When to plant a melon for seedlings: auspicious days

Choosing seeds

The first step is to select seeds that can be grown in your area. Remember that melon loves heat very much, which means that you need to provide it with at least +25 ºС throughout the growing season. It is best to take early-ripening varieties, which, although they will give a slightly smaller harvest, will definitely give it.

The Altayskiy variety is suitable for such planting, the growing season of which takes only 80 days. The fruits of the melon are oval, deep yellow in color, the flesh is white and juicy. Pumpkins grow up to 1 kg in weight, are well stored and transported.

Another variety that is good to grow through seedlings is Blondie. Its vegetation lasts up to 85 days. Medium pumpkins, weighing up to 700 grams, when ripe, the rind becomes creamy, exuding a strong sweet smell.

You should not choose late-ripening melon varieties, especially in the middle lane. It is best to plant seeds that are already 2-3 years old, since peers mostly form male flowers. The selection of seeds suitable for planting is done by soaking in a 5% salt solution, where the seed is placed for 2-3 hours. Those seeds that float should not be planted because they will not sprout or will give weak shoots. And those that have safely settled to the bottom should be washed and laid out on a damp cloth for further preparation for planting.

When to plant

When growing melon seedlings, it is important to know when to plant seeds and when it is time to plant in the ground in the garden bed. Melon is planted in greenhouses and open beds in early June, when the air temperature is already consistently high. This means that the planting of seeds falls on the middle or end of April. It is important that the seedlings form a strong root system and stem - this will help the plant adapt faster in the garden. The fact is that the melon does not tolerate transplants very well and can grow poorly or even die.

Seed and soil preparation

The first step is to start preparing the seeds. After you have rejected the seeds, they need to be disinfected and hardened in order, firstly, to accelerate their growth, and secondly, to protect them from various infections.

Disinfection is carried out using a solution of potassium permanganate. Dilute 10 grams of potassium permanganate crystals in 1 liter of water, place the seed in it for 25 minutes. You can also use a soda solution, for this 2 grams of baking soda is diluted in 1 glass of warm water. In this case, the seeds are soaked in it for 11 hours. This time is enough for them to swell and awaken vegetative processes.

To charge future melons with useful trace elements and accelerate their ripening, you can use ash infusion. To do this, dilute 1 teaspoon of wood ash in 1 glass of water, put the seeds in a cloth bag and immerse them in the infusion for 12 hours. After that, rinse under running water and dry with paper towels.

Hardening of seeds helps well, increasing their resistance to weather conditions and immunity. This can be done in several ways:

1. Collect the snow (if it hasn't melted yet) or take ice from the freezer. Put the seeds pretreated with ash infusion on ice and leave for 10 hours. Alternatively, wrap the seed in a damp cloth and put it in the refrigerator, in a compartment where the temperature is about +2 ° C.
2. Fill a container with water at a temperature of about 35 ° C, put melon seeds in it for 12 hours. Then wrap them in a cloth and put them in a dry place at room temperature for a day. When they are resting, put them in the refrigerator for 18-20 hours, and then put them back in a room with room temperature. The procedure must be repeated at least 3 times. After this preparation, it will be easier to plant the seedlings in the ground.

No less attention should be paid to the composition of the soil. Melon seedlings should be planted in a “cocktail” of humus, turf and peat, mixing them in equal proportions. This is a base to which you need to add 1 cup of ash, 1 teaspoon of carbamide, 1 tablespoon of superphosphate and 1 teaspoon of potassium. All ingredients must be thoroughly mixed and poured into the seed container.

Before adding fertilizer, take care of soil disinfection. You can ignite the soil in the oven, or use a solution of potassium permanganate or copper sulfate. It is in such a soil that it is best to plant seeds.

Sowing technology

You can plant seeds in peat tablets or pots. This is a fairly easy option and is suitable if you are not growing very many seedlings. Otherwise, you will need quite a lot of space to store these pills.

It is quite convenient to grow seedlings in paper cups. This way, it will be easier for you to get the seedlings out of them when it comes time to plant them in the garden bed. It is best to choose a diameter of at least 10 centimeters. Fill each glass or any other container suitable for growing with the previously prepared soil. Moisten the soil, and then deepen the seeds by 3-4 centimeters. Place several seeds in one hole or glass to increase the likelihood of sprouting. Sprinkle the soil with a centimeter layer of sand on top.

Seedlings are grown for about 25-30 days.

Melon seedling technology

From now on, make sure the plant gets enough sunlight and warmth. The air temperature must be at least 20 ºС. After about a week, with enough heat, the first shoots will appear. Leave only one sprout in each cup, the strongest one. When the second leaf is formed on the sprout, the seedlings are pinched to stimulate the development of lateral shoots.

Melon seedlings need to be fed twice during growing. For the first time, fertilizers are applied to the soil when the first leaf appears. Prepare a mixture of mineral components: superphosphate, saltpeter, potassium. Feed the second time after 2 weeks. This will be enough to grow healthy seedlings that will be easy to plant in your garden bed.

Although plants from the pumpkin family are drought tolerant, be careful with watering so that the soil in the pots does not dry out. In the early stages of the growing season, the sprouts need a large amount of resources. Once every two weeks, you can combine watering with top dressing. Use a yeast solution. To do this, mix 10 grams of dry yeast with 10 liters of water, and then dilute the solution 1:10.

Melon Seedling Video

This video is about the intricacies of seed preparation and planting seedlings.