Learning to grow sweet melons in the open field and at home

An indigenous inhabitant of Central and Central Asia, the melon is gradually assimilating more northern territories. Thanks to the success of breeders, honey fruits can be grown not only in the southern regions of the country, but also in the middle lane. Moreover, fruits with excellent taste do not ripen even in greenhouses, but in the open ground and on the balcony.

Of course, the melon is more capricious and more demanding in terms of keeping conditions than the closest relatives - cucumbers and pumpkins, but with proper care, this species also obeys the diligent gardener. What are the features of growing melon in the open field? What difficulties can you face, and how to achieve fruiting plants at home?

Preparing melon seeds for planting

For sowing, strong, well-formed seeds are used, while experts advise taking the seed obtained from the harvest two or three years ago.

Watching how the melon grows in the photo, you can see:

• powerful plants from fresh seeds in abundance give flowers of the male type, and there are very few ovaries on them;
• melon whips from older seeds are more productive.

To increase the germination of seeds, they are immersed in a solution of boric acid and zinc sulfate or another growth stimulator for 12 hours.

If you have to grow melons outdoors in the middle lane, it is better to worry about hardening the seeds in advance, for which they:

• first immersed in warm water with a temperature of about 30–35 ° C;
• then leave for a day at room temperature;
• for stratification, they are transferred to a refrigerator for 18 hours, where the temperature is close to zero.

Swollen seeds are ready to be sown outdoors or for seedlings.

How to grow melon seedlings at home?

Since all members of the pumpkin family, due to the risk of root damage, do not like transplanting, and the culture is very thermophilic, it should be borne in mind that:

• the soil on the plot intended for melon for sowing should warm up to 12-13 ° C;
• sowing in peat tablets or small-volume cups are carried out no earlier than two weeks before landing in the ground;
• in containers of a larger volume, seedlings can be up to 30 days.

For example, for the middle strip for seedlings, it is acceptable to sow seeds in the last days of April, then by June, young plants should move to a permanent place.

Using peat pots avoids the pain of replanting and saves up to three weeks when growing melons outdoors.

For growing seedlings, make a soil mixture of equal parts:

• humus;
• purified from impurities peat;
• sand;
• garden soil.

Before sowing, the soil is moistened and enriched with a complex fertilizer containing trace elements for melon growth. Two seeds are planted in each pot, 10–11 cm in diameter, so that, looking at how the melon grows, in the photo, you can choose a stronger sprout, and cut off the weak one without damaging the root system.

To prevent rotting of young stems, the surface of the soil in seedling pots is sprinkled with a layer of clean sand.

For melon cultivation at home, the daytime temperature is kept around 20 ° C, while the air can be cooled down to 15 ° C at night. Watering for melons, including melons, needs moderate watering as the topsoil dries up.

Choosing and preparing a site

For a southern culture that loves warmth and sunlight in the open field, the most illuminated areas are chosen, but closed from drafts and cold winds.

It is important that moisture does not stagnate in the melon area, otherwise rot and fungal diseases of plants cannot be avoided.

At the same time, for growing melons in open ground, the soil is prepared in advance. In the fall, the future melon:

• dug over at least a shovel bayonet;
• fertilized with organic matter, introducing 4-6 kg of humus or rotted manure per square meter.

Melon loves loose soils, therefore, on loamy soils, it is recommended to add river sand to the beds. In the spring, they bring in melons for digging potash and phosphate fertilizers.

We plant a melon in the ground

The basic rules for growing melons outdoors are very simple:

1. Young plants need protection from rain and cold.
2. The quantity and quality of the crop depends on the correct formation of plants, the removal of the tops of the whips and excessive ovary.
3. A well-established watering schedule will help you get sweet, full-bodied fruits without cracks.
4. Melon requires regular, competent feeding.

Seedlings and seeds are planted at a distance of at least 60 cm from each other.

The seeds are buried 5 cm, and, as in the seedling method, 2-3 seeds are placed in the hole. An additional teaspoon of nitrophoska or other nitrogen-containing fertilizer is added to the hole both under the seeds and under the seedlings.

