Pumpkin: planting seeds in open ground and subsequent care, description of the best varieties, features of agricultural technology | (Photo & Video)

Author: Elena N. https://floristics.info/ru/index.php?option=com_contact&view=contact&id=19 Category: Garden plants Published: February 05, 2016Last edits: January 06, 2021

plant (lat. Cucurbita pepo) is a species of herbaceous annual plant of the Pumpkin genus of the Cucurbitaceae family, which is classified as a melon crop. The homeland of the plant is Mexico. It has been growing in the Oaxacan Valley for at least 8,000 years. Even before our era, pumpkin became widespread in North America along the valleys of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Pumpkin was brought to the Old World by Spanish sailors in the 16th century, and since then it has been widely cultivated not only in Europe, but also in Asia. The record holders for pumpkin cultivation are China, India and Russia. The pumpkin vegetable is not only tasty, but also healthy, and the plant pulp, which contains, in addition to a number of substances necessary for humans, rare vitamin T, and pumpkin seeds, the oil of which is a restorative and anti-inflammatory agent that does not cause allergies, are also beneficial. In this article we will tell you how to grow pumpkin seedlings, when to plant a pumpkin in open ground, how to water a pumpkin, how to treat a pumpkin against diseases and pests, how to fertilize a pumpkin, what ails a pumpkin, and we will share other important information that will allow you to hesitation to start cultivating this tasty and healthy plant.

Planting and caring for pumpkins

• Planting: sowing seeds in the ground - when the soil at a depth of 7-8 cm warms up to 12-13 ˚C; sowing seeds for seedlings - in April or early May, planting seedlings in open ground - at the end of May or early June.
• Soil: any soil, but preferably fertile, pre-dug with organic and mineral fertilizers.
• Watering: after planting the seedlings - daily until the seedlings take root, then infrequently until the ovaries reach the size of a fist. During a season with normal rainfall, you may not need to water at all. When the fruits begin to gain weight, gradually increase the water consumption to 1 bucket per 1 adult plant.
• Feeding: 1st - a solution of chicken manure or mullein a week after planting the seedlings, then 3-4 organic feedings are carried out every month.
• Reproduction: by seed seedlings and without seedlings.
• Pests: melon aphids, springtails (or white springtails), wireworms, slugs.
• Diseases: white rot, anthracnose, ascochyta blight, powdery mildew and black mold.

Read more about growing pumpkin below.

Pests and prevention

Pumpkin is considered an unpretentious plant, however, this crop is also threatened by pests. The following can reduce yields and sometimes even destroy young shoots:

• slugs;
• melon aphid.

When signs of pest invasion are detected, special preparations are used (Actellik, Fufanon, Citcor, etc.). Products made from biological components are safer. Traditional methods are sometimes not inferior in effectiveness, among which deserve attention:

• decoctions and infusions of chamomile;
• infusions of potato and tomato tops;
• decoctions of wormwood and other aromatic herbs;
• wood ash;
• tobacco dust;
• slaked lime, etc.

Working solutions are used to spray plants, and powders are used for dusting. The procedures are repeated 2-3 times at intervals of 7-10 days. For an immediate response to a pest invasion, you need to make it a rule to inspect the beds regularly once every 3 days. Then you can localize the problem and save the harvest.

Botanical description

The pumpkin root has a branched, taproot, creeping, pentagonal, rough stem with prickly pubescence reaching a length of 5-8 meters. The leaves are alternate, heart-shaped, five-parted or five-lobed, long-petiolate, with a plate length up to 25 cm, pubescent with hard short hairs. A spiral tendril develops in the axil of each leaf. The flowers are unisexual, large, solitary, orange or yellow. Female flowers on short stalks, and male flowers on long stalks, bloom in June or July and are cross-pollinated. The fruit is a fleshy, large, oval or spherical false pumpkin berry with a large number of seeds, ripening in late summer or early autumn. Pumpkin seeds are creamy white, 1 to 3 cm long, with a raised rim around the edge and a woody outer shell.

