Proper planting of pumpkin seeds in open ground: when and at what distance to plant

Pumpkin is loved by both adults and children; its delicate, amazing taste and beneficial properties can leave few people indifferent. At the same time, the abundance of recipes that can be used to prepare the fruit in an interesting way is amazing. Growing crops in the garden is not particularly difficult, however, in order to get strong and strong plants, and subsequently a good harvest, you need to properly plant pumpkin seeds in open ground.

Note! The rules for preparing a site and choosing a location also apply to planting seedlings in a garden bed.

Choosing a landing site

When it comes to placing a pumpkin, you have to think carefully, since in a common area among other vegetables it will offend its neighbors, whom it will certainly drown out with its powerful lashes. Although it is often planted among potatoes, which experience almost no oppression. But since a pumpkin, like cucumbers, with the help of its tendrils is able to climb neighboring plants and low structures, gardeners with little land take advantage of this, for example, letting its lashes climb over fences.

A wide variety of supports are invented for growing pumpkins.

When there is nothing suitable for this in the garden, then directly above the holes a flooring on stakes is made of two or three poles or slabs - 1-1.5 m in height. As the vines begin to grow, they are directed onto the flooring, and separate supports are placed under the hanging fruits. In this form, the pumpkin is not an obstacle for many low-growing vegetables, at a height above which it will grow.

The next question is how to create suitable soil conditions for pumpkins. The difficulty here is not so great, since one pumpkin bush will require a hole area of ​​no more than 1 m2. If you consider that for an average family you need to plant 3-4 bushes, then you can find a place for this anywhere and provide the pumpkin with a nutritious soil mixture on it.

What kind of soil is needed for planting pumpkins?

Pumpkin grows well on structurally fertile, light dark-colored sandy loam soils. In areas well fertilized with manure, the fruits reach enormous sizes.

The basic tillage of soil for pumpkin is no different from tillage of soil for vegetable crops: in the fall, the bed is dug up with fertilizers using a shovel, and in the spring it is leveled with a rake. The soil for this vegetable should have an acidity close to neutral, the optimal pH being 6.5. You should not plant pumpkins where any pumpkin crops (cucumbers, zucchini, squash) grew last year.

Fertilizers for pumpkin when planting

In terms of pumpkin's requirements for the content of nutrients in the soil, it is very similar to cucumbers. Pumpkin feels great on a pile of finished compost, where various waste was dumped last season, as well as in those places where manure used to lie.

You can grow pumpkins in specially prepared trenches, filled with chopped branches, green or dry grass, manure, and various household waste, which are mixed with soil and a layer of fertile soil is poured on top. The depth and width of the trench is up to half a meter.

The greatest effect is obtained with the combined use of organo-mineral fertilizers per 1 m2: for digging 4–5 kg of manure and for feeding (when 5–6 leaves appear) 20 g of ammonium nitrate, 30 g of superphosphate and 15 g of potassium chloride. Nitrogen fertilizers (saltpeter, urea) can also be applied when loosening the beds in spring.

Landing dates

In central Russia, mainly large-fruited and hard-bark pumpkins are cultivated, in the south - nutmeg. Types of pumpkin differ quite significantly from each other. In hard-barked pumpkin, the bark of mature fruits is woody, while in other types it is soft. This pumpkin is characterized by the greatest early ripening. Large-fruited pumpkin is the most cold-resistant and productive. The hard-barked pumpkin is also quite resistant to low temperatures; the most demanding of heat and also late-ripening is the nutmeg pumpkin.

Thus, it turns out that in the middle zone, without growing seedlings, you can only be guaranteed to get a harvest of hard-barked pumpkin, while nutmeg may not grow even using the seedling method. In the southern half of the country, any pumpkin can be grown, but nutmeg varieties, even in the south, are sometimes grown through seedlings.

