky, Borchansky, Zemlyanin, Lotus, Unusual, Ogonyok, Rose of the South-East, Sinchevsky, Holodok, Shironinsky.

Of the varieties of fodder watermelon, the most famous is Dishim.

Melon. It is represented by many types. Melons with soft flesh are common in our country: handalak (Melo chandalak Pang.), Adana, or Cilician (Melo adana Pang.), Cassaba (Melo cassaba

Pang.), And with dense pulp: Chardzhou (Melo zard Pang.), America (Melo ameri Pang.), Cantaloupe (Melo cantalypa Pang.). These species are very similar.

The root system of a melon is less powerful than that of a watermelon; it consists of a main root, penetrating to a depth of 3-4 m, and numerous lateral branches located superficially. The stem is creeping, cylindrical, hollow, strong, harsh. The leaves are reniform or cordate, on long petioles. The flowers are orange-yellow. The fruits are large, of various shapes and colors. The pulp is loose or dense, contains 12% sugar. Seeds are ovoid, flat, white-yellow, from 0.5 to 1.5 cm long, contain 25-30% oil. The mass of 1000 seeds is 35-50 g.

In terms of its biological characteristics, the melon is close to the watermelon, but it is more thermophilic and less drought-resistant, it is easier to put up with loamy soils.

Varieties: Kolkhoz Woman 749/753, Kazachka 244, Koy-bash, Khandalyak kokcha 14, Dessertnaya 5, Ameri 696, Tavria, Zolotistaya, Livadia, Dream, Golyanka, Frost, Samarskaya, Yantarnaya.

Pumpkin. In culture, it has three types: ordinary dining room (Cucurbita rero L.), large-fruited fodder (Cucurbita maxima L.) and nutmeg (Cucurbita moschata Duch.).

The root system of all types of pumpkin is well developed. Stem common pumpkin creeping. For some of its varieties, a bush form (zucchini) is characteristic. The leaves are five-lobed, with coarse subulate pubescence. Male flowers are collected in several in leaf axils, female flowers are single, located on lateral branches. The fruit is obovate, spherical or oblong, with fibrous sweet pulp containing 4-8% sugar. Seeds are medium in size and small, oval, with a clear rim, white, cream or darker in color, contain 36-52% oil. The mass of 1000 seeds is 200-230 g.

Fodder pumpkin large-fruited has a cylindrical hollow creeping stem. The leaves are reniform, weakly globular, covered with coarse hairs. The flowers are very large, orange-yellow. Fruits are spherical, flattened or elongated, reaching 50-70 cm in diameter, of various colors. The pulp of the fruit is friable, juicy, orange, less often white, contains 4-8% sugar. The seeds are large, smooth, with an indistinct rim. Their oil content is 36-50 %. The mass of 1000 seeds is 240-300 g.

Pumpkin nutmeg has a creeping branched stem. The leaves are reniform, cordate-notched or lobed, pubescent with fine hairs. The flowers are green or reddish orange. The fruit is elongated, with an interception, the pulp of the fruit is dense, contains 8-11% sugar. Seeds are medium in size, dirty gray, with a clear rim, contain 30-46% oil. The mass of 1000 seeds is 190-220 g.

Pumpkin is less thermophilic and drought tolerant than watermelon and melon. Its seeds begin to germinate at a temperature of 12-13 ° C. Seedlings suffer less from frost. Pumpkin works best on loamy soils.

Varieties: Bashkirskaya 245, Biryuchekutskaya 27, Hybrid 72, Gribovskaya winter, Donskaya sweet, Zorka, Almond 35, Prikornevaya, Troyanda, Kherson, Khutoryanka.

Cultivation techniques. Melons and gourds are demanding on soil fertility and cleanliness of fields from weeds. They do well on virgin and fallow lands, by layer perennial herbs and on the floodplains. In field crop rotations, winter cereals, corn, and annual grasses are good predecessors of melons and gourds. For specialized melon-growing farms, crop rotations with the following alternation of crops are recommended: 1 - winter rye + herbs; 2 - herbs of the 1st year; 3 - herbs

2nd year; 4 - herbs of the 3rd year; 5 - melons; 6 - melons; 7 - spring wheat; 8 - corn for silage. In such a crop rotation specific gravity melons is 25%.

It must be remembered that fields on which herbicides were used in the crops of previous crop rotation crops are unsuitable for placing melons and gourds.

Correct use of mineral and organic fertilizers increases yields, accelerates ripening and improves the quality of melons and gourds. As an organic fertilizer for watermelon and melon, manure is applied (with deep autumn tillage) in the amount of 15-20 t / ha and for pumpkin - 30-40 t / ha. Higher doses of manure for these crops can cause a delay in fruit ripening and deterioration in their quality.

At the same time with organic fertilizers make mineral. It is recommended to apply n ^ PcLo or N 60 P 45 K 50 per hectare for autumn tillage and N IO P 15 K, 0 in rows when sowing. Mineral fertilizers increase the yield of watermelons by 25-30%, and the sugar content by 2-3%.

