How to grow delicious watermelon in the country. How to determine the ripeness of a watermelon. Harvesting

How to use eggshells as fertilizer (in the garden, for seedlings and indoor plants, and more) + reviews The shells of raw eggs are washed in cool running water to wash off any remaining yolk and white. Rotting organic matter is an excellent breeding ground for bacteria and fungi. Instead of feeding the plants, you will only harm them. There is no need to remove the thin film inside. For boiled eggs, it’s the opposite - the film is removed as quickly as possible. There is no benefit to it, and when this shell dries, it will be problematic to remove it. The washed shells are laid out in a single layer on thin towels, cotton cloth, paper napkins or towels and wait for the water to drain. The dried shells are placed in cardboard boxes, wooden boxes, open paper bags or special perforated cellophane bags and kept for another 3-5 days until completely dry. Choose a cool place without lighting, with normal humidity levels and good ventilation. If the weather permits, the shells can be taken outside and placed under some kind of canopy to protect them from direct sunlight. After this time, the shells are crushed in a blender, coffee grinder, meat grinder, or food processor. You can also grind it manually - break it with a hammer, roll it out with a rolling pin on a cutting board or crush it in a mortar. It depends on how many shells you have accumulated. The finer the resulting “flour”, the higher the quality of the fertilizer. The finished fertilizer is stored in a cool, dry place in open linen bags, paper bags or cardboard boxes. Immediately before use, heat the required amount of fertilizer in the oven for 25–30 minutes at a temperature of 100ºC. When spreading it in a thin layer on a baking sheet, do not forget to line it with baking paper. There is another complex remedy called “Delicacy” by gardeners. You will need 100 g of ground shells, onion peels, nettle leaves (or walnuts) and 50 g of dolomite flour or wood ash. All ingredients are poured with a liter of boiling water and mixed. Close the container tightly and infuse the liquid for 24 hours. Before use, the fertilizer is filtered and diluted with 10 liters of water. Another option is to prepare an infusion. Pour 50 g of flour into a liter of boiling water. The container is tightly closed and stored in a warm, dark place for 12–14 days. It is imperative to close it to avoid the appearance of small midges and the stunning “aroma” of hydrogen sulfide in the house. The contents are stirred daily. When the liquid becomes cloudy and a characteristic unpleasant odor appears, the fertilizer is ready. If you need the infusion quickly, use the following recipe: pour a glass of shell flour with three liters of water, bring to a boil and after 2-3 minutes remove from the heat. The liquid is poured into a bucket, 5 liters of clean water are added and mixed. When the mixture has cooled to room temperature, the infusion is ready.

Is it worth the effort you have to spend on preparing it? The opinion that it loses its smell when dried is wrong. Before drying, it must be washed so that there is no smell, even stench. Then it needs to be crushed, which is also not an easy task, since the film inside the shell restrains your zeal. If the pieces are not crushed into dust, then you can easily injure your hands when weeding if you fill the beds with shells. And as we wrote above, there are few useful substances left in the boiled shell. I also tried burning it in the oven. Let me tell you, the aroma is indescribable.

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Egg shells contain a huge amount of elements that nourish the soil, making it more suitable for growing the same vegetables. Shells should be stored in cardboard boxes, but not in polyethylene, as in the latter case they may simply rot. After the shells have been in the box for a week, they should be crushed and you can start fertilizing. You can also burn the shells on a fire and then add them along with the ash.

MaxPavlov

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Watermelon, melon, cherry plum and other southern crops [Grow in the middle zone] Kolpakova Anastasia Vitalievna

Harvesting watermelon

As watermelon fruits ripen, dry matter and sugars accumulate. While the seeds are forming, there is relatively little sugar in the pulp and juice, because a significant part of it is spent on the formation of seeds, as well as on their “respiration.” Over time, the seeds stop growing, and their “respiration” activity decreases. Accordingly, they no longer need the same amount of sugars. Therefore, sugars now begin to accumulate in the pulp. In fruits 15–20 days old, glucose predominates. By the 30th – 40th day, the percentage of fructose and sucrose gradually increases, due to which the taste of watermelons improves.

