Zucchini: growing and care in open ground. Growing zucchini in open ground as a business

Zucchini has recently begun to enjoy increasing love among gardeners. Why? Yes, because this vegetable is simply a storehouse of vitamins and microelements, and it is also excellent for the first feeding of babies, which only adds to its popularity.

So how to grow zucchini correctly? Let's find out!

Let's start small - seeds and seedlings

Eat tricky way growing zucchini. To do this, you need to warm the seeds before germination. This way, seedlings will sprout more smoothly, and plant productivity will increase significantly. Spending the night with a bag of seeds on a switched-on heating radiator is quite suitable.

Then the grains must be soaked for several hours in a warm, but not hot water. When the seeds swell, they need to be spread between layers of damp cloth. It is not recommended to use loose material such as gauze, as the nimble roots can easily get tangled in it.

At room temperature already after three to five days they reach several centimeters in length. It is at this stage that zucchini is planted in open ground. Do not delay this, otherwise the long roots will quickly intertwine, and it will be difficult to separate one seed from another without damage.

Growing zucchini in a barrel is common.

Dimensions of your land plot don’t allow you to allocate a large area for squash beds? No problem. In such cases, among lovers of pumpkin plants, one of the most popular ways to grow zucchini has become the construction of “green barrels.”

Preparing a barrel

A barrel for growing zucchini should have a capacity of at least two hundred liters, and in the middle of it, be sure to stretch a pipe pierced in several places. It will be used for watering zucchini. It is necessary to make several holes in the bottom of the barrel to drain excess moisture.

When installing the barrel, pay special attention to the average summer temperature in your area. Is it over thirty degrees (Celsius)? Then place the barrel on north side area, where it will be cooler. If clouds are common in your area, place it in the south.

Now you can start filling the zucchini growing barrel with substrate for your future harvest.

It is filled with layers, each of which is a delicacy for zucchini:

• A twenty to thirty centimeter layer of brushwood is placed at the bottom, which will serve as drainage.
• Five to six centimeters of compost and the same amount of last year’s rotted leaves. On top - a couple of centimeters of ordinary garden soil.
• Five centimeters of hay and tops of any crop (ideally potatoes). Again a few centimeters of garden soil.
• Finally, three to four centimeters of sawdust of the middle fraction and. We finish filling the barrel with another layer of garden soil.

A couple of days before planting the seeds or in a barrel, the mixture must be thoroughly moistened. This will require about ten liters of water.

Planting and care

The best varieties for growing zucchini in a barrel are Dlinnoplodny, Apollo F1, Gribovsky 37, Beloplodny, Sosnovsky, and Pharaoh. Planting of seedlings in the soil is carried out when the mixture in the barrel has warmed up sufficiently. This usually happens in the second half of May.

Watering of plants is carried out exclusively using the built-in pipe. Otherwise, the earth often rots or dries up, and neither one nor the other, of course, “is good.” The watering rate is about two liters per bush. If you live in a hot region, you can slightly increase the volume of water.

For successful cultivation zucchini in a barrel, it is necessary to loosen the soil in a timely manner, trim off excess leaves and, if possible, help insects in pollinating the flowers. It is recommended to fertilize plants for the first time a week after planting in the ground.

Five grams of extract + ten grams + three grams of ammonium molybdate are diluted in ten liters of water, boric acid and magnesium sulfate. Exactly a liter of such fertilizer is applied to one plant.

During fruiting, standard complex fertilizers for pumpkin plants are used to feed zucchini. Their dosage is individual, usually indicated on the package.

How to get a large harvest of zucchini?

Are you going to can, dry, or freeze zucchini? Then you can safely collect them already at the stage of technical ripeness - thirty (sometimes forty) days after emergence. However, if you want to pamper yourself and your household with fresh vegetables all winter, you will have to delay harvesting. Only such zucchini will acquire the color characteristic of the variety, smooth hard skin, aroma and juicy pulp.

Pumpkins fully ripen only after one hundred to one hundred and twenty days from the moment the first shoots appear (that is, in early to mid-September). It is important that the fruits must remain “on the vine” all the time until the mature vegetables are harvested. If you follow all the rules for growing zucchini, they can lie in a cool place until spring without losing their original quality.

