Bright and beautiful decorative pumpkin - description of varieties, cultivation, application

What kind of vegetable is this?

It is a pumpkin used for decoration and decoration . This plant can come in different sizes, different colors and have many shapes. Decorative pumpkin is also considered a melon crop and can grow well if you prepare supports on which the plant will climb.

Is it possible to eat?

In principle, it is better not to use decorative pumpkins in cooking. This plant was bred specifically for decoration. During the selection process, taste characteristics were not taken into account, simply as unnecessary. Only young fruits are to a small extent suitable for food. A fully ripened decorative pumpkin has hard walls and does not carry a pleasant taste for consumption.

As a rule, each variety has instructions on whether it is edible, that is, whether it is safe to eat. Edible decorative pumpkin is mainly used in the form of stuffed pots.

If the description of the pumpkin variety does not indicate whether it is allowed to be eaten, then you can try to prepare some dish with pumpkin. In any case, the vegetable will not be poisonous, but most likely the pumpkin will be hard and not have a pleasant taste.

Prose

It would seem, what a prosaic plant the pumpkin is! There are probably no people in our country who do not know what pumpkin is, what it looks like and how many beneficial substances it contains that determine its nutritional, dietary value and medicinal properties. The very word “pumpkin” evokes direct associations, rather, with food, and not at all with beauty! Some decorative pumpkins can also be eaten, but only while they are unripe and their skin is soft. After removing the core, they can be stuffed with meat, vegetables, or stewed in sour cream.

When ripe, they are no longer edible, have a hard crust and most often bitterish pulp.

However, even at a young age, decorative pumpkins are much inferior in taste to their closest relatives from the pumpkin family - zucchini, zucchini, squash and real large sweet pumpkins.

A decorative pumpkin will bring you incomparably more pleasure if you create a spectacular living decoration in your yard with large funnel-shaped flowers, which, closer to autumn, will be decorated with fruits of the most unimaginable shapes and colors.

Varieties and types - description

There are quite a few different varieties of decorative pumpkins. Each growing location has its favorites. The most common varieties are listed below.

Fungus

This variety also has a second name - block. Pumpkin has a large fruit size . A distinctive feature of this pumpkin variety is its shape, which seems to be in two parts. But this is a deceptive feeling. A pumpkin is one whole fruit. Some pumpkins (in the form of a mushroom) are larger on top and smaller on the bottom and are called fungus. Others, on the contrary, are smaller on top and are called such logs.

Curly

It is used to decorate all kinds of buildings or barriers. Quite a large number of different types of climbing pumpkin have been bred. But outwardly they differ very little. The main difference is in the shape of the fruit and the timing of ripening.

The climbing pumpkin looks like a fast-growing vine, capable of reaching a height of 6 meters. The stems of climbing varieties are thin and do not exceed 10 mm. The leaves do not exceed 12 cm. The color of the leaves varies from light green to dark green. The flowers are white in color and size not exceeding 6 cm .

Shahrazade stars

This pumpkin has the most unusual star-shaped fruit shape. The plant reaches a height of 4 meters. The fruit is small and its size rarely exceeds 10 cm. The best place for growing will be an area where there is always a lot of sun and fertile soil. Planting of this plant is always carried out using seedlings. The plant does not require attention or care.

Borovichok

The pumpkin is very unusual and its shape resembles small mushrooms with a red cap and a white stalk. The flowers are white and funnel-shaped. This plant can very densely entwine any support near which it is planted. He loves places with a lot of sun and fertile soil. Used in landscaping vertical and horizontal surfaces.

Crown

In this variety the fruit has a star shape. May be yellow, green, or orange. Pumpkins can also be striped . This variety is small in size. They are usually planted at the end of April or at the very beginning of May. Flowers appear in mid-June. Pumpkin fruits begin to ripen in July. Pumpkins are harvested in October. This variety is very popular among gardeners for decorating the outside of a house wall or gazebo.

Fango

The plant is an annual plant, growing very quickly, reaching a height of 3 meters. The leaf of the plant is five-lobed and wrinkled. It has very beautiful and large flowers. The size of the flower reaches from 15 to 20 cm. The shape of the fruit is very similar to the cap of a mushroom and has a variegated color. The variety is very thermophilic and requires constant abundant watering. Used for decorating all kinds of hedges or gazebos.