On average, from one hectare of area you can get 20–30 tons of watermelons, or 20–30 kg/10 m2. Under favorable conditions, the yield reaches 45 - 55 tons per hectare. Each watermelon weighs approximately 26 kg or more.

Early ripening varieties of watermelons are harvested in several stages as the fruits ripen. Usually cleaning is carried out 2 - 3 times. Mid-ripening and late varieties, as well as fruits grown for seeds, are harvested once.

Watermelons, unlike melons, do not ripen well during storage, so they are harvested at the moment when the flesh has already turned pink and the seeds have acquired the color characteristic of this variety.

Fully ripened watermelons are also not suitable for long-term storage. After about a month, their flesh softens.

The first harvest occurs when approximately half of all watermelons are ripe. The last harvest is carried out before frost. Not all watermelons have time to ripen by this time. Unripe ones are also removed and salted for the winter.

It is not easy for beginners to determine the ripeness of a watermelon by eye. External signs are not always reliable. In a ripe watermelon, the stalk and tendrils near it dry out. The rind becomes shiny, elastic, the color becomes intense, the pattern characteristic of this variety appears more and more clearly. If watermelons are grown in open ground, as they ripen, large yellow spots form on their rind on the ground side. You can lightly slap the watermelon with your palm or click it with your fingers: the ripe fruit produces a dull sound. This happens because ripe watermelon pulp contains more juice. When squeezed, a well-ripened watermelon crackles.

Watermelons are cut off from the stems and side shoots with a knife, leaving a tail about 5 cm long. It is not recommended to pick watermelons with your hands: this often damages the fruit itself, and the tear site quickly rots.

Early-ripening varieties, as well as the first “wave” of mid-ripening and mid-late varieties, are harvested by hand. In this case, the TShP-25 wide-cover conveyor, POU-2 platforms and mounted inclined trays are used.

It is advisable to resort to mechanized harvesting only in the case of uniform development and smooth ripening of watermelons.

Hanging trays can be made from aluminum pipes like those designed for irrigation mechanisms. The pipe is unfolded in the form of a trench, connected to the supporting angle and the ends are attached to the frame of the self-propelled chassis. A slope tray is secured under the tractor in the longitudinal direction. The back of the tray is positioned so that the watermelons roll off to the side of the road. The trays are lifted into the desired position using cables and a hydraulic cylinder. The tilt of the tray in the transport position is 30°, and in the working position – 6 – 7°.

To load watermelons into a vehicle, a wide-section conveyor belt with a mechanical drive is used. If it is not possible to purchase such a unit, watermelons are loaded manually, but in this case, labor costs during harvesting increase by 50–60%.

The mechanical fruit picker PBB-1 can damage the fruits. Therefore, it is used only for loading fodder fruits. Watermelons grown for food purposes are loaded into vehicles manually.

The final harvest of mid-late varieties is carried out mechanically. Using a tractor windrower UPV-8 or VBK-8, watermelons are rolled into a windrow, that is, into even rows. Then the fruits are loaded into the vehicle using conveyor loaders.

It is convenient to harvest watermelon using a trailed combine harvester KAP-10. Moreover, the fruits can be collected selectively or all at once. Selective mechanized harvesting is carried out directly from the field. You can do it another way: first prepare the windrow belts by hand, and then collect watermelons from them using a trailed harvester.

The harvested crop is dumped into the back of a vehicle or placed in containers mounted on a tractor trailer. When loading in bulk, the fruits are subsequently reloaded into containers TKB-113 (400-450 kg) or KB-1200 (1200 kg).

Proper organization of watermelon harvesting reduces crop losses and has a positive effect on the marketable quality of the fruit. The melons are pre-divided into strips 20-40 m wide. The row spaces are cleared of plants, the fruits are removed from there, i.e., a road is prepared along which the harvested crop will be taken away from the field.

Ripe watermelons are picked from the bushes, placed in bags or on stretchers in groups of 3–5 pieces. and dragged to the loading site. If the work is organized correctly, plants and unripe watermelons will not be harmed.