So what are these rules?

• At the beginning of the season, when the plant is already preparing for flowering, it is necessary to carry out chasing - pinning the growing point. This way the bush will get more flowers, and, consequently, more fruits.
• After flowering ends, all shoots with unset fruits must be removed so that the plant’s resources are spent only on maintaining the leaves and ripening of vegetables. “Empty” lashes will only be additional consumers.
• At the end of August, when the fruits have significantly increased in size and began to acquire the thick color characteristic of the variety, the gardener needs to cut off all the excess leaves covering the bush. sun rays access to ripening vegetables.
• It is advisable to place some dense dry material under the fruits. It can be tree bark or regular cardboard. It will protect the zucchini from excessive moisture (and rotting from below), and will also reduce the risk of vegetables being eaten by the main night hunters for ripe fruits - slugs and snails.
• It should be remembered that it is necessary to cut zucchini on time. Both unripe and overripe fruits are significantly inferior in keeping quality and taste to their counterparts collected at the right time.
• How to check if the fruit is ready for cutting? You need to knock on it. A mature vegetable will produce a dull sound, characteristic of melons and pumpkin crops. In addition, the skin of the fruit should be dense and smooth. It is quite difficult to scratch the skin of a ripe zucchini with a fingernail, but if you succeed, it means that it is too early for the vegetables to leave the bush.

Are your zucchini ready to assemble? Great! This means that you have successfully completed the first part of the job - growing bountiful harvest zucchini. Now they need to be cut off. Do you think it's easy? Not so. Here, too, there are rules, following which you can achieve better results.

How to harvest zucchini?

• Use a well-sharpened knife to collect fruits. One that will cut vegetables evenly, without damage.
• Zucchini should have a dense, juicy stalk. If it has dried out, it means that the vegetable is overripe and is no longer suitable for long-term storage.
• Do not cut the fruits “closely”; be sure to leave part of the stalk – about five centimeters. After a couple of days, the resulting “tail” will dry out and become an excellent barrier to various types of infections.
• If you are going to send zucchini to long-term storage into the basement or refrigerator, they, of course, need to be cleaned of dust and soil. For these purposes, use a piece of dry cloth. It is strictly not recommended to wash zucchini, as water provokes the formation of mold.

Problems and problems

Sometimes gardeners encounter problems growing zucchini. Soil composition, light, temperature... You never know what willful vegetables might not like! So let's figure out what problems gardeners most often encounter and how to deal with these problems.

• Zucchini categorically do not like acidic soil. They grow poorly on it, get sick very often and do not bear fruit. big harvest. To reduce the acidity of the soil, add powdered chalk or wood chalk to it.
• If under the site at a shallow depth there are groundwater, for zucchini it is necessary to build high bed. Great option will be growing them in a barrel.
• Plant seedlings (or, especially, seeds) in open ground only when the threat has passed spring frosts, since at the first drop in temperature to zero degrees Celsius, the heat-loving zucchini will simply die. If cold weather suddenly sets in at the end of May, urgently cover the bed with film or agrofibre.
• Is your area completely blown by the wind? Build a “screen” for the zucchini - small fence, which can reliably cover the plants.
• Zucchini needs plenty of watering. There should be at least twenty liters of water per square meter of bed. Pay special attention to its temperature. If the water is cold, the zucchini may get sick.
• Overly caring (or greedy for the harvest?) gardeners can often overdo it with fertilizing zucchini, which also leads to various kinds of diseases, and sometimes the death of the entire garden bed.

The rules for alternating crops in the same area are very important for zucchini. For example, they do not grow well on land where other pumpkins (, squash, or even the zucchini themselves) were grown last season.

But on the soil left over from cabbage, onions, radishes, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, peas or greens, any pumpkin plants thrive and produce abundant harvests.

Secrets of zucchini agricultural technology - video

“Without difficulty and without charging, I laid my heavy barrel on our garden bed - a strong, ripe zucchini.”

