Collective Farm Girl: All About Growing A Popular Variety Of Melon

It is unlikely that there will be a gardener who would never see or try the melon of the Collective Farm Girl. Honey taste reminds of childhood. Now many are trying to grow melons in their plots, but successes are far from always successful. Culture, although it belongs to the same family as cucumbers and vegetable marrows well known to gardeners for a long time, is much more demanding in care. Variety Kolkhoznitsa is a pleasant exception, combining relative lack of mood with good cold hardiness and plentiful productivity. Many gardeners will not trade this kind of melon for any modern hybrids.

Melon Kolkhoznitsa, its advantages and disadvantages

Melon Kolkhoznitsa, as its name suggests, is an achievement of Soviet breeders. It was withdrawn in the Rostov region in the late 30s of the last century, it entered the State Register in 1943. The variety is recommended for cultivation in the Black Sea region, in the North Caucasus, in the Volga region, in the Urals, in Siberia and the Far East, that is, in almost all regions of Russia. This is due to atypical cold resistance for melon, which is one of the main advantages of the collective farmer. And to taste it is almost no different from the southern "honey" fruits.

Melon Kolkhoznitsa is a variety that has not lost popularity for more than 70 years of cultivation, it has been tested by more than one generation of gardeners

This type of melon is classified as mid-season. From the moment of seed germination to the cutting of the first fruits, 77-95 days pass. The specific ripening period is greatly affected by the weather.

The bushes are not too sprawling, but you will not call them compact either. The shoots of the collective farmer are spreading far enough. The stems are thin, slightly rough to the touch. The leaves are medium-sized, in the shape of a heart, the edges are carved in small indentations.

The collective farmer’s plant cannot be called compact, his lashes are quite long

The fruit (pumpkin) in the shape of an almost regular ball or broadly oval. The weight of the melon is small - 0.7-1.3 kg. There are "champions" weighing about 2 kg, but rarely. Some consider this size even an advantage of the variety. Melon can be eaten at a time, it will not air in the refrigerator. Subject to the planting scheme, the total yield is approximately 2.1-2.6 kg / m².

The collective farmer’s melons are small, some do not like it, others, on the contrary, consider the size of the fruits to be one of the advantages of the variety

The skin is shiny in the sun, smooth to the touch, bright yellow-orange or golden color, in most cases without a pattern. Only occasionally on the side that was facing the sun does a coarse "mesh" appear. The skin is not thick. It is flexible but strong enough. This leads to good transportability. But save the collective farmer for a long time will not work. You can only slightly extend this period by removing slightly unripe melons.

The flesh is creamy white or butter-colored, dense, with weakly expressed fibers, slightly crunches. There is no need to talk about taste - everyone knows it and almost everyone likes it. The pulp also has a characteristic aroma with honey-vanilla notes. The collective farmer is praised for melon and sweetness. The sugar content of the pulp is high - 11-12%.

The pulp at the melon The collective farmer is remarkably tasty and fragrant

The variety has "innate" immunity to all varieties of bacteriosis, but is susceptible to other diseases. Especially often the collective farmer suffers from false and powdery mildew, anthracnose and fusarium.

Most often, this melon is consumed fresh. But the Collective Farm Girl is suitable for home-made work. It canned in sugar syrup, boiled jams, preserves, marshmallows, even make sweets, candied fruits and marmalade. The taste is preserved, only the aroma disappears.

The collective farmer is suitable both for fresh consumption, and for all kinds of home-made preparations, desserts and canning

A collective farmer is a variety, not a hybrid, respectively, seeds can be collected independently. But still, after a few years, the plants obtained in this way tend to degenerate, varietal characters are largely lost. Therefore, planting material needs to be updated.