Butternut squash is the most delicious, but also the most capricious

Pumpkin seeds germinate in soil heated to 13–14 °C, and its seedlings are very sensitive and die at 1–2 degrees below zero. The best temperature for normal growth and development of plants is 20–25 oC. If you sow it in the ground with the onset of heat, you may not wait for ripe fruits, which require from 115 to 130 summer days. Therefore, you often have to start growing pumpkin from seedlings. To do this, pumpkin seeds are sown in peat pots at the end of April. The pots must be large, at least a liter in volume.

The time for planting seedlings in the garden is approximately the same as for tomato seedlings. In the regions of central Russia this is usually the end of spring (depending on the actual weather), and in the north it can be mid-June.

When pumpkin is grown by directly sowing seeds in a garden bed, they are sown in mid-May and it is better if holes are made for this so that they can be covered with glass. It has been noticed that slugs react very early to the emergence of pumpkin seedlings by gnawing their stems. To catch slugs, pieces of boards are laid out next to the seedlings and checked every morning.

Pests or diseases

Pumpkin can develop fungal diseases such as black mold, powdery mildew, rot, ascochyta blight and anthracnose.

Black mold appears as yellow-brown spots between the veins of the leaves, which become covered with a dark coating of fungal spores as the disease progresses. After the stains dry, holes form in their place. Young pumpkins shrivel and stop developing.

With ascochyta blight, large yellow-brown spots first form on the leaves, stems and shoot nodes, then light spots with a chlorotic edge, covered with black pycnidia containing the body of the pathogenic fungus. The pumpkin dries out and dies.

Powdery mildew is a real scourge of gardens and vegetable gardens, the symptoms of which look like a thick whitish coating, similar to spilled flour, which contains fungal spores. Leaves affected by powdery mildew dry out, fruits become deformed and stop developing. This disease is most active under conditions of sharp fluctuations in air humidity and temperature.

Anthracnose appears as large watery yellowish spots on the leaves. In wet weather, the veins of the leaves are covered with a pink coating. Gradually, pink spots spread over the leaves, petioles, stems and fruits, and by autumn the affected areas turn black. Anthracnose is most dangerous at high humidity.

White rot develops on all parts of the plant, causing damage to the root system, drying out of fruiting stems and reduced yield. The pumpkin turns yellow, turns brown, and becomes covered with a flaky coating of mold. Slime may appear on the stems. Gray rot appears as brown, blurry spots that quickly merge with each other and affect the entire plant. Wet bacterial rot can appear as a result of damage by slugs or podras to ovaries and young fruits in too dense plantings.

Among the insects, pumpkin is attacked by melon aphids, podura, or white springtails, wireworms and slugs.

Slugs eat the leaves of plants, sometimes leaving only a network of veins. There are especially many of them in the rainy seasons. In addition, they are able to live and harm plants for several years.

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Melon aphids damage shoots, flowers, ovaries and the underside of leaves, causing them to curl and wrinkle.

Podurs are tiny white insects with a cylindrical body up to 2 mm long, feeding on seeds and underground parts of plants. Podura cause the greatest harm to plants in cold, damp weather.

Wireworms are the larvae of click beetles that gnaw at the root collar of young seedlings, which leads to the death of plants. Most of all, wireworms like to accumulate in damp lowlands.

Pumpkin processing

The fight against pumpkin diseases is carried out factually and preventively, which is undoubtedly preferable, since the disease is much easier to prevent than to cure. To protect pumpkin melon from fungal diseases, you need to observe crop rotation, comply with agrotechnical requirements, and take a responsible approach to each type of work, and especially to pre-sowing seed treatment. At the first signs of disease, spray the plants and area with one percent Bordeaux mixture or another fungicide. And try to make spring and autumn treatment of melons with Fitosporin mandatory - this will help you avoid many unpleasant surprises.

You will have to collect slugs with your hands or set up beer traps for them: place bowls of beer around the area and from time to time collect mollusks that crawled to the smell of it. Wireworms are also caught with bait by digging holes 50 cm deep in different places around the area, placing root vegetables cut into pieces there - carrots or beets - and covering the holes with boards, wooden boards or roofing felt. After a while, the traps check and destroy the wireworms gathered there. They fight durs by dusting the soil around the plants with wood ash. Aphids are destroyed with Phosfamide, Karbofos or a solution of 300 g of soap in 10 liters of water.