As you already understand, this article will talk about growing zucchini. This is perhaps one of the easiest vegetable crops to care for.

Even novice summer residents with growing zucchini there will be no problems and it is almost impossible to be left without a zucchini harvest.

Where did this vegetable come from and why is it so attractive to us?

A long time ago there was a small fishing village.

When all the men of the village went to sea for a long fishing trip, their women turned to To higher powers with prayer.

They asked to give them a certain magical fruit, soft like fish meat, with a skin as tough as a turtle shell.

And so that it has the color of the sea surface on a mystical moonlit night. The gods heard them and gave the fishermen a zucchini.

What is zucchini

The robust vegetable is its closest relative. It differs from it in its precociousness and prolific fertility.

Zucchini is an annual, heat-loving plant with powerful leaves, increased vegetative mass and an active and strong root system.

Where did he come to us from?

• His homeland is the American continent. People have been growing zucchini more than 4,000 years ago. In Europe, zucchini appeared only in the 16th century. The plant was originally ornamental. It was valued for its beautiful, bright flowers.

In Russia they learned about it only in the middle of the 18th century, when there was a fashion for everything Italian. Imitating the Italians, our ancestors began to eat squash ovaries (young, week-old greens).

We still eat unripe zucchini (with the appearance of seeds, this vegetable becomes much coarser in taste).

What's good about zucchini?

The cute vegetable is rich chemical composition: It stores a huge amount of vitamins, microelements and mineral salts under a strong peel.

Zucchini is rich in pectins and antioxidants. By the way, this vegetable is also low-calorie (note to women!). Its calorie content is only 270 cal per kilogram.

Zucchini will help you:

• Remove all radionuclides from the body.
• Rejuvenate and lighten the skin slightly.
• Get your metabolism in order.
• Clear the blood of cholesterol.

By the way, it is best to cook zucchini in the oven and microwave (heat treatment destroys its supply of antioxidants).

You can also eat zucchini flowers. They are baked, cooked into rich soups, and added to various salads.

So, we just need to start growing zucchini on our site.

The best varieties for the garden

When choosing seeds for a plot, focus on the origin of the zucchini species. The domestic market now offers equal numbers of zucchini varieties from domestic and foreign breeders.

◊ Domestic varieties. Ideal for growing on site central Russia and in the north (where summer is short).

Our zucchini is more delicate in taste and richer in nutritional value. And they store better and longer.

They are very good for canning, cooking and the famous squash caviar.

• The best domestic varieties: White (ripening 35-40 days); White-fruited (ripening 36-44 days); Waterfall (ripening 42 days); Mountain (ripening 38-50 days); Gribovsky 37 (ripening 46-57 days); Pear-shaped (ripening 40-45 days); Delicacy (ripening 55-60 days); Long-fruited (ripening 45-55 days); Green bush (ripening 50-60 days); Karam 9908380 (ripening 41-45 days); Ball (ripening 50-55 days).

◊ Foreign varieties. They are best chosen for growing zucchini in southern regions. These species have a longer growing season.

Most imported varieties are hybrids. They have a thinner peel and fewer seeds; they stay on the bushes longer without overripening.

• The best imported species: Belogor F1 (ripening 34-57 days); White Bush (ripening 40-45 days); Goldrush (ripening 49 days); Kavili (ripening 40-45 days); Lenutsa (ripening 38-43 days); Nero di Milano (ripening 36-61 days); Sangrum (ripening 40-45 days); Sote (ripening 45-50 days); Tivoli (ripening 100-120 days); Helena (ripening 41-45 days); Embessy (ripening 49-55 days).

◊ What is zucchini. Zucchini is a type of vegetable, but smaller in size. But its flowers and leaves are larger than those of its brother.

Zucchini can be eaten raw; the color of its fruit is dark green (yellow or white in zucchini).

When growing zucchini squash, know that they are more delicate (they love more heat and moisture, and do not tolerate temperature fluctuations). They also have fewer calories.

