Planting melons for seedlings and growing at home

What other natural dessert is famous for its exquisitely delicate taste, unearthly honey aroma, and besides, a whole range of medicinal properties? Without a doubt, this is a melon. Its benefits are so multifaceted that it is difficult not to get excited with the desire to grow a wonderful berry in your area. In order for "melon" happiness to come to a novice summer resident, you just need to learn and understand the secrets of cultivation, and first plant the melon on seedlings correctly.

After reading this material, you will learn how to properly plant seeds on melons for seedlings and grow at home until planting in the ground.

Melon variety selection

The key to success in growing melons is the correct choice of a variety suitable for the climatic zone of your place of residence (in other words, the variety must be zoned). Let's say in regions with cold summers perfect stop at early varieties and hybrids melons with a ripening period of about 65-85 days. In this case, the most recommended varieties are Titovka, Roksolana, Ambrosia, Ignacio, Assol, Altai, Scythian gold, Delano, other.

For greenhouses you can use super early ripening melons such as Altai, Titovka (ripening period is just over 55-65 days).

If you are satisfied with medium-sized sizes, then you can plant early-maturing varieties: Collective farmer, Fairy tale, Blondie, Cappuccino,and etc.

If you decide to grow melon with medium ripeningthen know that you will have to wait within 2.5 months (85-95 days).

Mid-season the most popular varieties among enthusiastic summer residents are Don Quixote, Primal, Anzer, North Star, Anna Max, Jumbo, Chogare (Bukhara), Assate, Sunny delicacy, Luna, Torpedo.

However, one should not underestimate and late varieties... Among them, the most popular are Princess Mary, Powdered Sugar, Emerald, Walking.

And also (taking into account geography) the following cultural (table) varieties of melons are excellent for growing: Kassaba, Walking, Pineapple, Torpedo (all representatives of Central Asian varieties), Collective farmer, Cantaloupe, Ethiopian, Banana, Armenian cucumber(all European varieties), Vietnamese, Melotria rough or mouse, Horned (all exotic varieties).

When to plant melons for seedlings

When choosing the timing of planting melons for seedlings, you need to pay attention to the following important points:

• regional climatic features of cultivation (when return frosts pass, the earth warms up enough to be planted in the ground);
• the required age of seedlings for planting in the ground (duration of growing seedlings at home after germination);

The optimum age for melon seedlings for planting in the ground is 25-35 days.

• place or conditions for further cultivation (you can plant it in a greenhouse, film tunnels or greenhouses earlier, and in open ground later).

In addition, experienced melon growers focus on the favorable timing of sowing melon seeds according to the lunar calendar.

Note! Thus, you should not rush to plant a melon, otherwise the seedlings will outgrow and nothing good will come of such plants.

Depending on the cultivation method, region and its climate

If you are interested in the question of when it is better to plant a melon for seedlings, in what time frame, then this is directly related to the peculiarities of the climate in your region.

For example, in the middle lane (Moscow region) sowing of melons for seedlings, as a rule, is carried out in late April - early May, while planting seedlings - in the 3rd decade of May-early June.

In Siberia and the Urals it is necessary to plant melon for seedlings in early May, in order to plant it in the ground in June.

Provided melon is grown through seedlings in the south of Russia, you can sow seedlings already in late March-early April, to plant in the last days of April.

Usually, in warm regions sown directly with seeds in open ground or under temporary shelters (film greenhouses), doing it in the second half of April.

According to the lunar calendar, in 2020

Favorable terms for planting melons for seedlings, according to the lunar calendar of 2020, the following days are:

• in March - 2-6, 12-14, 26-29;
• in April - 1, 2, 24, 25, 27-30;
• in May - 2-4, 6, 15-17, 20, 21 25-31;
• in June - 2-4, 11-14.

Of course, it is not necessary to sow the melon on the above days, but, according to the lunar calendar of 2020, nevertheless it is not recommended to plant seeds in the next unfavorable dates (the days of the Full Moon and New Moon, as well as the period when the Moon is in Aquarius, since this is a barren and dry sign -italicized):

• in March - 9,19-21, 24;
• in April - 8,15-17, 23;
• in May - 7,13-14, 22;
• in June - 5,9-11, 21.

According to the lunar calendar, from the magazine "1000 Tips for Summer Residents".

Preparing and processing melon seeds before planting seedlings

In order not to ruin the planting from the very beginning, it is required to initially properly prepare the melon seeds.