And yet, let us remind you that diseases and pests, as a rule, affect weak and unkempt plants, so observe crop rotation, fulfill agrotechnical requirements, conscientiously care for your plants, and you will not have to treat and save them.

Planting pumpkins in seedlings

The best way to prepare seeds for sowing is by germination, in which case they lose their taste and, as a result, are less damaged by pests. Before this, they are disinfected for 20–30 minutes in a dark solution of potassium permanganate.

The pots are filled with nutritious garden mixture. 2-3 seeds are sown in one pot, burying them 3-4 cm, but after germination one best plant is left, the rest are removed. Before planting, the seedlings are kept in a greenhouse, they try to give as much sunlight as possible, remembering that pumpkin seedlings are sensitive to lack of lighting and stretch out very quickly. In an apartment, seedlings are kept on a lighted windowsill, where during the day the temperature on clear days is 25–27 °C and above, and at night it does not drop below 12 °C.

For pumpkin seedlings, select the largest pots

The period for growing seedlings in a greenhouse or at home is about a month. You should not keep it longer - the roots will not have enough volume of the pot for full growth: they will fill it very closely.

The holes for planting seedlings are prepared in a place where in the future the vines can be easily transferred to any supports. To create a better thermal and air regime, the sides of the holes are laid out from any rotting organic material or from turf, boards or slabs with an elevation of 25–30 cm above the soil. Fertilized soil in the amount of 2–3 buckets is poured inside the hole. In order to avoid moisture loss during the spring-summer period, the hole is covered with a film of any color, and its edges are sprinkled with soil.

Before planting the seedlings, a hole is cut in the film in the appropriate place. First, one or two buckets of water heated in the sun are poured into it, and then the seedlings are planted. The overgrown and elongated one is lowered into the hole deeper than usual - up to the cotyledons. The planted seedlings are covered with a piece of glass using a box made of boards. This measure is necessary to better warm the soil, reduce moisture evaporation and protect against birds.

Ready pumpkin seedlings are a completely viable plant

Watering is carried out every other day until the seedlings become stronger and begin to grow. Adult plants are watered as needed, which they themselves signal by wilting leaves.

Video: planting pumpkin seedlings in open ground

Harvesting

To keep vegetables longer, you need to harvest them after they are fully ripe. Signs: the stalk has become dry, the peel has acquired a uniform color, and when you press on the shell, the seeds do not hatch and holes do not form.

It's easy to tell when a pumpkin is ripe by its size. A small vegetable is considered unripe.

There are a few basic rules to remember:

• it is required to stop watering 5-7 days before harvesting;
• collection is carried out in dry weather;
• the stalk must be cut off using pruning shears or a knife, leaving 12 cm on the fruit;
• The pumpkin is placed on a soft surface so that the skin is not damaged.

Planting schemes

The root system of all types of pumpkins is well developed, penetrating to a depth of 1.5 m. However, it requires a lot of space: the pumpkin spreads roots not only deep into the ground, but also to the sides, and the growing lashes reach a length of several meters.

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The feeding area for pumpkins is perhaps the largest among known garden dwellers. The following planting schemes are recommended: 2 x 1 m, one plant per hole, or 3 x 2 m, two plants per nest.

If there is space, you can plant pumpkins along the path, and lay out the whips in directions from it

Ways to plant pumpkins

In addition to the usual planting of pumpkins in a pre-prepared bed (on a flat surface or slightly raised), gardeners often come up with some tricks to save space in the country and make caring for plants easier.

Planting on a compost heap

Any plant residues, including those that rot slowly, are placed in compost. And if grass compost matures by the next season and can be used as fertilizer for any vegetables, then large residues like cabbage stalks, tree branches or raspberries can be processed within 2-3 years. To avoid wasting space, you can plant a pumpkin in this pile, which is not yet ready as fertilizer.