• The best varieties of zucchini: Aeronaut (ripening 46 days); Genovese (ripening 36-61 days); Yellow-fruited (ripening 43-62 days); Zebra (maturation 38 days); Zolotinka (ripening 50 days); Kuand (ripening 52-61 days); Negro baby (ripening 38-40 days); Jade (ripening 53-58 days); Ronde (ripening 35-40 days); Tintoretto 9551387 (ripening 48-51 days); Tsukkesha (ripening 45-51 days); Black beauty (ripening 40-45 days).

Zucchini planting and care

A strong vegetable will feel very good after radishes, carrots, onions, peas, potatoes, herbs, cabbage, parsley, early vegetables and green manure.

Its bad predecessors are squash, pumpkins, zucchini and cucumbers.

♦ Soil preparation. Zucchini respects light; the more light it receives, the better it develops. Ideal place for him in the garden: southwestern or southern slopes, with protection from the wind.

The soil needs to be fertile, rich in humus and with a neutral acid-base environment. The soil for growing zucchini should be prepared based on the composition of the soil:

• Peat bog. In the fall, loamy or clayey soils are added (2-3 buckets) and a couple of buckets of humus with compost (add 1 tbsp of wood ash and 1 tsp of superphosphate to them). Calculation per 1 sq. m. After adding additives, dig up the beds and water them with liquid fertilizer.
• Clay and loamy soils. In such lands you need to add 2-3 kg of peat (do this before planting zucchini). Also add humus, sawdust and ash, superphosphates.
• Sandstone. This soil needs the addition of turf, sawdust and peat with humus.

If fertilizers were not added when digging in the fall, this can be done immediately before planting.

For one square meter of land, add compost (10-15 kg), superphosphate (50-60 g) and wood ash(1 tbsp).

♦ Seed preparation. In order for zucchini seeds to germinate and grow strong and healthy, they must be placed in a diluted solution mineral fertilizers(sodium or potassium humate), or growth stimulants.

Cover with a damp cloth for a couple of days.

♦ How to plant zucchini seedlings. Zucchini seedlings should be planted in late April-early May for open garden and at the end of February for growing zucchini in greenhouses.

It is better to grow seedlings in pots with a diameter of 10-12 cm. In one container for growing zucchini, you can place 2-3 seeds 1.5 cm deep into the soil, leaving the strongest ones after germination.

When planting seeds, fill the pot halfway with soil.

• Banding seedlings. 10-12 days after sowing (at this time the growth of the subcotyledonous stem slows down), add moist soil to the pot, while twisting the stem with a corkscrew so that only the cotyledonous leaves are visible from the ground.

Zucchini seedlings on south-facing windows do not require additional lighting.

Seeds begin to germinate at +12-15°C; for normal growth, seeds require temperature conditions during the day: +21-26°C; at night: +19-21° C.

During the growing period, seedlings need to be fed. 8-10 days after emergence and another 8-10 days after the first feeding.

The best fertilizer is complex, mineral.

Growing zucchini in open ground

The best time to plant under open sky: end of May - beginning of June.

♦ Planting zucchini seedlings. For landing they use potted seedlings 25-35 days old. This vegetable is a rather voluminous plant; this must be taken into account when planting and growing zucchini.

A distance of 0.9-1 m should be left between plants, and 1-1.5 m between rows.

It is better to plant seedlings on small mounds or beds. Prepare holes in them 8-10 cm deep and plant one vegetable at a time.

• 7-8 days before planting, seedlings need to be hardened off. Lower the daytime temperature to +15-17°C, night temperature to +13-16°C. Ventilate the pots with seedlings more often.

Before planting, add 1.5-2 kg of humus or compost to each hole and water well warm water(1-2 liters per well).

Plant the seedlings in the resulting mush, sprinkling dry soil on all sides.

To ensure that young zucchini take root well, cover them with paper caps or cut plastic bottles for the first 7-10 days.

♦ Planting directly, with seeds. In the south and middle lane zucchini in open ground You can also sow seeds directly in mid-May.

It is necessary to sow 2-3 seeds under shelters in one hole. After they sprout, leave the strongest ones and remove the rest.

To prolong the harvest, sowing can be done several times, taking a week's break.

Caring for zucchini in open ground

Growing zucchini in a greenhouse

The best time to plant zucchini in greenhouse conditions is the end of March.