Collective farmer’s melon seeds, harvested independently, are quite viable

Melon Kolkhoznitsa is not only tasty, but also extremely healthy. The pulp contains a lot of vitamins A, C, E, group B. Of the trace elements, the presence of potassium, magnesium, zinc, copper, manganese, iodine can be noted. Fresh fruits due to their low calorie content (33-35 kcal per 100 g) are a very pleasant addition to any diet. But from the use of dried melon for those who want to lose weight, it is better to refrain. The calorie content of such a dessert is almost 10 times more.

Melon promotes the production of hormones, in particular, serotonin. It is also known as the "hormone of happiness." Regular consumption of pulp in food helps to get rid of chronic depression, attacks of causeless anxiety, and cope with insomnia.

Fiber helps digest heavy foods, so melon is often served with ham, boiled pork, it is part of many meat salads. This is mainly typical of Mediterranean cuisine. It also helps to cope with the consequences of poisoning, removing toxins from the body, toxins, salts of heavy metals and radionuclides.

Melon with ham - at first glance, an unexpected combination, but it is very tasty

The berry is also in demand in cosmetology. The beta-carotene contained in the pulp improves skin color, nourishes and softens it, and helps smooth fine wrinkles. Masks made from melon help get rid of age spots and freckles. When juice is added to the water to rinse the hair, they acquire a natural shine, the bulbs strengthen, dandruff disappears.

Video: health benefits of melons

Planting seeds for seedlings and further care

Melon Kolkhoznitsa can be grown both from purchased and from self-collected seeds. But in the latter case, they need to be allowed to lie down for 2-3 years. The germination rate of fresh seeds is much lower, and the plants obtained from them form "male" flowers much more than "female". The largest and heaviest melon seeds are selected for planting. Be sure to preplant. This helps to increase germination and helps protect future plants from fungal diseases.

The first thing to do is to soak the seeds for at least 10-12 hours in a solution of a biostimulant. A wide selection of such drugs is offered in specialized stores. The most common of them are Epin, Kornevin, potassium humate, heteroauxin. Some substances of natural origin have a similar effect - aloe juice, honey, succinic acid, boric acid mixed with zinc sulfate.

You can soak melon seeds in ordinary water and in a solution of a biostimulant

Then hardening is carried out. During the day, melon seeds are kept in a thermos filled with hot (about 40 ° C) water. Then the same amount - at ordinary room temperature. The final step is to place the seeds in the refrigerator (not in the freezer) for 18-20 hours.

Fungal diseases - a weak spot of the collective farmer variety. Therefore, shortly before planting in pots or in a bed, the seeds are immersed for a quarter of an hour or a little more in a biofungicide diluted with water in the proportion specified in the manufacturer's instructions. The most commonly used drugs are Alirin-B, Tiovit-Jet, Strobi, Rayek, Topaz. Treated seeds should be washed under a stream of cold water and dried until they become loose again. You can also use raspberry-violet solution of potassium permanganate for disinfection. But the procedure time increases to one and a half to two hours.

Potassium permanganate solution - one of the most common disinfectants

Video: soaking melon seeds before planting

Any transplant, as well as picking, melon perceives very negatively. This is a serious test, especially for young seedlings, which depart from it, as from a serious illness. Therefore, the seeds are immediately sown in individual peat pots, the volume of which slightly exceeds a glass. They can’t boast a high percentage of germination, so it’s better to play it safe, placing in each not one, but 2-3 pieces. Then the seedlings are transferred to the bed together with a tank, which gradually "dissolves" in the soil.

Planting melon seeds in peat pots avoids transplanting and the associated stress in the future.

In principle, the collective farmer will arrange melon for a universal substrate purchased in a store. But the best option for it is a mixture of humus and peat with the addition of a small amount of sand and crushed to a powdery state of chalk or activated carbon. The last two components effectively prevent the attack of pathogenic fungi. Any substrate must be sterilized before use.