If harvesting is carried out using wide-area conveyors or hanging trays, proceed somewhat differently. The unit moves along the rows, followed by pickers who place the picked fruits on trays. Watermelons roll down trays and form a windrow along the road. In this case, 12–15 people are required to service one machine.

Watermelons are transported to the place of storage or sale in containers or on pallets. They are lined with straw or shavings. The same materials are used to lay the rows of watermelons themselves. You can transport watermelons without any container, laying them out in one row on a straw bed.

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Determining the ripeness of a watermelon in the garden - tips, proper care

Watermelon is most often consumed fresh, but it is also pickled, fermented in tubs, candied fruits are prepared from the rinds, and so-called “watermelon honey” is prepared from the juice. The juice and pulp of watermelon perfectly quench thirst, and the seeds of the ripe fruit and the oil made from them are used for medicinal purposes.

Harvesting occurs as the watermelons ripen. It is believed that it is easier to determine the ripeness of a watermelon in the garden than in the store. It's easy for a layman to make mistakes, but, as a rule, the signs indicating that a watermelon is ripe are quite accurate.

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Selection of ripe watermelon

You can determine the degree of ripeness of a watermelon using the following tips:

You should not pick or buy watermelons too early. As a rule, they do not reach mature condition before mid-August;
A ripe fruit stops its growth, and the “waxy” coating disappears from its surface;
The side that lies on the ground of a ripe watermelon should be yellowish, but not white or green;
If the watermelon is not very thick-skinned, you can bring it to your ear and lightly squeeze it with your hands. If it is ripe, then a crackling sound will be heard;
A ripe watermelon is lighter than a green one and does not sink in water;
The peel of a ripe fruit is even, smooth, without cracks, with a characteristic shine. If you run a fingernail or a sharp object along its surface, the top layer (zest) should be easily removed;
You should pay attention to the place where the tail grows. In a ripe watermelon, this area is usually convex and has calloused, lightened edges;
When you tap a ripe watermelon, you will hear a characteristic clear, ringing sound.

A dry tail is often considered a sign of watermelon ripeness. However, you should not rely only on it: the tail could dry out after the fruit was picked.

Growing watermelons

Growing a sweet watermelon in the garden is not so difficult if you know the biological characteristics of this crop, its requirements for light, heat and mineral nutrition:

In the southern regions you can grow varieties from different ripeness groups; in forest-steppe and woodland - only early and mid-early ones;
Watermelon prefers uniform heat without sudden changes (20-30 degrees), a sufficient amount of warm moisture in the soil and at the same time dry air;
Watermelon seeds intended for sowing are stored at 18-22 degrees Celsius. In addition, you need to use only two to three year old seeds, otherwise the plant will have few “female” flowers;
Immediately before sowing, the seeds need to be warmed in the sun for a week. The soil temperature at the time of sowing should be no lower than 12-14 degrees at a depth of 10 cm;
Sow the watermelon under the hoe to a depth of 5-6 cm; place 3-5 seeds in each hole. Then cover with fresh soil and press down lightly;
It is necessary to leave the row spacing large - 120-200 cm, and the distance between the holes in one row should be 70 cm;
As weeds appear, the beds need to be weeded. After the appearance of real leaves, it is necessary to leave only one, the most developed leaf;
The fruits of early-ripening honeycombs ripen 30-35 days after setting, mid-ripening ones - after 40-45, and late-ripening ones - after 50 days.

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Many people don’t know, but according to experts, watermelons are divided, relatively speaking, by gender.

There are "boys" and "girls". You can tell which one is which when you cut a watermelon.

Those that are sweeter and contain fewer seeds are “girls”.

Others, also professionals in their field, say that all this is fiction, in fact, watermelons are hermaphrodites.

We simple gardeners are of little interest to these disputes; the most important thing for us is to find out ripe watermelon or not.

Amateur gardeners who grow these large berries in their dachas have long known how to determine ripeness. These signs are described below.

The watermelon is ripe if:

A good ripe watermelon, usually of the correct shape, that is, it has a slightly elongated ball shape.