Partially rotted remains will already be a nutrient medium for the plant, and those that will continue to rot will not hinder it in any way. The pumpkin roots will quickly take up all the free space in this pile: after all, it is quite loose. Since the pumpkin leaves are large, they will shield the future compost from the rays of the sun; it will be better for it to rot rather than dry out. True, you shouldn’t hope that such a pile of pumpkins will have enough nutrients; you’ll have to add a little mineral fertilizer. To make caring for the pumpkin easier, the pile should be fenced on the sides with boards, giving it a convenient shape and height. But on top of the plant residues you need to pour a layer of soil of 10–15 centimeters.

Both the pumpkin and the compost pile mutually help each other.

Such a bed, in fact, is a greenhouse: the rotting of large fragments warms the soil, and the pumpkin itself helps this. For growing on compost, it is more convenient to use varieties with not very long vines; it is better to plant seedlings in such a bed, placing the plants no more often than 80 cm from each other. But early ripening varieties can also be planted with seeds, temporarily covering the compost heap with spunbond. Caring for pumpkins planted in compost is very easy. Firstly, you have to bend over less. Secondly, such a bed does not require loosening, and often no weeding. But the heap needs to be watered no less often than a regular garden bed, and even more often.

Planting in bags

In order to save space in the garden, you can plant pumpkins in ordinary garbage bags made of thick plastic film, but it is advisable that their capacity be at least 100 liters. After all, the bags can be placed anywhere, even on the asphalt, as long as they are not completely in the shade. In the fall, a mixture of soil and compost or even just compost is poured into bags, and in the spring one pumpkin is planted. You can do this either with seeds or seedlings, depending on the situation.

It is best to place bags of pumpkins next to the fence, so as not to have to come up with additional support: the stems will climb up, and the growing fruits can be placed in nets, which are also tied to the fence. Pumpkins in bags are easy to care for, if only because the plants are at a very convenient height. It is also easy to regulate the humidity: irrigation water will not leak through the polyethylene, and if, on the contrary, the climate of the area is too humid, then excess moisture can be released through several drainage holes.

A variety of vegetables are planted in bags, including all pumpkin crops

Using barrels

Metal barrels can be used instead of plastic bags. Of course, this pleasure is not so cheap, but for this you can also take a barrel that is no longer suitable for its intended use.

In order for the soil inside the barrel to be better warmed by the sun, it is advisable to paint the outside of the barrel a dark color.

Of course, it is a pity to spend a new barrel for such purposes, but if it is clearly unnecessary, you will have to drill several drainage holes in its lower part. It is advisable to put a cut irrigation hose on the upper rim for easy care of plants.

In the fall, various plant waste is placed at the bottom of the barrel: branches from pruning trees, leaves from under trees and bushes, tops from collected root crops and other plants. Garden soil is poured on top. In the spring, water the soil in the barrel generously to speed up the decomposition of the waste poured into it. Since the contents of the barrel will have settled significantly by summer, humus will need to be added by the time the pumpkin is planted.

At the very beginning of summer, pumpkin seedlings are planted in a barrel. Sometimes two plants are planted, but it is better to limit yourself to just one. At first, the pumpkin is watered very often: both the seedlings need to take root and the biomass continues to decompose. Rotting causes heating, and the pumpkin in the barrel is very comfortable. Additional fertilizing is not required for this planting.

The fruits of short-stemmed pumpkin can even be left on a barrel

The vines hang freely from the barrel; over time, flowers appear on them and fruits begin to appear. If they have reached the ground, you can leave them there, placing a small plank under each one. If you are left hanging in the air, you will have to come up with additional support.

Planting pumpkin on nettles

One of the most popular natural fertilizers in the garden is an infusion of mowed grass and pulled out weeds. It smells very unpleasant, but contains many nutrients necessary for plants, and therefore is very often used for fertilizing. One of the leaders in nutrient content is common nettle. In this regard, it is used not only as a liquid fertilizer: various garden crops are often planted in nettles. Unlike manure, this eliminates the introduction of pathogenic bacteria, larvae of harmful insects and other pests.

