Growing Pumpkin, Zucchini, Squash

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Read the previous part. ← Botanical features of pumpkin, squash and squash

Agrotechnical methods of care

After planting seedlings or sowing seeds, the aisles are loosened with a rake to a depth of 6-7 cm. Seedlings should be watered daily until the plants take root. Plant care consists in keeping the soil loose and free from weeds. For this, 2-4 loosening is carried out. In the nests, the soil is loosened to a depth of 6-8 cm, and the row spacing - by 12-18 cm. When loosening, the plants are slightly spud for their greater stability.

In the Leningrad region, pumpkin, squash and squash are provided with water due to its reserves in the soil and atmospheric precipitation. However, during prolonged dry weather, they need to be watered. The highest demand for soil moisture is observed in plants during the period of intensive growth.

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Pumpkin seeds are responsive to feeding. The first time it is usually done 7-10 days after planting and three weeks after sowing. Local organic fertilizers are used for feeding: chicken manure diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10, slurry - 1: 4, respectively. Frequent feeding - once a week - with mullein or slurry when included in the solution 40 g of ecofoska for every 10 liters of water contribute to the rapid growth of pumpkin seeds and the acceleration of their fruiting. A bucket of this solution is used for 7-10 plants.

In long-flowered forms of pumpkin, the continuous formation of shoots and leaves is accompanied by the appearance of new flowers and fruit ovaries. In a short summer, these fruits do not have time to ripen. Therefore, when 5-7 ovaries with a diameter of 15-17 cm are formed on the lash (in the first decade of August), the growth points are pinched on the main shoot, when it reaches 1.3 m, and on the lateral shoots, while 5-7 are left over each fruit leaves.

Harvest

The harvesting of the vegetable marrow is started at 7-12 days of age of the ovaries (20-30 cm long), depending on the variety. Patisson is harvested for 6-7 days with a fruit diameter of 10-12 cm and a weight of 250-400 g. At this time, they have dense juicy pulp, the seeds are not developed, the skin is softer.

The fruits of squash and squash are used to prepare first and second courses. For canning, the fruits are harvested at 4-5 days of age, when their diameter does not exceed 7 cm, so that they are whole or in halves placed in jars.

The fruits of squash and squash must be harvested regularly, as left on the plants, they delay the formation of new ovaries and reduce the yield. In the conditions of the Leningrad region, during the period of mass fruiting, harvesting is carried out every 2-3 days. Particular attention should be paid to green-fruited varieties, in which greens grow faster. During harvesting, all fruits, including ugly, cracked and diseased fruits, are removed from the plants.

For long-term storage, the fruits are removed when they reach 30 days of age. Yellow-fruited and green-fruited varieties are especially well kept.

The pumpkin is harvested at the end of the growing season before frost in one step. The ripeness of the fruits of the hard-bore pumpkin is determined by the hardening of the bark and the change in its color. At the onset of biological maturity, the green color of the fruit turns into yellow, orange and brown, depending on the variety. An indicator of the ripening of large-fruited pumpkin is the corking of the stalk. Ripe fruits have a sweet yellow or orange pulp and full seeds. The pulp of unripe fruits is not tasty and has little nutritional value.

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Growing pumpkin crops in greenhouses

To obtain early and high yields of pumpkin, zucchini and squash in the Leningrad region, the most reliable method is to grow a wide variety of designs in film shelters.

The shelters are filled with biofuel and peat soil (with a layer of 40-50 cm). When preparing the soil, 50% of peat, 30% of sod or garden land, 30% of manure and mineral fertilizers are used. The most effective is the cultivation of pumpkin seeds in film shelters in a seedling way with a second crop. The first can be seedlings of cabbage, beets, annual flowers, lettuce, spinach, green onions. After harvesting the first crops (end of May - beginning of June), digging is done, under which 50 ekofoski and 1.5-2 kg of manure are introduced per 1 m2 and prepared seedlings are planted at the age of 25-30 days. Growing pumpkin, vegetable marrow, squash in film shelters has some peculiarities.

Planting zucchini

The wells are placed in a checkerboard pattern with a distance of 70-80 cm between the plants. Before planting, a mixture is added to them, including 50 g of superphosphate and 0.5 kg of humus, then watered. Further care comes down to timely weeding, top dressing, watering, loosening. It is important to monitor the ventilation of film structures, since the zucchini does not tolerate high humidity. In warm weather, the film is rolled up on both sides of the shelter and left on the rafters so that in case of a cold snap it can be lowered. But during the period of flowering - fruiting in the daytime, the film must necessarily be removed for optimal pollination by insects. Do not forget that on sunny days the air temperature in the shelters is 10 … 14 ° C higher than outside. High temperature and humidity can cause massive dropping of ovaries, so it is important to ventilate the shelters in a timely manner.

That is why, in recent years, most vegetable growers cover pumpkin crops not with a film, but with a spunbond, which better provides thermal and air conditions, without requiring constant ventilation on warm days. It is removed only for the flowering period.

With a strong thickening, adult plants are thinned out, cutting out a few medium leaves with a knife. The yield of zucchini under cover reaches 12-15 kg / m².

Growing squash

Compared to squash, squash is a later ripening and less productive crop. Therefore, growing them in shelters can significantly increase the yield, which can reach 10kg / m², that is, twice as much as in the open field.

Seedlings are planted a little denser than zucchini, since the squash is less leafy and has smaller bushes. Plants are placed in 1-2 rows with a distance of 60-70 cm from each other. In protected ground, squash needs good ventilation: in humid and stagnant air, the flowers are poorly pollinated, and the ovaries are affected by gray and white rot.

Spunbond is removed 35-40 days after planting. But if the summer is cold, it is lowered at night. The technology for growing squash in greenhouses is similar to growing marrow.

Planting and growing pumpkin

In the Leningrad Region, climbing varieties of large-fruited and hard-bore pumpkin are mainly cultivated. When grown under a film, it is planted in the center of the ridge, the lashes are released outside. The feeding area is 1.5x1.5 m. Plant care is similar to caring for a vegetable marrow. When growing climbing varieties, the film or spunbond can not be removed at all, but only bend from the edges or make holes so that the whips are outward, and pollination proceeds normally. Bush pumpkin varieties are grown under shelters like a squash. Caring for plants is reduced to feeding with organic fertilizers, watering in dry weather, and removing weeds. To accelerate fruit ripening, pinching of the main stem and lateral shoots is done. Fruits are harvested in late August - early September.