Zucchini Tender marshmallow: description of the variety, cultivation and yield with photos

Everyone knows about the beneficial properties of vegetables, and among them one cannot fail to mention zucchini, which, in addition, has a luxurious taste, thanks to which even the best chefs in the world use such a simple vegetable when creating dishes, along with the famous zucchini.

Zucchini grown with your own hands cannot be compared with store-bought ones; they grow juicy, are much more natural and are stored better. This article describes how to care for the Tender Zephyr variety in order to get healthy and tasty fruits.

Description of the variety

Zucchini Tender Marshmallow was produced as a hybrid specifically for creating delicacies. Externally it differs in its fabulous two-tone color: yellow with a sharp transition to green.

The variety is early ripening and high-yielding. A little more than a month after planting the seeds, you can already harvest. At this time, new ovaries will form, so it will be possible to harvest the crop 2 or even 3 times. During the season, an average of up to 8 kg is collected from a bush.

Varieties of zucchini according to surface topography

Smooth zucchini has a glossy, shiny skin:

Roller is a variety of zucchini bred in Russia, ultra-early ripening, cold-resistant.

Bush plant with few leaves. The fruits are oval, smooth, weighing 0.6-0.9 kg. The tender pulp has an excellent taste. A productive variety of zucchini that produces up to 5 fruits at a time.

Lumpy zucchini is covered with tubercles of various sizes:

Golden Scallop is a mid-season variety of zucchini.

True, some experts classify this fruit not as a zucchini, but as a crooked pumpkin, or crookneck. The variety has yellow fruits weighing 1.5-2.0 kg. The pulp is tender, light, tasty. Can be consumed both cooked and raw.

Ribbed squashes have more or less pronounced ribs on the surface of the fruit.

Winter delicacy F1 is a late-ripening hybrid that can be eaten raw.

It has sweet, hazelnut-flavored, starchy, brittle flesh of a creamy yellow color. Zucchini fruits are cylindrical, ribbed, with dark green stripes. They are stored for a long time, and the sweetness increases during storage.

Growing

Before planting, the bed must be thoroughly weeded and fertilized with manure; you can additionally sprinkle it with ash. The holes are made approximately 30 cm from each other, several seeds are planted in each and only the strongest sprout is left. Immediately after planting, the bed should be watered abundantly. To harvest the harvest as early as possible, seedlings can be planted in the soil immediately.

It is better to plant zucchini in open ground; this variety is recommended for cultivation in central Russia. Seeds should be soaked in warm water or wrapped in a wet cloth 1–2 days before planting, so the sprouts will sprout more quickly.

Features of growing zucchini in seedlings

Seeds for seedlings are planted around mid-March and grown for a couple of months. For these purposes, separate containers are used for each plant. A peat pot, paper cup, cardboard box, etc. will do. The size of the container should be approximately 10x10 cm.

Preparing seeds and soil

Before sowing seeds, they must be prepared. There's nothing complicated about it. The seeds should be soaked in warm (25 degrees) water for a day. Then leave in a damp cloth until biting. It is also necessary to prepare the soil mixture.

To do this, use peat, humus, turf soil and sawdust (6:2:2:1).

In order for microelements to be enriched, 0.5 cups of ash, ammonium nitrate (no more than 5 g), urea (8 g), potassium sulfate (10 g) and superphosphate (20 g) are also added to a bucket of soil. If you don't have time, you can use a ready-made soil mixture purchased at the store.

Sowing seeds

Fill the prepared container with soil and pour hot water. A 0.5% solution of potassium permanganate is also suitable. Seeds are planted 2-3 cm deep “edge-on”. Until the first shoots appear, it is necessary to maintain the temperature in the room - 18-25 degrees, and when they appear, reduce the temperature to 18-20 degrees.

Note!

Seedlings require a lot of light, it will help the plant grow stronger.

Feeding seedlings

As for feeding seedlings, it must be done a couple of times. The first is when the shoots appear. The second – after 10 days. As a rule, they are fed with fertilizers such as Buton or Agricola.

Features of care

Delicate marshmallows are easy to care for, so they don’t require much effort. It should be watered once every few days, covered at night and in cold weather with spunbond or film. Excess leaves that cover the inflorescences and fruits from the sun must be trimmed so that the fruits receive enough light and heat.

Reviews from summer residents and gardeners

Svetlana O.: “I grew Zephyr zucchini last year and had great pleasure. Seed germination is 100%. We were pleased with both the yield and fruiting. And what a taste the zucchini has! Now this is my favorite variety. I recommend it to everyone."