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

Growing pumpkin from seeds

How to sow seeds

Pumpkin is grown from seeds using seedlings and non-seedling methods, however, cultivating a variety such as nutmeg pumpkin requires exclusively seedling propagation. Sowing pumpkin seeds in the ground is done no earlier than the soil at a depth of 7-8 cm warms up to a temperature of 12-13 ºC. Growing pumpkins in open ground begins with pre-sowing treatment of the area and seed.

Before planting, the seeds are heated for 9-10 hours at a temperature of 40 ºC, then immersed for half a day in an ash solution (2 tablespoons of wood ash are diluted in 1 liter of boiling water with stirring) in order to facilitate the passage of the embryo through the dense peel. The seeds are heated in the oven, then wrapped in several layers of gauze, generously moistened with an ash solution. You can, of course, not do any of this, but then the ripening period of the pumpkin increases, and if you live in an area with short and cool summers, then your pumpkin without pre-sowing seed treatment will not have time to ripen before frost.

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Before planting a pumpkin (we’ll tell you how to prepare a plot for a pumpkin a little later), rows are marked out in the garden bed and holes with a diameter of 30 cm are made in them. If the winter was snowless and the soil on the plot is dry, pour some water into each hole. one and a half to two liters of water at a temperature of 50 ºC, and when it is absorbed, plant 2-3 seeds, but not in a heap, but lay them out at a distance from each other, deepening them by 5-6 cm, if the soil in the bed is medium loamy, and 8-10 cm if the soil is light. The seeds are covered with fertile soil, and the area is mulched with peat chips or humus.

A gap of at least 2 m is left between the rows, and at least a meter between the holes in the row. It is better to make holes in a checkerboard pattern. To speed up the emergence of seedlings, a film is thrown over the crops, sprinkling its edges with earth.

When the seedlings appear, and this happens under normal conditions after a week, remove the film, wait until the seedlings develop 2 true leaves and thin them out: leave no more than 2 plants in each hole, do not pull out the rest, but simply cut them at ground level, so as not to injure the root system of the remaining seedlings. If you are still afraid of frost, install a wire frame in the area and cover it with film.

Growing seedlings

Planting pumpkin seedlings is carried out 15-20 days before planting the seedlings in open ground. Pumpkin seeds that have sprouted after pre-sowing treatment are placed one at a time in plastic or peat pots with a diameter of 10-15 cm, half filled with a soil mixture of two parts humus, one part turf soil and one part peat. Cover the seeds with the same soil mixture, but with the addition of a five percent solution of mullein and 10-15 g of wood ash. The crops are moistened, after which the pots are covered with film.

How to grow pumpkin seedlings and prevent them from stretching, which often happens with seedlings at home? Caring for pumpkin seedlings involves keeping the crops in good lighting, excluding direct sunlight, and at a temperature of 20-25 ºC, and when the shoots appear, set the following temperature regime: during the day the room should be 15-20 ºC, and at night - 12-13 ºC. If, nevertheless, some seedlings have stretched out, then after a week or a week and a half the subcotyledonous section of such a seedling is rolled up into a ring and covered with moist soil up to the cotyledonous leaves.

Water the crops moderately, avoiding waterlogging of the substrate. Twice during the seedling period, seedlings receive complex feeding. Fertilizer for pumpkin is prepared according to the following recipe: 1 liter of mullein, 17 g of ammonium sulfate, 15 g of potassium sulfate and 20 g of superphosphate are diluted in 10 liters of water. Consumption – half a liter of solution per seedling. Before planting in open ground, the seedlings are taken out onto the veranda or balcony and hardening procedures are carried out, opening the window for an hour or two, and gradually for a longer time, so that the plants get used to the environment in which they will soon find themselves. A couple of days before planting in the ground, they stop closing the window altogether.

Pumpkin pick

To the question of how to pick a pumpkin, we answer: picking a pumpkin is contraindicated, since it is very easy to damage the root system of the seedlings when transplanting. That is why it is recommended to sow pumpkin seeds in separate pots.