Advice! If you harvested the seeds yourself, then 2-3 years old seeds are optimal for sowing.

Important! If you purchased pelleted (processed) seeds, then they do not need any pre-sowing preparation, they should be sown dry.

Recognize the suitability of seeds in a few minutes it is possible by immersing them in a 3-5% solution of table salt (at the rate of 3-5 g of salt per 100 ml of water). Weak and weightless (in other words, empty and unviable) will quickly float to the surface, they need to be selected, and sank to the bottom - process further.

Then you can warm up your planting material for 20-30 minutes in hot water (50-60 degrees).

Then it would be nice to immerse them for 20-30 minutes in a 1% solution of potassium permanganate for disinfection, or even better in solution Fitosporin (according to instructions)... At the end of the time, rinse them under clean water and dry until the required flowability appears.

And the most effective pre-planting procedure is considered soaking and germinating seeds.

By the way! Summer residents from cold regions will be primarily useful to spend hardening planting material of thermophilic melon. To do this, you need to wrap the seeds in damp gauze and put them in the refrigerator for 10-12 hours, then take them out and put them in the heat for 10-12 hours. This should be done within 3-4 days, in other words, it is necessary to expose the seeds to temperature changes (stress), and then germinate.

Soak seeds can be in one of growth stimulants - Epine or Zirkone. Also, as an option, you can prepare a solution-infusion of wood ash (5 grams per 250 ml of water) and leave in it overnight (10-12 hours).

Better not just soak, but germinate the seeds in one of the above growth stimulants.

To germinate seeds, they need to be wrapped in wet gauze (or cotton pads), put on a plastic bag or put in a container with a lid. Then they should be removed to the warmest place in the apartment, where the temperature is + 22-28 degrees. After 3-7 days, they should hatch (the higher the temperature, the faster this will happen).

Video: soaking and germinating melon seeds in two ways

By the way! The method of germinating melon seeds also shows positive results. in wet sand or wet sawdust. Alternatively, for a change, you can use hydrogel... Naturally, the temperature should be appropriate (+22 .. + 28 degrees).

Planting melon seeds for seedlings: where and how to sow correctly

So, in order to make the correct sowing of melons for seedlings, first of all, you need to choose a suitable container for growing, prepare and fill the containers with a nutritious substrate and actually plant the seeds at the required depth. Let's take a look at each aspect next.

Choosing a container for growing seedlings

It is important for a novice summer resident to note the fact that a distinctive feature of the melon root system is its excessive weakness and fragility, because of this, the seedlings may simply not tolerate transplantation. That is why it is recommended to immediately plant melon seedlings separately in individual containers, optimally - 8-10 cm in diameter and 10-12 cm deep.

Soil for growing seedlings

Concerning soil for melon seedlings, it will grow best in one of the following soil mixtures.

Melons (like watermelons) love sandy soil, so sand should be added to the soil.

Recipe number 1:

• 1 part of humus;
• 1 part sand;
• 2 pieces of garden land.

Another option for the substrate may be the following (recipe number 2):

• 1 part of sod land;
• 2 pieces of sand;
• 3 parts of humus.

Add a couple tablespoons to any of these potting mixes. wood ash.

In general, you can buy a special ready-made soil for pumpkin (melon) crops (cucumbers, pumpkins, zucchini, watermelons, melons).

Advice! It will be very good if you still spend soil disinfection.

For this, the soil, as an option, can be steam in the oven or microwaveas well as spill solution Fitosporin (according to instructions).

Direct landing

Step-by-step instructions for sowing melon seeds for seedlings:

• Fill the seedling containers 3/5 or 2/3 with soil (it is more convenient to water and add soil as the seedlings grow).
• Make planting holes 2-3 cm deep (some sources recommend up to 4 cm).
• Moisturize slightly.
• Place seeds in the holes.

Advice! If you have a lot of seeds and you do not process them in any way, i.e. sow dry, it is better to put at least 2 things in each container, and only then remove weaker sprouts.

• Sprinkle with soil on top.
• Water again.
• Cover with plastic wrap (lid if it is a container) and put in a warm place where the temperature is +22 .. + 28 degrees.

Care for melon seedlings after planting: the necessary conditions for keeping

In the future, caring for melon seedlings is no more difficult than for cucumbers: you need to create comfortable temperature and light conditions for the plants, as well as water and feed as needed.

It will be interesting! Be sure to watch the next video, the author of which first showed the planting, and then captured the growth of melon seedlings over 6 weeks.

