Melon Aikido. Description of the variety, photos, reviews 2022. Seedlings from seeds, harvest in open ground and greenhouses, pollination, regions

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Melon is a welcome inhabitant of any summer cottage. Sweet and aromatic, it can lift your mood and improve digestion. This is an inhabitant of the southern regions, where it sings on melon fields. For northern farms, it is a source of pride and a tasty delicacy. Every year, breeders delight us with new varieties. And now a new representative of the Pumpkin family is on the market - Aikido F1 melon. In the article we will describe the aikido melon variety, how to grow it, when to plant it and how to care for it.

Biological characteristics and description of melon

Melon Aikido F1 is a representative of early ripening hybrids of the Galia variety. It is grown both in film greenhouses and in open ground. The plant is powerful, climbing, well leafy. The fruits are round in shape, have a bright yellow color in the technical ripeness phase, and are covered with a dense network of cracks.

The moment of cleaning is a sharp change in color from green to yellow. The juicy, light flesh has a persistent aroma. The amount of sugary substances reaches 10-13%. The weight of the melon (the fruit is a false berry) is small, up to 2 kg.

Appearance of culture. The fruits are small, but juicy, sweet and aromatic.

The plant does not suffer from fusarium and is resistant to powdery mildew, which prolongs the fruiting period, thereby increasing yield. The fruit reaches maturity approximately 70 days after planting. The fruits are fast-growing and transportable.

The development cycle is the same as that of other representatives of this family: seed germination, shoots, wattle formation, flowering with male and female flowers (dioecious culture), fruit set and ripening.

Advantages of the variety and taste

This is a variety of Japanese selection that gives even and stable yields. It is perfectly adapted to different climatic zones, so it is grown everywhere. Today, experienced gardeners determine the benefits of Aikido F1 melon:

• wonderful taste;
• small melon size;
• precocity;
• high productivity;
• The hybrid is disease resistant.

It is these qualities that make the melon variety popular in the amateur and industrial markets. It is thanks to these features that many prefer this variety to others.

Types and varieties of plants, appearance

Early

These types of plants are distinguished by a rapid ripening period, which takes up to 70 days. At the same time, the fruits tolerate low temperatures, high humidity and minimal amounts of sunlight.

Ethiopian

This variety is distinguished by large round-oval fruits, the taste of which is unusual and exotic without a hint of astringency. The skin of this melon is golden, covered with a fine mesh. This plant is quite unpretentious, is resistant to drought and tolerates transportation well.

Raymond

This melon variety stands out for its oblong-shaped fruits of ocher-yellow color. It is highly valued for its sweetness and exquisite taste, however, in order for the fruit to acquire its sweetness, it needs a large amount of heat. Such melons can retain their quality for a month.

Cinderella

Highly valued for its unpretentiousness, early ripening and high yield. Its fruits resemble a ball shape, covered with a light yellow peel with white cracks. Fragrant and sweet pulp of white or greenish-white hue.

Mid-season

Unlike the previous species, their ripening period is on average 80-90 days, but in hot, warm weather this period can be reduced to 70-80 days.

Collective farmer

Their spherical yellow fruits have been grown in our country for over 80 years. These melons are highly prized for their authentic melon flavor and sweetness. The main difference between this variety is its ability to ripen even under unfavorable weather conditions.

Temryuchanka

Yellow round fruits of medium size are covered with a continuous thick net. The sweet pulp has a light cream color, as can be seen in the photo of the melon, and has excellent taste. This melon retains its characteristics for 30 days after harvest.

Lada

Fragrant round fruits with a yellow mesh skin, under which there is light cream pulp. Due to its high sugar content, it is highly valued in our country.

Late

The duration of their ripening is 95-110 days, but they are highly valued for their unique taste and ability to retain their qualities for a long time.

Torpedo

The origin of the name becomes clear once you look at the elongated oblong fruits of this plant. The melon peel is a rich yellow color, covered with a white mesh. The pulp has a milky tint and is famous for its sweet honey taste with a hint of vanilla. When favorable conditions for storage are created, it is able to retain its qualities until spring.

Wintering

The yellowish skin is covered with a mesh, the white-green flesh is slightly crunchy, but tender and sweet. This melon is resistant to various diseases and tolerates transportation and storage well.