Checking seeds for germination

Before growing a juicy large pumpkin in the garden, you need to check the seeds for germination. This will allow you to have an overall picture of the future harvest. It is checked this way:

• A handful of seed is placed in a warm, moist environment. This can be a bowl, the bottom of which is covered with cotton wool moistened with water. It is advisable to keep the bowl in a sunny window.
• All this time, future seedlings are monitored. If 35 out of 40 seeds sprouted, the level of similarity is equal to 80-85%.

There is another popular way to check seed material. You need to take a handful of seeds and dip them in a strong saline solution. Those seeds that sink to the bottom will definitely germinate. If there is a maximum of such seed material, then its similarity is good.

Pumpkin seeds

Planting pumpkins in open ground

When to plant

Planting pumpkins in the ground occurs with the onset of stable warm weather. This usually occurs at the end of May or beginning of June. Pumpkin is a melon crop, which means that it needs a lot of sun, so choose a southern area for planting pumpkin. The optimal temperature for pumpkin growth is 25 ºC, and if the temperature drops to 14 ºC, plant growth stops. Pumpkin grows well in areas where green manure, onions, cabbage, carrots, beets, soybeans, peas, beans, beans, lentils or peanuts grew last year. Potatoes, sunflowers, cucumbers, zucchini, squash, watermelon, melon and pumpkin are considered bad predecessors.

Soil for pumpkin

Pumpkin grows on any soil, but it can only ripen large and sweet on fertile soil. The plot for pumpkin is prepared in the fall: they dig it up, adding 3-5 kg ​​of compost or manure per m² to infertile soil, 200-300 g of ash or lime to heavy or acidic soil, and 25-30 g of phosphorus and lime to any soil. 15-20 g of potassium fertilizer. In the spring, after the snow has melted, to prevent the soil from drying out, harrow it, then lightly loosen it and clear it of weeds, and before planting seedlings or sowing seeds, dig it to a depth of 12-18 cm. If for some reason you were unable to prepare a plot with in autumn, apply fertilizer at the time of planting in each hole dug for the seedling.

Growing in a greenhouse

Pumpkins are rarely grown from start to finish in a greenhouse. More often, a greenhouse is used to grow pumpkin seedlings, which are then planted in open ground anyway. Planting pumpkins in a greenhouse is done one seed at a time in 10x10 peat pots to avoid picking, which is difficult for pumpkin seedlings to tolerate. Until the seeds sprout, the temperature in the greenhouse should be 26 ºC, and from the moment the seedlings appear, it is lowered to 19 ºC for a week, and then returned to the previous temperature. Two weeks after the first shoots appear, the seedlings are fertilized with mullein.

Water the seedlings as needed, but abundantly: the soil should be loose at an average moisture level. Seedlings are planted in open ground 4 weeks after the first shoots appear.

How to plant in the ground

We have already written how to place a pumpkin in a garden bed, but the holes for seedlings are made a little deeper than when sowing seeds: they must completely accommodate the root system of the seedlings at a depth of 8-10 cm. If you have not fertilized the area since the fall, please note that when planting In each hole you need to add half a bucket of humus or compost, 50 g of superphosphate and 2 cups of ash, thoroughly mixing the fertilizers with the soil. Based on this, calculate the depth of the holes for seedlings.

Pour one or two liters of hot water into the holes, let it soak, and then transfer the pumpkin seedling from the pot along with the root ball, fill the voids with soil, compacting it tightly. After planting, the area is mulched with peat or covered with dry soil to prevent the formation of a crust on the surface of the soil.

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Soil preparation

Pumpkin loves organic fertilizers

If the soil does not meet the key requirements for planting a pumpkin, it should be adjusted. If the acidity is high, limestone or chalk is added; if the soil is too clayey, humus or leaf compost is added. They do this in advance - in the fall. As a last resort, fertilize the soil directly during planting by placing fertilizer in the holes.

