Pumpkin growing experience

(Baonghean) - Currently, pumpkin is the most commonly used type as young fruit, young shoots, mature fruit and seeds are delicious dishes.

Characteristics of squash: Easy to grow and care for, less susceptible to pests and diseases, cold and drought tolerant, grown on all types of soil, as long as the soil is high and well-drained. Any family can grow squash, using hillside land, pond banks, and wasteland to grow squash... For rocky soil, it must be improved by digging a hole 30cm deep, 30cm wide, 30cm long, removing rocks and soil, pouring in good soil such as fertile soil, alluvial soil, and adding 3 - 5kg of decomposed manure to each hole.

Local varieties choose ripe, round, firm, heavy, red pumpkins with thick flesh, free from pests and diseases, or hybrid variety F1 YaLi 5559 ... (hybrid variety E1 does not leave seeds, low yield).

Split the fruit in half, take out the fresh, firm seeds, wash them, drain them and plant them directly into the hole or into the pot (sowing pots applies to the rainy and cold season when rats cause a lot of damage, the plants planted before are ready to be harvested). To make pots, use alluvial soil, good fertile soil, improved soil, 2 parts soil, 1 part decomposed manure, mix well and put in the pots, put in fresh seeds, cover 2cm deep, sow 1 seed in each pot, place the pots in the nursery, with enough light, dry soil, watered sufficiently.

Planting season from August to March of the following year

Fertilizer: Amount of basal fertilizer for 1 sao (500m2)

800-1000 kg of decomposed manure, 10-15 kg of lime, 15-20 kg of superphosphate as basal fertilizer, apply in rows and holes, and spread lime powder evenly when plowing.

Sowing technique: Sow rows 2.5m - 3m apart, holes 0.6m apart, sow 3-4 seeds per hole, seeds 7-10cm apart, apply base fertilizer and cover with fertilizer before sowing fresh seeds, seeds covered to a depth of 3-4cm.

For direct sown squash, when the squash has 1-2 true leaves, prune away stunted and diseased plants, leaving 2-3 plants per hole.

First top dressing: 15 days after sowing (with 2-3 true leaves), sell 2kg of urea and 2kg of potassium, fertilize the area immediately after planting, best to make a trellis for climbing squash, bamboo material, bamboo, reed, etc.

Second fertilization: After 35-40 days of sowing, apply 3kg of urea and 3kg of potassium 10-15cm away from the base of the plant. Water regularly, use well water, clean pond water that is not contaminated with river water. Absolutely do not water with wastewater from cities, towns, hospitals, or industrial zones.

Planting seedlings: When the squash has 1-2 true leaves, plant, fertilize with 2kg of urea and 2kg of potassium. After fertilizing, cover with fertilizer and plant. When planting, tear off the pot shell. After planting, water to keep moist. Planting density is the same as sowing density.

Fertilize 25-30 days after planting, 3kg of urea and 3kg of potassium. Absolutely do not water with fresh manure or uncomposted manure. Harvest after 7 days of nitrogen fertilization.

Pests and diseases:

Thrips: Mainly concentrated at the top of the tree, sucking sap, causing the tree to grow poorly. Use kuraba... Fruit flies use Feramol traps.

Wilt disease: Mainly use cultivation measures: Balanced fertilization, planting at the right density... remove diseased plants and treat with copper-based drugs or lime.

Downy mildew: Prevent with Ridomil, dosage see on package, harvest 14 days after spraying.

Above are some experiences in growing pumpkins. We hope that households will take advantage of high land areas, orchards with uncultivated fruit trees, riverside land, newly harvested apple orchards, and plant them right after cutting them down...

Nguyen Thi Lam (Provincial Agricultural Extension Center)