Growing seedlings from seeds

Melon seedlings grow within a month. Let's look at how to grow strong and healthy seedlings step by step:

1. Select full-bodied seeds and soak them for 12 hours. Place on damp burlap for germination to speed up the emergence of seedlings. For the seeds to germinate, the temperature must be between 27-30 degrees.
2. For northern regions, the seed hardening procedure is useful. After soaking, they are kept in conditions of minus 1-3 degrees for two days. Subsequently, the melon will be more resistant to temperature changes. In addition, female flowers form earlier, which means there will be more fruits.
3. The seeds prepared in this way are sown at the end of April in pots, for which they find the warmest and sunniest place in the house (you can use a warm balcony). The land must be fertilized with humus, ash and peat.
4. Planting is done to a depth of 1 cm, watering once a week. Until the seeds have sprouted, they can be covered with film (but not necessary).
5. During the growth of the seedlings, it is advisable to feed it twice with complex fertilizers so that the small plant gains strength and is strong. In addition, the sprout must be carefully spudded without damaging the roots.
6. Periodically move the pots away from each other so that the leaves do not touch and shade neighboring crops. Healthy seedlings ready for planting should have 3-5 leaves.

Month-old seedlings planted in pots. It will grow and develop well after planting under covering material.

Tip #1. Decide on the planting time: the seeds are sown at the end of April, then there will be a month left before planting in the greenhouse, and a month and a half before planting “under the open sky”.

Caring for melon seedlings

Since the planting of planting material takes place after the germination process, the wait for sprouts is not long: 7-10 days. When peaks appear, the air temperature is reduced. Monitor changes during the day and night. So during the day the air should be warmed up within +18- +20, at night – 23-25 ​​degrees.

In addition to the temperature regime, a lot of light is needed. If necessary, supplement the light with phytolamps. The light minimum is 12 hours. The lack of these conditions leads to problems with seedlings.

With the appearance of two leaves, along with watering, feeding with mineral fertilizers (necessarily complex) is carried out. The second application of mixtures should occur 5-7 days before transplantation.

Harvesting in open ground

In the southern territories, Aikido F1 melon can be sown with seeds directly into the ground, and in the middle zone and northern regions it is planted in seedlings.

Tip #2. Don't forget to check the soil temperature, it should reach at least 18 degrees. Otherwise, the seeds may not sprout and the seedlings may die.

After the shoots have started to grow, we begin to form them. The lash needs to be pinched at the 5th leaf. 3-4 side shoots grow from it. When the fifth leaf is formed on them, each of them is also pinched.

I’ll tell you from and to how I grew up in Aikido.

Today I want to introduce you to a new product for this season and my first experience of growing melon in the Baltics.
Here it is - a golden melon. Starting this experiment, I, of course, understood that growing melons in our climate is pure pampering. And you can hardly count on a rich harvest. But I so wanted to try the melon grown in my garden that I decided to plant at least one seed and try the melon harvest.

The road is long and it began on April 14, 2022, when I took out 2 Japanese melon seeds 'Aaikido' F1 from a bag and sent them to germinate on a mattress.

Melon 'Aikido' F1 begins its journey

One of the seeds hatched the next day, but the second one did not want to be friends with me. I immediately planted the living seed in the ground and already on April 18 a sprout appeared. Here it is turning green in a light green pot in the fourth photo.

The seedlings grew at home under a phytolamp. And on 05/12/21 I moved for permanent residence to a greenhouse. When planting in the hole, I added a handful of AVA fertilizer. Watered from a barrel using a drip tape. I installed a metal grate as a support.

Moving to permanent residence

The melon quickly began to grow and actively climb up the grate. After the fifth true leaf, I pinched the plant. Side shoots began to grow actively.

But it was very hot in the greenhouse because the temperature outside was more than +30°C. And most likely the consequence of this was the absence of female flowers, and the plant was strewn with male ones. Because of this, the ripening time of the melon was greatly delayed in comparison with the description on the package. Only in early July did the first ovary appear on the melon, which began to develop very quickly (there were other ovaries that I tried to pollinate by hand, but alas, they did not want to grow).

Mokhnatik

And then the day and hour came when my beloved melon was picked, weighed and tasted.

How golden it turned out

Of course, this is a very modest harvest. One melon. But this is almost 1.5 kg of sweet, very juicy and incredibly aromatic pleasure.

I still have 3 seeds left. Next season I will sow this Japanese beauty again. In the meantime, I will sometimes review the photographs in this story and remember the small but very tasty melon that grew this year in my greenhouse.

