Among the variety of vegetables grown by domestic gardeners, it is the pumpkin that has the largest dimensions. A mature fruit can reach a weight of about 200 kg. We are talking about central Russia. However, in other regions of the country, successful cultivation of pumpkin is quite possible. To do this, you just need to follow basic recommendations for care and wise selection of a place for a pumpkin. Timely feeding of the pumpkin is also important. This point deserves special attention.

Knowing what you need to feed your pumpkin in open ground, you can grow large and nutritious fruits in your garden or garden plot. But growing this crop will not be successful without you following all the preparatory steps. It’s better to start by adding complex fertilizers to the soil. You need to prepare for planting pumpkins in early spring. First, evaluate the composition of the soil in the selected area.

Experts say that to grow pumpkin and other vegetable crops you need soil with medium or weak acidity. Another important nuance is looseness. This agricultural crop will develop fully if moisture in the ground cannot accumulate. Otherwise, the root system of the plant may simply rot.

However, not all farmers are lucky with the nutritional composition of the soil. If it is sour, you need to correct the situation before sowing the pumpkin seeds. Apply chalk or lime to the soil. Another common problem for gardeners is heavy soil. In this case, compost or humus should be added to it. The ideal option is to apply fertilizers in the autumn, and in the spring to saturate the soil with leaf humus. Among the traditional methods of preparing the soil for sowing seeds is the planting of green manure plants. Not every gardener will decide to take such measures, but the result is worth it. The season before sowing pumpkin seeds, it is recommended to plant green manure. They will saturate the soil with the components necessary for growing pumpkin crops.

When to feed a pumpkin

Growing pumpkins in open ground is unthinkable without timely feeding. But you need to know when and how best to nourish the soil. If you decide to grow pumpkin using seedlings, you should wait a bit with feeding. When it comes to cultivating vegetables in open ground, there are several stages:

• When sowing seeds, use organic fertilizers. Pour them into the hole before planting the grains, then water them thoroughly with warm water and only then sow the seeds;
• the next feeding will be needed when three to five leaves appear on the plant;
• The third stage of adding nutrient mixtures is necessary during the formation of tendrils or lashes on the plant.

It is also necessary to feed pumpkins grown from seedlings, but this is done according to a slightly different principle:

• the first time you will need to apply fertilizer a week after the first shoots appear;
• in the process of transplanting seedlings into open ground, fertilizing is desirable, because for a young, fragile plant this is serious stress;
• 10–12 days after transplantation, we carry out the next feeding of the pumpkin;
• The final feeding is carried out, as a rule, during the appearance of the antennae.

After planting in the ground and before it, it is necessary to fertilize the soil if you want the resulting pumpkin crop to satisfy your needs.

Feeding pumpkins during fruiting

Selecting the necessary fertilizer for growing pumpkin is quite simple. But when it comes to the fruiting phase, many novice farmers are confused. However, the main thing is to pay attention to the properties of the plant during this period, and choosing healthy nutritional compositions will not be so difficult for you. Among the useful mixtures it is worth highlighting:

• manure. This folk remedy is a good alternative to store-bought fertilizers. It includes almost all the necessary components for the soil, and also reduces its acidity. When pumpkin fruits begin to actively ripen, it is recommended to add liquid manure to the ground;
• chicken droppings. You won't find a better mineral supplement at home. The mixture contains nitrogen, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, and calcium. It's easy to prepare. To do this, fill the droppings with water in a ratio of 1:20 and then leave for 10 days. Use the composition wisely. It should not be poured directly into the holes, otherwise burns may appear on the roots of the plant.

Knowing what to feed the pumpkin during the fruiting period, you will be able to reap a generous harvest in due time.

How to feed crops in open ground

After planting a vegetable in the garden, many novice farmers think about how to feed the pumpkin. Before you start choosing nutritional compositions, make it a rule to regularly water your crops. Without moisture in the soil, no fertilizer will help you grow pumpkin in your plot.

• nitrophoska. When the first leaves actively begin to form on the plant, you can resort to using dry nitrophoska. It is scattered at the rate of 10 g per bush and then watered with water. If you need to add replenishment to the soil already at the stage of formation of the tendrils, increase the volume of the product to 15 g. First dilute the powder with water;
• ash. This product is also scattered under the bushes in dry form. Its key advantage lies in the fact that it loosens the soil well;
• mullein. Soon after planting pumpkin seeds, liquid mullein can be used as fertilizer. Dilute it with water at the rate of 1:8;
• potash and phosphorus fertilizers. They are widely used at the pumpkin growing stage. If desired, you can add compost, vermicompost and chicken manure to the soil.

It is possible to grow pumpkin crops in open ground, but you cannot do without timely and competent feeding. Pay special attention to this moment and you will reap a generous pumpkin harvest in your garden at the end of the season.

Video “Planting pumpkins in open ground”

From this video you will learn how to properly plant a pumpkin in open ground in the spring.

Many summer residents grow pumpkin today, but not everyone can boast of good harvests. Still, this culture is heat-loving, and therefore in the middle zone, the regions of the North-West, the Urals and Siberia it needs special care. You need to know what and how to feed it, how often to water the pumpkin in open ground, because only then can you get juicy and sweet fruits.