The highest quality nettles are spring ones, collected in May. Make a large hole, right up to a bucket, and fill it with chopped nettle leaves (along with the stems; you can cut or tear them in any convenient way and not very finely). Mix nettles with soil approximately 1:1 and water well. It is better to water with an infusion of the same nettle, obtained by pouring a bucket of nettle with water and letting it sit for 5–7 days.

The top of the hole is sprinkled with clean soil, after a few days the pumpkin seedlings are planted and watered with clean water. After 3–4 days, the seedlings begin to grow.

Is it possible to plant pumpkins in a greenhouse?

It is impossible to grow nutmeg pumpkins in harsh climatic conditions, but even with ordinary large-fruited ones there can be a problem due to the lack of warm summer days. In this case, you can plant a pumpkin in a greenhouse. True, space in the greenhouse is precious, and the pumpkin grows in the form of a huge plant, occupying a large area, so you have to be a little cunning. In modern polycarbonate greenhouses it is difficult to implement such a trick, but in ordinary film greenhouses it is easy.

Often they plant a pumpkin next to cucumbers, giving it a place somewhere in the very corner. Planting holes are made in the same way as in open ground, they are filled with fertilizers, seedlings are either planted in the holes or seeds are sown. But by the time the stems grow to about half a meter, summer weather has already set in in the fresh air. They bend the edge of the film from which the walls of the greenhouse are made and release the pumpkin outside. This is how it grows all summer: the roots are in the greenhouse, and the fruits are in the open air.

A pumpkin is planted in a greenhouse, but is released outside to live.

The best varieties

Proper harvesting is a guarantee of long-term preservation of the taste and commercial qualities of fresh pumpkin.

When choosing a pumpkin variety for planting, be sure to focus on the climate of the planting region and the characteristics of the pumpkin. In this regard, it is worth highlighting the most popular varieties.

For the Moscow region

Premiere

The following types are suitable for this zone:

• Premiere

Cold-resistant culture from the category of table pumpkins. Represents spreading lashes. The fruits grow large, weighing about 6-7 kg. Their flesh is sweet and aromatic, like melon. The plant is unpretentious to the composition of the soil.

Common Cucurbita rero

• Common Cucurbita rero

A hard-barked species, recognized as the most capricious in terms of cultivation. Squash and zucchini are varieties of this species. It is not surprising that the Common Pumpkin has many varieties. They come in climbing and bush varieties. The fruits are also different in shape. Their weight varies between 3-7 kg. The color of the peel is orange, yellow, white or green. Some have visible stripes on the ribbed surface.

Dacha

• Dacha

An early ripening variety with a ripening period of about 75 days. The vegetable has a sweetish pulp with a vanilla flavor. The fruits weigh 3-4 kg and can be stored for about 4 months.

Spaghetti

• Spaghetti

An early ripening variety - it takes 2 months from germination to full ripening. After cooking, its pulp breaks up into fibers, which is why it gets its name. They are usually added to salads or eaten hot like spaghetti.

Bush orange

• Bush orange

This representative produces large bright orange fruits, weighing about 5 kg. Their flesh is pleasantly sweet and juicy. The variety has good keeping quality.

Gribovskaya bush 189

• Gribovskaya bush 189

An early fruiting variety popular among gardeners. It grows in the form of a bush, on which up to two pumpkins weighing up to 7 kg each ripen at once. They have a teardrop shape with a ribbed surface. When fully ripe, they acquire an orange-greenish color. The pulp is deep orange, dense and very sweet.

Altaiskaya 47

• Altaiskaya 47

Refers to the universal types of early ripening. The fruits are bright orange in color with yellow stripes. The shell is hard, the flesh is fibrous and has a pronounced sweetish taste. The variety tolerates long-term transportation well and retains its original properties for a long time.