Several melon seeds are planted in each pot

Seedlings are developing quite quickly, reaching the required 15-17 cm in height in 25-30 days. At this point, 4-5 true leaves have already been formed. Therefore, the seeds are sown no earlier than the 20th of April. Sufficiently developed specimens are planted in a permanent place in late May, and possibly in early June. The specific date is determined based on the climatic conditions of the region. At the same time, it is worth noting that “overripe” plants adapt to a different habitat much worse and longer. If it is planned to cultivate the collective farmers in greenhouses, all dates are shifted 15-20 days ago.

Melon seedlings develop quickly enough, in about a month

To grow healthy seedlings, even a novice gardener can afford:

1. Two seeds are sown in tanks filled with prepared substrate, immersed in the soil by 4-5 cm. The substrate is moistened moderately before and after that. Capacities turn into a hotbed, closing with glass or a transparent film. Sprouted seeds do not need lighting. The temperature in the room where the pots stand is maintained at 25-30 ° C during the day, reducing it to 20-22 ° C at night.
2. The process of seed germination is delayed by about a week. After this, seedlings need to provide daylight hours of at least 12 hours. Naturally, this most likely will not work out, so illumination is practiced using either conventional LED or fluorescent lamps, or special fitolamps. The most suitable temperature for the formation of healthy seedlings is 25-28 ° C.
3. To prevent the development of the “black leg”, a little fine sand is added to the bases of the seedlings. The substrate is moistened abundantly, but only when it dries after the previous watering. The first time the seedlings are watered only after they see the first real unfolded leaf. There is no urgent need to feed developing seedlings. The soil is nutritious enough to provide it with everything necessary until it is transferred to the garden or to the greenhouse. An exception is plants that do not look too healthy. They are after a couple of weeks after the emergence of seedlings fertilizer store, specially designed for seedlings. It is diluted with water, precisely maintaining the proportion recommended by the manufacturer. It should not contain chlorine. Culture reacts unambiguously to this microelement.
4. In the phase of the appearance of the second real leaf from the pots in which both seeds sprouted, a less developed specimen is removed. In order not to damage the roots of the remaining seedling, they do not pull it out of the soil, but cut it off or pinch it as close to its surface as possible.
5. Melons, on which three leaves have formed, are pinched to stimulate the formation of new lateral shoots by the plant.
6. The specimens remaining in the pots must be quenched. They begin to hold this event somewhere 7-9 days before the expected transplant. On the first day, they have enough hours to stay in the open air, then this time is gradually increased in such a way as to leave the seedlings to "spend the night" in the open on the last day.

Melon seedlings appear quickly and massively

Video: how to grow healthy seedlings of melon and care for it

Even a seasoned melon is transferred to the prepared bed only after the threat of spring frost is most likely to pass. Even cold-resistant collective farmer will not survive negative temperatures. By this moment, the substrate should be warmed up to 12-15 ° С at a depth of 10 cm.

Melon seedlings are planted so that the base of the stem rises slightly above the surface of the soil

Between adjacent plants on the bed they maintain an interval of 80-90 cm, the row spacing is 120-140 cm. Wells are spilled plentifully with heated soft water. A handful of humus and a teaspoon of simple superphosphate are poured at the bottom. Seedlings are placed in the holes so that the earthen lump slightly (no more than 5 cm) rises above the ground. It is not necessary to ram the soil heavily. Then, for a couple of weeks, it is advisable to protect the seedlings from exposure to the bright sun, placing them above the bed of the arc and pulling on them any white covering material. You can also cover them with thick paper caps or coniferous branches.

Shortly after landing, pinch the melon again, stimulating it to further branch

The correct bed for melon and planting seeds directly into the soil

Compared to cucumbers and zucchini, melon is much more demanding on the quality of the soil. This also applies to the not particularly picky collective farmer. Therefore, the preparation of the garden in the fall should be given the main attention.

The substrate is lightweight. In such soil moisture does not stagnate. Sierozem or loam is good. To give the necessary "fluffiness" it is dug up twice - in the fall and in the spring, somewhere a couple of weeks before planting. Sand will have to be added to a heavy substrate - about 5 l / m².

