Description of the Altai melon variety, features of cultivation and care
Melon Altai is highly popular due to its pleasant taste and tolerance to low temperatures. How productive is the plant and where is the best place to grow the berry?
Description
Altai is an early ripening variety. Melons ripen 70 days after seed germination. The plant is medium vigorous. The maximum length of the central conductor is 2 m. Flowers and leaves are large.
The shape of the fruit is oval. The golden skin is thin, covered with a white mesh on the outside. The pulp is sweet, aromatic, white or creamy. Weight 1.5-2 kg. Due to their dense structure, melons can be transported well over long distances and are stored for a long time. With proper care, the yield of the variety is 25 t / 1 ha. Melons are intended for fresh consumption, drying, drying. Melon jam is also prepared from the fruits.
Unlike most varieties that need hot weather for growth, Altai can grow in cold regions, in particular, in Altai and Siberia. In addition, the variety tolerates high humidity well.
Growing features
In the southern regions, where the climate is warm and humid, melons are planted in open ground immediately in the second half of May. To discard bad seeds and destroy pathogenic bacteria, planting material is heated for 3-4 hours at a temperature of 50 ⁰С near a heat source or in warm water. Then the seeds are dipped in a 2% saline solution: the ones remaining on the surface are thrown away, and the drowned ones are pulled out and soaked for half an hour in a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
For seedlings, melons are sown in pots with a diameter of 7 cm filled with a mixture of peat, turf soil, rotted manure (1: 1: 2). The temperature in the room where the containers are located is maintained at +18 ⁰С. Under the condition of correct processing and favorable conditions, the sprouts appear on the surface 7 days after sowing. As soon as the plants release the 3rd leaf, the seedlings are transplanted to a permanent place.
Soil preparation
For planting melons, a sunny, wind-protected place is taken on the site. In autumn, the soil is dug deeply and organic or mineral fertilizers are applied. On the eve of planting, the procedure is repeated, and the surface is leveled. Consumption of rotted cow manure per 1 sq. m area 3-4 kg. Since the Altai melons like to grow in a loose environment, river sand is introduced into the heavy soil. In order for the plants to grow well, it is enough to add 0.5 buckets per 1 sq. m.
Landing
The scheme of planting Altai melons in a greenhouse is 60–70 cm, in a garden bed - 100–140 cm. The optimum depth of furrows is 5 cm. Before planting, water is poured into the grooves and placed in a handful of humus in places where there will be seeds or seedlings.
Plants of the Altai variety are carefully removed from the pots and placed in pits, so that the earthen lump in which the root is located slightly looks out of the ground. After planting, the melons are watered and shaded from the hot sunlight with a special screen. In regions characterized by strong temperature drops, the plantings are covered with foil at night.
Since the bushes of this variety need pollination, a hive or a fan is brought into the greenhouse before planting the seedlings. If there are few planted plants, pollination is carried out with a brush, alternately touching each flower.
Care
It is a well-known fact that without good care, cultivated plants will not bring the results declared by the manufacturer. Therefore, in order to grow a lot of sweet berries in the garden, the bushes need to be watered, fed, shaped, and the soil must be loosened. Agrotechnics:
- Depending on weather conditions, water is added 1-2 times a week. Please note that the soil on the garden bed where the melons grow should be moderately moist, but by no means swampy. An excessive amount of watering is an impetus to the development of rot and fungal diseases. It is especially important to maintain moderate humidity in film shelters. For this, the greenhouse is ventilated.
- Melons of the Altai variety are fed with mineral or organic fertilizers once every 10 days. Moreover, in the first half of the growing season, nitrogen-containing mixtures (carbamide, solutions of chicken, mullein) are introduced, and in the second - potassium-phosphorus. It is impossible to overfeed the melon with nitrogen, since the substance stimulates the development of greens, not fruits.
- In order to stimulate the development of lateral shoots, the central conductor is pinched after 5 leaves. To increase the size of the fruit, only 5 ovaries are left on the bush.
- Loosening is carried out after watering and rains, gradually reducing the depth of prying the soil layer. So, the soil in a bed with young plants is loosened to a depth of 15, with adults - 10 cm.
Birds are very fond of sweet fruits, so scarers are installed in the garden to protect melons from damage. Experienced gardeners cover the soil in a garden with melons with straw or boards. Thanks to this manipulation, the berries do not come into contact with the ground and rot less.
Disease and pest control
Among viral and fungal diseases, plants of the Altai variety are most susceptible to fusarium, powdery mildew, copperhead. You can identify this or that by the formation of spots on the leaves:
- To prevent the development of pathogenic microflora, planting material is treated with fungicides, the rules of crop rotation are observed.
- You can stop the spread of the disease to healthy plants by cutting off infected leaves and pulling out the plants. Organic residues are carried away from plantings and burned.
The fight against aphids, spider mites and thrips is carried out using biological or chemical insecticides.
The opinion of gardeners
Reviews of the Altai melon variety are contradictory. Some gardeners admire not the capriciousness and resistance of the culture to cold weather, but the second - they do not like the taste of berries, which are less sweet than many varieties and have a pumpkin flavor.
If you have grown Altai melon, please leave reviews so that gardeners are confident in their choice. Thank.