Water, water, there will be a glorious harvest

Pumpkin loves warmth and moisture, and at any period of plant growth it needs high-quality watering. Although the crop tolerates droughts, using up the accumulated moisture at this time, it will then require mandatory replenishment of reserves. Otherwise, flowers and ovaries of young plants may fall off, and ripened fruits may not arrive.

The root system of the plant is quite powerful; with proper agricultural technology, the roots grow to a depth of 3 meters. This makes it possible to provide the pumpkin bush with the necessary moisture. In addition, the pumpkin has a noticeable slight pubescence on its stems, leaf blades, and cuttings - a kind of lint that prevents the plant from drying out during drought.

Pumpkin feels normal in hot weather and drought, but if possible it is better to avoid lack of moisture. Watering a pumpkin that grows in an open ridge should be rare but plentiful. In this case, it is imperative to monitor the condition of the soil, preventing it from becoming waterlogged. If the summer is hot, water more often. If there is enough rain, then it will be necessary to loosen the soil so that an earthen crust does not form.

In a rainy year, you need to make sure that the soil in the garden bed does not erode, the roots of the plant are not exposed, and the process of rotting does not begin. If the pumpkin blooms during such weather, then you may not be able to wait for bees or bumblebees, and you will have to carry out artificial pollination of the flowers.

Approximate pumpkin watering regime

Each gardener develops his own system for watering vegetables in the garden, in accordance with climatic conditions, soil type, and weather in a particular year. But certain rules of agricultural technology still exist, and they must be followed.

1. When planting pumpkin seedlings, the holes or grooves are shed with warm water. After which it is recommended not to water the pumpkin for 12-18 days. Why is such a pause needed? At that time, the plant will seek moisture, which means the root system will actively grow.
2. After that, the pumpkin needs to be watered approximately once every 7 days, focusing on the condition of the plants and weather conditions.
3. During the flowering of the plant, as well as during the formation of fruits, watering can be carried out more often, always loosening the soil.
4. It is recommended to combine watering and fertilizing the pumpkin, strictly observing the norms for applying any fertilizers.
5. About three weeks before the expected harvest date (usually this occurs in August), all watering is stopped. This is done so that the fruit has a dense skin and the flesh is juicy, sweet, and not watery.
6. In order to provide the plant with comfortable conditions, it is advisable to carry out mulching (straw, mown grass, humus, peat). This will make it possible to avoid excess soil moisture and eliminate the appearance of weeds. Mulching is a great way to save a summer resident from the necessary and rather labor-intensive process of weeding.

The sugar content of pumpkin is influenced by both compliance with the rules of watering the plant and the variety.

As for the volume of water, a pumpkin bush requires different amounts of moisture at different periods of growth. So, when the seedlings are just planted, the plant adapts, takes root, and watering is stopped. Afterwards, when the pumpkin begins to grow, the amount of water per plant should be at least 6-8 liters per watering.

When fruits are forming, the volume of water is increased to 10 liters for each plant, but the moisture level is controlled, preventing its excess.

In terms of frequency, we note the following:

• in the initial period, water approximately once a week;
• in the middle of the growing season - once every 10 days (based on the weather and the condition of the plants);
• Three to four weeks before harvesting the pumpkin, watering the plants is stopped completely.

Let's talk about water

For some reason, summer residents very often forget that the water used for watering vegetables on the site also has certain requirements. You won’t see good harvests if the water is cloudy, dirty, and not settled. Temperature is also of great importance, since watering with ice water will immediately lead to the death of plants.

Water can be used for irrigation:

• from a well or well;
• rain;
• from a centralized water supply;
• from natural sources (pond, lake, river).

Most often, gardeners use rainwater for irrigation, which is collected in various containers (barrels, bathtubs, flasks, buckets). It is convenient if the system of drainpipes of the house and all outbuildings is connected to the barrels. This will allow you to collect water during rain, and then use it for various household needs and irrigation.

Any water (no matter where it comes from) must be settled and heated in the sun. Therefore, if a pump is used and water is pumped from a pond or nearby lake, it is first pumped into tanks, heated in the sun, and only then used for irrigation.

ON A NOTE!

Barrels or other containers for water can be painted with dark paint, then their contents will be warmed up faster by the sun's rays.

Difficulties with the use of rainwater may arise if the site is located near an industrial zone, large enterprise, or factory. Precipitation in such areas usually contains large amounts of harmful substances, and such water cannot be used for irrigation. The solution is to make a borehole, a well, “getting” moisture from the depths of the earth.

Nowadays, many summer residents use water from septic tanks for irrigation, which has gone through certain stages of purification and drainage. The method is acceptable, but you just need to check it for the presence of microbes and other harmful substances in order to be completely sure that the water is truly purified.

For watering pumpkins, water from any source is suitable, the main thing is that it is:

• clean;
• settled;
• with a temperature not lower than +20ºC.

Watering pumpkins with cold water will provoke the appearance of infections and various diseases (rot, powdery mildew), which will lead to a significant decrease in yield, and in some cases, to the death of the plant.

How to water a pumpkin in open ground

Of course, if one or two plants grow in a garden bed or compost heap, there will not be any special problems with watering and choosing methods. But even with such a number of plants, every gardener wants to get a harvest. What can we say about those for whom pumpkin is one of their favorite garden crops and who have a large number of these beauties located on the beds of their plot?

