Pumpkin Medicinal: cultivation and care

Pumpkin Therapeutic is a variety bred by breeders of the All- Research Institute of Plant Growing in the Kuban. In 1994, it was included in the State Register of the Federation and approved for cultivation. This variety got its name because of the high content of minerals and vitamins in the pulp.

Description of pumpkin Healing

Pumpkin varieties Medical – an annual plant of the gourd family. It has short, but wide creeping lashes, forming a bush of medium power. The stems are strong, dense, rounded, rough, without furrows. The plant produces stepchildren. The leaves are green, large, not dissected, have a pentagonal shape.

It is a cross-pollinated, dioecious culture. The flowers are yellow, with five petals, the ovaries are formed on pollinated female flowers. The stem is cylindrical.

Description of fruits

The fruits of the medicinal pumpkin are round, slightly flattened, and have a slight segmentation. The bark is thin, smooth and easy to peel. In the photo of the curative pumpkin, you can see several color options for ripe fruits – from uniform grayish-green with longitudinal white stripes to gray, with a pronounced pattern in the form of a dark gray grid. On the cut it has a greenish-yellow tint. The pulp is light orange, crispy, juicy. The fruits are large, with an average weight of 3 to 6 kg. Gardeners manage to get pumpkins over 8 kg, as evidenced by photos and reviews on thematic forums dedicated to medicinal pumpkin. 3-5 pumpkins are tied on one plant. The fruit has three cavities filled with medium-sized white oval seeds.

Pumpkin Therapeutic is a universal table variety. Its sweetish pulp is used for making pastries, cereals, desserts, juices. Pumpkin baked in the oven is especially delicious.

It is also successfully used in children’s nutrition: kids like the rich sweet taste of the pulp, and parents appreciate the high content of vitamins and nutrients.

This vegetable plays a special role in dietary nutrition. Low calorie content, pleasant taste and exceptional nutritional value are the qualities for which adherents of a healthy diet love pumpkin.

According to the description of the variety, curative pumpkin is rich in vitamins B1, B2 and E, and also contains carotene and fiber. It is believed that it has medicinal properties and helps with beriberi and diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.

Useful pumpkin pulp of this variety is part of masks and face creams, it is also used in hair care.

Characteristics of a variety

Pumpkin Therapeutic is a large-fruited early ripe variety. The fruits reach technical maturity in an average of 95 – 105 days after sowing, although this largely depends on the region of cultivation. A relatively short growing season allows the pumpkin of this variety to ripen in a short summer.

Despite the fact that pumpkin crops are thermophilic, the medicinal pumpkin variety is frost-resistant, and grown seedlings can withstand short-term frosts down to -2 ° C and sudden changes in temperature.

The variety is resistant to short-term drought, but very responsive to watering.

Yield depends on growing conditions and climate zone. On average, from 1 sq. m remove from 4 to 6 kg of fruit. About 15 – 20 kg are obtained from one bush, which corresponds to the indicators of a high-yielding variety.

Pumpkin Therapeutic has a long shelf life – even at room temperature, the fruits retain all their qualities for up to 10 months.

Pest and disease resistance

Pumpkin Medicinal is a culture resistant to diseases, but it is also susceptible to damage by white and gray rot, powdery mildew, and anthracnose. The best prevention is to observe crop rotation: you should not grow pumpkin on soils where other pumpkin crops have grown before. Another way to increase immunity is to soak the planting material in a weak solution of potassium permanganate.

The most common pests are aphids and spider mites. Plants should be inspected regularly for signs of disease or pests. The affected parts are immediately destroyed, and the landings are treated with appropriate preparations. For pest control, it is enough to use a solution of laundry soap with ash or an infusion of onion peel.

Advantages and disadvantages

Both amateur vegetable growers and farmers highly appreciate this variety for the following qualities:

• cold resistance, resistance to temperature extremes;
• unpretentiousness;
• high yield;
• excellent sweet taste and exceptional nutritional value;
• plant compactness;
• keeping quality.

However, like other varieties, medicinal pumpkin has disadvantages:

• weak resistance to certain diseases;
• soil requirements.

Cultivation of pumpkin

Growing a curative pumpkin does not require much effort: even a beginner can handle planting and care. Depending on climatic conditions, a seedling or seedless method is chosen.

They begin to sow medicinal pumpkin for seedlings in April, while grown shoots and seeds are planted in the ground at the end of May – the first half of June, when the soil at a depth of 10-12 cm warms up to at least +12 ° C. For seedlings, this corresponds to the age of 1 month. By this time, the young plant already has 2-3 true leaves. Planting material is recommended to preheat. 2 months before the expected sowing date, a paper bag with seeds is placed in a warm place, for example, next to the battery. It is believed that this contributes to the formation of female flowers on plants, on which fruits are tied. Immediately before sowing, the seeds must be soaked in a weak solution of potassium permanganate, then germinated in a damp cloth for a day and sown in individual cups to a depth of 5–6 cm. Freshly sown seeds must be watered and covered with a film, because they need a moist environment for germination.

Young plants planted in a permanent place are mulched. This will help conserve water and protect plantings from weeds. It is also necessary to shade the seedlings within 3-5 days.

Pumpkin Medicinal can grow on almost any soil, but light loamy and sandy soils are best suited for it. Often it is planted on compost heaps, but it must be borne in mind that the plant greatly impoverishes the substrate.

The best predecessors for this vegetable are potatoes, onions, tomatoes, cabbage, since these crops do not have diseases and pests in common with them. It is not recommended to plant a pumpkin after zucchini, squash, cucumbers.

Since the pumpkin bush of this variety does not form long lashes, when planting in a square-nested way, it is enough to maintain a pattern of 60×80 cm. When sowing a crop directly into open ground, at least 3 seeds are placed in the planting hole, of which the strongest sprout is left. The rest of the plants are pruned.

Water plantings as the topsoil dries. In this case, waterlogging should be avoided so that rot does not appear on the plants. During flowering and fruit set, the amount of water per plant is increased. During ripening, watering is reduced – so the pulp will be more sugary.

Mandatory work also includes weeding and loosening. In addition, several times during the season, the pumpkin is fed with organic fertilizers and mineral complexes.

To increase the yield, pinching the side lashes is carried out, and after several fruits are tied, the main stem.

Harvest from July to October. Pumpkins are cut, leaving a small stalk. In a cool dark place, the fruits are well preserved until May.

Conclusion        

Pumpkin Medical – a variety that is popular with vegetable growers. Its precocity, cold resistance and unpretentiousness are especially in demand in the conditions of a short cold summer in the northern regions of Our Country, and excellent taste, nutritional value and exceptional benefits are finding more and more connoisseurs among people who follow proper nutrition.

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