How to prepare the ground:

1. The area is cleared of plant and other debris.
2. Shallow loosening is carried out and after a couple of weeks the area must be dug up. At the same time, any weed roots are removed.
3. In the spring, 1 day before the planned sowing, the soil is dug up again with the application of nitrogenous fertilizers
4. Then the plot is leveled with a rake and high beds are formed. The universal bed size is 1.5 m (width) x 25 cm (height). They are made at a distance of half a meter

To fertilize the land, it is better to take manure or humus (about one bucket per 1 sq. m). With heavy soil, the laying depth will be 12-15 m, in the case of a light substrate - slightly lower. If it is not possible to plant it in advance, then when planting, add 1.5 kg of mullein or humus to each hole. In addition, superphosphate (30 g) and potassium sulfate (15 g) are added.

Pumpkin grows well on a compost heap. Therefore, many summer residents deliberately plant it in compost. In this way, it is possible to increase the yield, since the plant develops better due to good nutrition and the absence of weeds.

Pumpkin care

Growing conditions

After planting the seedlings, caring for them consists of thinning, watering, weeding, fertilizing and, if necessary, artificial pollination, for which no later than 11 a.m. a pair of male flowers is picked, the petals are torn off and the anthers of both flowers are carefully touched to the stigma several times female flower, leaving the last of the male flowers on the stigma of the female one. This measure is necessary in case of incomplete fertilization of the ovaries, which can lead to the formation of irregularly shaped pumpkins.

Watering

Newly planted seedlings are watered daily until they are established. After this, the soil is moistened as little as possible until the ovaries become the size of a fist. If the summer is rainy, then stop watering altogether. When the fruits begin to gain weight, moistening the pumpkin patch is resumed and the water consumption rate is gradually increased to one bucket for one adult plant.

Loosening

After watering or rain, it is very convenient to loosen the soil around the plants and clear it of weeds. The first loosening to a depth of 6-8 cm should be carried out with the emergence of seedlings. It is better to loosen row spacing to a depth of 12-18 cm before watering so that water penetrates faster to the roots. While loosening, lightly hill the plants, giving them stability.

Thinning

If you sowed seeds directly into the ground, when the seedlings form two true leaves, you need to thin them out, leaving two sprouts in one hole of a hard-barked or nutmeg pumpkin, and one of a large-fruited pumpkin. The second thinning is carried out when the seedlings have 3-4 leaves. But we remind you: there is no need to pull out excess seedlings, since you can damage the root system of those seedlings that you decide to leave. Simply cut off the unwanted seedling at ground level.

Pumpkin feeding

The first fertilizing with chicken droppings or manure diluted with water in a ratio of 1:4 is carried out a week after planting seedlings or three weeks after sowing seeds in the ground. The frequency of such organic fertilizing is 3-4 times a month. Pumpkin responds well to fertilizing with a solution of 40-50 g of garden mixture in 10 liters of water at the rate of one bucket per 10 plants. A solution of a glass of wood ash in 10 liters of water is also considered an excellent fertilizer. To apply the first fertilizing, make grooves 6-8 cm deep around the plants at a distance of 10-12 cm and pour the solution into them. For further fertilizing, furrows are made 10-12 cm deep, placing them 40 cm from the plants. After applying fertilizer, the furrows are covered with earth.

If it happens that it will be cloudy for a long time, spray the pumpkin with a solution of 10 g of urea in 10 liters of water.

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.

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.

Diseases and pests: control methods and prevention

Diseases that are particularly common among this vegetable crop are often bacterial and fungal. They develop due to excess moisture in the soil. Regarding the harmful insects that attack pumpkin, you can often find spider mites and aphids.

Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that affects plants, usually due to improper care. In order to cope with this disease, the plant must be sprayed with a solution made of potassium, copper sulfate and water at the rate of 3 g x 2 g x 10 l.

When the ovaries and leaves begin to form, you need to treat the bushes with Bordeaux mixture. Disease prevention involves proper watering, crop rotation and immediate removal and burning of those plants that are already diseased.

