Planting and caring for watermelon seedlings in the open field
Watermelon loves hot climates, but watermelon lovers do not always live in warm countries, and they have to buy a large sweet berry. However, you can try growing it in your garden. How to do it? Read on.
The place of origin of watermelons is southern Africa. The climate there is dry and hot, summer is all year round. There are no cold winters and frosts. Planting sugar berries in open ground in countries with different weather conditions is also practiced, but this will take a lot of work. Where to start? First, prepare the ground correctly.
What soil is suitable for watermelons?
It is advisable to prepare a place for planting exotic berries in the autumn. The area where the pot-bellied minke whales will be planted should be well lit by the sun and protected from the winds. It is best if, in front of the striped berry, corn, beans, peas were planted on the selected soil, as well as if cabbage heads, onions, alfalfa, winter wheat varieties grew. It is bad if tomato, pepper, eggplant, different types of zucchini and melons or watermelon previously grew there.
Advice
For the future, it should be borne in mind: re-planting of watermelons in the same soil will be possible only after six years.
The land for future seedlings must be dug up together with the fertilizers introduced in advance. The soil is suitable for sandy, loose, non-acidic, with a low moisture content, good air permeability. For fertilization, you can take rotted manure, as well as top dressing based on phosphorus and potassium.
You can grow an exotic berry directly from seeds or seedlings. They use a reckless way in hot countries. In a cold climate with a short and not very hot summer, only the seedling method is suitable.
To plant young seedlings, you will need to properly prepare the ground. It should contain the following components in equal proportions: sandy layer, sod layer, peat layer. In the soil (in the amount of 5 kg), it is necessary to add ammonium nitrate, dolomite flour, potassium sulfate (take all elements 50 g each); double superphosphate (about 100 g).
Planting seeds for seedlings
A prerequisite is that the seeds must be planted already germinated. In order to germinate, they are first placed in hot water (at least 50 degrees) for 30 minutes. Then the seeds are placed in wet sand. In this case, the temperature in the room should be about 25 degrees. In a few days, the first shoots will go. The sprouted seeds are now ready to be planted. The landing date is the end of April.
It is necessary to plant watermelon seeds in separate containers, two or three seeds in each, deepen them into a hole 1 cm.It is worth sprinkling the future seedlings with sand, placing them under glass or film. Put the seedling pots in a warm place, maintain the air temperature at about 30 degrees.
The first shoots should appear in 6-7 days. When this happens, remove the cover and lower the thermometer reading to 15-17 degrees for a period of 4 to 8 days.
Further, it is necessary to grow seedlings at 25-27 degrees. Take care of creating an additional light source - ultraviolet should come in within 12 hours.
Water the sprouts well, but in moderation. Pour water under the roots in several passes.
Fertilize correctly when three good leaves appear. A special mineral composition or liquid top dressing (mullein) will do.
Advice
Seedlings desirable temper before landing in open ground.To do this, you can take her outside for several hours, gradually increasing the amount of time spent outdoors. A week after hardening procedures, you can plant it in a permanent place.
Transplanting watermelon seedlings into the ground
It is necessary to plant young seedlings in open ground a month after planting the seeds. This coincides in terms with the last week of May or occurs in the first ten days of June. The first half of the day is the best time to transplant young plants when there is a lot of light and sun.
The earth needs to be dug up and loosened up. It should be well warmed up (at least 15 degrees).
What do we have to do?
- Dig holes, the diameter and depth of each - half a meter. The gap between the holes in the ground should be approximately one meter. For landing, it is better to choose a staggered arrangement of holes.
- Fertilizers are applied to each hole: humus (5-7 liters), small amounts of sand (about three liters), superphosphate (a quarter of a glass).
- Sprinkle loose earth on top to make small mounds.
- In the mounds, you need to dig holes 10 cm down and pour them with water (one and a half liters for each).
- Carefully remove the seedlings from the cups without damaging the roots. Now you can plant them in a hole, then cover them and tamp them down with earth. Pour a layer of sand on top.
- At the end of planting, the seedlings must be watered. The water should be warm. For some time, the seedlings must be sheltered from the bright sun so that the leaves rise faster.
Care of planted seedlings
The care includes:
- watering;
- thinning;
- weeding;
- loosening;
- topping;
- top dressing.
Let us dwell in more detail on the indicated stages of leaving.
Thinning
When 3-4 young leaves appear on the shoots, the watermelons must be thinned out, leaving up to two shoots in the hole. All the rest must be cut off near the surface layer of the soil.
Weeding
Watermelons do not like weeds, so you will have to weed often and carefully. Especially at the initial stage of the growth of striped berries. When the seedlings grow and become bushes, you can weed less often or stop altogether. At this stage, the weed is no longer dangerous.
Topping
It is necessary to pinch the appearing lashes so that they grow faster. This should be done so that there are 2-4 leaves on top of the ripening fruit. In addition, weakened shoots must be removed. Each bush should have 3-5 ovaries, it is advisable to remove all excess ones.
Loosening
It is necessary to loosen the soil constantly, especially when young seedlings are planted in open ground. Watermelons love light, airy ground. Water also penetrates loose soil more easily.
Advice
When the berries begin to grow in size, loosening can be stopped, as well as weeding. At this time, the roots grow very much throughout the site, there is a danger of damaging them with this kind of manipulation. Also, try to walk less in the surrounding area so as not to harm the roots near the surface layer of the soil.
Watering
This is a very important part of caring for large striped berries. Water them every seven days with plenty of water. Three large buckets are used to water one square meter. In hot dry weather, you can increase watering up to twice a week.
Advice
Both the land near the bush and the gaps between the bushes (in a word, the entire area allocated for planting) should be moistened.
Watering should be reduced as soon as fruits begin to appear. Before picking ripe striped berries, you should not water them at all (at least 14 days before picking).
Top dressing
The first dressing is applied after at least 14-15 days after planting the seedlings. What composition to fertilize? The berries planted in open ground are fertilized with ammonium nitrate (20 g), which is mixed with water. Each bush is watered with two liters of solution. A substitute can be a mullein with water (in a ratio of 1:10), as well as chicken droppings (diluted with water 1:20). Superphosphate (20-30 g) and calcium chloride (10-15 g) are added to the solution.
The second time to feed the plants should be at the stage of the appearance of buds. The composition of the fertilizer: 5 g of calcium chloride and ammonium nitrate, plus superphosphate - 6 g. All this will be needed for one bush.
Fertilizers are sometimes added in dry form, then the soil where watermelons grow must be watered before and after feeding.
Harvest
The harvest of watermelons should be taken around the end of August. It takes about a hundred days for the fruit to fully ripen. It all depends on the variety of berries you choose.
There are early ripening, late ripening and medium ripening varieties. In cold climates with short summers, it is best to grow early and mid-season fruits. For example, "Ogonyok", "Melania", "Ataman". Among the late varieties, which can also mature in temperate climates, are well known - "Chill", "Spring".
You can eat watermelons immediately or store them. Jam is made from fresh berries, they can be pickled and pickled.
Storage tips
- Usually stored late fruits, medium in size and having a thick skin. This cover should be free of damage and softness.
- During storage, the berries should not come into contact with each other. The place where these fruits lay is cold, dark and well-ventilated.
To grow watermelons, follow all recommendations for planting seedlings, caring for ripening fruits. Prepare your seeds and soil responsibly. Choose varieties that are suitable for your climate.
Proper harvesting and storage will allow you to feast on sugar berries for a long time. With enough hard work and perseverance, you can achieve excellent results.
and will be published shortly.