Yellow goose

This variety is very climbing. It reaches a height of 3 meters. The plant is ideal for decorating arches, gazebos, fences or walls of the house. Pumpkin flowers are large and yellow. Pumpkin fruits are yellow, pear-shaped, and have a warty surface. The leaves of the plant are large and emerald in color. The fruits are considered edible, but the taste is unpleasant, so they are not recommended for consumption.

Pear-shaped

This pumpkin is very similar in appearance to a pear . The fruit is large, smooth and the color is predominantly yellow. The peculiarity of this variety is that the fruit can be painted in two colors with a clear border, or the fruit can have stripes.

Hanka

This variety of vegetable produces very small, brightly colored fruits. The diameter of the fruit is approximately 10 to 15 cm. Also, a distinctive feature of the variety is the shoots of the hanka, they are very long and lush, which makes this variety ideal for landscaping vertical surfaces.

When the plant bears fruit, up to 40 small pumpkin fruits can form on one bush. The color of Hanka can be yellow, red, orange, green with all sorts of shades. The shape of the fruit is varied and can be in the form of a mushroom, star, ball or pear.

The variety is very unpretentious and easy to grow, which makes it accessible even to a novice gardener.

Beanbag

This is a plant with very bright fruits that have a very diverse shape and color. This variety can be eaten until it reaches maturity. The variety is fast growing and climbing, which makes it well suited for landscaping a veranda or gazebo. The height of the plant can reach 3 meters. The harvest can be harvested in early September. Dried possa fruits can be used to make various crafts.

Why are decorative pumpkins grown?

Decorative pumpkin varieties are becoming increasingly popular among gardeners. Neat, beautiful, bright, varied in shape and color plants are planted to decorate the garden, design gazebos, and form unusual flower beds. Ripened and dried fruits, coated with varnish or paint, serve as the basis for design work. Vases, boxes, candlesticks, and various vessels are cut out of them.

In addition, gardeners appreciate the agrotechnical characteristics of decorative pumpkins:

1. Easy to grow. To obtain dense greenery and bright fruits, the crop needs timely watering, fertilizing, and loosening the soil. The green cover is formed naturally and does not require shaping, cutting or pinching.
2. High growth rate. Within a month after planting in open ground, the pumpkin vine reaches 5 m, which allows it to be used for vertical framing of fences, gazebos, and walls. Then active flowering and fruit growth begins.
3. Shape stability. Decorative pumpkin varieties retain their size, shape, and color until late autumn.

Summer residents are also attracted by large, bright flowers that densely dot the vines during the growing season.

Important! Decorative varieties are suitable for children's gardens; they are beautiful, varied and easy to care for.

Features of growing on the site

Growing conditions are very dependent on the environmental conditions in the place where the planting will take place. Landing can be done in two ways :

1. Or plant directly into the ground in the place where the vegetable will grow.
2. Or planting using seedlings.

The plant is very heat-loving and therefore in areas where cold weather prevails, it is better to plant pumpkin using seedlings.

How to prepare seeds?

To get a good harvest, you need to treat the seeds before planting. In the process of preparing seeds, the following stages can be distinguished :

1. The seeds must be full-bodied. To separate them from those that are not suitable for planting, the seeds are soaked for 5-8 minutes. For soaking, use a saline solution, which is prepared in the proportion of 30 g of salt per liter of water. Seeds that appear on the surface of the water can be thrown away, as they are not suitable for planting. Seeds that are at the bottom of the container must be rinsed with clean water and dried.
2. The second stage will be heating the seeds. To do this, previously selected seeds are heated for 2 to 4 hours at a temperature of 60 degrees.
3. Before planting, the seeds must be soaked in water for 12 hours. The water in which the seeds are soaked must be changed several times.
4. In order for the seeds to germinate earlier, they are germinated. The seeds are wrapped in a wet napkin and kept at a temperature of about 25 degrees until they hatch.
5. An important step will be hardening the seeds. For the first 6 hours of the day, the seeds are kept at a temperature of about 20 degrees, and the remaining time of the day at a temperature of 0 to 2 degrees.

How to prepare the soil?

For growing seedlings, the composition of the soil can be different.:

• Decomposed peat 5 parts, humus manure 3 parts, turf soil 2 parts.
• Humus 7 parts, turf soil 2 parts and 1 part fresh manure. To this composition you need to add regular superphosphate and wood ash.
• Humus 4 parts and turf soil 1 part. You also need to add ammonium nitrate, potassium salt, and superphosphate.

Regardless of the option chosen, the prepared mixture must be mixed well and moistened.