One of the most common and traditional is watering pumpkins in open ground by hand. Use watering cans or hoses with special nozzles, directing a stream of water to the root. It is very important here to monitor the intensity of the stream (especially when using a hose) so that the water does not erode the top layer of soil and expose the roots of the pumpkin. That is why it is recommended to always use nozzles that soften the pressure and dilute the stream.

When watering by any method, moisture must not get on the leaves of the pumpkin, its flowers, or ovaries.

Semi-automatic and automatic watering systems are becoming quite popular, which can significantly save the gardener’s time by eliminating labor-intensive operations. At the same time, a well-regulated vegetable irrigation system will provide high-quality watering. In this case, moisture should be delivered strictly to the root system of the plants.

All pumpkin plants, as already mentioned, love abundant and infrequent watering. The soil under the plant should be well moistened (optimally to a depth of 35 cm), and there should be no hard crust on the surface of the bed. Surface watering does not produce results, because in plants with developed roots, most of them are located in the depths.

Wells, rings or grooves

How to water a pumpkin correctly: in the holes, in the furrows? And there is no consensus here, since each summer resident chooses the acceptable and most suitable methods.

Watering in rings and holes is familiar to many gardeners, since with this method the entire volume of moisture will go to a particular plant. Rings or bowls are made in a circle near the pumpkin bush, and then water is poured into them. This protects the plant roots from being washed out, while the water still gets where it needs to go.

This irrigation method is especially suitable for summer cottages that are located in areas with uneven terrain, there are slopes and descents. By watering into holes or in rings, you can be completely sure that the pumpkin will receive the required amount of moisture.

ON A NOTE!

It is advisable to use watering in holes if there is a shortage of water in the area and you have to use it very sparingly.

Another option is to water in furrows, which is often used when planting pumpkins not randomly, but in rows. But it is effective only in areas with flat terrain. If there are slopes, then watering into the furrows will not produce results. In this case, some plants will receive the required amount of moisture, while others will be left without water.

With any watering method, it is also important to consider the type of soil. Moisture on sandy loam and loose soils is absorbed very well and quickly goes to depth, saturating the root system of plants. On heavy clay soils and loams, water will sink into the depths slowly, and it is very important to loosen the soil so that a crust does not form.

Pumpkin does not like loam; it grows poorly in such soils and often rots. Therefore, it is necessary to apply lime, fluff or dolomite flour to such areas to improve the soil composition. When watering, you need to control the humidity level.

If the pumpkin bush has rooted vines, we must not forget about caring for them. Such plants are watered with warm, settled water not only under the bush (or in the grooves), but also carefully water the place where the vines have taken root.

Common mistakes when growing pumpkins

This section presents the most common mistakes that are made not only by novice gardeners (they can be forgiven), but also by experienced gardeners.

1. It is important to remember that pumpkins need good, high-quality, abundant watering. It often happens that due to lack of time, a summer resident only lightly watered the plants, thinking that he had solved the watering problem. A couple of such “irrigations” can cause the pumpkin to begin to slow down its growth and drop its flowers and ovaries. It is necessary to water rarely, but abundantly - this is the basic rule!
2. Having used up warm water on other vegetables, they use unsettled and, even worse, cold water to water the pumpkins. One such watering, quite possibly, will not be dangerous for the plant, but repeated watering can lead to the death of the pumpkin. Therefore, it is very important to maintain the water temperature, otherwise there will be no pumpkin harvest.
3. It is recommended to water either in the early hours or in the late afternoon. This applies to hot sunny days, while in cloudy weather it is permissible to water during the day.
4. Plants should not be over-irrigated, as this can lead to various rots, discoloration of leaf plates, and burns. Still, it is best to water this capricious plant in holes, furrows between rows or in rings.
5. Loosening the soil is mandatory. This eliminates the appearance of a hard crust, improves the soil structure, and allows more complete penetration of moisture to the root system. If you don’t have time for loosening and weeding, mulching will save you. By the way, this is an excellent option for those gardeners who, due to their work schedule, are on their plot only on weekends.

Only at first glance it seems that watering is easy and simple. It turns out that there are also many subtleties hidden here, the knowledge of which will allow you to always reap excellent harvests of not only pumpkins, but also other vegetables.

In central Russia and in other territories with a similar climate, varieties of pumpkin grow: large-fruited and hard-barked. Butternut squash grows in the southern regions. Sometimes there is a gourd pumpkin. Growing pumpkins in open ground is not as difficult a process as inexperienced gardeners imagine it to be.

Pumpkin is a well-known annual plant with a powerful root system, wide leaves, and long strong stems. The taproot can penetrate three meters into the soil, and the lateral roots spread over an area of ​​up to four meters, in search of moisture and nutrition.

The stem of the plant “creeps” from the base by more than seven meters. Pumpkin has large yellow or yellow-orange flowers, which are arranged singly (the plant is dioecious). On the main stem, starting from the tenth leaf onwards, fruits are formed.

Pumpkin varieties and their characteristics

Variety	Peculiarities
	This pumpkin is fast-growing and has a high yield. It has coarser fibers than the pulp of the large-fruited variety, and it is not stored for very long (up to four months) without changing its taste and nutritional characteristics.
	This pumpkin is a real giantess; record-breaking fruits reach 60 kg. Productivity is also high. And the shelf life of the fruit is up to nine months.
	This pumpkin can lie absolutely unchanged in a cellar or other cool and dry room for up to two years. Late ripening variety.