Mosaic is a virus that infects plants and quickly spreads throughout the area. If this disease is detected, it is important to immediately remove all affected bushes and burn them.

Prevention in this case means weed control, the use of only disinfected garden tools, timely measures taken to combat pests and the immediate destruction of diseased plants.

Fruit rot - if signs of rot appear, the affected areas should be cut off as quickly as possible and treated with aloe juice.

Aphids are insects that attack plants very quickly. In order to deal with it, a soap solution is suitable. You will need to dissolve 200 grams of grated soap in 10 liters of water. You can also treat the plant with 10% karbofos, diluting 60 grams in 10 liters of water. Weed control will help protect plants from attack by this pest.

Spider mites with onion infusion. To do this, add 200 grams of husk to 10 liters of water and let it brew. A solution of 20% chloroethanol also works well. It should be hung with water in the proportions of 20 g x 10 l.

Collection and storage

Harvesting is usually done when the plants reach biological maturity, but make sure your pumpkin is truly ripe before you harvest it. A sure sign of maturity is the drying out and suberization of the stalk in hard-barked pumpkins, and a clear pattern on the hardened bark in varieties of large-fruited and nutmeg pumpkins. The harvest should be done in dry weather, after the first frost, which will kill the pumpkin leaves. The fruits are cut off with the stalk and sorted by quality and size. Proceed as carefully as if you were handling eggs.

Unripe or damaged fruits will have to be processed, and those intended for long-term storage should be dried in the sun or in a dry, warm room with good ventilation for two weeks so that the stalks are inoculated and the bark is completely hardened. After this, the pumpkin can be stored.

Before frost, the pumpkin can be on a balcony, loggia or in a dry shed, covered with straw or rags, but when the temperature drops to 5 ºC, the pumpkin is transferred to the living room and kept in a warm, dry place with a temperature not lower than 14 ºC - this is how it should be stored the first two weeks, and then you need to find a place for the pumpkin with a temperature of 3-8 ºC and air humidity of 60-70%, where it will lie until spring, or even until the new harvest. Dry sheds, attics or basements are suitable for this. At higher storage temperatures, for example 15-20 ºC, the pumpkin loses about 20% of its weight and may rot.

If the harvest is too large, you can store the pumpkin on racks, laying straw on the shelves and placing the fruits in one row so that they do not touch. Or put them in boxes, sprinkled with dry moss. A mandatory requirement for storage is good air ventilation.

You can store a pumpkin in the garden, in a trench lined along the bottom and walls with a layer of straw 25 cm thick. When frost sets in, the trench with the pumpkin is covered with earth, leaving ventilation holes in it, which are closed during severe frosts and opened during thaws.

If the harvest is modest, it can be stored in an apartment or house, in a dark place, so that the seeds do not germinate and the pulp does not acquire a bitter taste. Carved pumpkin should only be stored in the refrigerator.

Requirements for growing conditions

Although pumpkin is not a demanding plant, it also needs to be provided with certain conditions under which it will develop as comfortably as possible.

The best predecessors

The pumpkin is planted in an area where crops from the Legume, Onion, Apiaceae, Cruciferous, and Solanaceae families previously grew. It can also be planted after root crops. The exception is pumpkin-related crops from the Cucurbitaceae family and this crop itself. They have common diseases and remove the same nutrients from the soil, therefore, after their cultivation, the soil is depleted of certain nutrients. The crop can be returned to its original beds only after 3 or 4 years. In the current season, corn, root vegetables, beans or beans can be planted next to it.

Lighting

This is a light-loving plant that grows well in sunny areas, where it should be planted. Partial shade is also acceptable, for example, you can plant corn near the pumpkin, which will cover it from the too bright, burning sun. You can also plant pumpkins near buildings or fences, so that they are located on the north side. The structures will protect the pumpkin from cold strong winds and drafts.

