Features of growing pumpkins in the Urals

Pumpkin is a culture that is preferably grown in warm regions. If the climatic conditions differ from the recommended, the vegetable needs . Then on the right to plant pumpkin in the Urals will grow well and be characterized by resistance to diseases and high levels of productivity

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The best varieties

You can grow pumpkin crops in any territory , but it is important to create optimal conditions for them. The quality and performance of the crop depend on this. You should choose a variety that is intended for planting in the Urals. It needs to be characterized by resistance to frost. Early crops should be preferred so that they have time to ripen before the onset of cold weather.

Pearl

This is a crop characterized by a mid-early maturity. Its vegetation lasts only 100 days from the moment of planting.A feature of the Pearl variety is that it can withstand small changes in temperature and weather changes.

Pumpkin of this variety has high yields. From 3 bushes you can collect about 5 kg of vegetables. Pumpkin has a pear-shaped shape. The peel is thin. The pulp is juicy, tastes good. The weight of the pumpkin is about 6 kg. The aroma of the pulp is nutmeg. This variety is ideal for long-term storage for the winter.

Shrub orange

Ripens 90 days after planting in open ground. Bushes are compact and do not weave. The fruits are round in shape and have a rich orange hue. Fruit weight – 5 kg. The pulp is sweet, tender. It contains a high concentration of carotene, which is useful for humans.

Bush orange pumpkin is an early variety. Fruits grow and are ready for use already on the 60th day after planting. Pumpkin is characterized by a rounded, slightly flattened shape. From one bush of pumpkin, you can collect about 15 kg of fruit. The pulp has a rich golden hue, as well as the peel. It tastes good and is slightly crunchy.

Country

This is the fastest growing variety that can only be grown in the Urals. Vegetation lasts only 50 days from the moment of planting in open ground. The unusual appearance of this variety attracts the attention of farmers. The bottom line is that the peel is characterized by a rich green tint, but it has yellow (gold in the sun) stripes.

The average weight of the ripened fruit is about 6 kg.About 15 kg of vegetables are collected from each bush.

Sweetie

This is a culture that is resistant to even the most severe frosts. It matures on the 75th day. Bushes are large. The shape of the pumpkin is round. The peel is a pleasant pale gold color. The pulp is sweet, tasty.

The weight of the fruit reaches a maximum of 2 kg. There are green stripes on the peel that divide the pumpkin into segments.

Growing conditions

The yield of plants

depends on the proper care. If you want the pumpkin grown to have not only a pleasant taste, but also a beautiful appearance, you need to create for it quality conditions.

You must adhere to the basic rules of crop rotation. You can not plant a pumpkin in the same place all the time. It is better to take a break for several years. So the soil has time to recover. Try to plant pumpkin crops only after legumes, so you will increase yields.

It is important to provide pumpkin crops with normal lighting. The fewer sunlight will fall on the ovary, the smaller their number will be formed. Lack of lighting provokes pests that can completely destroy garden plots.

For pumpkin crops in the Urals, you need to choose well-lit areas that are protected from drafts.Prefer those places that are located near the buildings.

Growing seedlings

In most cases, planting is carried out in 2 ways:

• using seedlings grown in advance;
• sowing seeds in open ground.

To grow a pumpkin in the Urals, you will need to use the first method. So you protect the culture from frost and significantly increase the yield. But you need to consider both methods in order to understand their features.

Planting

Planting pumpkins in open ground in the Urals is best done in early May. If the seeds are planted in a greenhouse to obtain seedlings, then sowing is carried out 2 weeks earlier. Before this, it is required to properly prepare the planting material. Not only its resistance to pests and diseases, but also the quality of the seedlings depends on this.

To begin with, a suitable planting material is selected. To do this, place the seeds in a container filled with water. Leave them there for a few hours. Those seeds that appeared on the surface must be discarded, they are empty and will not germinate.

The remaining seeds are placed in a solution of manganese for half an hour. After that they are taken out, wrapped in gauze and left on the battery so that they dry out and sprout. Usually germination is observed after a few days.