Raisa Dmitrievna: “Our family are real zucchini eaters. We love this vegetable and have been growing it in our dacha for about 10 years. I learned about this variety from a friend - I once saw her fruits of an unusual color - yellow-green - and immediately fell in love with them. For the next sowing season, I bought seeds and planted them on my plot. I didn’t bother with growing seedlings, I immediately planted them in open ground, after soaking the seeds for a day. The result exceeded all expectations. The harvest was a great success, and I didn’t put in much effort; zucchini is really not picky.”

Elena V.: “I am a beginner gardener; I have been growing vegetables for just a couple of years. I am still experimenting with varieties to choose the best for myself. This year I decided to try zucchini under the promising name Tender Zephyr. I read a lot of good reviews about them, and I liked the appearance. Now I am growing seedlings, germination is excellent. I adhere to all the rules - feed, water, observe temperature conditions. I plan to plant it in the ground in mid-May. I hope everything works out and I have a great harvest ahead of me.”

Victor N.: “This hybrid is simply excellent. I’ve been growing Zephyr for three years now and I’m not going to change. I'm happy with everything, these are unpretentious zucchini, very tasty. By the way, we even use them raw, the main thing is that the fruits are not overripe - they make excellent fresh and vitamin-packed salads. I recommend everyone to try it."

Delicate marshmallow is a hybrid variety that is distinguished by its endurance, unpretentiousness and wonderful taste. Growing a vegetable is not difficult, the main thing is to follow simple rules. And soon you will have an excellent harvest of tasty and unusually beautiful zucchini.

Advantages and disadvantages

Today the variety has spread quite widely, so it is not at all something rare and something that is impossible to get.

The yellow-green fruits look elegant in the garden and continue to please the eye after harvest. They are sometimes even used, like pumpkins, to decorate the interior. Because thanks to their cheerful colors and interesting shape, they can lift your spirits and simply be an original interior decoration.

The taste of this variety is truly finger-licking, but its only drawback is that it is not suitable for long-term storage. Zucchini can be eaten raw.

How to choose

You can choose zucchini for your taste and even color

To get the maximum possible harvest of zucchini, it is important to choose the right variety, taking into account personal preferences in color.

READ MORE: Ecole cucumber f1 reviews description of variety photo

Some gardeners are trying to artificially extend the fruiting period of zucchini. But in many cases this does not live up to the expectations; the fruits in such cases have less value in terms of taste and the content of useful substances in them.

Particular attention is paid to the ripening period; it determines how quickly you can prepare delicious zucchini dishes for yourself and your loved ones.

early ripening
mid-season
late ripening

Considering their ripening time, zucchini lovers can ensure an almost uninterrupted supply of this vegetable. Experienced gardeners often plant at least 3-5 species with different fruiting periods, this is how the consumption of zucchini continues from early spring to late autumn, and they often use greenhouses and greenhouses.

In addition, in seed stores, sellers will offer several options for seeding material. Hybrids from foreign breeders are most valued; the huge selection will not allow you to decide right away.

Zucchini bush

Domestic varieties have fewer representatives, but even among them it is difficult to give preference to any one. Considering the great competition in this market segment, it is better to prepare in advance and study some of them yourself and make a list of those that are most suitable for you.

Grilled zucchini

Based on reviews from gardeners, it was possible to compile a small list of all those proposed, which are the most common in our country. It is these varieties and species that are preferred by amateur gardeners and farmers, for whom the harvest is important.

When making the selection, the taste qualities of each variety were taken into account; the description will explain how to properly grow and how to use ripe fruits in order to get the maximum benefit from the vegetable.

Pests and diseases

Zucchini is not very susceptible to disease, but there is still a possibility of damage from powdery mildew, white rot or insects. To avoid this, you should follow several rules:

there is no need to plant zucchini in the soil where they have already grown before;
before planting, it is important to deeply and efficiently loosen and weed the soil;
diseased bushes are immediately removed without regret.

To combat insects, periodically water the soil with onion solution and karbofos solution. Some pests can be washed away with strong pressure of water, and for prevention, you can periodically water the soil with a potassium solution.

Tips from experienced gardeners

In order to get a good harvest from a squash bed, many experienced gardeners recommend performing the following manipulations:

when choosing a place to plant zucchini, give preference to sunny and well-ventilated areas;
the soil where it is planned to plant zucchini should not be heavy; it is better to choose loose and fertile soil;
zucchini are very fond of compost heaps located on the south side of the fence;
before planting zucchini, make sure that the threat of night frosts is long past;
The root of the squash crop is very large and long, so it is necessary to water not at the very base of the bush, but over the entire area of its crown;
if you mulch the sprouted zucchini, you can reduce the amount of watering, since mulch retains moisture well;
fertilizing for zucchini is very important; fertilize the bushes every week with natural ingredients such as mullein, rotted manure or ash;
Do not forget to regularly clear the squash bed of weeds and loosen the soil; for such care, the crop will definitely give you a good harvest.

