Content
Climbing plants are often used to decorate buildings and other objects in personal plots. Various types of lianas, ivy, wild roses and grapes have long taken their place in the designs of private houses and summer cottages. A curly ornamental pumpkin in the shape of a pear occupies a special place among such plants. She is able to decorate facades and hedges for a very long time - from June to November. In addition, the curly pumpkin does not lose its decorative effect in the fall, since beautiful fruits of an unusual shape replace the withering leaves.
Description of decorative pear-shaped gourd
There are a large number of varieties of decorative curly gourd, slightly differing in the appearance of the green part. The main external differences between these varieties relate to the appearance of the fruits, their quantity and ripening time.
Ornamental pumpkin is a liana with a fast growth rate. This pumpkin is capable of producing shoots up to 6 m long. The height to which shoots can rise is about 2 m. This plant belongs to perennials, but in the Russian climate it is cultivated as an annual.
Unlike most pumpkins, climbing varieties have thin (no more than 10 mm in diameter) stems. The number of stems is also large: if in ordinary pumpkins their number is limited to 4-5, then in decorative ones, due to frequent branching, their number exceeds a dozen. The antennae, with which the stems cling to obstacles, are much better developed than those of a regular pumpkin. They have an increased growth rate and greater strength.
The leaves of these varieties are rarely more than 10-12 cm in diameter. Their color can vary significantly depending on the variety, there are both light salad and rich dark green shades. Leaves are relatively thin, pubescence is poorly expressed.
Flowers are almost always white, 5-6 cm in diameter. In rare cases, they can be yellow or orange. Their shape is standard for a pumpkin - a five-bladed bell.
Description of fruits
A characteristic feature of the decorative pear-shaped pumpkin breed is the shape of its fruits, which, in fact, follows from the name. However, it should be said right away that the color, the number of fruits on the plant, the peculiarities of their shape depend on the specific variety or hybrid of the plant. And the number of such varieties reaches several dozen.
Each plant produces from 20 to 30 fruits. Almost always, the flesh of these fruits is light orange or yellow. The weight of the fruit is within a few tens of grams.
Fruit color is:
- yellow;
- white;
- red;
- cream;
- orange, etc.
Spotted or striped varieties are common. The skin of the fruit can be smooth, pimpled, segmented, etc. A typical view of the fruit of a curly decorative pumpkin in the form of a pear is shown in the photo:
The pear-shaped fruit, common to all varieties, can have different proportions.There are fruits with an elongated thin part (Cobra variety), a star-shaped thick part (Crown variety), turban-shaped (Turkish turban variety), a segmented thickened part (Sweet dumping variety), and so on. The varieties of the Bottle Lagenaria group are the closest to the classic pear-shaped form.
A large number of varieties have fruits with a curved shape of the thin part (varieties Nativ Couture, Swan Neck, Peanut Butter and others).
The main purpose of the fruits is to decorate the site. In addition, ripe fruits are used to prepare various hand-made crafts (vases, lamps, candlesticks, flasks, etc.). The palatability of such pumpkins is very mediocre.
Is it possible to eat a decorative pear-shaped pumpkin
Most varieties of pear-shaped ornamental gourds are unsuitable for human consumption. Only a few of them can be used as raw materials for cooking pumpkin dishes. These include, for example, Baby Boo or Peanut varieties.
Some varieties (for example Sweet Dumping) can be eaten before they are fully ripe, because when ripe, their flesh hardens and they become unusable.
Main characteristics
The plant is decorative, so the concept of yield is not applicable to it. Most of the fruits are small in size and weight (from 10 to 50 g), in rare cases there are large-fruited varieties, for example, Orange, weighing up to 300 g. However, as noted earlier, the vast majority of varieties are not suitable for food.
The plant has low frost resistance. With significant cold snaps, when the temperature drops below + 10-12 ° C, the growth of shoots stops and no longer resumes.
Possessing a branched horse system, ornamental pumpkin can do without water for a relatively long time. The plant will not die, but at the same time the growth rate of the green part is significantly reduced and the process of fruit formation slows down. In general, pumpkin loves abundant watering; it is not recommended to expose it to drought for too long.
Pest and disease resistance
Like any other member of the pumpkin family, the decorative curly pear has an average resistance to diseases and pests. The risk of being attacked by certain diseases and pests depends, first of all, on proper agricultural technology and plant care.