Since pumpkin does not tolerate picking, you need to choose the right capacity for planting.Prefer disposable cups or made from peat.

The soil should be nutritious and light. It can be prepared at home, taking 2 buckets of peat, 1 bucket of wood sawdust (it is better to take those that have already rotted) and 1 bucket of humus. If you do not want to prepare the soil yourself, you can buy it in special stores.

The process of planting seeds consists of these stages:

• fill the glasses with half-prepared soil;
• make a small hole in the ground, literally 2 cm. Place the seeds inside;
• cover the container for planting with cling film to create a greenhouse effect;
• transfer the containers to a warm place with a minimum amount of sunlight . It is necessary to provide planting material with optimal conditions for seedlings. Daytime temperatures should be 20-24 ° C and nighttime 13-17 ° C.

Only healthy seeds are suitable for planting

Do not allow a strong decrease or increase in temperature. This is detrimental to seedlings. The first shoots will appear in 3-4 days.

Seedling Care

Proper care is the most important process when growing pumpkins in the Urals. First you need to remove the film from the glasses as soon as the first shoots appear. After a week, place the containers with seedlings in a room where the temperature will be several degrees lower.This is done so that the seedlings do not stretch.

Otherwise, you will have to pour a little more earth. In order for seedlings to grow correctly, glasses should be placed on a well-lit window sill. You need to regularly water it with a small amount of water.

After 14 days from the appearance of the first seedlings, fertilizers must be applied. Top dressing should consist of organic or mineral substances. The best option is to use 50 mg of nitrophoska per 5 l of water or dissolve 200 g of mullein in 2 l of water.

Move seedlings to the ground

Seedlings that have good growth , At the end of May you need to plant under the film in open ground. If weather conditions do not allow the process to be carried out at this time (cold and sudden temperature changes), you can delay it for several weeks.

Seedlings that have reached the age of one month are suitable for transplanting into the open ground. By this moment, several leaves are already forming on them, and the height is about 12 cm. Planting should be carried out in cloudy weather. If the window is clear, you can spend it in the evening. The main thing is that the sun’s rays are inactive.

Landing pattern – 120 x 120 cm.

The process is as follows:

• you need to make a small hole in the soil, then humus and ash are poured in equal amounts on its bottom, after which all the contents are filled with warm water;
• from the glass in which the seedlings were grown, you need to get a seedling – it is best to take it together with an earthen lump so that the roots are not damaged;
• place it in an upright position in the hole and sprinkle it tightly with earth;
• after these procedures, mulching seedlings is required – for these purposes, the ideal hell;
• after mulching you need to cover the beds with film.

Caring for a pumpkin in the open ground

Caring for a pumpkin in the Urals not as difficult as it might seem. The process consists in regular watering, top dressing and the correct formation of the bush.

If you do all these procedures correctly, according to the main recommendations, then it will not be difficult to grow quality vegetables. The main thing is to monitor the condition of the plant. Some care procedures may be redundant or may not be enough.

Watering

Watering pumpkins can only be done with warm water

Watering should always go in combination with loosening the soil and removing weeds. All these procedures must be carried out carefully so as not to damage the root system of the pumpkin culture.Irrigate the vegetable with exceptionally warm water.

Remember that the use of cold water provokes stunting and has a detrimental effect on the condition of the roots.

Actively water the seedlings at that moment when the ovaries form. This will increase productivity. At least 30 liters of water should be poured under each bush, paying particular attention to the roots. Try to irrigate the crop so that moisture does not get on the leaves, otherwise they will dry out under the influence of the sun.

The watering interval is about 1 week. Remember that you can not actively water the pumpkin when the fruits are already formed. A large amount of moisture in vegetables reduces their shelf life. Loosen the soil and remove weeds 3 days after watering. This will provide enough air for the roots.