From the bottom of my heart I wish you, dear seven-dacha residents, that your dreams come true!

From the competition partner, the online store Seedspost.ru offers you to familiarize yourself with the seed catalog, where you can choose and purchase the vegetable seeds you like, including melon seeds.

Harvesting indoors

In the middle zone, it is preferable to cultivate melons of the Aikido F1 variety in closed ground. This can be a film or glass greenhouse with a window. Here the melon will grow as tasty and aromatic as the open ground crop. This process will look like this step by step:

1. Seedlings with 3-5 leaves and a well-developed root system are planted in the greenhouse. Carefully place in the holes without damaging the earthen ball at a distance of 45 cm.
2. The seedlings are watered, and to prevent the formation of a dense earthen crust on the soil surface, it is mulched with peat or humus.
3. After a week, water again with warm water. Then the crop is tied to a trellis, leaving only the main stem and one of the side ones.
4. During flowering, fertilize with universal complex fertilizer once a week. When fruit sets, we continue to feed the melon.

Melon grows freely in open ground.
There is no need to water abundantly. It is better to raise the fruits above the soil so that they do not rot. In order to extend the growing season, you can prepare a steam bed. A layer of biofuel is placed at the base (manure - 30 cm thick), and on top is a layer of earth up to 15 cm. The manure “burns”, the earth heats up and the melon can be planted. The top of the greenhouse is covered with film. In such conditions, the melon feels “at home” and produces a bountiful harvest.

Tip #4. Do not plant cucumbers with melon. When cross-pollinated, their taste will suffer significantly, sometimes they become completely inedible.

Features of care

There are no special care requirements for Aikido melon. But in order to collect a sufficient amount of tasty fruits, you must follow certain rules. First of all, this concerns trimming unnecessary leaves. If there is too much greenery, the plant will not have the opportunity to form large fruits and saturate them with sweetness. Moreover, a large number of leaves can lead to disease in the bushes.

Pinching the top is recommended. This procedure is carried out after a pair of formed fruits appear on the plant. If you allow the bush to grow further, the melons will grow small and tasteless. Otherwise, caring for the plant comes down to timely watering and harvesting. Aikido melon is characterized by rapid over-ripening of the fruit, so the ripening of the crop must be closely monitored. As soon as the fruits change color from greenish to yellow, they must be removed from the site.

As for watering, an excessive amount of moisture will be detrimental to the bushes. Therefore, even in extreme heat, melons should be watered no more than 2 times a week. The Aikido variety tolerates drought normally, so there is no need to worry that the crop will deteriorate due to lack of moisture.

How to artificially pollinate melon?

Two methods can be used. Both are easy to do.

Method 1. In hot and dry weather, we pick the male flowers from the melon vines and press the center of the flower with the stamens to the female flowers. How are female flowers different from male flowers? Under the petals, the female flowers have a swelling that resembles a small round berry.

Method 2. You can shake off pollen from male flowers onto any fleecy cloth, cotton wool, or brush and transfer it to female flowers. The flower is fertilized and the future melon begins to grow, forming an adult fruit.

If insects have access to the plant, then all these manipulations are not necessary. The plant is insect-pollinated. Open the film, doors or windows in the greenhouse and the process will proceed without your participation.

When to pick melons?

Ballusha : “We are waiting for the appearance of the color corresponding to the variety. Then we smell the melon (directly), and not the aroma in the greenhouse. If a bright aroma comes from the fruit, then pick it. I also let it sit for a couple of days in the house on the floor. The skin becomes softer, and the melon becomes more aromatic and tasty. Look at the pictures on the seed packets. Your melons should look like these pictures. Cracks in the skin are not a sign of maturity, they are a feature of the variety. Some melons are completely covered with cracks. To determine the ripeness of a melon, I pay attention only to the color and smell of the fruit. I don’t look at ponytails.”

In which regions will Aikido melon grow?

Since the variety is hybrid and early ripening, it can spread quite widely.

Growing melons is not as easy as growing cucumbers. But the Aikido melon is a hybrid, suffers little, and easily adapts to new conditions. Therefore, it requires care, but not as carefully as other varieties.

Pests and diseases

The hybrid variety Passport F1 is characterized by resistance to fungal diseases, in particular anthracnose and fusarium. If foci of infection are still found on the bush, the affected leaves are removed and burned, and the plants are treated with a solution of potassium permanganate (1.5 g of powder per bucket of water).