The introduction of humus allows you to provide the soil fertility necessary for melon

Another requirement of the collective farmers to the soil - nutrition. Therefore, in the process of digging, humus or rotted compost (but not fresh cow manure) is necessarily introduced. The latter has a negative effect on the immunity of the culture, taste and appearance of the fruit. One linear meter will require about 10 liters. If the acid-base balance is different from neutral, it is normalized. Dolomite flour, wood ash, or chicken shell crushed to a powdery state are added to the acidic substrate. In alkaline - peat chips or fresh sawdust (best from coniferous trees).

Dolomite flour - a natural deoxidizer of the soil, subject to the dosage without side effects

Mineral fertilizers are applied twice. During the digging of the selected site in the fall - phosphoric (35-45 g / m²) and potash (20-30 g / m²), in the spring - nitrogen (10-15 g / m²).

With a slightly saline substrate, the culture is put up, as well as with excessively dry. But groundwater approaching the surface closer than 1.5 m is a serious reason to look for another area for the beds. Hills for melons are better than lowlands. Culture is not too afraid of winds, but moist air and moisture stagnating in the soil for a long time are destructive for it.

Melons only ripen if they get enough heat and sunlight

For each next season, a new place is selected for the cultivation of melons. It should be open, well warmed up by the sun. Be sure to take into account what grew in the garden before. Winter cereals, any Legumes, all varieties of cabbage, onions, garlic, green manure do not harm plantings. Poor collective farmer grows after beets (ordinary and leafy), carrots and Solanaceae (especially tomatoes).The culture can be returned to the old garden only after 2-3 years, and if the plants have suffered from any disease, the "quarantine" is extended to 5 years. They plant it as far as possible from cucumbers, zucchini, and other "relatives" from the Pumpkin family. Over-pollination is possible with a completely unpredictable result. Pest migration is also very likely.

Tomatoes, like other Solanaceae - undesirable predecessors for melons, cultures suffer from the same diseases

Planting seeds of melon Kolkhoznitsa immediately in the garden, without shelter - a method in Russia only available to residents of the Black Sea region and the North Caucasus. In all other cases, the beds will have to be tightened with covering material on the arcs, removing it in the heat and again closing the plantings when it becomes cool. 10 ° C for the collective farmer’s melon is already a critical minimum, vegetation is sharply slowing down, and in the Urals and Siberia such temperatures are not uncommon in summer. Accordingly, the gardener will have to constantly live on the site, which not everyone practices.

The procedure is planned for the second decade of May or early June. The above seed treatment procedure is required. The recommended disembarkation scheme is also followed. Seeds in prepared and moistened holes are sown in a pair of pieces, sprinkled with crumbled peat or humus mixed with ash. The optimum layer thickness is 4-5 cm. Until the collective farmer's seeds germinate, the bed is kept under a black plastic wrap. Then it is turned into a "greenhouse", pulling on the arches of the covering material. Only when the seedlings have reached the size of seedlings suitable for planting in the soil can it be removed for a day. After another 20-25 days, the greenhouse is completely removed. Such a shelter is also useful for protecting the substrate from waterlogging. Therefore, those who have a large "experience" in growing melons, advise to restore it, in the case when the summer is rainy and cool.

Cover material protects melons from cold, heat and waterlogging of the soil

Care for seedlings in the garden is almost the same in that it requires seedlings of the collective farmers on the windowsill. Mandatory abundant watering of the drying substrate. For the first time, melons are fed no earlier than 1.5 months after seed germination. It is imperative to devote time and energy to preventing pest attacks. They can do much more harm to young seedlings than to adult plants.

When planting melon seeds in the soil, the required interval between them must also be maintained

Tips for growing melon Collective farmer in the open ground and in the greenhouse

The collective farmer favorably differs from her “relatives” by a lesser moodiness in leaving, but this does not mean that one can hope to take a good crop without any idea of ​​the nuances of agricultural technology.

