How to grow juicy watermelons in a polycarbonate greenhouse?
The cultivation of watermelons in the greenhouse is carried out using a special technology that allows you to get ripe berries in the difficult climatic conditions of Siberia and the Urals. All agricultural practices are carried out taking into account the fact that melons are thermophilic, demanding on lighting and irrigation regime. The limited area of the greenhouse requires the formation of lashes, restraining their growth, and the inaccessibility of the greenhouse for insects requires manual pollination of flowers. It is possible to grow sweet red watermelons, but only by spending time and energy.
Seed preparation and seedling growing
For growing watermelons in Siberia or the Urals in a polycarbonate greenhouse, only early-maturing varieties are suitable. They differ from the classic varieties in that the berries quickly gain weight and ripen in a short time. At the same time, they have a smaller fruit size - up to 5 kg - and a lower sugar content.
So that in Siberia and the Urals watermelons have time to ripen by the end of summer, they use the seedling method of growing. Sowing seeds directly to the garden is not recommended - in cold soil the seeds will not sprout. They are sown in the last days of April.
To improve germination, a number of manipulations are carried out with seeds:
- soaked in clean water for a day;
- placed in wet sawdust and kept in them at a temperature of + 25 ° until they hatch;
- the sawdust is kept moist.
The seeds will hatch in 5-6 days. They are planted in the ground to a depth of 3-4 cm, with a sharp tip down.
Each seed is placed in a separate container, the diameter of which should be at least 10-12 cm. To avoid drying out, cover with a transparent bag on top. When the seeds sprout, the bag is removed. The temperature is constantly maintained at + 25 ° C, and so that the seedlings do not stretch out, the light should be bright for 12 hours a day. After 30 days, the grown seedlings can be planted in a polycarbonate greenhouse. In Siberia and the Urals, this period falls on the end of May. It is necessary to be guided by the weather forecast - if night frosts are expected, it is better to postpone the landing to the beginning of June.
Rules for planting watermelons in a greenhouse
Planting watermelons in the greenhouse is carried out on the extreme side beds. If there are few seedlings, then they are planted on the side that is illuminated by the sun for most of the day. They must be transplanted with a lump of earth, trying not to damage it when removed from the container. The distance between plants should be 1 meter if you plan to leave 2 lashes on one bush, or 60 cm if grown in one lash. The seedling is buried 5 cm.
The root system of watermelons develops well only in warm soil, in cool soil, the roots stop their development, do not absorb nutrients and can rot.
Advice
If you plant watermelons on a warm bed, you can speed up the formation of fruits by 7-10 days.
To create a warm bed in a polycarbonate greenhouse, remove the top layer of soil by 30-40 cm. Straw or thin branches are placed on the bottom, and they are compacted. The next layer is humus, compost or leaf litter. It is spilled with warm, almost hot water and covered with fertile soil 10 cm thick. After 5-7 days, seedlings can be planted.
If the summer in Siberia is cold, then an additional shelter is built over the planting of watermelons in the greenhouse - a frame made of scrap materials is installed, on which white agrofibre is pulled. When it gets warmer, the frame is removed. By this time, the lashes have grown enough and require a garter to the trellis.
Recommendations for the care of watermelons in the greenhouse
The main care for watermelons in a greenhouse is feeding, watering and controlling the air temperature.
Top dressing
Watermelons are plants with a developed root system. The area bounded by greenhouse beds inhibits root growth. In order for the plant to receive a sufficient amount of nutrients, several dressings will have to be done over the summer.
- The first time is fertilized 10-14 days after planting. Mineral fertilizers are introduced: superphosphate, urea (10 grams per plant) and wood ash (1 glass under one bush).
- Every three weeks, feed with infusion of mullein (1:10) or bird droppings (1:20). The resulting infusion is added in a diluted form - 2 parts of the infusion to 10 parts of water. Pour 2-3 liters of fertilizer under each bush.
