Hospitable Pumpkin

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Pumpkin crops are distinguished by their high ability to fight for a place in the sun. Their lashes easily take root upon contact with the ground, quickly build up additional roots. In addition, they tolerate vaccinations very well and quickly grow together at the joints. Therefore, in this way it is possible to propagate more valuable varieties, as well as other varieties of pumpkin seeds. For example, a pumpkin will very hospitably accept cuttings of watermelons and melons. At the same time, according to experts, not only is the ripening period of crops reduced, but the quality of the harvested crop also increases. So why not experiment like this in your garden?

Rooting lashes

How to get the most benefit from one plant? After all, someone's heart does not shrink when, in order to ration the harvest, it is necessary to remove smaller fruits from the stems, in order to eventually get large pumpkins from the best specimens remaining on the lashes as soon as possible. But you can root parts of the lashes, and then separate them from the mother plant. This trick can be done not only with a pumpkin, but also with a melon, watermelon.

To do this, the lash is buried in the right place with earth and watered. The root system will form in 5-10 days. To make it less damaged during transplantation, you can immediately start rooting in cups. Thus, in a short time, a zealous owner will receive several pieces of good seedlings from one seed.

Those who adhere to the traditional method of rationing the yield should not forget to pinch the lash over 4-5 leaves after removing excess fruits. Stepsons and flowers should also be removed regularly.

Pumpkin grafting

On pumpkin seedlings, you can vaccinate melon, watermelon, cucumber. Such a botanical experiment will be of interest to those who do not live in the most suitable regions for growing thermophilic crops. And cold-resistant pumpkin varieties can help melons acclimate and reduce the ripening time of the crop.

Rootstock and scion can be grown in the same pot. First of all, they start sowing pumpkin. Planting her seed is done in the center of the pot. After three days, a melon is sown at the wall of the container. The optimal time for grafting will be the moment when one true leaf is formed on the seedlings. This will happen in about a week and a half. The inoculation is done in cleavage. The growth point on the pumpkin seedlings is cut off. An incision is made on the stem on the opposite side of the actual leaf. The depth of the incision is made approximately 1.5-2 cm, but so that it necessarily passes through the site of the cotyledonous knee node.

The melon seedling is cut right at the soil. There should be approximately the same distance from the cotyledonous leaves to the cut site as the depth of the cut in the rootstock stalk is made. A thin layer of skin is carefully removed from the scion in this place. Then the resulting inoculation is placed in the pumpkin crust. The fact that everything is done correctly is indicated by the location of the leaves of the rootstock and scion. They should be approximately parallel to each other, but the leaves of the scion are slightly taller.

The joint is tied with elastic material. For example, it is good when the household has surgical gloves. This material is good because it is sterile and does not introduce infection at the site of damage to the skin of the plant, and also stretches well. As a last resort, you can use a bandage or connect the sections with a thin washcloth.

From the side of the pumpkin leaf, a peg is immersed in the soil of the pot for support. Caring for a grafted plant consists in loosening the soil and moistening the soil. After the "operation", the plant is recommended to be hidden under a cap from a transparent cut bottle or under a glass jar. You can even just throw on a plastic bag. The pot is left in a greenhouse or greenhouse. With a successful vaccination, the "pumpkin melon" will start to grow in a week after the procedure.