Originally from North and Asia Minor, melon, thanks to its sweetness and aroma, has long become popular in our area. In greenhouse conditions, melon can be grown in almost any region of the country without much effort. However, it is not necessary to have a dacha for this: the culture feels good on the balcony and even on the windowsill! Melon at home, photos, vegetable growing conditions and instructions are presented in the article in detail.
Melon - composition
The berry is rich in vitamins. The composition contains:
- Vitamin A, B1, B2, P, PP, E;
- Folic acid;
- Ascorbic acid;
- Carotene.
There are many minerals in the fruits, namely:
- Magnesium;
- Phosphorus;
- Potassium;
- Gland;
- Sodium;
- Silicon.
The culture contains a lot of sugar, which is easy to digest. Melon contains protein, fiber and fat. The water level is 90%, the remaining 10% is fiber and sugar. That is why the calorie content of a ripe fruit is low, about 38 kcal per 100 grams.
If we are talking about cooked candied fruits, then the calorie content is much higher - about 350 kcal.
Benefits and harm to the human body
Melon contains many vitamins and mineral salts, so it can be safely eaten with the following diseases:
- Urolithiasis disease.
- Kidney disease.
- To strengthen the immune system.
- During anti-stress states.
How to grow a melon from seed to harvest:
Melon can also lower blood cholesterol levels and be a prophylactic against colds.
However, this product also has contraindications. So, it cannot be used:
- With ulcers of the stomach and duodenum.
- During diabetes.
- If there is an upset stomach.
- During lactation.
Melon is considered a rather heavy product, so it should not be eaten on an empty stomach.
Melon bed preparation
You need to prepare the soil in advance in the autumn. First of all, the soil should be dug up and fertilized. For feeding, you can use humus or manure at the rate of 4 kg per 1 sq. M. If you plan to apply fertilizer also before sowing, then you need to add half as much humus or manure to the soil in the fall.
Fertilization should also be carried out in March. This time, it is recommended to use a phosphorus-potassium supplement. Immediately before planting, the soil is treated with nitrogen fertilizer (follow the instructions on the packages).
Important! Fresh manure cannot be used as fertilizer for melons! This will negatively affect the taste of the crop and reduce the disease resistance of the seedlings.
Safe Precursors for Melons:
- Table root vegetables;
- Onion;
- Cabbage.
Before planting, you can do lime treatment (ground limestone, burnt slaked lime, dolomite flour, chalk). It is worth remembering that the liming procedure is carried out 14 days before planting.
Pumpkin and nightshade crops are considered undesirable precursors for melons. If it happened that it was necessary to plant a melon after such plants, all their remnants must be completely removed. Thoroughly loosen the soil and water with a weak solution of potassium permanganate (5%).
Sowing melon seeds
Many summer residents choose direct sowing of crops in open ground. Often, if the summer is not sunny, the fruits do not have time to ripen completely.
For greenhouse conditions, the following varieties can be used: Titovka and Altayskaya are ultra-early ripening varieties. The fruits will ripen in 60 days.
Some of the most popular early maturing varieties:
- Story;
- Collective farmer;
- Delano;
- Dune;
- Blondie.
For sowing, you need to select large melon seeds. Next, prepare a solution of table salt at the rate of 50 grams per 1 liter of water and pour the seeds into it.
All seeds that have floated to the surface must be removed - they are not suitable for sowing. The rest of the full-weight seeds must be rinsed with clean water.
A special point is soil pickling. It is necessary to prepare a special solution for disinfection from potassium permanganate (1 liter 1 gram) and soak the seeds for 20 minutes.
Allow the seeds to recharge with trace elements for rapid germination (1 tsp of ash dissolves in 1 glass of water). The seeds should be soaked for about 12 hours.
Since melon is a thermophilic culture, the seeds are hardened. To do this, wet the fabric, wrap the seeds in it and put it in a warm place for a day (15-20 ° C). This process should be repeated about 3 or 5 times.
Varieties
There are the following varieties of common melon:
- "Altai" has oval fruits with thin skin. It takes 60 to 80 days to fully ripen. Weight - 600 - 1200g;
- "Blondie" will be ripe in 80-90 days. The flesh of a ripe fruit will be light beige in color. The fruits are round, slightly flattened. Weight reaches 700 g;
- "Wintering" will ripen in more than 90 days. The skin is light yellow-green without stripes, but with a coarse mesh. The mass of ripe melons reaches 2.5 kg.