What does pumpkin like?

Pumpkin loves warmth and does not tolerate cold combined with dampness.

Important! The temperature that pumpkin seeds need to germinate is up to +30° C. At lower temperatures they will germinate for a very long time and slowly. And at less than +10° C they will not sprout at all.

The entire growing season for pumpkin passes at an optimal temperature of +25° C. In this case, it grows rich orange flesh, aromatic, dense but juicy, and a wide leaf apparatus (up to 40 m² per plant).

Pumpkin loves moisture, without a sufficient amount of which the largest fruits cannot be formed. If the pumpkin is struck by drought at the beginning of flowering, the flowers may fall off and the ovary will not form.

Pumpkin is a light-loving crop. It must be grown in sunny and windless areas (ideally melon).

How to grow pumpkin from seeds

The easiest way to grow pumpkin is to use the traditional seed sowing method. Only the seeds must be prepared for sowing.

It all starts with the choice of seed raw materials. You need to take only the largest seeds of selected quality for sowing. Thin, puny, dry, or incomplete ones should be discarded. Calibrated seeds begin to be prepared for sowing.

Seed preparation

The best way to prepare for sowing pumpkin seeds is to germinate them. This process is continued until the seeds hatch. To germinate, pumpkin seeds are immersed in water at a stable temperature of +40° C (up to +50° C is permissible, below forty is not allowed). The seeds should remain in this state for at least three hours.

Advice! How to achieve this temperature? place the bowl with the germinated seeds on a radiator or other heating device, place it in a yogurt maker or multicooker in the “Yogurt” mode.

Then the swollen seeds are wrapped in a well-moistened cotton cloth and left at the temperature of the living room until they peck. The fabric must be checked and moistened again all the time so that the seeds do not dry out.

Since pumpkin is a heat-loving plant, it is recommended, especially in the middle climate zone, to increase the cold resistance of the seeds before sowing. To do this, after pecking, they must continue to be kept in a damp cloth, but in the bottom drawer of the refrigerator, for three to five days.

Due to the heat-loving nature, you should not sow seeds in open ground; it is better to grow pumpkin seedlings first.

Growing pumpkin seedlings

Seedlings are needed in order to obtain a plentiful and early harvest. And also so that the hatched seeds do not die from the cold if sowing is carried out at a time when cold snaps are still possible. It is not necessary to grow seedlings at home - you can do this in a special nursery or mini-greenhouse. But it is best, “under supervision,” to grow pumpkin seedlings on the southern windowsill of the apartment. At room temperature, which is still closer to the +30° C expected by the pumpkin than the temperature in the spring greenhouse, the process will go faster and better.

Important! Despite their powerful and robust appearance, pumpkin seedlings do not tolerate transplantation well. Therefore, it is better to grow seedlings in peat pots.

To grow seedlings, you will need peat humus or ordinary pots measuring at least 10x10 cm in quantities half as large as the number of seeds. There is no need to try to grow a “pumpkin forest”, remember the 40 m² feeding area that a pumpkin can cover. Two plants, with a sufficiently spacious placement, a large amount of heat, light and moisture, with regular fertilizing, will produce a larger harvest of fruits in quantity and size than ten located in the same space.

Important! Pumpkin seedlings should spend at least three weeks at home or in a greenhouse before planting in the ground. Therefore, seeds are sown based on this calendar indicator.

Soil for seedlings

Pumpkin seeds are sown in ordinary fertile seedling soil consisting of peat and sand. No special additives are required. There is also no need to add fertilizers to the soil. If you are growing seeds in peat pots, simply fill them with soil. When growing in a plastic container, add 3 cm of sawdust to the bottom.

Sowing seeds

The seeds, germinated in the manner described above and hardened, are sown in pots in pairs. Later, the weak seedling can be removed by simply pinching off the stem. Sowing depth is 2 cm. The seeds are covered with peat. Watering is carried out before and after sowing.

During the first three days after sowing, the temperature should be +25° C...+30° C.

Seedling care

Shoots should appear on the fourth day. After this, the temperature must be reduced and maintained within +18° C...+25° C for a week, then reduced again to +15° C...+18° C. This is necessary so that the pumpkin seedlings do not stretch out and grow strong and squat .

Watering of seedlings is carried out regularly, but it should not be excessive. Stagnation of water is prohibited. Ideal soil moisture and air humidity will contribute to the formation of hardy and abundantly fruiting pumpkin plants in the future.

Two weeks after germination, fertilizing is carried out. To do this, mullein needs to be diluted in a ratio of 1:10 with water and poured into each pot, or under each plant in the greenhouse, 100 ml of nutrient solution after watering. If there is no mullein, fertilizing is carried out with nitrophoska according to the instructions.

Video - Growing pumpkin seedlings

Readiness and disembarkation

Properly grown seedlings look like this:

• low stem, thick and strong;
• short internodes;
• three well-developed true leaves with a rich green color.

In this state, pumpkin seedlings can be planted in open ground under temporary film cover on the 22nd day after sowing germinated seeds in pots.

