Some summer residents try to grow watermelons. The agricultural technology of this culture has its own subtleties, because this plant is used to the sultry sun and a lot of heat. In the south, they can grow without restriction, and in hot countries many fruits can ripen, for this reason there is no need to regulate fruiting. In the middle lane, the question of how to pinch watermelons is very important for getting a good crop. This culture is predisposed to continuous growth, their lashes can sometimes stretch for 6-7 meters. To feed this huge mass of greens, you need a huge amount of moisture, nutrients, and most importantly - sunlight. But in warm summers, a watermelon bush that forms a lot of lashes may not have time to grow normal berries.
Why do I need to pinch watermelons
When growing this berry, the goal is to grow juicy and sweet fruits, it is difficult to do this without pincing the shoots. Pinch the growth points of the shoots to stop their development, stopping the growth of excess shoots. Please note that the tweezers of watermelons are performed exclusively in cold latitudes (Ural, Siberia, the middle strip of our country).
Pinching watermelons is necessary so that the plants direct their vital energy to the formation of fruits, and not to growing excess vegetative mass. This operation is carried out leaving 2-3 ovaries on the shoot, as a result of the fact that only a limited number of fruits and few shoots develop on the plant. As a result, fruits grow and ripen much faster than on plants with not shortened lashes. If watermelons grow in greenhouses, then they cut off only the side stepsons, in many varieties of this culture the fruits are formed exclusively on the main stem, and on the other lashes the ovary cannot grow to a normal size.
When pinching watermelons
If the plants begin to interfere with each other, then you need to cut off the extra shoots. In most regions, gardeners leave 3-5 berries on each bush. As a result, the plant is not overloaded, and the abandoned fruits will develop faster, grow sweet and large. It is not necessary to remove all the shoots and pick off a lot of leaves; for life, the plant needs photosynthesis, which can only occur with the help of leaves lit by sunlight. Be sure to leave 2-3 normal leaves after each berry, for this reason you need to shorten the extra shoot above them.
In our conditions, no more than 6 fruits can be left on a watermelon in our conditions, and if large berries are grown in your chosen variety, no more than four fruits. A greater number of them will lead to a decrease in their mass and the berries will not be so juicy and sweet.
Step-by-step instruction
They begin to pinch the watermelon after 4-5 leaves are formed on it, this is necessary for the growth of lateral shoots, and female inflorescences will appear on them and then the future berries will be ovary. Do not forget that on one bush, you can leave no more than 5 fruits. If they are properly looked after, they will gain a lot of mass and have time to fully mature before the cold weather. Pinching the shoots is done by removing the growth point (the place from which new leaves appear).
When you have several lateral shoots growing, some of them are removed, leaving only 2 of the most developed and strong. Moreover, it is advisable to leave those that are located higher, and the worst of them (most often these are the lower lashes) should be removed (just like pinching on tomatoes). Lateral shoots, you also need to pincer after the appearance of 4-5 leaves.
After that, you need to wait a few weeks until the inflorescences appear and the ovaries form from them. Further, these lashes are also tweezed, and the remaining lashes that appear, you need to pinch above 3-4 sheets. The flowers that appear on them must be removed. Planks are placed under the left fruits so that rot does not appear on them.
To grow a good harvest you need:
1. Choose a watermelon variety suitable for your conditions, they can be early - Dolby, Trophy, Helen, they are able to give the first berries in mid-July, if they are sown under cover. Varieties - Unusual, Nice, are sung in the second decade of August, and such as Chill will start to produce berries in the last decade of August;
2. Correctly place the watermelon bushes, between the rows you need to leave a space of at least 2 meters. Before sowing, the wells are well watered, and 5-10 seeds are sown in them (after the emergence of seedlings they leave the strongest of them, the rest are torn out), sprinkled with soil and slightly compacted. In a row place bushes no more than 1 meter;
3. Do not water the watermelon much, drought is not terrible for it, since the roots of this plant penetrate deep into the soil. But in order to grow a decent crop, it is desirable (but not necessary) to water the plants 2 times a month, pouring 3 buckets of water per 1 m2;
4. It is necessary to properly form a watermelon, this is the most important condition for growing watermelon in mid-latitudes.
There are several ways to form watermelon bushes.
The first
On the main stem of the plant leave 3 berries of large-fruited varieties, for plants with small fruits, it is permissible to leave up to 6 ovaries. Ovaries are not left on the lateral shoots, there should be 4 adult leaves on them, after which the shoot is nipped. These lashes are necessary for additional nutrition of berries that will grow on the main shoot. As the fruit grows, the lower shoots must be cut off.
Second
On the watermelon, do not leave the side lashes, they are torn off, and the ovaries on the main stem are left after 5 sheets. It must be remembered that during the growth of the plant new stepsons can form, they also need to be cut off, inspection should be done once every 7 days.
Third
Many gardeners do not break the side lashes, it is on them that the berries grow, and on the main stem the ovaries break. After the green mass grows on the bush of the watermelon and the first inflorescences are formed, it is necessary to leave up to 4 flowers for large-fruited varieties, and no more than 6 flowers for small-fruited varieties.
On each lash, you can leave one at a time, in some cases no more than 2 fruits. Left shoots with berries, it is necessary to pincer, leaving 3-4 leaves above the ovary. After this, it is necessary to carefully trim the extra stepsons with scissors, especially if ovaries have appeared on them.
Pinching the watermelon and removing the extra shoots should be done on a warm, sunny day, so the wounds on the plant will dry out very quickly. If you do this work in cloudy weather or during rain, then rot will appear on open wounds.
How to pinch watermelons of heat-loving varieties
Varieties that need a lot of sunshine and heat, quickly spirits and are very tasty. In our climate, cold weather comes early, for this reason you need to help them mature until the weather starts to get worse. Pinching watermelons of such varieties, it is advisable to leave only one berry on this shoot so that they become tasty, manage to gain weight and fully ripen.