For the Ural region

Russian

Among the varieties most suitable for planting in the Urals, the following can be distinguished:

• Russian

A culture resistant to cold and various fungal diseases. Valued for its sugary taste and juicy pulp. The weight of ripened fruits reaches 3 kg. Ripening time is about 110 days. Vegetables have a colorful orange color.

Nutmeg pearl

• Nutmeg pearl

This pumpkin variety is harvested 100 days after the seeds hatch. The weight of the fetus varies from 5 to 7 kg. The pulp has a persistent nutmeg flavor. The plant is quite frost-resistant and can withstand drought and waterlogging.

For Siberia

Variety Freckle

In colder areas, the Freckle variety takes root successfully. The pulp of the fruit is juicy, aromatic and sweet, somewhat reminiscent of melon. Even after exposure to heat, it retains its crispy structure. The weight of one vegetable is about 3-3.5 kg.

Among the varieties most suitable for planting in Siberia, the following can be distinguished:

• Variety Freckle

You can also offer Smile, a bush variety that is resistant to negative weather conditions. The variety stands out for its excellent taste and technical characteristics, and has good seed germination. Retains its beneficial properties during storage throughout the cold period. The fruits weigh 2-3 kg.

Pumpkin Smile

• Pumpkin Smile

Pumpkin is considered a healthy dietary product, and its pulp and seeds are valuable.
A guarantee of good yield is the correct selection of seed material and timely planting, in accordance with the basic regulations. Self-grown pumpkin, stored according to all the rules, will enrich your daily diet in the winter. And there are so many recipes for its preparation that there will be no problems with it.

VIDEO: Planting pumpkins in open ground in spring

Features and timing of pumpkin planting in different regions

Not only what varieties of pumpkin can be planted depends on the climatic conditions of the region, but also how and when to do it. If in the middle zone it is difficult to grow only the most heat-loving and late-ripening nutmeg pumpkins, then in Siberia or the Urals problems may arise with more cold-resistant varieties. But usually preliminary preparation of seedlings solves these problems. In the middle zone, they prefer to grow mid-season varieties with seedlings, and early ones are sown in the garden with seeds. Sowing seeds is possible in the last days of May, and planting seedlings without film covers is closer to June 10.

The climate of Belarus is similar to that of the Moscow region, and the approaches to growing pumpkins there are approximately the same. The State Register of Belarus includes about twenty varieties of pumpkins, and almost all of them are widely known in the central regions of Russia. The timing of planting seedlings or sowing seeds here is the same as in the central zone of our country; neither the planting rules nor subsequent care are any different.

In the Urals and most of Siberia, night frosts are possible even in June, so the time frame for growing pumpkins is very tight. Here they almost never risk sowing seeds directly into the ground, preferring to grow seedlings. It is transferred to the garden bed no earlier than mid-June. And even in this case, they monitor the weather, perhaps covering the plantings with non-woven materials for the first time. However, Siberia is large: in the south, as well as in the Southern Urals, summers are sunny and sometimes even dry: in these areas you can grow almost any variety of pumpkin, including direct sowing of seeds in a garden bed.

In the south of the European part of Russia there is no need to grow seedlings. Here the pumpkin grows without problems, huge fields are allocated for it, it is illuminated by the hot southern sun and grows large and tasty. All available varieties have time to ripen by sowing seeds directly in the field, which, depending on the weather, is possible either in early May or even earlier.

Video: planting a pumpkin in a tire

How to correctly determine the time of sowing and what factors influence

Pumpkin was first cultivated in Mexico, from where it was brought to Europe in the 16th century by the Spaniards. Since then, it has been actively grown in all countries of the old world. Pumpkin is most popular in China, India and Russia. In our country, it can be found everywhere in regions with temperate and warm climates.

Favorable and unfavorable days according to the lunar calendar

When drawing up a planting plan, it is best to focus on the cycles of the moon, which will help determine the best and worst time for work:

If you take the lunar calendar seriously, you can reap a rich harvest at the end of the season.

However, choosing the right time for planting is only a small part of the work that a gardener will have to do to achieve maximum results.