♦ How to grow zucchini seedlings. For planting, seedlings 30-35 days old are used.

The seedlings should already have 2-3 pairs of true leaves.

You need to plant zucchini in a greenhouse according to the following scheme: 1-2 rows in one bed so that there is at least 1 square meter per plant. m area:

1. To grow zucchini, you should dig holes 60-80 cm deep and fill them with warm manure, not reaching the ground level of 10-15 cm.
2. Make holes in the manure to a depth of 15-20 cm with a diameter of 40-50 cm. Fill them with a mixture of soil (5 parts), peat (3 parts) and humus (2 parts). Additionally, add ammonium nitrate (80 g), superphosphate (100 g) and wood ash (400 g) to each well.
3. Plant zucchini seedlings in the holes (water them first with water). Bury the seedlings to the first cotyledon leaves.

After planting the seedlings, provide the zucchini with a temperature of at least +12° C. If necessary, additionally heat the young plants.

Caring for zucchini in greenhouses

When growing zucchini, they should be watered in the evening before sunset.

Never use cold water! This is detrimental to plants.

You can take water from nearby reservoirs or heat it in large containers in the sun. When watering, try not to spray the foliage.

♦ Loosening and weeding. The first loosening should be done after the first shoots appear and at the same time thinning should be carried out.

Leave 1-2 plants in the nest, pinch the tops of the rest to the soil level.

Weeding is carried out with each loosening.

Harvesting

If zucchini is grown in greenhouses, provide for the presence of windows there for the penetration of pollinating insects.

You can also carry out pollination manually: simply transfer pollen from a male flower to the stigma of the female inflorescence.

• When harvesting vegetables, do not allow them to overripe - such overgrowths will inhibit the development of other ovaries.

Ripe zucchini carefully cut sharp knife with part of the stalk. Zucchini should be collected every 5-7 days.

The last time zucchini can be harvested is at the end of August (in greenhouse conditions) and in September in the open air.

What threatens zucchini?

Powdery mildew

♦ Funds from the people. Effective folk recipes for pest control when growing zucchini:

• Onion solution. Finely chop onion. Pour a glass of onion mixture with water (10 l), add ground black or red pepper (1 tbsp), wood ash (3 tbsp) and liquid soap(1 tbsp). Spray the plants with the solution every 5-6 days 2-3 times.
• Pepper tincture. Grind bitter Bell pepper. Dilute its mass (50 g) with warm water (10 l) and add wood ash (3-4 tbsp. l) and liquid soap (1 tbsp. l). Spray every 6-7 days.
• Ash solution. Pour wood ash (2 cups) hot water, add liquid soap (2 tbsp). Let it brew for 1-2 days, strain. Spray zucchini in the evenings in warm weather.

♦ Ready-made drugs. You can also use store-bought medications. Well proven:

• Spark. Dilute the drug tablet with warm water (10 l). Spray plants at the rate of liter per 10 square meters. m.
• Phosbecide. Dilute an ampoule (5 ml) of the substance with water (5 l). Spray the zucchini and cover with film.
• Confido. Dilute the preparation (1 ml) with water (10 l). Spray plants at the rate of a liter of solution per 100 square meters. m.

To combat diseases when growing zucchini, it will be effective to spray them during the growing season with colloidal sulfur 35% (80-100 g per 10 liters of water) and Bordeaux mixture.

After harvesting in greenhouses, disinfect all parts of the shelter with bleach (200 g per 10 liters of water).

To general preventive measures include competent seed preparation, agricultural technology, complete destruction of diseased plants and plant debris, careful digging of the soil after harvesting and strict adherence to the recommended conditions for growing zucchini.

Now we have taken a closer look at zucchini and the rules for successfully growing them. I suggest you take another look short video about very in an interesting way growing zucchini.

See you soon, dear readers and good harvest!

In the last 10-12 years, the popularity of vegetables such as zucchini has increased significantly. And this trend is not at all accidental. In fact, zucchini is a valuable crop; it speaks not only about its benefits and taste. But also indicate the hypoallergenic nature of the vegetable. Zucchini is indicated even for babies under 6 months of age, people suffering from allergies and gastrointestinal diseases. You can also prepare a hundred delicious and healthy dishes based on this vegetable.

