Growing pumpkins in the Moscow region in the open field

Growing pumpkin in the open field: briefly about pumpkin

Pumpkins are very common vegetables in the world, their sizes sometimes reach enormous proportions. Of course, ordinary summer residents do not grow sensational pumpkins, but it is quite possible and simple to grow a pumpkin if you follow all the rules. Growing pumpkin outdoors is quite challenging. but an interesting process that we will discuss in the article.

Is it possible to grow a pumpkin near Moscow

For the Moscow region, pumpkins are quite a common crop, the external conditions are good for most varieties of these vegetables. Late-ripening varieties are not very good for this climate, due to incomprehensible summer temperatures, and zoned varieties grow and take root just fine. In general, the soil in the Moscow region is fertile, and the climate is moderate, which is what pumpkins need.

Growing pumpkin outdoors: a suitable place to plant

The usual place for the growth of pumpkins is in the beds, in greenhouses they often have little space, the vegetable loves space and the sun. It is common in the Moscow region to grow pumpkins first as seedlings because of the rather long growing season. A common problem for summer residents is a lack of space on the site, a pumpkin needs a lot of space, and a standard plot is equal to six hundred square meters. To save space, you can plant pumpkins on a trellis - vertically or in various containers, like barrels or bags.

Growing pumpkin outdoors: the right lighting

It is recommended to give the pumpkin enough light - the sun, this can be done simply without planting it next to the trees. Good soil fertilization is also important for pumpkin, unfortunately, without organic fertilizers (compost, manure, humus), a good pumpkin cannot grow. You will get a good harvest if you follow all the measures necessary for pumpkins.

Growing pumpkins in the Moscow Region

Pumpkins can often be found in the Moscow region, and they are grown both on an industrial scale and on plots for the sake of seeds and tasty and healthy pulp.

Growing pumpkins in the open field: the nuances of planting pumpkins

As we know, summer in Moscow is not always long enough and warm, therefore varieties that ripen for a long time and are usually the most delicious - nutmeg, you will not have to buy. Muscat species may simply not mature in time if the summer is not long enough.

Growing pumpkin outdoors: suitable varieties

The best option for the Moscow region are early ripening varieties, they grow well even after direct sowing in open ground. If the growing season of the variety you have selected is more than three months, it is better to grow the seedlings first so that the harvest does not go to waste. Greenhouses and hotbeds are very convenient for sowing and growing seedlings, but often Muscovites also use their apartments.

Growing pumpkin outdoors: where you can grow

It is strictly forbidden to grow seedlings in a common box, any action that breaks the roots of pumpkins can lead to their death. It is recommended to sow in peat cups, but you can also sow in ordinary large ones. For pumpkins, the smallest volume is five hundred milliliters, but the liter is more priority. The earth can be universal or as for cucumbers, if you want to prepare the soil at home, you need to take peat, sawdust and humus in a ratio of two to one to one, for each three-liter bucket you need to add a glass of wood ash and a tablespoon of azofoska.

Growing Pumpkin Outdoors: Seed Stratification

Store seeds can be sown simply from the package; they are already prepared; when using homemade seeds, processing will be needed. Seeds need calibration, disinfection, hardening and it is desirable to germinate them a little. The depth of the sowing holes should be about three centimeters, two or three seeds go into each container, then weaker seeds are destroyed. Seeds are watered with heated water, after seven days you can reap the emergence of sprouts. For the first time, the sprouts need sun and a slightly cool temperature of seventeen degrees Celsius.

Growing pumpkin outdoors: about seedlings

Further, the seedling pots should be at normal room temperature and in the sun. Watering is moderate, with the help of heated water, preferably in the evening. If growth has slowed down significantly, fertilizing with complex fertilizers is possible, in other cases they try to avoid their use. Seedlings are usually about twenty-five centimeters high, with three to four large leaves and a thick main stem. Before planting, the plants must be hardened by taking them out into the street.