Temperature and lighting

As soon as shoots appear (after about 5-10 days - the warmer, the faster), remove the film (cover) and move the seedlings to a cooler place (+ 16-20 degrees) for 5-7 days.

After this period, place the seedling containers in a warmer place, where the temperature during the day is about + 22-26 degrees, and at night it does not drop below + 15-16 degrees (optimally + 16-20 degrees).

Melon seedlings for normal growth require full 12 hour daylight hours.

Remember! If the plants do not have enough sun, they will stretch.

Therefore, the seedlings are optimally placed on the south (or southeast, southwest) windowsillwhere there will be enough light.

Advice! Seedling pots should be placed so that the plants in them do not shade each other and do not grow all the time with one side to the sun. Thus, you can get away from the elongation and "one-sidedness" of your seedlings.

However, if you have no light windows, then seedlings ideally it would be nice to supplement special phyto lamps or more budget LED lamps.

Idea! If the days are cloudy (little light), then so that the seedlings do not stretch out, the plants should be rearranged in lighter, but cooler places or the window should be slightly opened. In other words, regulate the temperature and light balance.

Watering

Watering melon seedlings is easy: just moisten well as the soil dries up (allowing all the earthy coma to soak in), trying not to overflow or overdry the soil.

In this case, it is necessary to water with settled (or filtered) water, slightly above room temperature (+ 22-24 degrees).

Top dressing

As a rule, if you initially used a sufficiently fertile soil, then no additional feeding of the melon seedlings will be required, but you can spend a couple of them to stimulate growth.

When the seedlings form 1 true leaf each, it can be fed with yeast (10 grams of yeast per 1 liter of water, as well as 4-5 tbsp.tablespoons of sugar, wait 4-5 hours for the fermentation process to begin) or herbal infusion (for example, nettle), in other words, use nitrogen fertilizer.

After 7-14 days, when the plants already have 2 true leaves (i.e. 7-10 before planting in the ground), you can carry out the second feeding of melon seedlings with potash fertilizer, for example, infusion solution wood ash (10-20 grams per 1 liter, insist for a day) or potassium sulfate (3-4 grams per 1 liter of water).

Important! If the seedlings suddenly started turn yellow lower (cotyledonous) leaves, then it must be fed with nitrogen fertilizers (mullein, bird droppings, urea or ammonium nitrate).

If the leaves start turn yellow and die off at the edgesthen this is the first sign of potassium starvation.

Video: the intricacies of growing melons - how to grow a melon

Pinching

In order for the plant to launch side shoots as quickly as possible (it is on them that the melon bears fruit), it should pinch... Some advise doing this when melon seedlings 3 real leaf will appear (remove the growth point above it). But it is still more correct to do the pinching after planting the seedlings in the ground, when the plants will have 5 powerful real leaves.

Video: growing melon through seedlings

When and how to plant melon seedlings outdoors or in a greenhouse

By the end of May and the beginning of June, in most regions and climatic zones, suitable weather conditions are established for planting melon seedlings in open or closed ground (as well as for direct sowing):

• The soil warmed up to +12 .. + 15 degrees.
• The air temperature is stable at least + 15-16 degrees at night.

As for the appearance of plants, 25-35-day-old seedlings of melons should have a short, but strong stem and 3 true leaves (and the 4th is just emerging).

Advice! It will be desirable if 5-7 days before disembarkation seedlings you will lead her to the garden hardening, a it is you who will begin to take out the melon seedlings to the balcony (glazed loggia) or to the greenhouse, gradually increasing the time spent outdoors from 1-2 hours to a whole day.

The very planting of melon seedlings in the ground is no different from any other. To do this, you prepare planting holes 1.5-2 times larger than seedling containers, fill them with humus and sand (if your soil is not very sandy). Then carefully take out the seedlings along with an earthen lump, place them in the middle, cover them with fertile soil and pour them abundantly with warm water.

Important! If the weather is changeable, and at night it drops below + 15-16 degrees, then it is better to cover the melons with foil, namely to make a foil greenhouse (on arches) or cover with cut 5-lira bottles.

Video: planting melon seedlings in the ground

Thus, any novice summer resident can grow melon seedlings at home, because the main thing is desire. And how to properly plant melon seeds and in the future take care of the seedlings on the windowsill - everything is detailed in this article. You just have to act according to the instructions. Strong seedlings!

Video: how to grow a melon in the Moscow region - sowing dates, rules for planting and caring for seedlings at home and after planting in the ground (greenhouse)