Some people love to eat zucchini, while others consider this vegetable as a great way to make money due to increased demand. Growing zucchini is not that difficult. The culture is not too delicate and even a specialist in this industry can cope with this task. There are varieties that ripen early and quickly, and early vegetables cost much more. Even in connection with high level competition in this industry, it is worth going into this business, but first you need to take into account some nuances.

Rent a plot.

Growing zucchini requires adherence to agricultural technologies. It is better to choose a site for growing crops in the zone farm. The vegetable is not very drought-resistant and requires regular watering. This point must be taken into account when choosing land. It is most profitable to plant zucchini after potatoes, onions, legumes, cabbage, and green crops. It is better not to do this after pumpkin and cucumbers, otherwise the yield may decrease significantly. It is better to choose sandy loam soil with mineral supplements or neutral. On clay soils required harvest will not be able to achieve.

Before planting the vegetable, it is necessary to plow the soil in the fall, to a level of 20 to 25 cm. After this, the soil is treated with heavy disc furrows, and peeling is carried out in heavily clogged areas. Also, ridges are cut in the fall, and in the spring they are already treated with furrows. This ensures perfect loosening of the soil.

The cost of renting land will depend on many factors. First of all, they pay attention to the region, terrain and level of soil fertility. In particular, the price range can vary greatly from $7 to several hundred per hectare. On average, you should expect an amount of about $1.2 thousand.

Equipment.

To care for zucchini you need minimal set agricultural machinery.

This equipment is for plowing, harrowing, peeling, planting and harvesting:

1. Harrows - from $900;

2. Peelers - from $1.5 thousand;

3. Plows - from $1 thousand;

4. Cultivator - from $700;

5. Sprayers - from $2 thousand;

6. Disc mulcher - from $600;

7. Tractor - $20 thousand.

In total, about $30 thousand is spent on the purchase of agricultural equipment.

To quickly pay off your initial investment this technique and equipment can be rented.

Raw materials.

To grow zucchini, you need seeds and mineral fertilizer. Fertilizers are applied in the fall and immediately before sowing. It is best to use manure or humus in combination with mineral fertilizers. If the soil is not very suitable for growing zucchini, then consult with specialists to obtain the required level of yield.

When choosing seeds for growing zucchini, first of all pay attention to the country of origin. Hybrid seeds are bred in the west. Domestic seeds are better suited for growing in the western and central parts of our state. Imported ones are ideal for the south. Experts recommend using domestic product, since the yield is an order of magnitude higher. Such products are resistant to storage and transportation. The following varieties are especially popular: Apollo, Gribovsky, Masha, Bely, Roller, Zebra and others.
The number of plants per 1 hectare of land can vary from 10 to 35 thousand seeds. The seeding rate per hectare is from 3 to 5 kg. The cost of seeds per 1 kg will range from $8 to $200, depending on the variety. In total, you should expect to spend at least $2 thousand for the purchase of seeds and mineral fertilizers.

Staff.

Caring for zucchini requires specialized, knowledgeable personnel. The work will be seasonal, so people are invited to work during the planting, ripening and harvesting periods. Large quantity agricultural machinery guarantees less need to hire labor. Agronomists and workers are needed.

We also need a tractor driver. Personnel must be hired who are responsible and have experience in this industry. The workforce will consist of 7 to 20 people, depending on the size of the site. The agronomist will be responsible for the quality of crop growth, control the yield, and be responsible for the quality of the work performed by the staff. On wages staff must be allocated at least $5 thousand.

To promote your own services, you should use the services of specialized printed publications and place external advertising. You can also create a website. A website page is enough to promote your services.

You can engage in and offer products on forums. But the greatest effectiveness of advertising can be achieved by visiting directly to potential clients. These are cold calls, setting up meetings and signing agreements. Considering that you will have to invest a lot of your own efforts and resources in advertising and promoting services, it is worth allocating at least $150-200.

Basic costs.

