What grew from the seeds? Is it possible to grow watermelon and melon at home on the windowsill?
The watermelon feels best on the southern windows, and the northern side is not suitable for it at all. In rooms facing east or west, it will also be possible to grow this exotic crop.
Watermelon does not like cold and drafts. You can place it on the windowsill, under which there is a central heating battery.
Attention! If you plan to plant a culture on the balcony, it is important to create additional insulation.
Packaging
Watermelon seedlings are grown in plastic cups, small pots or special cassettes. A stronger escape will require a larger container. A bucket, basin or other container with a volume of at least 10 liters will do. You can assemble a box of wooden boards yourself 50*50*30 see
It is undesirable to immediately plant seeds in large containers, since water often stagnates in a large coma of the earth, and plants can die. If you do not want to mess with cassettes for seedlings, then watering should be carefully monitored.
soil
Loose, nutritious soil is prepared in advance. It is prepared from equal parts of humus, turf and sand, add a little ash. Before planting, the soil is disinfected and scalded with boiled water.
Light and temperature
The plant needs a 12-hour daylight day, so in cloudy times additional light sources are needed: LED, fluorescent or phytolamps.
Important! During the formation of ovaries, the plant cannot be overcooled. The optimal temperature regime, which must be regularly monitored, is +25...+30°With day and +18 ° C at night.
Preparatory stage
First, the planting material is sorted. Small and damaged seeds are thrown away, large ones are filled with salted water prepared at the rate of 5 g of table salt per 100 g of liquid. Seeds that fall to the ground are considered suitable for planting. They are taken out, washed with clean water and dried.
After that, moisten the gauze with a solution of 0.5 g of humate and 1 liter of water, wrap the seeds in it and keep them there until germination.
Landing
Seeds with germinated sprouts are planted in plastic cups filled with slightly compacted soil - 4-5 pieces each. Make sure that the soil always remains moistened, and the air temperature is about +25 ° C. If these conditions are met, seedlings appear after 7 days.
After 2-3 weeks, when the seedlings grow a little, you need to pull out some of the shoots and leave one of the strongest seedlings in each container. After a month, the plants are transferred to a permanent place along with a lump of earth.
Grow and care in a pot
After transplanting the culture into spacious pots, its root system begins to develop rapidly. Pinch the third or fourth leaf and fix the side branches in a vertical or horizontal direction. You can also keep only one whip. In this case, the harvest can be obtained faster.
When the flowers bloom, perform artificial pollination. Without this procedure, there will be no fruit. Using a soft brush, transfer pollen from a male flower with a thin stem and stamens to a female flower with a thick stem and pistil. The beginning of berry growth signals an increase in the size of the female peduncle. If the whip with the ovary is in an upright position, it must be fixed to avoid breakage.
Attention! It is not necessary to leave more than two fruits on one bush, otherwise they will not have enough nutrition.
Irrigation
Water abundantly, but infrequently (1 time a week), so that the soil does not sour. When the soil becomes moist, the taste qualities of the fruits deteriorate. Experts recommend limiting water consumption after the berries ripen. It is believed that a small lack of moisture makes watermelons sweeter.
Follow-up actions
Feeding the plant begins after the formation of three large leaf blades. First, the watermelon is watered with water, and then with a solution of complex fertilizers. At this stage, preparations with the same content of potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus or with a low nitrogen content will be suitable.
The second top dressing with potassium and phosphorus fertilizers is carried out during the formation of the ovaries. After 2-3 weeks, the procedure is repeated for the third time.
As the fruit matures, its peduncle dries out, and the crust becomes shiny and smooth.
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