Altai melon is highly popular due to its pleasant taste and tolerance to low temperatures. How productive is the plant and where is the best place to grow the berries?
Description
Altai is an early ripening variety. Melons ripen 70 days after seed germination. The plant is medium-vigorous. The maximum length of the central conductor is 2 m. The flowers and leaves are large.
The shape of the fruit is oval. The golden skin is thin, covered on the outside with a white mesh. The pulp is sweet, aromatic, white or cream in color. Weight 1.5–2 kg. Due to their dense structure, melons tolerate transportation well over long distances and are stored for a long time. With proper care, the variety's yield is 25 t/1 ha. Melons are intended for fresh consumption, drying, and drying. Melon jam is also prepared from the fruits.
Unlike most varieties that require hot weather to grow, Altai can also grow in cold regions, in particular in Altai and Siberia. In addition, the variety tolerates high humidity well.
Features of cultivation
In the southern regions, where the climate is warm and humid, melons are planted in open ground immediately in the second half of May. To reject bad seeds and destroy pathogenic bacteria, planting material is heated for 3–4 hours at a temperature of 50 °C near a heat source or in warm water. Then the seeds are dipped in a 2% saline solution: those remaining on the surface are thrown away, and those that have sunk are pulled out and soaked for half an hour in a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
Melons are sown for seedlings in pots with a diameter of 7 cm filled with a mixture of peat, turf soil, and rotted manure (1:1:2). The temperature in the room where the containers are located is maintained at +18 ⁰С. Provided proper processing and favorable conditions, sprouts appear on the surface 7 days after sowing. As soon as the plants produce the third leaf, the seedlings are transplanted to a permanent place.
Soil preparation
For planting melons, a sunny place protected from the wind is allocated on the site. In autumn, the soil is dug deeply and organic or mineral fertilizers are applied. On the eve of planting, the procedure is repeated and the surface is leveled. Consumption of rotted cow manure per 1 sq. m area 3–4 kg. Since Altai melons like to grow in a loose environment, river sand is added to the heavy soil.In order for the plants to grow well, it is enough to add 0.5 buckets per 1 square meter. m.
Landing
The scheme for planting Altai melons in a greenhouse is 60-70 cm, in a garden bed - 100-140 cm. The optimal depth of the furrows is 5 cm. Before planting, water is poured into the recesses and a handful of humus is placed in places where there will be seeds or seedlings.
Plants of the Altai variety are carefully removed from the pots and placed in holes, so that the earthen lump in which the root is located protrudes slightly from the ground. After planting, the melons are watered and shaded from the hot rays of the sun with a special screen. In regions characterized by strong temperature changes, the plantings are covered with film at night.
Since bushes of this variety need pollination, a beehive or fan is brought into the greenhouse before planting the seedlings. If there are few planted plants, pollination is carried out using a brush, touching each flower in turn.
Care
It is a well-known fact that without good care, cultivated plants will not produce the results declared by the manufacturer. Therefore, in order to grow a lot of sweet berries in the garden, the bushes need to be watered, fed, shaped, and the soil needs to be loosened. Agricultural technology:
- Depending on weather conditions, water is added 1-2 times a week. Please note that the soil in the bed where melons grow should be moderately moist, but in no case swampy. Excessive watering is an impetus for the development of rot and fungal diseases. It is especially important to maintain moderate humidity in film shelters. To do this, the greenhouse is ventilated.
- Altai melons are fed with mineral or organic fertilizers once every 10 days.Moreover, in the first half of the growing season, nitrogen-containing mixtures (urea, solutions of chicken, mullein) are introduced, and in the second half - potassium-phosphorus mixtures. It is impossible to overfeed melon with nitrogen, since the substance stimulates the development of greenery, not fruit.
- In order to stimulate the development of lateral shoots, the central conductor is pinched after the 5th leaf. To increase the size of the fruit, only 5 ovaries are left on the bush.
- Loosening is carried out after watering and rain, gradually reducing the depth of prying of the soil layer. So, the soil in a bed with young plants is loosened to a depth of 15 cm, with mature plants - 10 cm.
Birds love sweet fruits, so to protect melons from damage, repellers are installed in the garden bed. Experienced gardeners cover the soil in the melon bed with straw or boards. Thanks to this manipulation, the berries do not come into contact with the ground and rot less.
Disease and pest control
Among viral and fungal diseases, plants of the Altai variety are most susceptible to fusarium, powdery mildew, and copperhead. You can identify one or the other by the formation of spots on the leaves:
- To prevent the development of pathogenic microflora, planting material is treated with fungicides and the rules of crop rotation are observed.
- You can stop the spread of the disease to healthy plants by tearing off infected leaves and pulling out plants. Organic residues are carried away from the plantings and burned.
Aphids, spider mites and thrips are controlled using biological or chemical insecticides.
Gardeners' opinion
Reviews about the Altai melon variety are contradictory. Some gardeners admire the crop’s capriciousness and resistance to cold, while others do not like the taste of the berries, which are less sweet than many varieties and have a pumpkin flavor.
If you have grown Altai melon, please leave reviews so that gardeners can be confident in their choice. Thank you.
