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The cultivation of watermelons in summer cottages throughout the country (even in its coldest regions) is considered commonplace - many gardeners devote a plot in the garden or in a greenhouse for this melon crop. Typically, watermelon has a red sugar pulp with black seed pits. But the work of breeders does not stand still: they cross different varieties and crops and get more and more new watermelon hybrids. One of the most exotic species is a berry with a yellow pulp. What is a yellow watermelon, what is it crossed with and how to grow it?
Variety history
More than 20 years ago, a wild watermelon with yellow flesh, but completely unsuitable for consumption, was crossed with a common edible, with a red heart. The result is a hybrid of a watermelon with a yellow, sweetish pulp. Round-shaped yellow watermelon is massively grown in Italy, oval-shaped berry - in Thailand.
In 2015, our compatriots in Astrakhan bred a hybrid of the Lunny watermelon with yellow pulp, it quickly gained immense popularity and is grown in many Russian gardens.
General characteristics of yellow watermelon
Watermelons with yellow flesh are characterized by a rather low cold resistance, their cultivation in open ground is possible only in the southern regions of the country. In the rest of the cooler parts of Russia, yellow hybrids are planted in greenhouses and hotbeds.
The parameters of the bushes of such watermelons also have distinctive features: their whips, in comparison with ordinary varieties of watermelons, are very delicate and brittle, therefore, when carrying out care activities, you need to handle them carefully and carefully.
The characteristics of the fruits, in addition to the color of the flesh, also differ from the red ones: watermelons ripen small, the rind is thin, most often dark green, the stripes are barely noticeable, there are practically no seeds. The taste is significantly inferior to the red-fruited varieties and is considered moderately sweet, but among the yellow hybrids there are also those in which this indicator is considered excellent.
The benefits of yellow watermelon are due to the set of components that make up the pulp. It is rich in vitamins A, B9, C, E and trace elements (calcium, iron, magnesium, etc.). Such watermelons can harm only those who have individual intolerance. Limiting their use (due to sugar content) is recommended for people with kidney disease or diabetes.
The rest of the features of the most popular watermelon hybrids with yellow flesh are given below in table form for clarity.
Index | Lunar | Golden Grace | Prince hamlet |
---|---|---|---|
Selection | Russian | Holland | Russian |
Ripening terms | 70-90 days from germination, early maturing | 70-75 days from disembarkation of seedlings, mid-season | 70-80 days from germination, early maturing |
Weight and shape of the fetus | 3-4 kg, oval | 6-8 kg, rounded | 1-2 kg, rounded |
Taste qualities | Sweet juicy pulp with a lemon flavor | Crispy juicy pulp with a sugar content of 10-11% | Excellent, sweet flesh with a honey flavor |
Yield | 1.6 kg / m 2 | 6-8 kg per bush | 4-6 kg per bush |
Agrotechnics
Yellow watermelon is grown in the same way as other representatives of this melon culture, so there are no special differences in its agricultural technology. Below is a traditional technology for cultivating a watermelon in a protected ground.
Preparation of planting material
In warmer regions, sowing of watermelon seeds is carried out directly into the soil of the greenhouse, while for other regions it is recommended to plant by seedlings (in this case, the bushes will begin to develop and bear fruit faster). In any case, the seeds must be warmed up and soaked before planting. These operations will help the seeds to awaken and stimulate the formation of female flowers. Seed preparation for sowing includes:
- warming up at a temperature of +600C for 2-3 hours;
- pickling in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for 0.5 h;
- soaking until the seedlings hatch.
The seeding depth for the seedling method is 4-5 cm. Usually, 2 seeds are placed in one planting container, and after the emergence of seedlings they are thinned out, but due to the high cost of yellow watermelon seeds, there is a separate pot for each seed.
Seedling care includes watering, loosening and feeding. The optimum age of seedlings for planting in a permanent place is 30-40 days. Since planting is possible only when the soil in the greenhouse warms up to +160C, suitable conditions are created in May, which means that sowing seeds for seedlings is carried out around April.
The final stage of preparing watermelon seedlings for planting is hardening.
Planting yellow watermelons
Before landing, special attention should be paid to the preparation of the seat. The sunniest (southern) side of the greenhouse is allocated for watermelons. Planting can be carried out in large buckets that can be easily moved around the greenhouse or garden beds. In any case, the soil must be loose. For this, peat, sawdust, humus, compost, sand, etc. are placed in the garden bed (bucket). and sprinkle with a layer of earth 2-3 cm.
The scheme for planting watermelons in the greenhouse provides for the obligatory tying of the lashes of the bushes and the fruits themselves to the trellis, therefore, when planting, leave a distance of 70 cm between seedlings and 70 cm for row spacing. After planting, each seedling is slightly spud, forming a slide 1.5-2 cm high.
Care
Watering mode. Depending on the stage of development of watermelon bushes, their watering regime changes. Immediately after planting, they are watered every other day, and then 1-2 times a week.
Top dressing. The first of them is carried out within 1.5 weeks after planting. During the period of active plant growth, it is recommended to apply nitrogenous fertilizers. During flowering, fertilizing with nitrogen must be replaced with the introduction of potassium and phosphorus-containing mineral fertilizers. Only if this rule is followed will the watermelons be sweet.
