How to plant pumpkin

Abobrinha is the popular name given to some varieties or cultivars of pumpkins whose fruits are harvested and consumed when they are still immature. Most of these varieties are of the Cucurbita pepo species, but there are exceptions. Almost all pumpkin cultivars form wicks that do not extend much.

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The zucchini can be classified as follows:

Zucchini-Italian or Zuchinni - C. pepo - group is the most common and most cultivated crops, the fruits are cylindrical and slightly extend or do not extend towards the edge.

Cocozelle - C. pepo - has extreme long cylindrical fruits that extends into the formation of a light bulb.

Crookneck - C. pepo - has curved cylindrical fruits, enlarging towards the end. They usually have a peel with a wrinkled appearance, although it can also be smooth.

Straightneck - C. pepo - has cylindrical fruits without pronounced curvature, enlarging towards the tip. It can present external appearance that can go from wrinkled to smooth.

Patty frying pan or scallop - C. pepo - screens or fruit in the shape of a flat disk, often with dimples or projections on the lateral surface.

Zucchini round - C. pepo - has rounded fruit.

Tromboncino or Zucchetta - C. moschata - a range that produces fruits with a long curved bulbous end. This pumpkin presents a habit of dragging, not ground form.

Dark round zucchini or zucchini - Max C. - has dark round green fruits.

Weather

The pumpkin grows best in warm weather, being that the average temperature ideal for the crop is 18 ° C to 27 ° C. The minimum recommended temperature for planting is 15 ° C, because the plant does not support frost and low temperatures.

Brightness
Preferably it should be cultivated in sunny places, but it can be cultivated in partial shade, as long as there is a high luminosity.

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Ground

Cultivation in well drained soil, fertile, rich in organic matter, with pH between 5.5 and 6.8.

Irrigation

Irrigate to keep the soil always moist, without getting soaked.

Plantation

In the case of pumpkin seeds in the final place in the garden, placing 2 or 3 seeds per caves to about 2 cm deep, following the recommendation of spacing for the cultivar used (usually goes 0.9 mx 0.9 ma 1 mx 1 5 m).

The seeds can also be sown, for example, in large sowing, in small cups, plastic sachets suitable for dumb or small cups of 10 cm in height and 5 cm in diameter made with newspaper or other material. The transplant of the pumpkin seedlings to the garden can be done when the seedlings have at least three definitive leaves.

Some zucchini cultivars can grow well in large vessels.

Cultural treatments

Like other cucurbits, pumpkins are monoecious, that is, they are plants that have male flowers and separate female flowers, although each plant has two genera of flowers. The masculine flowers produce pollen and they do not form fruits. The female flowers have an inferior ovary that resembles a tiny pumpkin and this one develops in the fruit when the flower is pollinated.

The presence of pollinating insects, mainly bees, is necessary for the pollination of the flowers and the formation of the fruits. If there are no bees and there is no fruit formation, pollinate the flowers manually with the help of a small brush of soft bristles, transferring the pollen from the male flowers to the female flowers. Another alternative is to harvest some male flowers and lightly rub the pollen-laden anthers of these flowers on the stigma of the female flowers.

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When the flowering begins, only male flowers emerge. The feminine flowers begin to appear well after (from two weeks to a month or more). High temperatures and long days increase the proportion of male flowers, which are still always more numerous than female flowers. The flowers open only for a few hours, first thing in the morning.

Harvest

The pumpkin harvest can start 45 to 80 days after sowing, depending on the crop and the growing conditions. Cola the pumpkin when it is well developed, but still immature (the right size for the crop varies with the cultivar).<7center>