IMPORTANT: The first and last grades on the list will tolerate shipping well.
Growing melon seedlings at home
What is the best time period to start sowing? It is important to take into account the specifics of the region. For the middle lane, this is approximately mid-April, 25-30 days before disembarkation in open ground.
Soil preparation for seedlings of culture. It is necessary to take humus, peat and sod land in equal proportions. Add also:
- Superphosphate;
- Ash;
- Potassium sulfate;
- Urea.
1 tsp of each fertilizer.
Melon does not tolerate picking well, so for seedlings it is worth choosing a container with a diameter of about 10 cm. Moisten the soil in pots and plant 2-3 seeds to a depth of about 3 cm, sprinkle with a layer of sand 1-2 cm.
Watch the video! Planting melon seedlings, the first tips for shaping
After the first shoots have appeared, one developed seedling must be left in each container. The temperature drops to 20-25 ° C.
Important! As soon as the plant forms a third independent leaf, it is necessary to remove the growth point from the seedling. It is necessary to do such a procedure so that the culture develops in width, and not in height.
The main thing is not to overmoisten the soil, watering is carried out only with warm water and under the root.
Foliar dressing should be carried out with a special fertilizer. The first top dressing is 10 days after the seedlings have appeared, and the second - 7 days before the seedlings are planted.
A week before planting, the seedlings should be hardened. To do this, it is necessary to increase the airing time or take containers to the balcony.
Growing melon outdoors
Planting a culture in the ground should be carried out as soon as all weak shoots are removed, healthy ones will have about 7 independent leaves. After the frost is over, in May-June, you can start preparing the soil. This is followed by the formation of holes. It is necessary to plant plants in the holes with the ground so that the seedlings take root. The distance between seedlings should be 70 * 70 cm.
It is not worth making a strong deepening, a lump of earth should be visible about 1-2 cm above the garden bed. After planting, the plants must be watered and sprinkled with dry soil.
The seedlings should be in the shade; for this, it is recommended to cover the beds with a spunbond, pulling it over arcs.
Spunbond is a durable yet lightweight covering material. Perfectly transmits light and air. The material is necessary if the plants need to be protected from the sun or wind.
After about 3 weeks, when the seedlings bloom, the covering material should be removed. Weed and loosen the beds, spread the lashes on the surface of the earth. If the air temperature drops at night, then you can cover the beds with spunbond at night.
If the culture has bloomed profusely, and the ovaries do not appear, you need to do manual pollination. For this procedure, you should choose dry weather. In the morning, cut off male flowers from melons (located on a thin pedicel), expose the stamen and touch the middle of the female flowering several times (they have a thickening at the base of the flower). Repeat the process after a few hours.
Advice! If suddenly there are no male flowers on the plants, then male cucumber flowers are suitable for the procedure.
When 3-5 fruits appear, the excess ovaries must be removed and the tops of the plants pinched. The lateral lashes, on which there is no ovary, are also cut off.
Melon requires moderate watering with warm water if the bed is dry. The water should not touch the leaves and stems. In order for the fruits to ripen and not rot from constant moisture, you need to put a plate under them.
It is worth remembering about root feeding. To do this, dissolve 20 grams of ammonium nitrate in 10 liters of water and water the wells at the rate (2 liters per 1 well).
Growing melon in a greenhouse
Growing a melon outdoors is easier than growing it in a greenhouse. In the greenhouse, it is necessary to maintain a favorable microclimate:
- Avoid temperature changes;
- Create the right lighting;
- Monitor the level of humidity.
One of the advantages of growing melons in greenhouse is the ability to harvest all year round.
Planting plants in the ground is no different from planting melons in greenhouse conditions. You need to start by preparing a greenhouse.
The greenhouse should be about 1.7 meters high so that the shoots of the plants can be tied up. The manure can be used as bedding in a layer of 25 centimeters. On top of the manure, it is worth laying a layer of soil 20 centimeters. If the greenhouse can hold heat, then mid-April is suitable for planting.
Melons should be planted in a greenhouse according to the 70 * 70 scheme. After a week, the healthiest shoot is tied to the trellis of the greenhouse, the rest of the shoots are removed.
It is important to observe a special temperature regime in the greenhouse:
- After planting seedlings, the air temperature should be about 20 degrees. This temperature level is optimal for the plant to take root easily;
- As soon as the fruit begins to form, the night temperature should be about 18 degrees, and the daytime - 22 degrees.