The fruit should not be small, preferably medium, about 8-12 kg. Small ones are usually not very sweet. If you choose a watermelon on the market, do not take large specimens, more than 12 kg, as they may contain a large amount of harmful nitrates.

The ripeness of a watermelon is also indicated by its tail. When ripe and sweet, it is dried out. These appear on the shelves after mid-August. If the tail is greenish and not dry, then it was removed before it was ripe.

The crust should not have any damage (dents, cracks, stains). Such a watermelon, even if ripe, loses its taste. It might be sour.

Well, the last sign is the well-known knock on the watermelon. The sound of a ripened watermelon is ringing, as if crispy. A dull sound indicates that the fruit is limp and stale. In addition, storage conditions were violated.

By the way, watermelons can be stored for a long time. For this purpose, watermelons without external damage, and if possible without a yellow spot on the side, or so that it is as small as possible. Weight is about 7 kg.

We place it in a net and hang it in a dark place with a temperature no higher than +5C. The watermelon should not be in contact with the wall or anything else.

If stored properly, you can enjoy watermelon on New Year's Day.

If anyone else is interested in the gender of a watermelon, it is determined by its butt. In the “girl” watermelon it is flatter and has a large spot, while in the “boy” there is a depression inside and turns into a small point.

After choosing a ripe watermelon, it’s time to prepare a cocktail for guests called “ drunk watermelon».

Cut a round hole in the watermelon, the size of a bottle neck, and about 7cm deep. After this, turn the bottle of vodka over and insert the neck into this hole.

Make sure that the depth is sufficient and the contents do not spill out. We wait until everything is absorbed.

Seal the hole and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

After the time has passed, the watermelon cocktail is ready for use, all that remains is to cut it into slices. The watermelon must be ripe.

To ensure a high yield and its quality, it is necessary to choose the right timing and methods of harvesting, taking into account the duration of fruit transportation. The grown crop is promptly harvested as the fruits ripen. Currently, there are no early ripening varieties with rapid ripening, providing a one-time harvest with marketability close to 100%. In this regard, early-ripening varieties of watermelon are harvested selectively, as the fruits ripen, in two or three doses; mid-late varieties and for seed purposes - once.

Selective harvests allow not only to eliminate losses, but also to increase productivity as a result of fruit growth in the period between harvests. Under rain-fed melon growing conditions, two selective harvests instead of one increase the yield by 15-25%. At the same time, the quality of the product increases.

When carrying out selective collections, the timing of cleaning is very important. The date of the first harvest (the achievement of commercial ripeness in 50% of the fruits) is determined by an amateur melon grower or a specialist. It is not recommended to remove unripe watermelon fruits for transportation, hoping that they will ripen before reaching the consumer. Unripe and green watermelon fruits, separated from the mother plant, do not ripen either during storage or during transportation, and as a result, their quality decreases sharply and a lot of production is lost. The ripening of fruits on the mother plant is accompanied by the accumulation of dry matter and total sugar.

The last harvest is carried out before frost. If some of the fruits are not ripe, they are removed and used for pickling for the winter.

While the seeds are forming and growing, relatively little sugar accumulates in the juice of the fruit pulp. They are spent on the formation of seeds, which occupy a significant specific mass in green fruits, as well as on the intensive respiration of young ones. When seeds and fruits ripen, their respiration activity weakens, the consumption of sugars decreases, and their rapid accumulation in the pulp begins. This occurs at 30-40 days of age. In young 15-20-day-old fruits, glucose predominates in the pulp; with increasing age, the content of fructose and sucrose increases, and the taste improves.

Determining the ripeness of a watermelon

The ripeness of watermelons is determined by several criteria. In appearance, a ripe fruit acquires the shine and elasticity of the bark, the clarity of its color and pattern on it, characteristic of each variety; forms a yellow spot on a piece of bark lying on the ground. The stalk and tendril near it dry out as the fruit ripens. When you hit a ripe fruit with your palm or click, it makes a dull sound, and when you squeeze it (which can be done immediately upon consumption), you can hear the crackling sound of the pulp. The flesh of a ripe watermelon is softer, there is more juice and therefore the sound is duller.

