Melon as a pumpkin: grafting methods

Features of grafting melons

To successfully get a high-quality hybrid by grafting a melon onto a pumpkin, you should use a film, a glass jar, a box with a glazed top, a frame covered with gauze for growing a greenhouse.

If you choose a greenhouse, it is recommended to use boxes with a height of over 30 cm and a width of 1 m. Greenhouse frames have proven themselves to be a cover for them. The bottom of such a box is covered with earth or sand, the layer of which is at least 3-4 cm. They need to be well moistened. In such a greenhouse, you need to maintain the temperature in the region of 20-30 degrees Celsius, high humidity, make a diffused lighting system.

In order to bandage the place where the melon was grafted onto the pumpkin, you should take the sponge, from which the ribbons are created. Their length is 30, and the width is 0.5 cm. You will also need wadding or thick threads, the length of which is 10 cm. Remember that too tight or too weak a bandage can lead to the death of plants.

The grafting procedure is usually carried out using a safety razor blade or a well-sharpened knife. It is permissible to make a scion with a sharpened knife, which has not yet been used anywhere. There are also special scion knives.

The choice of the scion method depends on the structure of the crop stems, their age, and the ability to grow together. For example, grafting on a stock with a hollow stem is usually carried out in its side, or in the axil of a leaf or a tube. Grafting on a stock with a completed stem is advised to be carried out in a split. The convergence method is practiced for crops that cannot boast of normal interfusion.

For example, if the inoculation is carried out in a lateral incision, then it is done on the stem in different places. If the rootstock is in the first leaf phase, the incision is made through the hypocotal knee on the opposite side. In this case, the leaf itself and the growth point are cut off. The graft should be cut from the root in the cotyledon phase. On the hypocotyledonous knee, a thin layer of skin is cut off, the length of which is identical to the cut on the stem of the stock. To open the incision on the rootstock, the stem is bent, a scion is inserted into it, the end of which must enter the rootstock incision as tightly as possible. The vaccination site is tied tightly, but not too much.

Video “Grafting a melon on a pumpkin. Part 1"

This video will allow you to watch the procedure of grafting a melon onto a pumpkin.

Types of pumpkins

What varieties of pumpkins are not there today! They are striking in their variety, and it is difficult for a gardener to make a choice of a variety. There are 3 main types - hard-bore, large-fruited and nutmeg. Among which there are climbing pumpkins and growing in the form of a bush, having large and portioned fruits, with a sweet taste, many seeds, table and feed.

Hardcore is a type of vegetable crop in which the ripe skin is very dense to the touch. Such vegetables have an early ripening period - they can actually be harvested in late August - early September.They are characterized by small fruits with an excellent taste of seeds. Hard-bore crops received from nature a ribbed stalk, on which grooves are clearly visible. They also have a spiny and hairy stem and interestingly shaped leaves with five corners. The seeds of these vegetables have a delicate creamy shade. Among these plants, there are varieties that grow in the form of a bush.

Large-fruited crops are striking in gigantic size. Moreover, the degree of their sugar content can be up to 15%. They have a rounded stem in the shape of a cylinder, the stem is completely devoid of grooves, the leaves of the plants are almost pentagonal. Seeds can be dyed brown or milky white. The advantages of this type of experts include the ability to tolerate very low temperature indicators and lie for a long time even in an apartment, while maintaining normal taste.

Nutmeg varieties are vitamins, they have excellent taste, whatever variety you choose. But at the same time, the disadvantages include their thermophilicity and late ripening of fruits. Therefore, they are advised to grow in the southern regions, so that delicious vegetables have time to ripen in a season. They are distinguished by a pentahedral peduncle, which is wider at the base. They have brown or dirty yellow seeds. You can grow such crops in the middle lane if you plant a culture in the form of seedlings. Moreover, it is permissible to harvest the crop unripe and leave it in the apartment so that the fruits "reach".