Well, the last piece of advice that experienced gardeners give is that marshmallow squash is a very tasty fruit that has a whole arsenal of useful elements. This crop is undemanding in care, but you will still need to follow a few simple rules if you want to reap a good harvest.

In order to get a good harvest from a squash bed, many experienced gardeners recommend performing the following manipulations:

when choosing a place to plant zucchini, give preference to sunny and well-ventilated areas;
the soil where it is planned to plant zucchini should not be heavy; it is better to choose loose and fertile soil;
zucchini are very fond of compost heaps located on the south side of the fence;
before planting zucchini, make sure that the threat of night frosts is long past;
The root of the squash crop is very large and long, so it is necessary to water not at the very base of the bush, but over the entire area of its crown;
if you mulch the sprouted zucchini, you can reduce the amount of watering, since mulch retains moisture well;
fertilizing for zucchini is very important; fertilize the bushes every week with natural ingredients such as mullein, rotted manure or ash;
Do not forget to regularly clear the squash bed of weeds and loosen the soil; for such care, the crop will definitely give you a good harvest.

Well, the last piece of advice that experienced gardeners give is that marshmallow squash is a very tasty fruit that has a whole arsenal of useful elements. This crop is undemanding in care, but you will still need to follow a few simple rules if you want to reap a good harvest.

Harvest and storage

Tender marshmallows should be collected when the fruit reaches 10–15 cm in length (“milk ripeness”), until it has outgrown and the pulp, its main feature, begins to gradually harden. In addition, the fruits have a very delicate structure, including the skin, which is why they spoil easily. It is better to cut them as soon as they begin to ripen so that wet weather does not ruin the entire harvest.

Zucchini is stored in a cool place with average air humidity, preferably low. When there is strong humidity, they begin to rot, especially such delicate varieties. If you have already used half of the zucchini, and decided to add part later to another dish, then it is best to store it only in the refrigerator.

How to plant in the ground?

The easiest way to plant the Tender Marshmallow crop is with seeds. Gardeners note good friendly shoots. In the southern regions, sowing is carried out in early May.

At this time, the soil warms up to 15 C at a depth of 10 cm, the air temperature is above 18 C, at night 10-15 C, the time of frost has already passed. In order for the seeds to germinate fully, they must be properly prepared for sowing:

select good seed material. The seeds are washed and left in warm water for 30 minutes. Only those that have sunk to the bottom of the container are used for sowing;
the material is treated with hydrogen peroxide. You can buy a 3% solution at the pharmacy: take 3 ml per 1 liter of water. Processing time 30 min;
the seeds must be “awakened” so that the metabolic process begins in the core. To do this, use cold water. You can use ice from the refrigerator. Leave it at room temperature to obtain melt water. The seeds are kept in it for 12 hours.

The preparatory stage can be completed already at this stage, but some gardeners prefer to bring the seeds to maturity. They leave them at 80% humidity: wrap them in a wet napkin.

During the day, the seeds are at room temperature, at night they are put in the refrigerator. When they begin to swell, sowing can be done.

In the garden it is necessary to prepare a site. If the soil is loamy, then organic fertilizers are added to it to increase its fertility. No fertilizers are required for black soil.

In autumn, ash is added to the soil as an antiseptic. For zucchini, choose an area where carrots or onions previously grew.

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Posted by Vasilisa Andropova (@vasilisaandropova) Sep 19, 2019 at 3:20 PDT

Be sure to check the soil temperature and acidity. Neutral soils are preferred for the Tender Zephyr squash. If soil deficiencies are detected, saltpeter or ash is added to it to neutralize the acid or alkali:

№	Helpful information
1	Holes with a diameter of 70 cm are made in the area. 80 cm are left between the holes. 2 rows are prepared. The holes are arranged in a checkerboard pattern. A 1 m wide path is left between the rows.
2	make a 5 cm depression in the center of the hole
3	Place the seed in it and cover it with damp soil. Watering is not carried out
4	cover the hole with film
5	After 7-14 days sprouts will appear, the film is removed

If the air temperature by that time reaches 20-25 C, then the zucchini develops normally in the open air. If the indicators are too low, it is better to use film tunnels to create a comfortable temperature and humidity for the seedlings. The film protects young shoots from precipitation.