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Spaghetti or pasta pumpkin is famous for its unusual softness and taste. You can grow a crop in open ground or under film cover throughout Our Country.
Description of spaghetti pumpkin
Spaghetti pumpkin is a new, but already managed to gain popularity, culture. This is an early ripe hybrid of zucchini and pumpkin. For normal growth and development, it needs a lot of space. The lashes grow up to 4,5 m. Inside they are hollow, outside they are covered with hard hairs.
The leaves are large, pawled, green in color, outwardly no different from ordinary pumpkin tops. Flowering culture continues from early summer until autumn. In the Central region, it lasts from June to October. The fruits set well. From germination to full ripeness, they need no more than 60 days.
Description of fruits
Spaghetti pumpkin fruits can be oval, elongated or rounded. The color of the peel is from light yellow to darker. It depends on the type of plant.
After flowering, one bush ties up to 10 fruits. Their average weight reaches 4 kg. Spaghetti pumpkin pulp is bright orange, medium density, pleasantly smells of vanilla, fibrous. After cooking, it breaks up into strips and resembles vermicelli. Spaghetti squash tastes sweet, much sweeter than regular varieties.
A ripe vegetable is stored for no more than 1-2 months in a cool room, where it does not lose its qualities. For longer storage, spaghetti pumpkins are chosen that have dried well in the sun, without cracks or signs of deterioration on the peel. The room should be well ventilated, the optimum temperature is from +3 … +10 ° С.
In cooking, Spaghetti squash is used to prepare caviar and other delicious dishes. It is baked, fried, boiled, canned. The fresh pulp remaining after cooking is stored in the refrigerator for about a week.
Characteristics of a variety
Spaghetti pumpkin does not tolerate temperature changes and cold snaps, therefore, in the middle zone, it is grown under a film. In the southern part of Our Country, it is successfully cultivated in open ground. However, it should be borne in mind that pumpkin does not grow well on dry and heavy soils. For normal fruiting, she needs good nutrition.
Pest and disease resistance
Spaghetti pumpkin is susceptible to diseases characteristic of this family:
- anthracnose;
- fusariosis;
- brown spotting;
- powdery mildew;
- yellow mosaic virus.
Of the pests, the culture is annoyed by ticks and aphids. To prevent this from happening, pasta squash should not be planted in the same place every year. Favorable precursor crops for pumpkin are onions, potatoes, most root crops, legumes, greens. You can not plant a plant after squash, zucchini or cucumbers. You can return the plant to its original place after 5 years.
Advantages and disadvantages
From the description of the Spaghetti pumpkin, we can conclude that the culture has many positive characteristics:
- early return of the harvest;
- excellent taste of the pulp and its unusual structure;
- good preservation of fruits;
- high yield from the bush.
But in addition to these advantages, the plant has a number of disadvantages that cannot be ignored. Spaghetti squash is prone to diseases, which negatively affects yields. It grows poorly in arid regions and practically does not tolerate cold snap. In addition, the plant is demanding on the composition of the soil and top dressing.
Growing Pumpkin Spaghetti
Spaghetti pumpkin does not tolerate temperatures as low as 0 ° C, so in regions with an unstable climate it is better to grow it in seedlings.
For seedlings, seeds are sown from mid-April to May. Growing seedlings requires special knowledge. Seeds are planted in separate containers, it is better to use peat pots. The culture of the Spaghetti variety does not tolerate transplanting and picking, so you need to do without it. The soil for seedlings is used universal store or prepared by hand. To do this, mix peat, humus and sawdust in a ratio of 2: 1: 1. 1 tsp is added to the resulting mixture. mineral fertilizers (per 1 kg of soil).
Friendly seedlings of pumpkin can be obtained in conditions of good light and heat. The temperature required for seed germination ranges from +15 to +25 °C.
Spaghetti squash seedlings need to be well cared for. Watering should be moderate, otherwise the seedlings will get sick. The soil is moistened as necessary, do not allow it to dry out. A week later, the sprouts are fed for the first time. Use complex mineral fertilizers or mullein infusion. 14 days before transplanting to a permanent place, seedlings are accustomed to the environment. The age of seedlings ready for transplantation is 1,5 months.
Spaghetti pumpkins are planted directly into the ground no earlier than May 15, by which time the soil will warm up enough. A place for landing is chosen warm and sunny, well protected from cold winds and drafts. It grows well on moisture-intensive and fertile soils. Heavy, swampy or clay soil is not suitable for growing Spaghetti. Before planting, the bed is dug up and manure, humus or peat is added.
Experienced gardeners practice planting pumpkins on black mulching material, which reduces the number of weeds, prevents the vegetable from contacting the soil, and protects it from diseases and pests.
Gourd care in the ground
The yield and health of the bush depends on the further care of the Spaghetti pumpkin. With excessive watering, the roots of the plant are exposed, a fungal disease begins. For normal development, it is enough to water the garden bed 2 times a week. If there is a strong heat, then the soil is moistened every two days.