Watering
Particular attention should be paid to watering. The first time, while the berry is growing, it is watered often, 2-3 times a week, but the soil should dry out between waterings. One plant will require 3-5 liters of water, depending on the air temperature in the greenhouse. They use warm water. Cold water shocks the roots of the plant, and the small roots responsible for absorbing moisture can die off. In no case should you water the watermelons by sprinkling - only at the root, in the hole around the stem. You can determine the plant's need for water by the appearance of the leaves. If, with dry soil, the leaf has slightly lost its elasticity, then watering is necessary. In the second half of summer, it is enough to carry out water procedures once a week.
Important!
You can't pick watermelons right after watering - you have to wait 5-7 days. Fruit soaked with water becomes not very tasty.
If you water the plants rarely and a lot, then the berries will crack, especially when their growth has already stopped.
Airing
In a polycarbonate greenhouse, the air heats up quickly in sunny weather. If the temperature rises above + 30 °, then it is necessary to ventilate. It is best to ventilate immediately after watering, so that excess moisture evaporates. For watermelons, both too dry hot air and excessive humidity are undesirable. On hot summer days, the greenhouse is kept open during the day.
Formation and removal of excess lashes
If watermelons grow on the melon in an arbitrary shape, and the lashes spread in all directions, then this should not be allowed in the greenhouse. Cultivation is carried out with one lash or two. Moreover, only one fruit should be left on each lash. If there are more than two berries, they will not gain weight, only the first, lower ones will be able to ripen, and the subsequent ones will remain immature.
Advice
It is best to grow watermelons with one lash and one berry. At the same time, they can be planted more densely on the garden bed - instead of one row with a distance of 60-100 cm, seedlings are planted in a checkerboard pattern with an interval of 50 cm.
After the fruits have formed on the plant and have grown to the size of an apple, the largest and most well-located berry is left, and all the rest are removed. In addition, the lower leaves are cut off to a level of 30 cm from the soil, all stepchildren and extra whips that appear, all new fruits are cut out. Only 5 leaves are left over the selected watermelon, the rest are cut off. With such a formation, all nutrients will flow to a single fruit - it will gain a good mass and have time to ripen.
The whips of watermelons must be directed upwards and tied to the trellis. In a large greenhouse, the lower lash of some plants can be left to crawl on the ground. The fruit is placed in a special mesh bag and fixed on a support. So it will be well illuminated by the sun, and its weight will not damage the whip.
The procedure for forming a plant and limiting its growth sometimes has to be carried out every 2-3 days. If you start planting, then in two weeks they will turn into a jungle, and the watermelon will not receive enough light and nutrition and will not ripen.
Pollination
In good weather, bees and bumblebees fly into the open doors of the greenhouse and pollinate. But it's better not to rely on insects and to carry out pollination by hand.
- You need to find out which flowers are female and which are male. It is not difficult to distinguish them. In females, immediately after the inflorescence, there is a slight thickening, and in males, the petiole is even and thin. Male flowers appear earlier than female flowers.
- The male flower is plucked and the petals are carefully folded back.
- They bring it to the female flower, lean it against the inside and lightly tap them against each other.
To consolidate the result, such a procedure with one female flower can be carried out several times. The best results are obtained when pollination is carried out in the morning.
Harvesting
When the watermelon has gained mass, it begins to ripen. The ripening process is long and directly depends on the number of warm sunny days and the size of the berry. In good weather, a small fruit can become ripe in 30 days, and a large one will need at least 45.
Signs of maturity of a watermelon:
- the tail of the watermelon began to dry out;
- when tapping, a dull sound is heard, as if there is emptiness inside the berry;
- the light spot on the shadow side turned yellow. If the watermelon is on a vertical support in the net, and the greenhouse is illuminated from all sides, then there may be no stain on it.
conclusions
Growing watermelons in greenhouses should not be allowed to take its course. They need constant care - feeding, watering, removing excess lashes and ovaries. In addition, it is important to choose the right variety - only early ripe zoned watermelons will have time to ripen in a short summer.
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