Before planting, the holes are watered with hot water. If the seedlings are in a peat humus container, they do not need to be removed, just slightly destroy the walls and bottom of the pot.

After planting, the plants are watered with warm water and protected with a film cover until the onset of consistently warm weather.

Soils suitable for growing pumpkins

This plant is most suitable for fertile soil, which has a fairly loose structure and is well heated. It is on such land that pumpkin fruits will reach record sizes.

Important! Pumpkin will grow worst on damp and clay soil. Acidic soils are absolutely not suitable for the plant - they must be treated with lime (liming for the predecessor) or wood ash must be added.

When growing pumpkins in your summer cottage, try to comply with the following requirements.

1. Planting on the south side of the house along a wall or fence. The building and fence will protect from the wind during the day and release the heat accumulated during the day to the plants at night.
2. Pumpkin lashes may well be directed at the wall of a house, a fence, or the roof of a barn. Closer to the sun the fruits will ripen better.
3. If there is a compost heap on the south side of the plot, it is ideal to plant the pumpkin near it, with the vines directed there.

Soil preparation

To successfully grow a pumpkin, in the fall, after removing the predecessors, you need to start preparing the soil.

1. Apply organic matter and mineral fertilizer (5 kg of humus, 15 g of potassium chloride and twice as much superphosphate per m²) to a clean area freed from plants and weeds. If there is no humus, you can add manure in the fall - 7 kg per m².
2. Dig the area 20 cm deep.
3. To lighten the soil structure, if necessary, add river sand (coarse grain) and peat.
4. Deoxidize the soil with wood ash.
5. Loosen, mix if possible, pour hot water over it.

In the spring, there is no need to dig up the top soil layer; it is enough to remove the emerging weeds and level the area with a rake. The soil should be in this condition from March to May - the time of planting pumpkin seedlings.

Two days before planting the grown seedlings, the soil in the garden bed must be dug up to 12 cm (half a shovel length), ammonium nitrate added - 20 g per m² and holes made.

On light-textured soil, the holes can be shallow - up to 25 cm. If the soil is heavy, the depth of the hole should reach 40 cm. A little compost and a layer of dry leaves are placed at the bottom.

The distance between plants in a regular garden is about a meter. If possible, it can be doubled.

Predecessors of pumpkin

This question is relevant because culture is demanding of its predecessors.

Pumpkin care

Pumpkin does not need careful and specialized care, but there are some measures that should not be neglected if you want to get a large harvest of large fruits.

Watering

The main maintenance measure is adjusting watering. The pumpkin, like a pump, pumps out all the moisture from the ground and then evaporates it through the leaves. Thus, little gets to the roots and stems. Therefore, the moisture level in the soil must constantly be replenished.

Advice! The pumpkin needs to be watered especially generously when it starts flowering and fruiting on a large scale. The water temperature should not be lower than +20°C (warmed up in the sun). Under no circumstances should you water the pumpkin with cold water in the heat - the plants may die.

After watering, every other time you need to loosen the soil near the base of the stem. Weed out weeds as they grow.

Top dressing

You need to feed the pumpkin often, otherwise you won’t be able to get large fruits. The first fertilizing in open ground is after the formation of the fifth leaf. The second is when lashes begin to form. Then every two weeks.

You can feed with nitrophoska, starting with 10 g per plant and increasing the dose by 5 g with each feeding. You can add dry granules or prepare a solution.

During the fruiting period, a glass of ash is added to each feeding.

You can feed the pumpkin throughout the growing season with mullein solution.

The plant is formed into one stem, or at least two - this promotes high yield. To do this, after excess shoots appear on the sides, they are all removed, and excess ovaries are also plucked out, leaving no more than three on each lash.

By the way! On second-order shoots, a pumpkin can produce fruits after the second leaf, but they will grow small and tasteless, so it’s worth pinching the plant’s shoots.

Video - Pumpkin: growing and pinching

Powder

Another agrotechnical technique that promotes yield is sprinkling with vines. Once the lashes have reached a meter in length, they must be carefully untangled, laid in a given direction and sprinkled with earth in two or three places. This is done so that the wind does not break the vines and leaves, tearing off the ovary. But the main thing is that in the internodes pressed to the ground, additional roots are formed that will nourish the plants and contribute to the increase in fruits.

A few more tricks

1. Whips that have climbed onto a fence or roof must be controlled. When the pumpkins begin to ripen, secure them by placing them in regular string bag nets and securing them with additional fasteners. Otherwise, heavy fruits will roll down, breaking off the stems.
2. It is undesirable, especially in wet weather, for the fruits to lie on bare ground. When they reach medium size, place planks or other “breathable” material under them.

Video - How to properly grow and care for pumpkins

Growing a pumpkin in a summer cottage is not as easy as it might seem at first glance. There are secrets and tricks here to get sweet pulp and keep it intact until spring.

First, you need to decide which variety is intended for what. There are many options:

• cook porridge or put in pies;

• get seeds;

• preserve the juice for the winter.

In addition, pumpkins are grown for the well-known holiday - Halloween. Children love to cut out various horror stories from it and display it outside with lighting.

Pumpkin comes in different flavors. There are even varieties that resemble potatoes. It is used in dietary nutrition and in preparing dishes for children. Pumpkin is recommended for complementary feeding to infants because it contains the least allergens and is easily digested by the digestive tract of infants.

