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It will not be difficult to grow a delicious Silver Handsome watermelon at home or in the country. In this article, we will teach you how to grow watermelons even in cold climates. Let’s get to work.
What are the features
For the northern regions of our country, a special variety is suitable – Silver Handsome. It is this variety that, due to early ripening, resistance to cold temperatures and poor lighting, thanks to seedling cultivation, gives an excellent harvest.
From the emergence of seedlings of this variety of watermelon to the full ripening of the fruit, only 80 days pass. Since you grow seedlings in pots for a month, and then move the bushes under a film or into greenhouses, it is quite possible to harvest a rich harvest in just a month and a half. Although the plant is early, it grows very quickly, its branches are quite long and curl very strongly. To achieve large fruits of the Silver Handsome, you need to pinch, leave up to 4-5 fruits.
Then each watermelon will weigh about 3,5 – 4 kg. Watermelon is very juicy, fragrant and sugary. The outer skin of the watermelon is silvery green, while the inside is bright red. Contains a small amount of seeds. In addition, a package of seeds for sale contains only 6 seeds. The main feature of this variety of watermelon is its resistance to low temperatures, and poor lighting is not a hindrance to it.
Cultivation and care
To get a guaranteed harvest in the northern regions, you need to use only the seedling method of growing. If you are growing Silver Beauty, it is preferable to use 2-3 year old seeds. There is no special preparation before sowing seeds, soak them for half an hour in hot (+50 ° C) water. For germination, place them in wet sand or on damp soft paper at a temperature of +22-25 °C.
After another 2-3 days after the root has hatched, the seeds are laid out in pots. Warmth matters the most. So, the containers are covered with a film and placed in a warm place. In a week you will notice the first manifestations of future watermelon bushes. For many varieties of watermelon, additional lighting is recommended. Variety Silver Handsome grows well in low light. Make sure the seedlings do not stretch out. The temperature must be kept the same, but at night gradually switch to a mode of up to +20 ° С.
Your crops are still very small, but they require special nutrition, and at the stage of two or three true leaves they need to be fed with infusion of mullein and ash. You can use any mineral soluble fertilizer. When the time comes for planting seedlings in a greenhouse, the earth should be warmed up to 12-14 ° C, and the bushes themselves should be 3-4 full leaves long. This type of plant reaches the age of about 35 days.
Video “Watermelons under drip irrigation”
Favorable regions for growing
The northern regions where the cultivation of watermelon Silver Handsome include:
- Republic of Karelia, Komi, Sakha;
- Arkhangelsk, Magadan, Murmansk, Sakhalin regions;
- Kamchatka Krai;
- Nenets, Khanty-Mansiysk, Chukotka, Yamalo-Nenets administrative districts.
In these regions, only by mid-June will the threat of frosts and recurrent cold weather pass. The bed should be made raised, mainly so that water does not stagnate after rain and the soil warms up more.
Often, gardeners praise the ability to pin a watermelon, like cucumbers, on a trellis, thanks to which the planting is well ventilated and illuminated. Since the Silver Handsome watermelon does not tolerate the close position of groundwater and acidic soil, choose an open place for planting, protected from the north and northeast winds. For intensive growth, it will be enough for young watermelon bushes to organize abundant watering once a week, loosen the soil 3 or 4 times per season and remove weeds.
Terms of planting
The most favorable for the growth of watermelon 12 hour light regime. Therefore, planting seedlings should be carried out in the second half of April – early May.
The soil is best prepared from peat and sod land in equal proportions. Approximately on a bucket of this mixture, you need to add ammonium nitrate and potassium sulfate (55 g each), double superphosphate (100 g) and dolomite flour (50-60 g). Watermelons, like zucchini, pumpkins and cucumbers, terribly tolerate transplanting, picking and all procedures in which the roots are injured. Therefore, pots for seedlings should be at least 10 cm in height and diameter, filled with 300 ml of nutrient mixture.
If you plan to sow the seeds immediately into the ground, do it no earlier than May, and you should focus on early ripening varieties. Watermelon varieties Silver Handsome in the southern regions will grow well without greenhouses. Do not be afraid to experiment on your land: part of the watermelons can be planted in open ground, and the other part in the greenhouse. Everything is real, you just need to want. We wish you a “good” season and a rich harvest.
Video “Growing different varieties”
To understand how to properly grow a particular variety of watermelons, we recommend watching the following video. Lots of useful and relevant information for you.