How to cut a watermelon correctly

Watermelon fruits are removed from the stalk, cutting them off from the stems and side shoots with a knife. When the stalk is torn off by hand, rotting of the fruit often begins at the site where it is torn off.

Harvesting of early-ripening varieties of watermelon, as well as the first harvesting of mid-ripening and mid-late varieties in farms and collective farms, is carried out manually - as the fruits ripen, using the TShP-25 wide conveyor, the POU-2 platform, as well as mounted inclined trays. With their help, fruits are transported from the site to inter-block roads.

Mechanized harvesting assumes uniform development of plants and smooth ripening of fruits. The difficulty of mechanizing watermelon harvesting lies in the biological characteristics of the plants, expressed in repeated ripening, differences in shapes and sizes of fruits, and powerful vegetative mass.

Mounted inclined trays are simple in design and can be made on any farm. The trays themselves are made from aluminum pipes of irrigation units. Together with the supporting angle, the pipe deployed in the form of a trench forms a shape, the ends of which are attached to the frame of the self-propelled chassis. A slope tray is fixed along it under the tractor. The back of the tray is moved to the side so that the fruits roll down to the side of the road. The trays are lifted into the transport position by a hydraulic cylinder using cables. Their inclination in the transport position is 30°, and in the working position - 6-7°.

From the windrow, the fruits are loaded onto a vehicle using a wide-range conveyor belt with a mechanical drive of the transport belt from a tractor or manually. The use of a conveyor reduces labor costs during cleaning by 50-60%. Watermelons intended for food purposes are still loaded into vehicles manually. The mechanical fruit picker PBB-1 is used for loading fruits used for feed, since their use may damage them.

In the future, reusable selective fruit collection is provided using the TUP-25 portal conveyor or the ASP-25 self-propelled portal unit with a working width of 25 m.

The possibility and high efficiency of one-time harvesting of watermelon fruits has been established, in which the problem of mechanization is most fully and successfully solved. At the same time, total labor costs are reduced by 34 times, and labor productivity increases by more than 2 times.

For mid-late varieties, one-time mechanized harvesting is used at the last harvest. The fruits are rolled into a windrow using tractor swathers UPV-8, VBK-8. From the rolls, the fruits are loaded into vehicles using conveyor loaders.
The system of machines for melon growing includes the KAP-10 combine harvester. It is trailed and designed for selective and mass (one-time) fruit harvesting. Selective mechanized harvesting is carried out directly from the field, as well as from manually pre-formed roller belts of standard fruits. Load products in bulk into the body of a vehicle or directly into containers mounted on a tractor trailer. When loading in bulk, reloading into TKB-113 containers with a capacity of 400-450 kg or KB-1200 (standard brand) with a capacity of 1200 kg of fruits with their preliminary inspection is carried out on the LZA-20 line.

Before harvesting fruits, peasant farms carry out work that eliminates losses and improves marketable quality. To do this, divide the area into strips 25-40 m wide. The inter-row spaces are cleared of plants and fruits - for roads for harvesting. Skilled workers select ripe fruits and carry them in bags or on stretchers into piles of 3-5 pieces. With this organization of work, all movement of people around the site is reduced to a minimum, the plants are almost not damaged, which ensures the full ripening of unripe fruits.
Work with wide-cover conveyors and hanging trays proceeds approximately the same way. Workers follow the machine and put the collected fruits on trays. The fruits are rolled down trays and placed in a windrow along the road. The right and left working trays are made 15-20 m long. Then the roads are cleared after 30-40 m. Such a unit is serviced when moving in the first low gear of the T-16M chassis by 12-15 people. The productivity of each worker increases by 2-2.5 times.

When transporting products, the container method of transportation (containers, pallets) is used, which reduces manual labor during loading and unloading operations, improves product quality and reduces vehicle downtime. Commercial products are sold.

Watermelon yield

The average watermelon yield is 20-30 t/ha, or 20-30 kg/10 m2, under favorable conditions - up to 45-55 t/ha. Individual watermelon fruits weigh 26 kg or more. A sensation is a watermelon weighing 91 kg, which was obtained by an experienced melon grower.