But in order for a vegetable to release all its beneficial nutrients, it must first obtain them from the soil and assimilate them. And for this they use various fertilizers.

How to feed a pumpkin during the fruiting period:

• organics;

• mineral mixtures;

• folk remedies.

Feeding pumpkin in August is of great importance, when the vegetable gains weight and taste. In order not to miss this moment, you need to find out in advance what the vegetable likes, when to fully ripen, when to apply the last fertilizer to the pumpkin and after what time to harvest.

What does pumpkin like?

The plant prefers sunny beds and loves warmth very much. Therefore, in the spring you need to manage and organize heating of the bed on which you plan to plant the seeds. To do this, dig a platform measuring 3x3 meters or more. Remove the top layer of soil 40 - 50 cm deep. A layer of rotted manure is placed at the bottom.

Video: How to get a big pumpkin harvest

You can even use fresh one - it will decompose and transfer heat upward to the roots of the plant. Chicken manure is used, but the layer is smaller, since the manure is more concentrated in terms of ammonia. A layer of manure is covered with old leaves - this is additional nutrition that improves the characteristics of the soil.

If there are branches or scraps left from the kitchen, they are also brought into the hole. To speed up decomposition, spray the entire area with biological fertilizer containing beneficial bacteria, and 5-10 buckets of water are poured on top. When all the fertilizer has been spread out, the hole is filled with soil that was dug out of it.

You can wait 2 - 3 weeks to give the soil time to warm up and then plant the seeds.

Preparing seeds for planting

How to prepare pumpkin seeds is another important point. The older the seeds, the higher their germination rate. Therefore, it is better not to plant last year’s seeding material - seedlings may not appear. If there are no others, you will have to carry out a number of measures to age the seeds and stimulate them to grow:

• Place the seeds in the sun in a dark cloth, warm them thoroughly for 6 – 7 hours.

• Then put it in the refrigerator for a day.

• After cooling, wrap the seeds in cheesecloth and place them in a nutrient solution that is specially sold for germinating seeds. Water temperature 25 - 30 degrees.

• After swelling, return the seed to the refrigerator.

This is the stress method used to prepare seeds for planting in open ground. This is necessary so that during spring temperature changes the seedlings do not stop growing and die, but continue to develop.

And one more thing: when purchasing seeds, you need to clarify whether this variety is a fodder variety. Pumpkin has fewer nutrients, especially carotene and sugar. No matter how hard you work on growing it, this species will not be sweet, and in terms of nutritional characteristics it will lag behind table varieties.

Watering - how much water to give pumpkin crops

Feeding pumpkins in open ground is inextricably linked with watering. But caution is needed here, since an excessive amount can negatively affect the growth of green mass and slow down the formation of fruits.

Secrets of watering pumpkins:

• You need to water thoroughly - 2 - 3 buckets per plant, but do this rarely: about once a week, even in hot weather;

• While the pumpkin ovaries are small - up to 10 cm in diameter, you need to water even less often, since water stimulates the greenery to grow, and the fruits will grow worse;

• at the final stage of growth, they try not to water the bushes at all, so that the pumpkin does not become watery and tasteless; the closer to harvest, the less water should be used.

Sometimes after watering it is necessary to provide oxygen access to the roots. To do this, pierce the soil with a stick or pitchfork. Pumpkin loves well-drained soils, so this activity is especially useful on loams and heavy clay soils.

Fertilizing pumpkin crops

If you prepare the bed as described at the beginning, then there will be no problems with fertilizers to feed the pumpkin during flowering. The volume of nutrients should be sufficient for the entire growing season.

If the decision to plant a pumpkin ripened suddenly and the soil was not prepared, then mineral fertilizers are used - superphosphate and potassium sulfate. For one hundred square meters of land you need 300 g of superphosphate and 200 g of potassium fertilizer. Dry granules are scattered on the ground and watered with water. Or they dig up granules with soil, which is better, since the nutrients end up at the level of the root system.

Complex mixtures containing nitrogen are suitable, but only at the initial stage of growth, when the plant gains mass and expels the vines. After the formation of ovaries, less nitrogen fertilizer is needed. They are used if the leaves have changed color, that is, there are all signs of chlorosis. Foliar feeding of pumpkin with urea will correct the situation within 2 – 3 days.

Pinching shoots

To prevent the plant from growing too much, the leaves do not take nutrients from the fruits, the shoots are pinched. This is done after each fruit formed. after 5 - 6 sheets. With proper preparation, there can be a lot of seedlings and ovaries - 6 - 7 pieces on one vine. For normal ripening, you need to leave no more than 3, and remove the rest. If you need a large specimen, then leave 1 fruit to ripen.

Folk supplements

Feeding pumpkins in the open ground with folk remedies involves using homemade preparations to increase the plant's immunity. This could be potassium permanganate, boric acid, brilliant green. Zelenka is used when soft spots appear on the pumpkin after excessive watering. They rub it on the fruit. The same is done with aloe juice to destroy putrefactive bacteria. A weak solution of potassium permanganate is used as a mineral supplement to strengthen the immune system.

Ash solution is a well-known folk remedy for feeding pumpkin in August. Recommended for autumn application to the soil. Increases the sugar content of fruits due to the increased potassium content. 300 g of ash infused in 3 liters of water 2 – 3 days, then add up to 10 liters of water and water at the root.