Plants can be attacked by insects. The most common pests are spider mites, melon aphids, and melon flies. You can cope with them using traditional methods - a solution of ash or laundry soap, a decoction of onion or garlic peels, or with the help of insecticides.

Answers to gardeners' questions

Question No. 1. What varieties of melons are best?

The year may not be the best in terms of climatic conditions, so it is better to plant small-fruited varieties that will give a guaranteed harvest. For example, a variety of Japanese selection Aikido.

Question No. 2. Melon often suffers from root rot. How to avoid this?

Water the plant not at the root, but in the grooves that need to be made between the plants. The root system of the melon is superficial and branched, and the melon is saturated with moisture. Watering at the root leads to rotting of the root collar.

Question No. 3. Is artificial pollination necessary?

Not required, but recommended. This way you are guaranteed to have a good harvest.

Female melon flowers, from which pollination and fruit formation occur.

Question No. 4. I had a lot of fruits, but only a few grew.

If the melons are large-fruited, do not leave a lot of fruit on the vines. On one lash there are 2-3 fruits maximum. Otherwise, they simply “don’t have enough strength” to grow.

Question No. 5. I grew seedlings and planted them in the ground. But there is no growth at all, it feels like they have stopped in their development.

Most likely, the ground has not warmed up enough, in which case the seedlings should be covered with film. In the sun it will heat up, the earth will become warmer faster. You may have damaged the root system when planting. Then the young plants will be sick for some time, and their growth may stop.

Hybrid characteristics

This variety is considered one of the best for growing in Russia. Its peculiarity is that such a hybrid can be harvested not only in the south, but also in the central part of the country. Areas with a temperate continental climate are perfect for this.

Melon Aikido has several significant positive qualities. Among them, gardeners especially highlight the plant’s resistance to powdery mildew and fusarium, which very often affect melons and melons. Also, this hybrid is completely unpretentious in care. The harvest turns out good in any case, and even the most real gourmet will definitely appreciate the taste of the fruit.

Aikido melon ripens quickly, so even a short summer is enough for the fruits to become fully ready for consumption. Regardless of the vagaries of nature, the hybrid shows excellent yield indicators.

Full ripeness of the fruit occurs approximately 70 days from the moment the seeds are sowed. This is much earlier than most other melon varieties. But you can get a good harvest early only if you properly care for the plant.

Aikido hybrid is recommended to be grown in seedlings. This rule especially applies to those regions where summer weather can be quite capricious. The method of sowing seeds is permissible only in places where summers are consistently hot. In this case, planting material can be sown only after the soil has warmed up to +20°C.

For those regions where there is little heat, work on growing seedlings should be immediately organized. Then the Aikido melon is transplanted under a film cover. This hybrid is well suited for any type of greenhouse. The yield does not decrease. Experts recommend looking for a permanent place for seedlings after the bushes have fully grown. Most often, this requires one month from the moment the seeds are sowed.

The best option would be to use peat pots, since tender bushes do not have to be removed from them. The pots will dissolve in the ground and serve as additional fertilizer. Therefore, the root system will definitely not be damaged during transplantation.

In general, melon of any variety is a rather complex crop that can be capricious. To avoid the development of many diseases, it is recommended to harden both seeds and seedlings. The hardening procedure involves a short-term decrease in temperature over several days.

This will allow the plant to more easily withstand the vagaries of weather in the future and grow normally without various diseases and other problems. Experienced gardeners say that even short-term hardening makes it possible to significantly improve seed germination rates, so you should not ignore this simple process.

Many varieties of melon are characterized by poor germination of planting material. To check the quality of the seeds, it is recommended to soak them in warm water. If even after 12 hours some grains are floating on the surface, this indicates that they are unsuitable for cultivation. Such seeds should be thrown away immediately, as it will not be possible to obtain seedlings from them. After soaking, the seeds should be cooled to a temperature of +1°C.

Until the first sprout appears, the seeds in the ground should be watered every day. Additionally, the pots should be covered with film to ensure normal temperature conditions.

When planting in the ground, it is necessary to observe the temperature regime. The soil should be warmed to +20°C, and there should be no frosts in the coming months. Aikido melon should be planted only in sunny areas. To do this, make beds and place the seeds 15 cm apart. There should be a distance of 3 m between the rows. This way the melon will grow comfortably, and the fruits will receive a large amount of sunlight.