How much time passes between watering is affected by the age of the plant and the weather. For one and a half to two weeks after the seedlings are transferred to a permanent place, the soil is kept in a moderately moist state all the time, watering the Collective Farm woman every 2-3 days. Then the intervals between the procedures are increased to 6-7 days (in the absence of precipitation). But in the heat, daily wetting of the substrate may be required. 14-16 days before the planned fruit cutting, watering is stopped completely so that the melon gains maximum sweetness and does not crack.

Drop watering is the most suitable way not only for melon, but also for its "relatives" - cucumbers and zucchini

The rate of water consumption for recently transferred to the garden specimens is 1.5-2 liters, for adult melons - 3.5-4 liters. Best for the plant, if the procedure is carried out early in the morning. Each time after it, the soil is carefully loosened. Water is poured into grooves in the aisles or ring grooves around the base of the stems. Drip irrigation is ideal for culture, but organizing everything you need does not always work out purely technically. But sprinkling and watering from a watering can, a hose for a collective farmer is not recommended very strongly. Drops falling on the leaves and shoots provoke the development of rot, falling flowers and fruit ovaries, especially if cold water is used. Pouring it under the roots is also not worth it - the substrate is quickly washed off from them, they are exposed and dry.

Drops falling on leaves, shoots, flowers and fruit ovaries can provoke the development of rot

For a harmonious development, the melon regularly needs new portions of macronutrients, so it is fed every two weeks. For the first time, the procedure is carried out after a couple of weeks (or slightly more) from the moment of transplanting seedlings into the ground. Until fruit ovaries have formed, the culture needs nitrogen. The most common fertilizers containing this macroelement are carbamide, ammonium sulfate, ammonium nitrate. They are brought in dry form, scattering on the bed after loosening, or diluted with water. A high concentration of the drug in the solution will not benefit plants; 10-15 g per 10 liters will suffice.

Urea, like other nitrogen-containing fertilizers, stimulates melons to actively build green mass.

You can cook and feed yourself. Fresh cow manure, chicken droppings, nettle greens, and dandelion leaves are used as raw materials. The container is filled with them about a third and add warm water. Then the container is tightly closed and left for 3-4 days in the sun. The fact that the fertilizer is ready can be judged by the appearance of a characteristic "aroma". Before use, it must be filtered and diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10. The concentration of droppings in the solution is reduced by another 1.5 times.

Nettle infusion - a completely natural and completely free fertilizer

Ripening fruits need mainly phosphorus and potassium. To feed the melons during this period, they switch to store-bought fertilizers for gourds (Gumi Omi, Pure leaf, Master, Bona Forte). Gardeners who don't like chemicals replace them with wood ash. You can simply add it to the base of the stems or prepare an infusion, pour 0.5 liters of raw materials with three liters of boiling water.

Wood ash - a natural source of potassium and phosphorus

Video: Melon Care Tips

Formation for the Collective Farm Girl is a mandatory procedure. The experience of gardeners indicates that exclusively "male" flowers are formed on the main shoot. "Female", and, accordingly, the fruits are formed only on the side lashes. To stimulate the plant to branch, pinch the melon at the stage of growing seedlings. But it is not worth overloading it. In a suitable southern climate for culture, you can leave 3-4 shoots, in the Urals, Siberia, other regions with similar weather conditions - no more than two.

"Male" flowers on lashes of a melon, as a rule, are formed much more, than "female", especially if seeds are fresh

On powerful bushes the collective farmers leave 5-6 fruits, on the underdeveloped - a maximum of 2-3 pieces. They should be distributed more or less evenly. The minimum interval between them is about 30 cm. They also focus on how warm and sunny it is on the street. If the weather for melon is clearly inappropriate, the load on the plants is reduced.

The amount of fruit left on the lashes of a melon depends on several factors.