Yeast solutions are another universal folk method. But this is not fertilizing as such, rather than fertilizing pumpkin, but simply stimulating soil organisms to process organic matter.

Pumpkin is a relatively unpretentious plant to grow, but it responds to the application of fertilizers - organic or mineral - by increasing productivity. A minimum of 2 feedings are required from the beginning of the growing season until harvesting: the first - at the beginning of the growing season, the second - during fruit ripening. But in reality, proper soil preparation includes a greater number of fertilizers: at least in advance in the fall. In this article we will look at how to properly fertilize pumpkins in open ground using ash, mineral fertilizers, chicken droppings, and how the first and second feeding works.

How to replenish the soil in the fall?

During the autumn digging of the soil for growing pumpkins, either organic, mineral, or complex fertilizers are applied, the rates of which are given in the table.

Green manure plants are also sown as organic fertilizer in the fall.

When to start feeding pumpkin?

To obtain a good harvest of pumpkins with high taste, fertilizing can be carried out throughout the growing season, until mid-August, at intervals of 2 weeks. After this, feeding is stopped, since ripening begins, and the abundance of nutrients during this period worsens the taste of the fruit and makes the pulp hard.

When grown in open ground, the first two feedings are carried out at the following times:

1. The appearance of 3-5 leaves (not counting cotyledons);
2. The beginning of the formation of lashes.

When growing pumpkin through seedlings, the feeding scheme becomes more complicated (the first two occur during the seedling period), and looks like this:

1. 7-10 days after emergence;
2. A few days before transplanting into open ground;
3. A week and a half after landing;
4. The beginning of the formation of lashes.

Tip #1: when sowing pumpkins, maintain a distance between plants of at least a meter for bush varieties, and at least three for climbing varieties. This will provide each plant with the necessary nutrition and make it easier to care for. Otherwise, even constant feeding will not be enough for them.

How to feed pumpkin at your dacha?

During the growing season, to increase yield and improve the taste of the fruit, pumpkin can be fed with mineral or organic fertilizers. Suitable organic matter: compost; chicken droppings; humus; rotted manure; ash; vermicompost.

The most popular among gardeners are fertilizers based on animal or chicken manure.

A decisive role in the development of plants is played not only by fertilizing, but also by the strength of the seedlings themselves. For sowing, choose not the largest, but the heaviest seeds

Tip #2: Before sowing, place pumpkin seeds in water: weak and unripe ones will float. And those that have sunk to the bottom will produce strong shoots.

Feeding pumpkins with manure

Manure is considered the most valuable organic fertilizer - it contains almost all the substances necessary for plants. In addition, it reduces acidity and excess salts, promotes the growth of beneficial microflora in the soil. On land where manure has been applied, plants absorb less toxic and radioactive substances. Horse manure comes first in value, followed by sheep and cow manure. But the latter is more accessible and, accordingly, more popular. The types and timing of fertilizing with cow manure are given in the table. It follows from this that during the period of growth and ripening of the pumpkin, it needs to be fed with liquid manure.

Fertilizer form	Application season	Method of application	Application rate
Slurry	Plant growing season	Liquid root dressings	2 l. under a bush at the beginning of the growing season, 3 l. – during the period of fruit ripening
Fresh mullein	Autumn	For digging, embedded in the soil	40 kg. per 10 m 2
Rotten mullein	Spring, autumn	Likewise	4 kg. per 10 m 2

How to prepare fertilizer from manure?

To prepare liquid fertilizer, a bucket of manure is diluted in 5 buckets of water and stirred. After 3 days, add another 5 buckets of water, enrich the solution with phosphorus (adding 100 g of superphosphate). Before applying fertilizing, the soil must be watered.

Feeding pumpkins with chicken droppings

• nitrogen;
• phosphorus;
• magnesium;
• calcium;
• potassium.

Less aggressive is a ready-made biofertilizer made from chicken manure. It does not contain harmful microorganisms, its composition is constant. In addition to this, you can also purchase granulated chicken manure. It has no odor, no weed seeds, or worm eggs. The granules are applied to the soil either dry or diluted with water. Mullein solution is also available in ready-made form.

Chicken manure is added in liquid form, diluted 1/20 with water and left to infuse for 10 days. But don’t just pour such a mixture into the holes - it will burn the roots. Feed the pumpkin between the rows or in the annular furrows around each bush, after heavy rain or deep watering, in order to reduce the concentration of the solution and distribute it more evenly to the roots.

Instead of chicken manure, you can use quail manure. It is also less toxic, and contains more organic substances.

Feeding with ash

Many gardeners know ash primarily as a substance that reduces soil acidity. However, it contains almost the entire periodic table in varying proportions (except perhaps for nitrogen), therefore it is widely used as an organic fertilizer. You can add ash in a dry way - when digging the soil in the spring or when planting pumpkin seedlings in the ground (in each hole). Its consumption rate is usually 100-200 g per m2 (1-2 cups, or a couple of tablespoons per hole). This feeding allows plants to quickly adapt to new conditions and stimulates their further development.

To feed during plant growth, ash is used in the second half of the growing season, preferably in the form of a solution. To do this, dissolve 100 g of ash, stirring, in 10 liters of water and immediately water the plants, without waiting for the undissolved particles to settle.

