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Gitara pumpkin, sometimes given the name Honey or Spanish, was bred by specialists from the well-known agricultural company Aelita. The variety has been included in the State Register since 2013. A heat-loving plant in the middle lane is grown through seedlings. Culture is easy to manage. Delicious fruits are soft.
Description of Pumpkin Guitar
Variety Honey, or Spanish guitar, is a typical heat-loving representative of the Pumpkin family. A plant of an annual development cycle with a widespread root system capable of nourishing several large fruits: the length of the taproot reaches 2,4 m. Even in a young seedling 12-18 cm high, the root system penetrates as deep as 30-40 cm. , rough due to the many characteristic soft thorns-hairs, grows rapidly, reaching a length of 3-4,5 m. There are antennae on the branching vine, with which the plant clings to the supports.
Gitara pumpkin leaves on long prickly petioles of the same type as the stems – five-lobed, wide, intense green with whitish spots, up to 25-28 cm in diameter. Large, up to 10 cm in diameter, yellow-orange flowers of male and female type are produced in the axils of the leaves. In female buds, peduncles are short, in male ones – long. Corollas open early in the morning, with sunrise, and close in the evening. Fruit buds take longer to bloom than male buds. Pumpkin plants are pollinated by insects, so manual pollination is practiced in the greenhouse or the windows are constantly left open. The largest amount of pollen is produced in the morning.
Description of fruits
The variety got its name “Spanish” in appearance, vaguely resembling the silhouette of a guitar. The length of the ripe fruit of the Gitar pumpkin is from 30 to 70 cm. The diameter is 12-15 cm in the thin elongated part, up to 19-26 cm in the thickened one, where the sections with seeds are located. Weight from 2 to 6 kg, on average 3,5-4,5 kg. The dull orange smooth skin is quite thin and soft compared to other varieties and is easy to cut and peel. The bright pulp of the variety is orange-colored, firm, dense, with droplets of protruding juice on the cut. According to reviews, Spanish guitar pumpkin is sweet, crunchy when fresh, texture density does not interfere with cutting.
The taste of the fruits of the Guitar variety is not cloying when fresh, sweetish, with a special light aroma, semi-vegetable-semi-fruity, for which the variety is called Honey. The pulp becomes sweeter and more fragrant after heat treatment. Tasters rated dishes from this variety 4,9 points. The fruits are storable, stored for 6 months without loss of taste in living quarters. The variety is economically beneficial, because the pulp makes up 85-90% of the total volume of the fruit. Small, compared to other varieties, flat cream-colored seeds are located in the thickened apical part of the vegetable. There are many recipes for dishes from pumpkin Guitar:
- an element of fruit and vegetable salads for consumption without heat treatment;
- boiled;
- stewed;
- baked;
- a component of porridge from different cereals;
- pie filling.
Characteristics of a variety
According to the description, Spanish guitar gourd is a light-loving plant that develops at temperatures above 20 ° C. Scourges and leaves die after the slightest frost. Fruits that have fallen even under initial sub-zero temperatures can freeze slightly, soft spots appear on them, where various putrefactive organisms settle. The Guitar variety is drought-resistant: due to the branched root system, it gets moisture from the depths of the soil. Cloudy, cool weather can lead to stunted growth and disease. In good conditions from 1 sq. m collect an average of 2,7-3,6 kg of Gitar pumpkin fruits. 2-3 vegetables are left on one root for a good, full-fledged filling and ripening.
Pest and disease resistance
The Spanish guitar pumpkin plant can get sick during unfavorable summer weather – a sudden long cold snap and frequent rains. In such weather, sharp differences between night and day temperatures cause the spread of fungal and bacterial diseases. Table variety diseases can be prevented by regularly thinning out overgrown lashes and cutting off too densely spaced leaves. Sweet gourds are damaged by melon aphids and spider mites. Acaricides and insecticides are used against their invasion.
Advantages and disadvantages
Choosing among different varieties, gardeners often stop at the Honey Guitar pumpkin because of the clear advantages in its characteristics:
- stable sweet pulp;
- large-fruited;
- long keeping quality;
- unpretentiousness to soils;
- drought tolerance;
- resistance to diseases in favorable weather for the species.
As such, the variety has no shortcomings. When growing, it should be borne in mind that a heat-loving crop is not genetically adapted to development in a cool climate zone.
Gourd Growing Guitar
In the southern regions, the seeds of the species are planted directly in the ground. In the regions of the middle zone, spring can be protracted, so it is better to grow a sweet table variety using a seedling method. For pumpkin seedlings, special disposable containers are selected, not less than 8x8x10 cm:
- peat pots;
- containers from plastic bottles cut off from above, the walls of which are cut during transshipment;
- homemade paper cups, which are planted with a plant in the ground, where the paper decomposes.
The selection of disposable containers is due to the fact that the delicate root system of the pumpkin can be damaged at the slightest destruction of the earthy coma, and the plant will die. Sowing of the Honey Guitar variety is carried out in April or early May, guided by the characteristics of the local climate, a month before transplanting into a greenhouse or vegetable garden. The terms are calculated so that after transshipment the heat will be stable, above 18-20 °C. 2-3 seeds are placed in each container, which can be soaked for 12-20 hours before planting in warm water for better germination. Then the weaker shoots are removed.
Saplings of the pumpkin variety Spanish guitar are developing rapidly. Water only with warm water at room temperature. With future cultivation in the garden, plants with 3-4 true leaves are taken out to fresh air for hardening. After 21-27 days after germination, the seedlings are transferred to spacious, abundantly watered holes in advance. Pumpkins are placed at a distance of 90-95×130 cm so that the stems do not intertwine and the plantings do not thicken. Supports are arranged in greenhouses and lashes are tied up. Pumpkins are pollinated by insects. The ovaries are placed in special spacious hanging bags or on improvised shelves.
When growing pumpkin Guitar, watering is carried out only on the soil, without moistening the leaves, in order to avoid fungal diseases. Water is heated in the sun or in a greenhouse, watered in the evening, 1-2 times a week. In open ground, natural rainfall is usually enough for pumpkins. For the Guitar variety, soil moisture is provided in 2 phases of development:
- before flowering;
- during the growth of the ovaries.
The next day, the soil is loosened shallowly, be sure to remove all weeds on which aphids and whiteflies can initially breed.
Pumpkin of a sweet variety is fed 16-22 days after transplantation and during the formation of ovaries. For fertilizers, shallow grooves are dug, retreating 30 cm from the root. Feeding is done:
- from mullein;
- bird droppings;
- green herbal infusions;
- complex fertilizers for vegetables.
Sprinkle wood ash around the root.
In warm weather throughout the summer, pumpkins practically do not get sick. They also grow in greenhouses without problems if the basic rules of agricultural technology are followed. After the appearance of several ovaries, pinch the top, cut off the extra side shoots so that the fruits have time to ripen. According to the description of the Guitar pumpkin variety, reviews and photos of gardeners, the fruits will ripen in 110-120 days, by the end of August. Pumpkins are harvested earlier if the lashes are dry.
Conclusion
Gitar pumpkin develops well and ripens on light soils at daytime temperatures up to 30 ° C. In order for the fruits to ripen before frost, in the regions of the middle lane, the seeds are planted in cups for seedlings. Fertile soil, timely formation will contribute to good yields.