The main costs when organizing a business for growing zucchini include the following expenses:

1. Rent of premises - at least $1.2 thousand;

2. Machinery and equipment - $30 thousand;

3. Raw materials - $2 thousand;

Total for organizing a business for growing such vegetable crop As a zucchini you need to have a budget of about $35 thousand.

Profit, profitability.

The profitability of this business, with skillful organization, can reach 200%. Wholesale prices for early harvest will be $0.38, and the June harvest will already cost around $0.11. The yield per 1 hectare will fluctuate within 80 thousand kg. IN in this case you can expect a profit of at least $9 thousand. If you rented land of at least 5 hectares, then you can safely count on a full return on the initial investment in one season.

Clients and business development.

The clients of this type of business will be wholesale centers, retail outlets and the market. As a business development, you can offer customers grown zucchini in greenhouses, but such an action will require additional investments. You can also start growing additional crops or fresh herbs.

There is probably not a single summer cottage where zucchini is not grown. It is quite unpretentious, tasty and healthy vegetable, which bears fruit well and has wide application in cooking. The fruits have excellent taste and dietary qualities. Mostly young specimens are used. You can prepare a wide variety of dishes from zucchini: vegetables are stewed, stuffed, fried, very tasty caviar is prepared from them, they are pickled and canned. This is a dietary product that is well absorbed by the human body. In addition, it strengthens and cleanses the body well.

In this article we will look at how to care for zucchini in open ground.

Botanical features

Zucchini is a herbaceous annual plant belonging to the hard-barked pumpkin species. The plant can have a bush, semi-bush and long-climbing form.

Bush zucchini has an erect, thick stem with hard pubescence. The leaves are located on long petioles. They are quite large, with pointed blades. The color is light or dark green. Some varieties have white spots and have rough, prickly pubescence.

The root system of zucchini, located in the arable layer, is quite powerful and consists of tap roots, lateral roots, and adventitious roots.

The flowers of the plant are dioecious - both female and male flowers are located on one bush yellow color, large, bell-shaped.

The fruits have an elongated cylindrical shape, sometimes slightly curved. The color can be white, light green, dark green. There are varieties with bright yellow fruits.

Biological features

Zucchini (planting and care in open ground is quite simple) is an early-ripening plant species capable of continuous fruiting. For better development and the formation of a larger number of ovaries, it is recommended to collect grown greens as often as possible, without waiting for them to fully ripen. Fruiting of zucchini begins approximately 60 days after the shoots appear. Flowering and formation of ovaries continues until late autumn (if carried out good care for zucchini in the open ground). Plant diseases - powdery mildew, white rot and various spots. Among the pests it is most often annoyed by ticks, melon aphids, slugs, etc.

Temperature

Despite the fact that zucchini (planting and caring for open ground is not difficult) is quite heat-loving plants, they can tolerate short-term cold snaps down to +5...+6°C well. However, even slight frosts are detrimental to this vegetable. For seed germination, full development of plants and good growth fruits optimal temperature is +18...+24°С.

Light

Zucchini - light-loving plant. At short day Flowering and fruiting are accelerated, but even with long daylight hours, zucchini can successfully bloom and bear fruit. When shaded, the plant stretches out, the pollen of female flowers does not ripen well, and much less sugar and dry substances accumulate in the fruits themselves.

Priming

Planting and growing zucchini in open ground is carried out in fertile and loose soil. Plants grow well in loamy and chernozem soils with deep digging, enriched with organic fertilizers.

Moisture

Thanks to a fairly powerful root system, zucchini (growing and care in open ground are described below) are more drought-resistant than cucumbers. However, due to the rapid growth of leaves and fruits, the plants need regular watering. Lack of moisture can negatively affect the yield and quality of the fruit. For the full development of the plant and the formation of a large number of fruits, the optimal soil moisture is 75-80%, and air humidity is approximately 80-85%.

Growing zucchini in open ground: varieties

The varieties of zucchini are quite diverse, and when choosing them, it is necessary to focus, first of all, on their origin: domestic ones are more frost-resistant, while foreign ones have a long growing season.