Planting seedlings in the beds

Landing hole stratification
It is important to prepare the beds in advance, they must be fertilized with compost. In front of the pumpkin in the garden for at least three years, no other pumpkins, cucumbers or zucchini should grow. One and a half buckets of humus are required to process one square meter of beds. Immediately before planting, a sufficiently large hole must be dug for each seedling and fertilized as well. Each plant needs a large portion of ash and about three liters of organic fertilizers, all of which must be mixed with soil.
It is not uncommon to prepare pits for seedlings in the fall, and in the spring they are simply treated with an ammonia solution of nitrate, one spoon is taken for ten liters of water, the solution is covered with polyethylene, and it is heated before planting the seedlings. Adequate spacing between plantings is two hundred centimeters wide and one hundred centimeters long. Seedlings should be planted under the previously installed polyethylene, making holes to accommodate the sprouts.

Before boarding

Before planting, you need to dig a hole in the size of the container with the plant and fill it with plenty of water. If the seedlings did not grow in a peat container, the plant must be removed from the pot, it is important that the roots are not damaged, the plant may die. After planting, the plants are also watered, polyethylene is removed only when constant warm weather is established.
Pumpkin care in the Moscow region

Growing pumpkins in the open field: the main nuances in care

The main care is timely watering, fertilization and the formation of the appearance of plants. At the very beginning, you will need to weed and loosen the soil. Pumpkins on their own in adulthood can get rid of weeds, when the lashes grow up, it is impossible to loosen them. You can rarely water a pumpkin, there is usually enough moisture in the Moscow region for plants.When drought or very hot temperatures are established, watering will need to be increased.

About the flowering period

During flowering and when the fruit is growing, the plants need good watering. If the water starts to stagnate much worse than the lack of water for the plant. It is better to water in the evening, with water that has stood in the sun all day.

Fertilizers and feeding

Fertilizers are applied every fourteen days after planting, then after the end of the flowering period. Any complex fertilizers are suitable, they are introduced into the dug grooves around the main trunk. It is possible to use organic fertilizers and you need to sprinkle the ground between the bushes with wood ash.

Formation of bushes

To leave most of the energy to the plant, and not waste it on the growth of unnecessary greenery, the bushes are formed. The main shoot is pinched, when it reaches a height of one hundred and fifty centimeters, in which case the fruits are formed on the lateral stems. When the fruit reaches an exchange approximately equal to a volleyball ball, two or three leaves are left over the shoot, the rest are cut off.

Rooting shoots

So that additional roots of the lash begin to form, when they grow a certain distance from the main stem, they are pressed to the ground, rooting them. With the help of garters, you can help the pumpkin grow upward, if necessary. To prevent the pumpkins from falling and damaging them, they are placed in retaining nets. In order to avoid rotting fruit on the surface of the earth, boards are usually placed under them.

Growing pumpkin outdoors: preventive treatment

Usually summer residents avoid processing plants with chemicals, but pumpkins, if all the rules of care are followed, will not be attacked by insects or various diseases. Aphids rarely appear; soap solution helps very well against it.

How to collect and save pumpkins

Pumpkins do not tolerate even light frosts; in the fall, before their onset, you will have to collect everything. Often summer residents of the Moscow region pull until the last wait for the established temperature at night about zero degrees, at such a temperature the leaves die. This is too high a risk for the fruit, it is recommended to harvest them earlier. Most pumpkin varieties are able to ripen without incident while in storage in the house, provided that they are almost fully ripe in the sun. During storage, the seeds may not form and fully ripen.

The harvesting process is carried out with the help of a pruner; the stalk should remain on the pumpkins (if it is broken, the pumpkin cannot be stored). It usually takes fourteen to twenty days to completely dry the stalk, during which time the pumpkins "reach" in a warm place. If damage is found on vegetables, they should be eaten first. An ideal storage place will be a basement with an average temperature of seven degrees Celsius, humidity should be about sixty-five percent, in such conditions, pumpkins can survive until the next harvest. When stored in ordinary apartments, the seeds usually grow into the pumpkin itself and the fruits dry out faster, but this storage method is quite possible.

Growing pumpkins in the open field: types of pumpkins near Moscow

Hard bark gourd

Absolutely all varieties are divided into three main groups. In the Moscow region, hard-barked and large-fruited species will grow well, it will be difficult to germinate and preserve nutmeg varieties. Hard-barked pumpkin got its name from the strength of its rind, it is similar in parameters to wood cork. The remaining representatives have a softer crust. In the Moscow climate, hard-bore pumpkins have time to ripen due to a short ripening period.