Then you need to wait until the fruit ovaries reach the size of a chicken egg. Selected shoots pinch through five sheets from the last fruit. Also, they need to remove all the side stepsons. Under the ripening fruits, they put foil, glass, plywood, roofing felt to protect it from contact with the ground. This can trigger the development of rot. For the same purpose, the remains of flower petals are removed from fruit ovaries.

Ripening melons cannot lie directly on the ground, this often causes the development of rot

Video: Melon Formation

Determining if a melon is ripe is easy. It begins to spread a characteristic aroma, the peel acquires a typical shade, the greenish tint disappears, the stalk dries up. If you knock on a melon, a dull sound is heard. The collective farmer is cut in the morning or in the evening, in dry weather, together with a part of the peduncle 4-5 cm long. At the same time, you cannot pull on the whip or twist it.

In any case, ripe melon of the Kolkhoznitsa variety is not stored for a long time, but for unripe fruits this period is a little longer

The fruits are handled very carefully. The peel of the collective farmer is quite dense, but even its slight damage leads to decay of melons. The process is going on very quickly, literally in 3-4 days. Store harvested crops in the refrigerator away from apples and bananas that actively produce ethylene. Harvesting is not recommended. Overripe Collective farmer gets an unpleasant bitter taste.

Melon has the property of ripening after it is cut from the plant. This allows you to slightly extend the shelf life. Such fruits are kept in a dark place with good ventilation at a temperature of 8-10 ° C and humidity 60-65%.

Growing collective farmers in a greenhouse allows you to get a crop 2-2.5 weeks earlier than in open ground. In autumn, the substrate must be cleaned of plant debris and sterilized by spilling boiling water or a dark raspberry potassium permanganate solution. Be sure to pour a layer of fresh humus with a thickness of at least 15-20 cm. Glasses and other surfaces are wiped with a solution of slaked lime. Even for disinfection, you can burn inside a small piece of sulfur drafts.

A significant difference from outdoor cultivation is that the gardener will have to take care of pollination on his own. To do this, pick a "male" flower, tear off the petals and manually, with a soft brush or a cotton pad, transfer the pollen to the "female" specimens (they can easily be distinguished by the presence of a fruit ovary at the base).

The space in the greenhouse is limited, so melons are grown only on a trellis. This allows you to slightly reduce the interval between plants (up to 70 cm). The emerging shoots are directed upwards and tied to the wires stretched horizontally as they grow. Independently "crawl" on the support, clinging to it, the collective farmer is not able to.

The greenhouse for growing melons should be high, at least 2 m

When the fruit ovaries reach the size of the ball for tennis, each is placed in a net. She, in turn, clings to a hook attached to the same support. Melons grown in a greenhouse are much more presentable than those that ripen in open ground. They are symmetrical, evenly colored, with smooth skin without "tubercles".

The shoots of the collective farmer are quite thin, they can break off by the weight of the fruit

The greenhouse must be regularly ventilated. High humidity and fresh air are ideal conditions for the life of many pests. They are suitable for pathogenic fungi.

The homeland of melon is Central Asia. Therefore, it is tolerant of heat. But if the temperature rises above 35 ° C, the process of plant development slows down, it "hibernates." To avoid this, in hot sunny weather the paths in the greenhouse are doused with cold water, and the windows are sprayed with hydrated lime diluted with water from the inside.

Video: caring for melons grown in a greenhouse

A significant drawback of the variety is the tendency to damage by pathogenic fungi. Proper care, crop rotation and a sufficient interval between plants are good prevention, but there are other effective measures. The most dangerous for the collective farmer:

• Powdery Mildew Leaves and shoots are covered with a thin layer of plaque, reminiscent of spilled flour. Gradually it thickens and darkens, changing color to gray-brown. The affected tissue dries and dies.
• Peronosporosis (downy mildew). On the front side of the sheet, pale yellow spots of irregular shape blur, the wrong side is tightened with a continuous layer of ash-purple plaque. Affected tissues rot, blacken, and die.
• Fusarium (root rot). The base of the stems soften, covered with "weeping" brownish spots. An unpleasant putrid smell comes from the soil.
• Anthracnose. The leaves are covered with yellowish-brown spots, on the shoots and fruits small indented “ulcers” of beige or pinkish color are formed. Affected tissues rot and die.