Feeding

The fertilizer spacing should be 2 weeks. Frequent top dressing can provoke the death of the bush. Make-ups in open ground conditions are applied twice:

• when 5 sheets are formed, you need to put 15 g of nitrophoska under each bush;
• after the lashes are formed, 20 g of nitrophosphate is poured 10 l of warm water. 1 liter of solution is poured under each bush.

Organic fertilizers can also be used for top dressing. Under each bush, you can make 100 g of wood ash or 2 liters of mullein solution (1 kg is diluted in 10 liters of water and insisted for an hour).

Fertilizers are applied not just under the root, but in special holes around the bush. Their depth should be about 10 cm. The pits should be 20 cm from the plant.

Lash formation and pollination

Lash formation ensures stable bush growth. This helps the formation of large fruits and saturates the flesh with a pleasant taste. If you grow pumpkin in the Urals, you need to leave no more than 3 ovaries on each bush.

You need to form bushes in 2 stems. On the main, the ovaries are removed so that only 2 remain, and only 1 ovary remains on the lateral. After the ovaries leave 3 shoots. The rest must be nipped.

If weather conditions do not allow insects to pollinate a pumpkin, you need to do this artificially. Pollinate plants in the morning. For this, the male flower is leaned against the female. If you do not know how to distinguish male flowers from female, this is easy to do. Females form small ovaries, and males have a thin stalk.

Diseases and pests

When a farmer grows a pumpkin, he must regularly monitor its development. If parasites or diseases appear, you need to eliminate them in time.

If you are late to treat pests or diseases, you can lose not only pumpkin crops, but also other plants in the garden.

Disease treatment

Periodically check the plant for signs of disease

The most common pumpkin disease is bacteriosis. It manifests itself in the fact that brown spots appear on the cotyledons. Pumpkin is deformed, and productivity decreases.

As a preventative measure for this disease, seeds must be treated before planting with zinc sulphate (2 g per 5 l of water). If the disease hit the cotyledons, they treat the bushes with Bordeaux liquid (40 g per 7 liters of water).

Often there is white rot on the pumpkin. You can determine its presence by a white coating on the bushes. The treatment of this disease is carried out by trimming the affected areas. The cut points are treated with copper sulfate (30 g per 3 liters of water).

If powdery mildew (white coating on the leaves, which provokes their decay) has appeared, colloidal sulfur should be treated (20 g per 2 liters of water). If root rot appears, spray with Previscourt (read the instructions carefully).

Pest control

A spider mite appears on pumpkin crops. To destroy the parasite, you need to dissolve 3 kg of onion husks in 10 l of water and spray it.

To get rid of aphids, you need to treat the culture with Karbofos (100 g per 10 l of water).If this is not done, it will completely destroy the plant. This parasite feeds on the juice of the bush, its activity leads to the drying of leaves and stems.

Harvest

When growing pumpkin crops in the Urals, you need to know what period to harvest .

The late harvesting process is accompanied by a large number of rotten or damaged fruits. This not only affects the level of the crop, but also reduces the shelf life.

Signs of ripeness

There are several main signs that indicate the ripening of vegetables:

• you can remove the pumpkin if the stalk is dry;
• dry leaves on the bushes indicate ripeness;
• the peel of mature fruits is dense and firm.

When you harvest, the peduncle needs to be cut carefully so as not to damage the peel. It is customary to leave about 3 cm of the stalk on the pumpkin.

Storage of the crop

It is best to store vegetables in cool rooms (basement, garage, shed) .Certain rules must be adhered to. Store pumpkins at t temperature of 5-15 ° C. The maximum humidity is 70%.

Note that the shelf life of the pumpkin is increased if there is ventilation in the room.

Suitable for storage only those crops on which there is no damage. Otherwise, there is a great risk of decay. Make sure the pumpkin lies on wooden or metal shelves. You can’t store it on damp ground.

Growing high-quality and tasty pumpkins can be done even in the Urals. Despite the cold climate and sudden changes in temperature, there is always the opportunity to boast a large crop. Only for this, it is necessary to provide pumpkin crops with the correct planting and care process.