Watermelon of the Producer variety is considered quite promising and enjoys well-deserved popularity. Even in not particularly favorable years, if all care requirements are met, the watermelon producer produces good harvests. This variety is often used by farmers. It also grows well on an industrial scale.
Characteristics of the variety, advantages and disadvantages
This variety has both obvious advantages and disadvantages. A description of each of them follows.
- With proper care, the crop provides a stable harvest.
- The rind of the berry is quite thin. The taste of the pulp is sweet, the texture is dense and grainy.
- The fruits have a high density, which allows them to be transported over fairly long distances.
- Watermelon of the Producer variety retains both its appearance and excellent taste for a long time.
- The berries of this variety can be grown both in open and closed ground.
- Has high taste characteristics.
These advantages make the berry of this variety a leader among watermelons.
The fruits are early ripening, ripen approximately 60-70 days after planting. Productivity is good, but much depends on growing conditions. On average, you can collect 8-10 kg from one square meter. If this watermelon is grown on an industrial scale, then the yield is about 100 centners per hectare.
It is quite resistant to various types of diseases.
However, with all the advantages, this variety also has its disadvantages:
- quite capricious and requires careful care, and therefore is not the best choice for beginners;
- very dependent on sunlight and weather;
- requires timely watering and special feeding.
With insufficient care and lighting, the yield can be quite low, and the fruits themselves are of poor quality (small and unsweetened). Sometimes the berries may be unripe inside, although their appearance may indicate otherwise.
It is worth noting that with proper agricultural technology and proper care, all disadvantages are relative.
The berries are oval in shape. The pulp of the ripe fruit is bright red, very sweet, and contains a large amount of sugar. As a rule, there are no white veins. The seeds are located closer to the crust.
How it was bred and the growing region
Watermelon Producer is the result of the work of American breeders with another popular variety, Crimson Sweet.
The distribution area is very large - Moldova, Belarus, Ukraine, southern regions of Russia.
How to grow a watermelon Producer
If we are talking about growing this crop in regions with a warm climate, then in this case the seeds of the wave can be planted directly in open ground. For the cooler middle zone, the method of growing in the form of seedlings is more suitable. This will reduce the ripening period by approximately half a month.
In areas where the climate is very cool, this variety is cultivated exclusively in greenhouses.
Planting seeds for seedlings
For seedlings, it is worth choosing cold-resistant hybrids of the Producer variety. In preparation for sowing you need:
- put the seeds in a 3% solution of sodium chloride (ordinary table salt);
- floating seeds are removed as they will not sprout;
- remove the seeds that have settled to the bottom and rinse thoroughly;
- dry for a short time, and then send to heat for about two hours at a temperature of 50-60 degrees;
- to ensure disinfection of seeds, they should be immersed in a solution of potassium permanganate (potassium permanganate);
- place the seeds on a flat surface and cover with a cloth so that they can germinate.
Soil for growing the Producer variety can be purchased at a special store. This will ensure higher yields. But for amateur cultivation, it is quite possible to make the mixture yourself at home by mixing humus with peat and adding sawdust.
Seeds are planted in April. In order not to injure the roots, it is better to plant the seeds in peat pots. Afterwards, the pots are watered and covered with film for faster germination.Seedlings require good lighting.
Planting in open ground
After 4-5 leaves appear, the watermelon can be placed in open ground. To do this, make beds about 5 centimeters deep. Seedlings need to be planted at intervals of 2-3 centimeters and buried.
Since this variety is heat-loving, sprouts need to be planted only when the minimum air temperature is above fifteen degrees. At temperatures of twelve degrees and below, plant growth will stop.
Formation of bushes
If the watermelon is grown in a greenhouse, then the shoot is formed in the form of only one stem. It must be tied to a support. Side shoots less than 50 cm in length are removed so that they do not cover the growing berries with shadow.
A large number of ovaries will require more time to ripen. No more than 3 pieces are left on each shoot, the rest must be removed.
Two stepsons are left on the main stem. When the ovary appears, the lash is pinched every three leaves. This method ensures that three berries will ripen at the same time.
If a watermelon of this variety is planted in open ground, the bushes are formed into three stems, and then the tops are pinched.
Although this is a sun-loving plant, during the ripening period the fruits should be placed in a little shade.
To do this, in especially hot times, each berry can be covered with other plants with large leaves, for example, burdock.
In areas where temperatures in spring and early summer are not warm enough, farmers resort to tricks. One of them is to build a small greenhouse over the seedlings using film. It is removed in the second half of June in cloudy weather or in the evening so that the sun does not burn the young plants.
Watering and fertilizing
Because watermelons have good drought tolerance, plants should be watered sparingly depending on their stage of growth. When the watermelon blooms, you need to water it about twice a week, this will be more than enough.
If the weather is very hot, you need to water it once every 7-8 days. And when the time comes for the fruits themselves to form, you should limit their watering. Already at the berry ripening stage watermelon producer watering recommended to stop.
During ripening, it is recommended to regularly use fertilizing to increase yield. It is recommended to apply fertilizer to moist soil.
It is possible to replace regular soil fertilization by preliminary adding ash or humus to the soil before planting the seeds.
How to determine if a berry is ripe
The external color of the berry is alternating light and dark green stripes. By how contrasting they are, you can judge the ripeness of the watermelon.
You can also tell the degree of ripeness of a berry by looking at the peel. When the watermelon begins to ripen, the color of the rind changes from dull to shiny.
Scratches on the fruit itself can also be an indicator of maturity. These are traces of crow beaks. Birds will not touch an unripe watermelon.
To avoid making a mistake and to prevent the plant from over-ripening and not picking it unripe, you need to look at the stalk. It becomes dry at the moment of ripeness of the watermelon.
Harvest and storage
Watermelons are harvested only after the berries reach the first degree of removable ripeness, which usually occurs 5-6 days before the fruit is fully ripened.
If watermelons are picked earlier, then most likely they will not ripen in storage, and berries picked later will not be suitable for long-term storage.
The fruits, collected in time, have pink flesh, which after a certain time, called “resting,” will become bright red.
The best conditions for storing fruits will be a temperature of 1-4 degrees and a humidity of 70-80%.
There are several known ways to store watermelons of this variety:
- Place the watermelon in a box lined with dry moss.
- You can put watermelons in barrels and cover them with ashes.
- You can wrap a watermelon in cotton cloth, put it in a net and hang it from the ceiling of the cellar.
- The berries can be coated with a 5 mm thick layer of wax or paraffin and placed in the cellar for storage.
If storage rules are followed, watermelon can be successfully stored for up to 6 months.
