Proper cultivation of pumpkins in the open field

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Pumpkin is a genus of annual plants belonging to the Cucurbitaceae family. The root system is pivotal. Stems are well branched, creeping, with prickly pubescence. The leaves are large, long-petiolate, five-parted, with hard villi. Flowers solitary, yellow-orange, unisexual. You can distinguish them by the length of the pedicel: in female flowers it is short.

Among the numerous types of pumpkins, the best in quality and taste is Muscat pumpkin. Its cultivation is long (up to 140 days), and high temperatures are required, which somewhat limits its mass production.

Successful outdoor pumpkin cultivation depends on many factors:

• proper soil preparation;
• quality seedlings;
• care;
• shaping depending on climatic conditions.

It is necessary to allocate a well-heated and lit area for planting pumpkins. The soil needs to be dug up to a depth of about 30 cm and applied to 1 sq. m. up to 8 kg of decomposed compost or manure, about 20 g of potassium-containing and 30 g of phosphorus-containing fertilizers.

Pumpkin cultivation technologybegins with the formation of seedlings. Seeds must be heated for 3 hours at a temperature of 600C, and then germinated in a damp cloth. Each hatched seed should be planted in a separate pot with a diameter of about 15 cm, filled with a nutrient mixture. You need to germinate at room conditions, and when

emergence temperature will need to be reduced to 140C. Seedlings should be watered moderately, but not often. During the seedling period, two top dressings with complex fertilizers will be required. Young plants are planted on the prepared bed at the end of May.

Given that the pumpkin is cross-pollinated, for a guaranteed harvest, it makes sense to carry out pollination by hand. To do this, with a soft brush, you need to gently draw over the anthers inside one flower and transfer the pollen to the stigma of another, or carefully bring the flowers closer, connecting the anthers and the stigma.

This plant has a huge leafy mass that evaporates a lot of water, so growing pumpkins in open ground requires frequent and abundant watering. Even a short-term drought can greatly affect the result. During the flowering period, the amount of watering should be slightly reduced, so the fruits will be better tied. Feed regularly, preferably every week, starting from day 10 after transplanting.

Growing pumpkins in the open field in cold summer conditions will require artificial acceleration of the formation and ripening of fruits. To do this, you need to limit the number of shoots, leaving a maximum of 3. After the formation of 5 ovaries,

reaching 15 cm in diameter, the main stem should be pinched when the 7th leaf has grown after the last fruit.

If you want to grow large pumpkins, then you need to leave 3 ovaries for bush varieties, and 2 for climbing varieties. It should be noted that the most delicious pumpkins are medium in size, and they are also easier to carry. Shading leaves should be removed above grown fruits to expose them to the sun.

Growing pumpkins in open ground can be done on trellises or fences. In this case, the fruits should be placed in bags or nets and tied to a support. If the pumpkins lie on the ground, then boards should be placed under them to prevent the process of decay.

Pumpkin should be harvested after the first frost. You can determine the maturity by pressing with your fingernail: if the bark does not push through, then it's time to collect. A pumpkin can be praised for its usefulness, so it is worth growing.