Formation. In greenhouse conditions, yellow watermelon is grown mainly in one stem, which is tied to a trellis already 10 days after planting. Growing watermelons in greenhouse conditions is rarely practiced. The rest of the competing shoots must be pinched in time.
When tying watermelons, when they become the size of a chicken egg, it is necessary to normalize their number: leave only 2-3 fruits (depending on weight characteristics), and remove the rest of the ovaries. As long-term practice shows, it is not recommended to leave a larger number of fruits - their sizes will be much smaller than varietal ones.
When the fruits of the watermelon grow to the size of an apple, they need to be placed in nets and hung on a trellis. In this case, the watermelons gaining weight will not fall to the ground, but will ripen safely on the stalks.
Disease prevention. During the season, watermelons can be affected by various diseases caused by fungi (various types of rot, fusarium, anthracnose) and viruses (mosaic). All of them occur either with improper care, or with the planting of infected seeds. As a preventive measure, it is necessary to pickle the seeds before sowing, observe crop rotation when preparing the planting site, and during care pay special attention to weeding, regulation of temperature and humidity conditions. In addition, once every two weeks, it is recommended to carry out preventive spraying of the bushes with fungicides or herbal infusions.
Pest control. Most often, greenhouse watermelons are attacked by spider mites and melon aphids. Both of these pests settle on the undersides of leaves and cause enormous damage to plants. Therefore, it is necessary to periodically inspect the watermelons for their appearance. Depending on the area affected by pests, you can simply remove the leaves from the plant, use deterrent infusions from available tools, or buy special chemicals.
Advantages and disadvantages of yellow flesh watermelons
There are several advantages of yellow watermelon hybrids:
- unusual view on the cut;
- rich composition of vitamins and minerals;
- almost complete absence of bones;
- small fruit size with relatively fast ripening times;
The disadvantages of yellow watermelons compared to regular red ones are:
- poor resistance to disease;
- short shelf life of fruits (1-2 months);
- high cost of planting material;
- moderate sweetness of the fruit.
The latter drawback is more than offset by interesting notes of mango, lemon, honey, etc., depending on the specific choice of the hybrid.
Correct planting and competent care allow to grow such exotic things as watermelon with yellow flesh in summer cottages in any part of the country.
This is the first time I see such a real watermelon. I used to think that the wonders of Photoshop, but now it's interesting to even try. It will be necessary to ask around for sale, or to give my mother seeds for the garden - an original gift.
Although I am not surprised by such a bright yellow color of watermelon, I heard and read a lot of information about them, but I have never tasted it or even seen it in our markets or on store shelves. In the garden, they always planted the usual red watermelons. I think it's worth trying this option next year. I was very attracted by the fact that there are few seeds and a lot of vitamins.
There are many varieties of yellow watermelon at the moment and seeds can be bought at almost every decent store. But, it must be taken into account that a lot of necessary conditions are really needed for a good harvest. We tried to grow the Prince Hamlet variety - the berries turned out to be small and with an incomprehensible taste. With classic varieties of watermelon, everything is much easier.
If I saw such a yellow watermelon, I would think that it is not ripe. I have never grown this kind of watermelon. I met light varieties of watermelons, but this is the color of the rind, and the flesh is ordinary, red. Now I will definitely look for yellow watermelon seeds and try to grow them on my backyard.
I first tasted yellow watermelon in Thailand. It tasted a bit like mango and pumpkin. There are almost no seeds, and the crust is not as striped as that of the red fellow. I have not yet tried to grow such a variety, and the variety is still rare.I saw only in the supermarket and for crazy money, like - exotic)
It's hard to believe that a watermelon can be of this color. Next year, you will need to plant a couple for a test, but to be honest, when you look at the picture red is somehow more familiar and it seems tastier)
First, I found out that there are watermelons with yellow flesh. I really wanted to get seeds and plant them on my site.
I bought seeds. But germination was too small. As a result, one small watermelon with an incomprehensible taste grew.
Recently, I began to see watermelons with yellow flesh on sale in hypermarkets. I did not buy it myself, but I was treated at a party. We came across a ripe fruit, so it was sweet, I did not notice any big differences from an ordinary watermelon in taste.
I tried it, the taste is quite a bit different from what we are used to. But as for me, he needs a lot of hassle and care until the berry grows. Although for a change, why not try it.
My God, what a beauty! I have lived in Uzbekistan for almost 30 years, and I haven’t seen any varieties of watermelons, but I haven’t met yellow ones, they are not there. It is very strange that such an interesting variety is not distributed. This is a dream, watermelon is practically seedless, and even with a taste of exotic fruits. Where to get a bone ...
My God, what a beauty! I have lived in Uzbekistan for almost 30 years, and I haven’t seen any varieties of watermelons, but I haven’t met yellow ones, they are not there. It is very strange that such an interesting variety is not distributed. This is a dream, watermelon is practically seedless, and even with a taste of exotic fruits. Where to get a bone ...