Popular among gardeners are the following pumpkin varieties: "Zorka", "Rossiyanka", "Acorn", "Spaghetti", "Marble", "Freckles", "Sweetie", "Gribovskaya bush", "Almond", "Volzhskaya gray" and other.

Next, take a closer look at some of the varieties:

• pumpkin "Dawn" - is a large-fruited table variety. It has a medium-early ripening period. The fruits are dark gray with characteristic orange spots. The average weight of each is 5–6 kg. The variety has long, highly developed whips. It has a rich orange pulp, which contains up to 14% sugar. Revered by gardeners for the increased presence of carotene - in many ways it is not even inferior to all the well-known carrots.
• pumpkin "Rossiyanka" - a variety with large fruits and early ripening. Her lashes reach 1.5 m in length. The fruits are like a top and have a beautiful orange color. They usually weigh in the range of 2-4 kg. The flesh of the hybrid pleasantly surprises with delicate and delicious notes of melon. The variety is resistant to low temperatures and is considered a high-yielding variety.
• "Acorn", which is also called "acorn pumpkin" - a variety belonging to the hard-bore and quickly ripening crops. It can be climbing or bushy. Its fruits are somewhat similar in appearance to large acorns. The most common vegetables are green, although black, yellow and white vegetables are not uncommon. The flesh of the hybrid has a light yellow color and cannot boast of any special sweetness. This hybrid is great for both baking and stuffing.

And this is a description of just some of the wonderful varieties. Which pumpkin variety to choose for growing on your own plot depends only on your desire.

Vaccination methods

There are many known methods of grafting melon, tested on any species. The most popular methods for planting a melon among gardeners are considered to be close: with a tongue and in the center.

To get a new unusual hybrid, some manipulations should be carried out when the first full-fledged leaf appears on the seedlings. When the pumpkins have come off in the cups, you can start in a couple of days. The bottle culture is sown 3 days later, since its development occurs later than the melons.

The instrument should be disinfected. Most often this is a blade wrapped with electrical tape on one side. It is rubbed with alcohol. Having prepared polyethylene tapes, they cut off the growth point of a vegetable of any kind. The second sheet must be removed. A straight 2 cm cut should be made in the middle of the stem.Its length is no more than two seed-leaf leaves. The stem is tied under the incision. The melon is cut to the very root. The length of the stem should be no more than 3 cm. It is opened and the scion is inserted. You need to fix the vaccination site with tape. A clip is used for secure fixation. With a successful grafting, the plant, regardless of which variety was chosen, begins active growth after a week. After waiting 2 weeks, the shelter is removed.

Inoculation by rapprochement, in which the hybrid has a high survival rate, is carried out in this way: the vegetables are leaned against, the skin is removed on the inside of the stem of each. They are tied with polyethylene tape. Additionally, a clip or an ordinary clothespin is used for fixing. When 5-6 days have passed, the melon stalk located below the scion site is advised to be crushed. This is done until its stem begins to dry. It is necessary to cut it when the seedling is planted in a greenhouse or on a plot. The growing leaves should also be cut off. At the same time, the center of growth of the future hybrid must not be completely removed.

Tongue grafting is used for all types of vegetables. In this case, the cultures lean against each other, the connection point is marked on the stem with a marker. On the melon, make an oblique cut with a length of no more than 2 cm. This is the so-called tongue. A cut of the same size is created on the stem of the pumpkin, only from top to bottom. Further, the tongues are connected to each other (it is more convenient to carry out such manipulations with vegetables of any kind with an assistant). It is required to securely tie the stems. The peg is placed at a distance of several cm from the stem.

Thus, grafting vegetables, whichever variety you use, allows you to get a hybrid with excellent taste, even in cold northern areas. Obtained by any of the above methods, the hybrid will be able to survive even at low temperatures, will grow quickly and will not be susceptible to typical diseases.

In order for the grafted plants to take up well and develop fully, they should be provided with moisture and diffused light in the first days after the procedure.

Video “Grafting a melon on a pumpkin. Part 2"

This video continues the work of the breeder in grafting the melon onto the pumpkin.