Large pumpkin

More frost-resistant and productive is the type of pumpkin - large-fruited. This variety is also great for growing in the Moscow region.Muscat varieties have a rich taste, they are often consumed without preparation, but they are more thermophilic or they have a long ripening period, which does not allow them to be grown on the territory of the Moscow region. Breeders have bred several faster-ripening varieties, you can try.

About seedlings

Pumpkins are often grown not through seedlings, usually hard-bore pumpkins are grown this way, large-fruited ones will be better grown through seedlings, and nutmeg varieties can only be grown using seedlings. Nutmegs are also often grown in greenhouses.

The most popular varieties for the Moscow region

Shrub mushroom 189

A variety of early ripeness, rather old - bush mushroom 189. On average, a full harvest ripens in ninety days, pumpkins are oval or similar to cylinders. The average weight is four to five kilograms, they have green stripes. The inside is yellowish, tasty. She is almost insensitive to diseases.

Spaghetti

The variety, which is half a century old - spaghetti, is universal. After the appearance of pumpkin sprouts, they appear in two months, unripe fruits are greenish, adults are cream in color. Pumpkins are small, weighing less than a kilogram, like barrels. The pulp has a pleasant vanilla aroma and a beige tint, not sweet. Increased resistance to drought and high yields are distinctive features of the variety.

Mozoleevskaya

The Mozoleevskaya variety, the growing season of which lasts a little more than a hundred days, is mid-season. The pumpkins are slightly silvery and rather short; the weight of the fruit varies from four to six kilograms. Ripe pumpkins are orange in size. The inside is orange, soft and sweet. Pumpkins are good for transportation and practically do not get sick.

Large-fruited varieties

Further you will learn about the most common large-fruited species.

Volzhskaya gray 92

Variety with an average ripening period - Volga gray 92, ripens in ninety-one hundred twenty days. Pumpkins resemble crushed balls, the average weight of the fruit is eight kilograms, the bark is gray. The pulp is sweetish, creamy, tasty. Productivity is high, it is normal to droughts, practically does not succumb to diseases. You can transport and store for a long time.

Big moon

Big moon is a new edible variety, medium late, pumpkins are rather rounded and ocher orange. It can grow up to thirty kilograms, provided there is enough space in the garden, there are specimens that have reached one hundred kilograms. The pulp is tasty, there is a lot of juice, they can easily tolerate transportation and storage.

Sweetie

Another relatively new variety is sweetie... Pumpkins are spherical again, they grow no more than four kilograms. Good yield, up to six fruits per plant. Pumpkins resemble a wine shade in green spots. The insides are orange, less often red, the taste is good, there is a lot of juice, and the flesh is sweet. It is available for cultivation in many parts of our country due to its frost resistance.

Muscat varieties

The real vegetables for gourmet food lovers are butternut squash. There are several varieties available for cultivation in the Moscow region, they were bred not so long ago.

Candied

Candied pumpkins - recommended by representatives of the State Register for cultivation in central Russia, the pumpkin will fully ripen in one hundred twenty to one hundred fifty days, the pumpkins are flat, brown. The average weight is seven to eight kilograms. Storage is possible for a little more than six months, transportation is well tolerated. Can adapt to adverse environmental conditions.

Nectar

One of the newest species is nectar. Average ripening period, usually the mass is in the range from four to eight kilograms. There is a wax coating on the surface of the orange bark. Wonderful taste, juicy and beautiful pulp. The shelf life is short - up to ninety days.

Matilda F1

Dutch hybrid variety - Matilda F1, medium-ripening variety.After three and a half months, you can already start harvesting, pumpkins resemble a pear in shape. Subject to all the rules for planting and leaving, the harvest will turn out in the form of a good mace, the size does not exceed four and a half kilograms. The taste of the inside is excellent, juicy orange pulp. In winter variety Matilda can lie for four months, tolerates transportation well. Distinctive features - good tolerance to inconsistent weather and high indicative of the number of pumpkins.

Growing pumpkin outdoors: conclusion

For the Moscow region, pumpkins are natural vegetables, despite the difficulties in growing a number of species. If you follow all the rules for planting and leaving, the harvest will turn out to be good. But do not forget about the importance of solar heat and light for pumpkins, as well as sufficient territory and feeding.