Among the diseases, the most common are powdery mildew and various types of rot (gray, root, etc.), as well as bacteriosis. Pests are also typical for pumpkin plants: melon aphids and spider mites.
Disease and pest control methods are standard. Fungal diseases are stopped with solutions of copper sulfate (from 1% to 3%) or colloidal sulfur preparations. Acaricides or folk remedies (tincture of onion and garlic husks) are used against pests.
As a preventive measure, several spraying of the foliage with a 1% solution of copper sulfate is recommended every 2 weeks, carried out in June-July.
Advantages and disadvantages
The plant has the following advantages:
- simplicity of agricultural technology and unpretentiousness in cultivation;
- a wide variety of colors and shapes of fruits and leaves, making it possible to implement any design ideas;
- long and dense branched loops, abundantly entwining trellises and hailstones and rising up to 2 m in height;
- strong and durable dried fruits used in the manufacture of various types of decoration.
Disadvantages of decorative pumpkin:
- lack of edible fruits.
Growing a pumpkin in the form of a pear
Growing a decorative pumpkin is no different from growing a common pumpkin. The plant can be grown in both seedling and seedling methods.
Seedless way
In this case, the seeds are simply planted in the beds in late May or early June. If weather conditions permit (temperature + 12-15 ° С), disembarkation can be made earlier.
Usually, two seeds are placed in each hole 5 to 10 cm deep. Ornamental pumpkins are not planted close to each other. The minimum distance between landing sites is 60-70 cm.
The soil for seeds should be neutral or slightly acidic. It is believed that the pH level should be between 6.5 and 7.0.
Pumpkin needs light loam rich in organic matter for normal growth. Therefore, six months before planting, rotted manure or humus should be introduced into the soil.
Pumpkins grow well after green manure. For this culture, legumes or cereals are the optimal green manure. Good predecessors of the past year include:
- nightshade;
- carrot;
- bow;
- cabbage.
Pumpkin grows poorly after any Pumpkin (zucchini, cucumber, other pumpkins, etc.).
Despite the fact that this is a light-loving plant, it is better that it grow in partial shade. In a day, a decorative pumpkin is enough for 6 hours of being in the direct rays of the Sun.
Seedling cultivation
Planting pumpkin seedlings is carried out about a month before planting in open ground (for example, you can plant seedlings throughout April). Planting is best done immediately in an individual container.
Seedling soil consists of three components:
- leafy land (3-4 parts);
- peat (2 parts);
- sand (1 part).
If the soil is fertile enough in the garden, it can be used as seedling soil without any additives.
The seeds are prepared before planting in the same way as they are planted in open ground (for several hours in warm water with further soaking in a cloth). After planting, they are watered and covered with plastic wrap.
Seedlings appear within 1-2 weeks. The film is then removed and the container with seedlings is placed on the sill of the southern windows. Transplanting into the ground is carried out on the 3rd week after germination. It is advisable to carry out a hardening procedure before this, lasting 4-5 days.
After planting the plant in open ground, it is necessary to water it.
Caring for decorative pumpkin
Caring for the plant completely repeats caring for ordinary "melon" varieties of pumpkins. It consists of regular weeding, watering, loosening the soil and applying top dressing.
A feature of growing such a pumpkin is the correct formation of the stems. Good support is required for their normal growth. It can be made in any form (mesh, trellises, ropes on the wall or fence, etc.) The main requirement is that the distance between the structural elements should not be too large. In this case, the mustache will find a fulcrum much faster, and the plant will grow in the right direction.
It is also recommended to tie the lashes to the supports manually in order to speed up the braiding of one or another element.
Watering the plant is performed once a week with 10-20 liters of water. The water should be 2-3 ° C warmer than the air temperature. After watering, the soil needs to be loosened to a depth of 3-5 cm. If the planting site is mulched, loosening is not necessary.
Top dressing is performed twice a month, and since the plant's main decorative element is leaves, and the mass of fruits is minimal, you can only do with nitrogen-containing fertilizers. Every third top dressing is recommended to be done with the addition of potash fertilizers.
Conclusion
The curly ornamental pear-shaped pumpkin is becoming more and more popular among ornamental plants. An unpretentious plant with a large amount of creeping green mass can be used both as an addition to an existing design, and as an independent landscape object. In comparison with other creeping plants, it has a higher rate of foliage spreading and a longer time during which its decorative effect is maintained.
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