Zucchini And Mini-greens

A luxurious crop grown using plastic bottles

In early May, zucchini shoots are covered with mini-greenhouses made from bottles of mineral water

In the North-West region, two technologies are mainly used for growing zucchini, squash, pumpkins and other pumpkin crops. They are placed either in greenhouses and hotbeds, or seedlings grown from seeds are planted in open ground.

Meanwhile, all these types of pumpkin seeds are much less thermophilic than cucumbers, and could well grow in our climate without greenhouses. However, like cucumbers, they absolutely cannot stand the spring night and morning frosts. Because of this, it is almost impossible to grow them directly by sowing seeds into ridges. And if they are sown after the end of the frost period, the plants will not have time to develop in order to bloom and start bearing fruit in time.

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Moreover, the above two methods have their own disadvantages. For example, cultivation in greenhouses is guaranteed to protect a heat-loving crop from frost and to create optimal conditions for its growth. But building greenhouses because of several dangerous nights is a very costly, laborious, and therefore economically unprofitable business. With the seedling method of growing, additional areas are again required to obtain it, including greenhouses. Additional work is also needed.

In addition, all pumpkin crops tolerate transportation and transplantation rather painfully, as a result they are delayed in growth, poorly and slowly take root. The transhipment of seedlings with container growing is somewhat easier. But in this case, damage and breakage of delicate plants are still possible during transportation and planting, since their stems and leaf petioles are very fragile.

All these operations and costs significantly increase the cost of growing pumpkin crops in the Northwest. At the same time, it is well known that they develop much better from seeds sown in the garden. But how to get away in this case from possible frosts? The most technologically advanced solution would be something in between these standard technologies. And this method is quite possible - this is the cultivation of such crops in micro-greenhouses.

Using this technology, this contradiction can be easily resolved by covering the seeds sown at the end of April - in the first days of May with caps made from 5-8 liters of mineral water bottles cut across. Usually 2-3 seeds are sown in one planting place. Of the seedlings, one is left - the best, the rest are removed. If desired and possible, they can even be transplanted somewhere, but they will still grow much worse after that.

At first, the caps do not need to be opened at all so that the seeds and seedlings are warm. Then, towards the end of May, on warm days, take off the caps for the day, gradually accustoming the seedlings to open air, and cover the seedlings again at night.

By June 10–15, under such shelters, pumpkin crops become cramped. But by this time in our climate the threat of return frosts has already disappeared. Therefore, after June 12-14, the protection can already be removed completely. She is no longer needed.

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And zucchini or squash continue to grow rapidly, and in the first week of July they bloom, and after 3-5 days the first harvest can be taken. After that, zucchini for almost two months, until the end of August, or even longer - until the first autumn frosts - are vigorously developing plants, giving a solid harvest of fruits every few days. And if at the end of August you cover the bed with lutrasil or spunbond overnight, then fruiting can be extended for several more weeks. But at the same time, the film must be removed every morning for successful pollination, since each flower of pumpkin crops blooms for only one day, and, not being pollinated in time, dries up.

And you also need to take into account one very important point: the earlier you are young when you harvest the fruits, the greater their total yield by weight will be. So don't wait for them to grow big. Collect them small, no larger than 15–20 cm, especially since they are much tastier at this age. Only if the gardener wants the fruits of zucchini or squash to remain plucked for several months (ordinary zucchini are stored much worse), then at the end of the season he can keep such fruits in the garden longer so that they become completely ripe, the peel in this case becomes solid.

Then they are suitable for long-term storage. Thus, the use of cover caps - a kind of individual micro-greenhouses - is quite affordable for every gardener, it is not laborious and very practical. And the technology associated with their application is the simplest and least costly, at least for a private household.

I have already tested this method in practice. The harvest last season was very significant. I ate zucchini all summer, and at the end of August I put about 30 of them in storage. They lasted until the New Year and even longer.