You also need to monitor humidity:
- For seedlings, the optimum temperature is 21%;
- For the moment of flowering and fruit formation - 37%;
- For the moment of fruit increase - 32%;
- For the ripening period - 10%.
The air should be 70% humid. At the time of ripening of melons, the air should contain a minimum of moisture.
For successful maturation, the plant must receive light for about 12 hours. Artificial lighting can be created if necessary.
If the plant, on the other hand, receives a lot of light, then the flowering period will begin later, and not all fruits will have time to ripen on time. The first feeding coincides with the moment of the first watering.
Then you need to water the plants every week. Fertilizers need to be applied once every 2-3 weeks.
Melon-friendly neighbors:
- Pepper;
- Eggplant;
- Cucumbers.
Many summer residents adhere to the technology of growing melons in an individual greenhouse in order to avoid being close to other plants.
If, nevertheless, this is not possible, then it is important to observe a special landing pattern.
Collection, storage of crops
Ripening is determined by how easily the fruit separates from the stem, the bright color of the skin and the severity of the mesh.
If the cracks are dense and small, then the fruit should be eaten immediately. When the mesh is not very pronounced and covers in places, the melon can be stored for up to six months.
IMPORTANT: A strong aromatic smell from it will help to determine the maturity of the fruit.
The melon is kept in a suspended state by placing slightly unripe fruits in nets or cloth bags that are not in contact with each other. For these purposes, it is better to use a cellar or basement.
Melon feed
Optimally for melons, only 5 or 7 feedings are enough:
- The first feeding is carried out as soon as the 3rd leaf appears. Fertilizer preparation: (for 10 liters of water 1 tbsp. L of urea);
- The second fertilizer is applied after planting the seedlings. Fertilizer preparation (1: 1 ratio, mix water and manure, leave for 3 days and stir 0.5 liters of manure in 10 liters of water). Water the wells;
- Then add vermicompost solutions every 2 weeks. Preparation (for 10 liters of water 50 ml).
The culture needs potassium-based minerals. Just prepare a solution (15 grams of azophoska per bucket of water). 0.5 l is poured into each bush. Such fertilization must be done before the female flowers appear.
Important! To properly feed, beginners need to be careful. In our article, there are video instructions that will help you grow a melon correctly.
Plant care
It is necessary to regularly loosen the soil in order to fully provide the root system of the melon with oxygen. Weeds should be promptly removed from the site that interfere with the full development of the culture. The melon must be flipped regularly, taking care not to rip it off the vine.
So that the fruit does not come into contact with the soil, it is necessary to put a small plate under it - this will avoid the development of some diseases and rotting of the crop.
Additional Information! Melon is often damaged by birds, so a deterrent system should be organized at the dacha or site.
Watering
Melon, as a culture of oriental origin, usually responds poorly to excess moisture. Even in a dry season, two irrigations per week are enough for the plant. The water must be preheated and applied directly under the root.
Watering
Watering with cold water and its falling on the surface of the foliage is fraught with the development of diseases that can cause a decrease in the yield or its complete loss. During the period of prolonged rains, it is recommended to cover the melon in order to avoid a large accumulation of moisture.
The best way to grow melon is to use a rain net, which will prevent the soil from becoming saturated with moisture after precipitation, but at the same time will allow you to receive sunlight in the same volume. For watering, in this case, it is recommended to build a drainage system, that is, to lead the tube directly to the roots.
Top dressing
Pumpkin needs timely application of both mineral and organic fertilizers. Among the first category of drugs, the most important for the culture, as for watermelon and all melons, are those that contain potassium and calcium. These substances are introduced after irrigation or precipitation, followed by loosening of the soil.
Melon care implies the obligatory introduction of organic matter. It contains nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus, vitamins and trace elements.
It is recommended to apply organic fertilizers in the form of humus, which consists of plant and animal sediments or semi-rotted manure. From these funds, concentrated solutions are prepared in a ratio of 1: 5, after which abundant irrigation is carried out in order to avoid the accumulation of harmful nitrates.
Topping
It is necessary to pinch the plants in a timely manner. On the central vine, the procedure is carried out after the 5th leaf, and on additional ones - after the 3rd leaf behind the ovary.
By pinching, it is possible to preserve the nutrients inside the plant and direct them directly to the fruit. Another positive feature of the procedure is the protection of weakened plants from diseases.