If plants are planted on melons in peat pots, the earthen lump cannot be buried. After sprinkling with earth, it should rise slightly above the general level, only after that the plants are watered and the already wet soil is mulched with dry soil.

In the future, it is better to shelter melon seedlings for the first time, while acclimatization is in progress, from the sun, rain and possible cold snap. As you get used to it, the greenhouse is removed for the daytime, and at night the plants are again hidden under the covering material.

Melon care features

When growing melons outdoors, the melon grower should pay attention watering, loosening the soil, fertilizing and weeding the beds. In addition, you cannot wait for a good harvest if you do not pinch the lashes on which there is already an ovary in time, and do not remove empty shoots that take away strength from the bush.

Loosening is carried out very carefully, to a depth of 10–12 cm, without damaging the roots. When the lashes grow back, they spud the melon. Weeding is carried out as needed.

Watering melons plays a special role in the success of melon cultivation in the open field. If plants receive less moisture, they develop worse, bloom and give an ovary. Excessive watering leads to decay of the whips and fruits, and the melons themselves lose their sugar content and become watery.

Observing how the melon grows will help to understand the needs of plants, and the photo shows a drip irrigation system that allows the most efficient use of moisture:

1. Usually, while there are no ovaries on the melon, the plants are limited in watering, preventing the formation of many lateral shoots.
2. When the ovaries are already formed and should develop, watering becomes more intensive.
3. A month before the approximate ripening time, the melons are gradually stopped to water, so that the fruits gain sweetness and aroma.

Often novice melon growers have a question: “Why does the melon crack and start to rot in the garden? Obviously, the error lies in the watering schedule and its intensity.

Most often, the fruits crack when, after a dry period, the already formed ovaries receive an excessive amount of moisture at one time.

Fruit damage is also observed if the ripening melon is lying on moist soil. Therefore, melon growers are advised to substitute a crock or a small plate for each ovary. You can avoid spoilage if you use trellises when growing melons in the open field and fix heavy fruits with a net or cloth.

The first time, the melon plant is pinched after the third or fourth leaf to induce branching and get lateral lashes.When 5-6 ovaries are formed on the plant, the free tops of the lashes are cut off, leaving 2-3 leaves until the last fruit. Further, as it grows, unnecessary flowers and empty shoots are cut off from the plant, so that all the forces of the melon go to the filling and ripening of the already formed fruits.

Plants should be helped in this by regular feeding, the first of which is carried out even when the first true leaf appears. This time, fertilizers containing nitrogen and phosphorus are applied under the melons, and then fertilizing with minerals and organic matter alternates. The feeding schedule can be adjusted. Most often, the frequency of watering with fertilizer solutions is 10-14 days.

During mass flowering, it is better to give plants a potassium-phosphorus mixture. And the top dressing is completed at the first signs of the beginning of ripening of melons.

Do not forget that melons easily accumulate excess chemicals and, especially with a lack of light, can become a source of dangerous nitrates. Therefore, the melon grower should be careful with nitrogen fertilizers.

How to grow melon at home

With a little effort and patience, the sweet melon can be cut from a plant that has grown on its own windowsill or balcony. First of all, for the melon, you will need to choose a pot or container of sufficient capacity, with a diameter of at least 20 cm. Drainage is required at the bottom of the pot, and the soil can be used the same as was used for planting seedlings.

If on spacious beds the growing lashes can calmly lie on the soil, then you can grow a melon at home only using a trellis. As it grows, lashes are attached to it, but since the plant is in a limited amount of soil, it will be reasonable to grow a melon in one stem.

We must not forget that melons are extremely demanding on lighting, so the main reason for failing to grow this crop on balconies, window sills or terraces is a lack of light. You can compensate for it by organizing additional LED backlightproviding plants for 14-16 hours a day.

In order to preserve moisture, prevent weeds from germinating and provide the melon with a soil temperature of about 20-25 ° C, the surface of the soil is lined with a special film or material. The moisture supply can be entrusted to the drip system by adding or decreasing the amount of water supplied depending on how the melon grows.

When home-grown melons become fist-sized, the extra shoots, flowers, and the top of the main string are pinched. At home, it is better to leave no more than three ovaries per plant, which are tied to the trellis with a net or soft cloth.

Video about forming a melon in the open field