In addition to the main and pre-sowing fertilization, it is also desirable to fertilize plants before flowering - N ^ R ^ K ^.

Soil cultivation for melons and gourds includes autumn cultivation (peeling by 8-10 cm and plowing with plows with skimmers to a depth of 25-30 cm) and spring processing soils consisting of harrowing and cultivation (at least two) followed by harrowing. IN northern regions melon growing on highly compacted soils, the first spring cultivation is often replaced by plowing. When the topsoil dries up, rolling is used.

For sowing, seeds are taken from fully ripe healthy fruits. Seed germination should be at least 90%. Before sowing, the seeds are exposed to air-thermal heating in the sun for

3-5 days or warmed up for 4 hours at a temperature of 50-60 ° C, soaked in water at room temperature for 24 hours, 1-2 days before sowing. Warming up the seeds increases the yield of watermelons by 11 -20%.

The seeds of melons and gourds are pre-etched against diseases with 80% s.p. TMTD (4-5 g per 1 kgeemyan). The seeds are treated with a suspension of the preparation - 5-10 liters of water per 1 ton of seeds.

The optimal sowing time is to set the soil temperature at a depth of 10 cm for watermelon and melon 12-14 “C, for pumpkin

9-10 ° C. Watermelon seeds sown under these conditions sprout in 9-10 days, melons in 8-9 days, pumpkins in 6-7 days.

When sown in insufficiently heated soil, the seeds of melons and gourds can rot and give sparse shoots. Sowing delays also greatly reduce their yield.

Sowing of melons and gourds is carried out with melon seeders. For sowing, sometimes corn and cotton seeders are also used on farms.

The feeding area depends on the variety, climatic conditions, soil fertility. The following sowing schemes are recommended, m: watermelon -

2.5 x (1.5 ... 1.7); 2.1 x (2.1 ... 1.4); 1.8x1.8; melon - 2.5 x (0.8 ... 1.0); 2.1 x (0.8 ... 1.2); pumpkin - 2.5x (1.8 ... 2.0); 2.8x (1.5 ... 1.8).

The seeding rate for watermelon seeds is 1.5-3.0 kg / ha, pumpkin 3-5, melon 2-4 kg / ha. Sowing depth of seeds of watermelon and pumpkin 6-8 cm, melon 4-6 cm.

Care for melons and gourds includes harrowing and loosening with rotary hoes until shoots appear to destroy the crust and destroy weed seedlings, as well as inter-row cultivation to a depth of 12-15 cm at the first and 8-10 cm during subsequent loosening. When processing row spacings, overgrown lashes of plants must be removed to the side in order not to damage them with the wheels of tractors and tillage implements.

For this, in the same unit with the cultivator, a braid spreader is installed, which moves the lashes from the middle of the row spacing to a width of 50-60 cm, sufficient for the passage of the tractor and cultivator wheels.

For inter-row soil cultivation, the cultivators KRN-4.2, KRN-5.6 and the melon cultivator KNB-5.4 are used, for weeding in rows - the weeding unit PAU-4.

To prevent the wind from mixing up the whips, sprinkle them with damp soil. This causes the formation of additional roots, which improves plant nutrition. Good results are obtained by pinching (chasing) the ends of the lashes during the flowering of male flowers.

In the fight against peronosporosis, crops are sprayed with Bordeaux liquid, 1% solution, according to copper sulfate(600 l / ha), against powdery mildew dusted with ground sulfur powder (15-30 kg / ha). Melons processing is stopped 15 days before the start of the harvest.

Irrigation is of great importance in the cultivation of melons and gourds in Russia. For melons and gourds give 3-5 vegetative irrigation with an interval of 10-15 days. They begin long before flowering, then temporarily stop and resume when fruit sets. Irrigation rate 600-800 m 3 / ha.

Cleaning. Melons and gourds do not ripen at the same time. Therefore, table watermelon, melon and zucchini are harvested in 2-3 doses (as they ripen), and pumpkin and fodder watermelon - at one time, before the onset of frost. Signs of ripening of watermelon fruits are drying of the stalk, coarsening of the bark and the appearance of a clear pattern on it. Ripe melons acquire the color and pattern characteristic of the variety. The ripeness of the pumpkin can also be determined by the color and density of the peel.

For selective harvesting of melons and gourds, the wide-grip conveyor TShP-25 is used. Ripe fruits are plucked and placed in the meshes of a conveyor belt, which guides and places them directly into the body of a nearby vehicle. With the last complete collection of watermelons, one-time harvesting for seeds and pumpkin harvesting, a large economic effect is provided by the mechanized collection of fruits into swaths by the UPV-8 swather, the selection of swaths by the pick-up PBV-1 and soft styling them into vehicles.

The described harvesting technology reduces labor costs by 5-6 times in comparison with the harvesting technology with the removal of fruits to the side of the field.

When transporting melons and gourds, the container method of transportation should be more widely used, which reduces manual labor during loading and unloading operations, improves product quality and reduces transport downtime.