Photo gallery: symptoms of diseases typical of melon Collective farmer

Preventing the development of the disease is much easier than fighting the negative consequences later. For prevention, in the process of loosening, the substrate on the bed is sprinkled with colloidal sulfur, the plants themselves are dusted with crushed chalk or wood ash. Several crystals of potassium permanganate are periodically added to the water for irrigation, giving it a pinkish tint. Onions and garlic are planted around the perimeter and between rows. These plants produce volatile, destroying pathogenic fungi.

It is useful to surround the bed with melons around the perimeter with onions or garlic, this is an effective prevention of fungal diseases

Landings should be inspected regularly, looking for suspicious symptoms. In the early stages of development, folk remedies are quite enough for treatment. The most common of them - foam household or green potash soap, water diluted with soda ash or baking soda, mustard powder infusion. A diluted 1:10 kefir or whey with the addition of iodine (drop per liter) is also suitable.

If time is missed or there is no expected effect, resort to "heavy artillery" - fungicides. Pathogens do not tolerate copper compounds. But it should be remembered that they can not be used for the treatment of flowering plants and if less than a month is left before harvesting.

Preparations of biological origin are preferred, they are the least harmful to the environment. But there are also reliable, proven by many generations of gardeners, Bordeaux liquid, copper sulfate. As a rule, 3-4 treatments with an interval of 4-6 days are sufficient. But in the later stages of the development of the disease, success is not guaranteed. Fusarium is especially dangerous in this sense. The fungus for a long time develops exclusively on the roots, not manifesting itself in any way on the aerial part of the plant.

Bordeaux liquid is a very common fungicide, which is easy to prepare on your own

Heavily damaged specimens that can no longer be saved should not be regretted. This is a source of infection. Therefore, they are immediately removed from the garden and burned. The substrate in this place is disinfected by spilling with a saturated violet solution of potassium permanganate or 5% copper sulfate.

Melons in Siberia

To grow melon Kolkhoznitsa in Siberia is quite realistic, even in open ground. The variety is quite suitable for this due to its frost resistance and short growing season.

A good option for this region is the so-called warm bed. A soil layer of 10-12 cm thick is removed at a selected location and a layer of rotted cow manure 4-5 cm thick is laid at the bottom. Then, the resulting pit is covered with leaves, foliage, small twigs, sawdust, and other plant waste. From above, it is all shed with a solution of nitrogen fertilizer (20-25 g per 10 l) and a layer of fertile soil 20-25 cm thick is poured.

Warm bed warms up faster than usual in spring

Return frosts in Siberia are not uncommon not only in spring but also in summer. If a sharp cooling is expected, the seedlings are protected from the negative consequences, making bonfires around the perimeter of the bed. Another way is to spray melons with Epin diluted in cold water (5 L ampoule). The effect of this treatment lasts 7-8 days.

Epin treatment helps protect melons from low temperatures

Video: the cultivation of gourds in Siberia

Gardeners reviews

The collective farmer is a mid-season melon, it is written "77-110 days", understand how you want. Maybe it will ripen in the Moscow region, or maybe not. Previously, I generally planted seeds from the Turkmen melons that remained after the melon. Sowed into the greenhouse, and, to my great surprise, small as a ball grew, some were sweet, some not.

Mandrake

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Last year, a collective farmer grew melon in her own plot - the crop was excellent, just like from the south. But, if you remember, last summer was very hot. And this year there is also a crop, but the melons are very small, and they have not ripened. I thought that they would ripen by autumn, but the tops of them all withered.