If planting is done directly into the ground, then the soil should be:

1. sandy;
2. sandy loam;
3. loamy.

The soil should be neutral or slightly acidic . The place where the pumpkin will be planted must be prepared in advance in the fall. It is necessary to dig up and apply organic fertilizers and phosphate-potassium fertilizers.

With the onset of spring, it is imperative to add nitrogen-containing fertilizers to the prepared soil.

Step-by-step landing algorithm

Seeds are planted in open ground using the following technology:

1. Holes are being prepared in the garden bed. The distance between the holes should be 0.8 m from each other. If the variety is very climbing, then you need to increase the distance to 1.5 meters. You need to leave approximately 1.2 meters between the rows.
2. Each hole should be watered with 2-3 liters of water.
3. 2-3 seeds are planted in the holes at a depth not exceeding 8 cm.
4. The hole is sprinkled with earth, peat, humus and manure.
5. The plantings must be covered with any covering material.
6. When seedlings appear, the covering material is removed.

If planting is carried out in colder areas, then it is imperative to plant the pumpkin using seedlings.

You should adhere to the following rules when planting seedlings with decorative pumpkins::

1. Initially, you need to accustom the pumpkin seedlings to the environment in which they will grow. To harden the plant, the seedlings are left outside for several hours. During the week, the time the seedlings spend in environmental conditions is gradually increased. After this procedure, you can leave the seedlings outside overnight.
2. Holes are formed for planting seedlings. It will be a very big plus if you add soil taken from the compost heap to the hole.
3. Each hole should be watered with 1 liter of water.
4. If the seedlings are planted in a peat cup, then it is simply left in the center of the hole and sprinkled with soil.

Aftercare

Decorative pumpkin, like all plants, requires care and attention, and then the plant will delight the gardener with its beauty for as long as possible.

Care includes:

1. weed control;
2. loosening;
3. watering;
4. fertilizing the soil.

• Loosening and weeding should be carried out once every 2 weeks. At first you can loosen to a depth of 12 cm, but after 4 weeks you can loosen no deeper than 5 cm. Otherwise, you can damage the roots of the plant.
• Watering must be done with warm water with a temperature of at least 20 degrees. If watering is carried out with cold water, the root system may rot and the plant will die. It is especially important to water thoroughly when the pumpkin blooms and later when the fruits appear. Lack of water will cause the fruits to be small.
• Groundbait pumpkin cultivation can be done when the plant has 5 and 6 leaves. Subsequently, fertilizers are applied every 2 weeks. Used as fertilizer:
  Nitrophoska in dry granules. Under the bushes you need to scatter 10 grams per plant.
• Nitrophoska in solution. You need to water under each bush in the proportion of 15 grams per 10 liters of water.
• Wood ash. One glass is enough for one bush.
• Fresh manure solution. The proportion is 1 part manure to 8 parts water.

Application of the vegetable

Many gardeners who have decorative pumpkins growing in their summer cottages often don’t know what to do with it. Quite often, the grown fruits are used in preparing various dishes or pickling. But still, the main purpose of this plant is to decorate a garden plot or any room.

All kinds of crafts can be made from dried decorative pumpkins . Very popular:

• vases;
• caskets;
• lanterns

A large number of gardeners grow decorative pumpkins on their plots . Before planting this interesting plant on your site, be sure to familiarize yourself with all the rules of care and cultivation so that the result pleases the eye from early summer until late spring.

How to control pests

As already mentioned, if not properly cared for, pumpkin can be affected by a wide variety of diseases and garden pests. And if the plant is affected by some kind of disease, immediate action must be taken.

Powdery mildew - white spots appear all over the surface of the fruit, stems and shoots and dry out. This disease occurs due to the fact that the plant does not have enough sunlight. Or a sudden drop in temperature. In order to get rid of the disease, it is necessary to spray the plant with chemicals. But the affected fruits will have to be destroyed.

Root rot affects the stem and root. And the cause of the disease is soil fungi, which infect the plant if it grows poorly. Therefore, the best way to prevent disease is to disinfect the seeds themselves before planting. You can save the plant only in the early stages by adding humus or peat.

Bacteriosis most often infects leaves, but it can also affect fruits and shoots. Appears as angular brown spots. It is active in humid environments. And for prevention, plants are treated with a 1% solution of Bordeaux mixture.

Slugs don't just affect pumpkins. They are considered the scourge of all vegetables. They can mainly be found on rainy days. They get rid of them with a mixture of slaked lime and ash.