Fruits are taken for storage without damage. Watermelons are stored at a temperature of 2-3 ° C, melons - at 0-2 ° C and an optimum air humidity of 75-85%, pumpkin - at 10 ° C and a relative humidity of 70-75%.

Melons and gourds.
These include watermelon, melon, pumpkin... The fruits of these plants are very rich in sugar, vitamins, organic acids, salts of potassium, iron, phosphorus, and in the content of provitamin A, they are superior to carrots.
Melons, light-loving and heat-loving plants, develop normally only when high temperature air and soil.
Seedlings, after sowing seeds, appear on the fifth or sixth day. The formation of the first true leaf begins in three, five days; the second real sheet again after three, five days, and so on. The plant branches in five, six days, then the first flower appears in the same way in five, six days.
Watermelon More thermophilic than melon and pumpkin, but more drought tolerant. Pumpkin is a more cold-resistant plant than watermelon and melon.
The optimum temperature for flowering and fertilization of melons and gourds is not less than 20 degrees Celsius at night and from 20 to 25 degrees during the day. Frosts are detrimental to melons and gourds.
These crops are considered drought tolerant, as the plants have a strong root system, dissected leaves, covered with hairs, but these crops, especially pumpkin, require a lot of soil moisture.
Good predecessors for melons and gourds are all vegetable crops and corn.
In autumn, deep plowing (digging) of the area for melon is necessary; before sowing, weeding and loosening of the soil is carried out.
To obtain friendly shoots, the seeds are soaked, germinated, treated with various preparations. Naked seeds are planted in warm and always moist soil.
Since the pumpkin is a more cold-resistant plant, it is sown first, then the melon and watermelon. The seeding depth is from three to seven centimeters. Planting depth depends on weather conditions, soil type, how dry the topsoil is. When sowing in holes, it is better to put the seeds at different depths. If the top layer of soil is dry, it must be removed to a wet layer, the seeds should be embedded in moist soil, and sprinkled on top thin layer dry soil so that a crust does not form on wet soil.
To create favorable conditions for the growth and development of melons and gourds, weeds must be destroyed; thinning plants in the holes; loosening the soil; powdering and pinching the lashes; pest and disease control; watering; feeding.
When weeding and loosening in rows, the soil is poured under the cotyledon leaves, thus creating a favorable air mode soil, additional roots are formed in plants.
It is very useful to powder the lashes of melons and gourds. So that the wind does not turn over and twist the lashes, sprinkle a knot located from the base of the lash by three-fourths of the length. If the branches are pinched, this increases the yield and also increases the size of the fruits.
In order for the plant to form additional roots at the beginning of growth and development, during weeding and loosening, the plants are spudded, pouring soil under the cotyledon leaves.
Melon crops, and especially watermelon and melon, need watering during the period of flowering and fruit formation.
To obtain early production of melons, use protected soil; early ripening varieties are sown; growing through seedlings, it is obtained in hotbeds and greenhouses or film shelters are used.
As they ripen, the melons are harvested. A watermelon is considered ripe if the tendril dries out in the leaf axil, near the stalk. On the surface of the fruit, a shine and a clearer pattern are acquired, and also when hit with a click, a dull sound appears.
Melon is considered ripe because the color of the bark changes from green to yellow; a fragrant smell is acquired; the fruit is easily separated from the stalk.
The ripeness of the pumpkin is determined by the dried, corky stalk, it is harvested before frost.

Zucchini, squash, zucchini, belong to the pumpkin family and are early ripening crops. Fruits are harvested within 1.5-2 months after sowing and harvesting is completed before frost appears.
For food, zucchini and squash consume 6-8-day fruits, they are harvested after 2-3 days.
These plants are bushy, internodes are short, there are almost no lateral shoots. The leaves are large, green, the root is highly branched, goes deep into the soil. Flowers are unisexual, pollinated by insects.
In zucchini and courgette-zucchini, the fruits are elongated, the color of the fruits is from pale green to dark green with a pattern. In zucchini-zucchini, the flesh of the fruit is very tender, juicy.
The fruits of the squash are disc-bell-shaped, the flesh is denser than that of zucchini.
Zucchini and squash are grown by sowing in the ground or by seedling, when the threat of spring frosts has passed.
The best precursors for squash and squash are early vegetables, onions, root vegetables, tomatoes, legumes, and potatoes.
Before sowing or planting seedlings in open ground, the site is dug up and applied with organic and mineral fertilizers, as well as fertilized with ash.
Seeds are sown in holes of three, the distance between holes is 60-70cm.
Seeds can be soaked before sowing, for faster germination, but a prerequisite for sowing, only in moist soil.
During the development of seedlings, they need watering, in the future, watering may be less frequent, but abundant. After emergence, weak plants are removed, leaving one plant in the hole.
Further care for the plants of courgettes, courgettes-zucchini, squash, consists in regular watering; loosening the soil; hilling and feeding plants.
These fruits have good keeping quality and transportability.