Medic

//indasad.ru/forum/62-ogorod/6437-dynya-kolkhoznitsa-raz-na-raz-ne-prikhoditsya

Melon Kolkhoznitsa was with me. She is the most delicious of all. But one minus - from one plant only 1-2 fruits, since this is a variety!

Charlie 83

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The cultivation of melons varieties collective farmer we practice. There are melons every year, but they are so much to taste like a cucumber ...

Milla

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My mother raised three melons of the Kolkhoznitsa cultivar in a greenhouse last year. Melons are a little smaller than store ones, very fragrant, ripe, but not very sweet. True, they were planted in the far corner of the greenhouse, maybe there wasn’t enough light. This year we will put them in the most illuminated place.

Blondilla

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For two years I planted watermelons (Spark, Chill, Rakhat Lukum, Sugar Baby) and melons (Collective Farm Girl, Golden). Naturally, through seedlings, I planted everything in open ground in the second half of May. They begin to ripen in mid-August. Melons were not large, but very fragrant and sweet.

Turk

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I live in a private house, we have a large garden and therefore we are trying to plant everything. Including melon. I really like melons. I have been planting the collective farmer variety for 4 years, I like it, the crop has never failed. Melon Kolkhoznitsa is the most popular variety, the variety is mid-season and widespread. The fruits are preserved very well, and also do not deteriorate during transportation. I make jam and jam from the fruit, preserve it in jars, and then in the winter I get such delicious food. Open the jar and savor. The plant itself with a thin stem, is very elongated. The fruits grow spherical, yellow-orange in color, smooth to the touch. When the fruit is cut, we see a white pulp, it tastes very sweet and crunches. And how it smells ... I just can’t convey to you the aroma of a ripe melon. Very tasty fruits! After germination, you need to wait about 80-90 days and the fruits will ripen. My husband and I collect up to 5 kg from one plant. Harvest enough for the whole family, and close in jars for sweets for the winter. Sometimes we even sell and treat acquaintances and friends!

Darinkaa

//otzovik.com/review_925028.html

There are many varieties of melon, you can’t list them all, but for many, many, many years the Collective Farm Girl has been my favorite !!! How I love her !!! For juiciness, for taste, for sweetness and tenderness, and even for its small size !!! It seems to me that it’s very convenient to eat it at a time, and it doesn’t lie in your refrigerator cut and windy !!! And if one is not enough, then you can eat two or three at once! My son loves this melon. She treats the rest with cool calm, but she loves her very well !!!

Pinki

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All the time she dreamed of growing her melons in the garden. I live in the Northwest region. For our northern region, a melon variety has been bred Kolkhoznitsa. I tried to grow it several times already. Melons grew, but not very large. We have to grow them in seedlings. This is another headache. After transplantation, they took root for a long time, one might say, even painfully. They had to allocate a place in the greenhouse among tomatoes or cucumbers. This is a rather thermophilic plant. But, as I understood last year, it is desirable that the film was completely removed during the warm time of the day. By chance, we dropped a few seeds of melon in an open garden bed. So, while it was warm, they overtook their relatives in the greenhouse in the development. But then, when the rather cool days arrived, they stopped growing. And I also noticed that these accidentally fallen seeds sprouted harder and healthier than seeds sprouted at home. Interestingly, melons, like tomatoes, can ripen at home. One fall, we took an unripe green melon home, for fun. From green, it turned yellow. Although we all ate our grown melons, we did not notice much juiciness. Still, probably due to lack of sun.

Lezera

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Growing melons in the garden is a rather difficult matter. But there are varieties that are quite suitable for not too experienced gardeners, for example, the Collective Farm Girl, who has many undeniable advantages, thanks to which she has withstood the constant competition from new breeding products for more than 70 years. Plant care is not too complicated, although, of course, you need to familiarize yourself with the nuances of agricultural technology in advance. For the efforts expended, the collective farmer will thank the gardener with a harvest of very tasty fruits.