Temperature

Pumpkin, like all cucurbits, loves warmth and reacts poorly to cold. Its seeds germinate quickly only in well-warmed soil and at high air temperatures. Sprouts do not appear from cold soil for a very long time, and at temperatures below +10°C they may not appear at all. The best temperature at which the culture feels most comfortable is 25°C. When warm, the pumpkin quickly grows its above-ground mass, sets and bears large, tasty, thick-walled fruits.

Soil requirements

The soil for the growth of the crop is preferably sandy or loamy; it grows poorly on clay. It should be loose, allowing air and moisture to pass through, but, nevertheless, not too wet. Soils where moisture accumulates in the top layer are not suitable for pumpkins. The acidity should be neutral, minor deviations towards acidity or alkalinity are acceptable; acidic soils are also not suitable.

Types and varieties

All varieties of pumpkin are for open ground, since it is difficult to grow such a large vegetable in a greenhouse. However, if you live in an area with short, cool summers but really want to grow pumpkins, try doing it in a greenhouse. Three varieties of pumpkin are grown in culture:

Common pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo)

An herbaceous annual with large, smooth, rounded fruits, most often yellow in color, although there are varieties with fruits of other shades. The fruits of pumpkin ripen in September. The seeds in them are white or yellowish, with a thick skin, 3-4 cm long. If stored correctly, the fruits can last until the next harvest.

The best varieties:

• Spaghetti is an early ripening variety, ripening in 2 months. After boiling, the pulp of the fruit breaks down into long fibers similar to pasta, which is why the variety got its name. The pulp is tasty both hot and cold;
• Gribovskaya bush 189 is a popular early-ripening variety that grows as a bush, usually ripening two slightly ribbed, teardrop-shaped pumpkins, weighing 6-7 kg each. Ripe pumpkins are bright orange with green fragments, their flesh is bright orange, juicy and sweet;
• Almond - a mid-season climbing variety with round orange fruits weighing up to 5 kg with yellow-orange crispy, juicy and sweet pulp;
• Acorn is an early ripening variety, sometimes bushy, sometimes climbing, with small green, yellow or almost black fruits, similar to an acorn, with almost white or light yellow low-sugar pulp. The second name of the Zheludevaya variety;
• Freckle is an early-ripening bush variety with small green netted fruits weighing up to 3 kg with not very sweet orange or yellow pulp and small seeds;
• Bush orange - a variety with bright orange fruits weighing up to 5 kg with a soft and sweet core. Pumpkins of this variety are perfectly stored;
• Altaiskaya 47 is an early ripening, multi-purpose, productive variety, ripening within two months, with yellow-orange, hard-barked fruits weighing from 2 to 5 kg with yellow-brown or pale yellow stripes. The pulp is fibrous. The variety is resistant to low temperatures and stores well.

Butternut squash (Cucurbita moschata)

Also native to Central America - Peru, Mexico and Colombia. This is a plant with a creeping stem and alternate, pubescent, long-petioled leaves. It has yellow or brownish-pink fruits with longitudinal light spots and bright orange fragrant, tasty, dense but tender pulp and small grayish-white seeds with a darker rim along the edge. The species has a variety called turban-shaped due to the unusual shape of the fruit.

The best varieties of butternut squash:

• Muscat - a late-ripening, long-climbing variety with fruits weighing from 4 to 6.5 kg and dense, juicy and sweet orange pulp;
• Palav Kadu is a late climbing variety with large, round, segmented orange fruits weighing up to 10 kg with juicy and sweet orange pulp, distinguished by amazing taste;
• Pearl - a late-ripening pumpkin weighing up to 7 kg with dark green bark and very juicy, rich orange pulp;
• Butternut is a late-ripening climbing pumpkin with medium-sized pear-shaped yellow-brown or light orange fruits weighing up to one and a half kilograms with fibrous, sweet, oily bright orange pulp with a nutty flavor;
• Prikubanskaya - a mid-late climbing pumpkin with smooth pear-shaped orange-brown fruits weighing up to 5 kg in brown and orange spots with tender, juicy and sweet red-orange pulp;
• Vitaminnaya is a late-ripening variety, ripening for at least 130 days, with dark green fruits with a yellow stripe weighing up to 7 kg with bright orange pulp.