You cannot apply ash together with nitrogen fertilizers: fresh manure, ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate, urea (this leads to losses of up to half of the nitrogen), with superphosphate - in this case, part of the phosphorus becomes insoluble. But adding ash to compost accelerates the decomposition of plant components. Soaking the seeds before sowing in an infusion of ash (2 spoons infused for 2 days in a liter of water, filtered) disinfects the seed and enhances the start

Mineral fertilizers for pumpkin

Nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus are the most important elements for plant development, and pumpkin is no exception. Therefore, it is important that mineral supplements include them. (Unlike organic fertilizers, in mineral fertilizers the content of substances and their quantity is always known exactly). For example, 8 g of superphosphate and 5 g each of potassium salt and ammonium nitrate are dissolved in a bucket of water. This amount of solution will be enough for the first feeding per 1 m2. If this composition is used for the second feeding, then its concentration increases by one and a half times with the same volume of water. However, mineral fertilizers, like organic ones, are applied strictly according to calculated standards. An excess of nutrients is just as negative for plants as their deficiency.

Recently, complex mineral fertilizers have become increasingly popular due to their ease of use and efficiency. They contain not only potassium, phosphorus and nitrogen, but also many other microelements that promote the growth and development of plants, as well as increasing their resistance to diseases. Using a similar composition, you do not need to calculate the dosage of each substance added: they are simply added to the water for irrigation in the proportions specified in the instructions. Such drugs today include “Oracle”, “Junona”, “Uniflor”, “Garden mixture”, “Kemira universal”, “Intermag-vegetable garden”, “Hera universal” and many others. For the best effect, it is recommended to alternate organic pumpkin fertilizers with mineral ones.

Answers to frequently asked questions from gardeners

Question No. 1: after feeding with mullein, the pumpkin leaves became covered with brown spots. Does this indicate a high concentration of fertilizer?

Answer: not always. Leaf burns are often caused by fertilizer solution getting on them. Fertilizer is introduced only into the ground, around the roots of plants.

Question No. 2: I fed the pumpkin systematically. By the end of the season, the fruits had rotted in places. Did I overfeed the plant?

Answer: The reason here is not the concentration of fertilizers, but rather the high soil moisture. With frequent rainfall, the soil does not have time to dry out, and the fruits on it rot. In this case, a dense base is placed under the fruit - a board or slab. For the same reason, you should not flood the plants. Watering should be plentiful, but not frequent, so that the soil has time to dry out.

The photo shows that the moisture spread far under the bush. As the vines grow, this will lead to increased humidity under the leaves and rotting of the fruits. To avoid this without damaging the pumpkin, make holes under each bush with a diameter of at least half a meter and with “sides” made of soil.

The photo also shows a crust on the soil, which enhances the evaporation of moisture. To eliminate this, they resort to mulching.

Question #3: Excess of what fertilizer led to cracking of pumpkin fruits?

Answer: It's not about fertilizers. Cracking occurs due to uneven watering: after a long drought, the plant is flooded with water. It is correct to water the pumpkin abundantly, 10 liters per square meter, but the interval between waterings is 6-7 days, in extreme heat - 3-4 days.

Question #4: Why weren’t there many fruits on the pumpkin if all the necessary fertilizing was done?

Answer: Pollination affects the number of fruits. In hot and rainy weather, plants are practically not pollinated. In this case, the plants are pollinated by hand.

Question #5: I have two extremes in one garden bed: on one end the fruits are small, on the other – rotting and cracked. How can there be such a difference in nutrition in one area?

Answer: this happens if your site itself is not level, but located on a slope. Then on one side there is not enough nutrition and moisture, but on the other there is an excess, because all the moisture with fertilizing flows here. Next time, before sowing, first level the soil surface.

During artificial pollination, the male flower is picked, the petals are removed, the female flower is brought to the pistil and the pollen is carefully shaken off onto it. They do this in the morning, in dry weather. The photo shows moisture. Here the pollen is more likely to stick to the flower rather than to the pistil

3 main mistakes when applying fertilizers

1. Calculate nitrogen rates. An excess of it in the soil leads to the occurrence of powdery mildew and the accumulation of nitrates in fruits. The amount of ammonium nitrate should not exceed 25 g per square meter.
2. Do not apply fertilizer to dry soil. If it gets on the roots it will cause burns. Water the plants first.
3. Consider the content of nutrients in the applied fertilizers. For example, sodium nitrate and calcium nitrate contain nitrogen. If you have already added ammonium nitrate, which also contains nitrogen, sodium and calcium, it is better to add it in a different form. Or apply complex fertilizers in which the concentration of components has already been calculated.

Fertilizers in liquid form are absorbed evenly as they are received. Unlike dry ones, which are used by plants only when moisture gets into the soil. Dry fertilizers take much longer to dissolve and are absorbed slowly and unevenly. And in contact directly with the roots, they cause burns, since the concentration of substances in a dry granule is greater than in the soil if the same amount of substance is added in liquid form. For plants that produce large green masses and massive fruits, such as pumpkins, a constant, uniform supply of fertilizers is the key to a good harvest, tasty and shelf-stable fruits. Whereas when applying dry fertilizers, there is no certainty that they were dissolved and consumed at the right time and in the right dosage.