Watermelon: planting and care

Watermelon is one of the favorite summer treats for both children and adults. This is a fairly unpretentious plant that can be grown both in the southern regions and in the central part of Russia. Watermelon refers to drought-resistant and fairly thermophilic plants.

Cultivate it both in seedlings and seeds. Landing begins in a period when the soil warms up to 6 degrees of heat to a depth of about 10-15 cm. For the middle band, this is around mid-May. Planting watermelons for seedlings is done a month before landing in the ground.

Since the peel of the seeds of this culture is sufficiently firm, they are pre-prepared. This allows you to achieve a higher yield and get rid of some pests. Seeds for several hours to warm up at a temperature of 60 degrees Celsius. Then, for a disinfection, they are placed in a solution of potassium permanganate for a while . The last step is soaking seeds in a 2% solution of baking soda.

Watermelon, planting which involves the preliminary preparation of beds, grows well only on virgin soils. However, it is sometimes problematic to find such a site. In this case, you can use the methods of crop rotation. The most acceptable precursor crops for watermelon are onions, root crops, or cabbage. You can not plant it after potatoes, squash, zucchini or cucumbers.

After perennial grasses, the watermelon, which should be planted in loose soil, can be grown no more than two years in a row in the same place. This is due to the multiplication of different kinds of pests, which otherwise can severely impede the production of a good crop. It is advisable to prepare the bed in autumn, digging, and burn the old tops.

On seedlings, the seeds are planted in 2-3 pieces in containers with a diameter of at least 12-15 cm. This is necessary in order to make it easier to make a transplant. In spring, a watermelon, planted only a few times dug up, very loose ground, is transferred to an open sunny place. You can add a little sand to the ground to increase its moisture and air permeability.

Scantling plants are usually planted from each other at a sufficiently large distance. This also applies to such a "sweeping" representative of this family, as a watermelon. Planting is done most often using a 100x100 scheme. But you can leave such distance only between rows, inside them the bushes are located in seventy centimeters from each other.

Seeds when planting are buried about 5 cm, 3 in one hole. If this is a seedling, take two bunches. In the future, extra can be carefully removed. Transplant this plant does not bear well. You can not allow the roots to be bare during the transfer. Pull watermelons out of the container must be very carefully, so that on the roots there is a clod of earth.

Watermelons, planting and care for which special complexity do not differ and do not require special time costs, water only three times a season. The first time at the beginning of germination of seeds, the second at the formation of weaves, the third - before the fruits begin to ripen. Each time after watering, which should be moderate, the soil is carefully loosened and bog bush. This is necessary for better ventilation and the formation of additional roots. The first results can be obtained 3-5 months after planting the seeds. The watermelon plant is unpretentious, however, when growing it requires compliance with certain technological rules.