Large-fruited pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima)

It is represented by varieties with the largest fruits, which at the same time are the sweetest. The sugar content of some varieties reaches 15% - a figure higher than that of watermelon. The stalk of this pumpkin variety is round, cylindrical, with a beardless, rounded stem. The seeds of this type of pumpkin are matte, milky white or brown. The fruits tolerate low temperatures better than other varieties and are stored the longest at home.

The best varieties:

• Zorka is a mid-early variety with powerful and long vines, with dark gray fruits with orange spots weighing up to 6 kg and bright orange, very sweet and dense pulp containing carotene in high concentrations;
• Mramornaya is a late-ripening, long-climbing, high-yielding variety with lumpy round dark green fruits weighing up to 4.5 kg with crispy, sweet, rich orange dense pulp, rich in carotene;
• Candy is an early-ripening climbing pumpkin with large, rounded red-orange fruits weighing up to 2 kg with dark orange sweet, juicy and dense pulp, rich in sugars and vitamin C. This variety is cold-resistant and high-yielding;
• Volzhskaya gray is a mid-season climbing variety with slightly flattened round light gray fruits weighing from 7 to 9 kg with pulp from pale yellow to bright orange of medium sweetness. The variety is drought-resistant and stores well;
• Smile is an early ripening variety with bright orange round fruits with whitish stripes and crispy orange, very sweet pulp with a delicate melon aroma. The variety is cold-resistant and can be stored for a long time at room temperature;
• Centner is an early ripening variety of universal use with yellow, very large segmented pumpkins weighing up to 60, and even up to 100 kg with white sweet pulp. This is an outdoor pumpkin that is often grown for its seeds;
• Arina is an early unpretentious variety, resistant to diseases, with light gray round, slightly segmented fruits weighing up to 5 kg with dense and sweet yellow pulp. The seeds have a high oil content.

Pre-sowing activities

How sweet and juicy a pumpkin grown on your own plot will be depends, among other things, on the seeds chosen for sowing and the preparation they undergo before sowing.

Seeds obtained from fruits grown in your own garden must be treated before planting, disinfected from diseases and pests using a solution of potassium permanganate. The seeds remain in the liquid for up to 30 minutes. After that, viable seed is selected by immersing in a 25% saline solution:

• Empty, insufficiently ripened seeds will reveal themselves by floating to the surface.
• Submerged - ready to produce healthy large shoots.

Selected healthy seeds are washed in clean water and dried for about 3 hours at a temperature of 55–60 °C and bubbling for 18–24 hours.

Useful properties of pumpkin

Since ancient times, people have known the beneficial properties of pumpkin crops. Orange fruits are useful for almost everyone: seeds, pulp, juice.

The vegetable is rich in:

• Vitamins A, B, E, C;
• Folic acid;
• Microelements and Macroelements;
• Organic acids.

Contains simple types of sugar (glucose, fructose), dietary fiber (pectin, fiber).

The content of provitamin A in pumpkin is much greater than in the liver of beef or carrots. That is why ophthalmologists often advise patients who have vision problems to eat pumpkin.

In addition, eating pumpkin is recommended for the prevention of many diseases. People with the following ailments should use pumpkin fruits for prevention:

• Kidney diseases;
• Hypertension;
• Hepatitis;
• Diseases of the cardiovascular system.

The vegetable can be consumed both fresh and cooked. Some beneficial properties of pumpkin are revealed only after heat treatment.

Particularly useful substances are found in the seeds of the fruit. To obtain them, you need to separate the seeds from the pulp and leave until completely dry. If you consume the seeds raw, the amount of vitamins obtained will be greater. The seeds contain vegetable oils, microelements and are classified as high-calorie foods. The seeds contain more than 500 kcal per 100 grams.