Experienced gardeners advise pinching spaghetti pumpkin lashes so that it gives a good harvest. If this is not done, then the shoots will grow up to 7 m, but there will be few fruits. To properly form a bush, you need to leave 4 side shoots, remove the rest. Pinch off each shoot after the 6th leaf.
Spaghetti pumpkin responds well to top dressing, so it needs to be fertilized 10-14 days after transplanting. For these purposes, it is better to use chicken manure, which is diluted in proportions of 1: 4 with water. Feed at intervals of 2 weeks. You can alternate chicken manure with infusion of ash, superphosphate or urea.
It is very important for the pumpkin to loosen the soil so that oxygen enters the roots. Weeds should be removed as soon as they are small. Loosen the soil shallowly so as not to damage the roots.
How to cook spaghetti squash
Spaghetti pumpkin is loved by housewives and has found its application in the kitchen. There are many recipes for its preparation, you can boil or bake the fruit deliciously. It is well suited for feeding young children, for normalizing the digestive and cardiovascular systems.
One of my favorite recipes is Baked Spaghetti Pumpkin with Chicken Stuffing. The dish turns out tasty, satisfying, it has a lot of cheese.
Ingredients:
- pumpkin – 1 pc.;
- chicken fillet – 1 pcs .;
- cheese – 250 g;
- Bulgarian pepper – 2 pcs .;
- sour cream – 50 g;
- tomato sauce – 2 tbsp. l .;
- greens – 1 bunch;
- salt and spices to taste.
Cooking process:
- Before cooking, grate the cheese on a coarse grater, boil the chicken and disassemble it into fibers.
- Cut the vegetable, remove the seeds, grease inside and out with oil. Bake the vegetable in the oven until tender at 200°C (about 35 minutes).
- Cool the finished pumpkin, carefully separate the spaghetti fibers so as not to damage the peel.
- To prepare the filling, mix pumpkin pulp with boiled chicken, chopped bell pepper and spices. Add sour cream and tomato sauce.
- Fill pumpkin halves with stuffing, sprinkle with grated cheese, herbs. Bake the dish in the oven for about 20 minutes. at a temperature of 220 °C.
Cut the finished pumpkin into portions and serve.
No less interesting is the recipe for Spaghetti pumpkin with bacon. It will require:
- pumpkin – 1 pc.;
- bacon – 4 plates;
- onion – 1 pcs .;
- garlic – 1 tooth;
- hard cheese – 250 g;
- greens – to taste;
- salt and spices to taste;
- vegetable oil – 1 Art. l
How to cook properly:
- Cut the vegetable in half, remove the seeds, salt and pepper to taste. Lubricate with vegetable oil on both sides.
- Bake the pumpkin halves in the oven at 200°C (about 40 minutes).
- Chop the onion, mix with crushed garlic. Cut the bacon into small pieces.
- Put the bacon in a hot frying pan, fry until golden brown, then add the onion and garlic, saute for another 5 minutes.
- Cool the finished pumpkin halves, remove the pulp with a fork, mix it with bacon. Fry 2 min.
- Sprinkle the dish with grated cheese, mix well. Fry until cheese is melted. Decorate the dish with herbs.
Such a dish turns out to be hearty and healthy. His taste is extraordinary.
Spaghetti squash can also be used to make delicious lasagna. The dish is not as high-calorie as usual, and very tasty.
Ingredients:
- pumpkin – 1 pc.;
- onion – 1 pcs .;
- garlic – 4 tooth;
- chicken fillet – 2 pc .;
- cheese – 450 g;
- egg – 1 pcs .;
- favorite sauce – 2,5 tbsp.;
- greens to taste.
Step-by-Step Recipe:
- Cut the fruit, remove the seeds, brush with oil. Bake the vegetable in the oven until tender – about 40 minutes.
- Finely chop the onion, saute for 5 minutes, add finely chopped garlic, fry for another 2 minutes.
- Cut the chicken into cubes, fry with onions until half cooked. Sprinkle the filling with salt and spices to taste.
- Beat eggs with grated cheese, mix well. Combine with stuffing.
- Grease a baking dish with butter and sauce. Lay out part of the pumpkin pulp, then a layer of filling. Alternate layers, pour the last one with sauce and sprinkle with the remaining grated cheese.
- Bake the lasagna in the oven until cheese crust forms. This will take about 35 minutes, then turn off the oven and leave the dish for 10 minutes. for cooling.
Garnish the finished lasagna with fresh herbs and chopped basil.
Conclusion
Spaghetti squash is very healthy and easy to grow. In order for the culture to bear fruit well, it is enough to form a bush correctly, water the plant in time and feed it. A ripe vegetable is distinguished by its fibrous pulp, which can be cooked very tasty using recipes from a piggy bank.