The most popular varieties zucchini are considered:

• Masha F1- a variety resistant to diseases, pests and climate unpredictability, capable of ripening well even in dry and rainy weather. Zucchini bushes are low. The fruits are elongated, glossy, light green. The weight of one zucchini can reach 3 kg.
• Apollo F1- guarantor wonderful harvest in absolutely any weather. The plant bears fruit well, even if planted in dense shade. The fruits are large (weight up to 3 kg), white-green.
• Kveta- refers to mid-early varieties, ripening in 6-7 weeks. Fruit cylindrical, with a ribbed surface, weight - up to 1.9 kg.
• White- characterized by medium-sized, quite tasty fruits, the weight of which is up to 1 kg. Vegetable growers have noted increased resistance of the variety to diseases such as powdery mildew, gray rot etc.
• Gribovsky-37- high enough productive variety, having white smooth fruits. Ripening occurs 40 days after planting. The pulp of the fruit is milky-white, with a delicate taste, and the plants of this variety themselves tolerate transportation and long shelf life well. The only caveat: planting, care and agricultural technology of zucchini in open ground require a little more space than other varieties, because the bushes are quite large.
• Belogor F1- hybrid variety, early ripening. Zucchini is predominantly single-stemmed and has a short shoot. The fruits are small (weight up to 1 kg), cylindrical, greenish-white. The pulp is white and quite dense.
• Hybrid Nemchinovsky- is an early ripening variety high yield. The fruits are light green, weighing 0.6-0.8 kg.
• Anchor- a very productive variety that bears fruit abundantly with small yellow fruits, the average weight of which is 0.5 kg.
• Spaghetti- this variety received its name because the zucchini pulp, after heat treatment, begins to disintegrate into fibers that resemble pasta. The weight of the fetus reaches 2.5 kg. Zucchini of this variety are capable of “taking over” the entire garden if their lashes are not directed in the right direction in a timely manner.
• Aeronaut- an early ripening variety with good keeping quality. The fruits have green color and yellow flesh. Weight - up to 1.5 kg.
• Video clip- an early ripening variety, with a large number of ovaries. The fruits have a salad color, delicate taste and long term storage
• Diamond- mid-season variety, fruit weight - 2 kg.
• Beloplodny VIR- refers to an early-ripening, high-yielding variety that allows you to harvest from one square meter. m up to 18-20 kg.
• Tsukesha- a variety of zucchini that has long, thin-skinned fruits, on the surface of which there is a pattern in the form of light dots. The fruit weighs 0.7-0.8 kg.

Soil preparation

Summer residents and experienced vegetable growers claim that zucchini does not need special beds, as they feel great in the rows of cabbage, potatoes, or along the fence. This crop loves chernozem and loamy soil, rich in humus, and therefore grows quite well on compost heaps. The main thing is that the planting site is not too wet. Areas where groundwater is high are not suitable for such a vegetable crop.

In wet clayey and peat soil zucchini refuses to grow, and sandy soil react well, but it should be pre-prepared by adding magnesium fertilizers. Acidic soil needs fertilization with dolomite flour or ash.

It is better to prepare beds for zucchini in the fall. The area is dug up, the soil is enriched with manure or compost, potash fertilizers and superphosphate. In the spring, the beds are dug up again and watered with hot water. The soil warms up under plastic film. If fertilizers were not applied in the fall, the soil must be fertilized in the spring: for every square meter, add wood ash, 15 kg of compost and 50 g of superphosphate.

Planting zucchini can be done in two ways: seedlings and seeds. Which one should you choose? This depends, first of all, on climatic features and how quickly after planting you want to get the harvest. Planting seeds directly into the soil is done when there is no rush to harvest or if there is simply no desire to tinker with seedlings. After sprouting or planting seedlings in the soil, caring for zucchini in open ground consists of timely watering, weeding, loosening and fertilizing.

Preparing and planting seeds

If you plant unprepared seeds in the soil, they will germinate very slowly. This process can be speeded up in several ways:

• soak the seeds for a day in a solution of a growth stimulator;
• germinate in a warm place until sprouting;
• soak the seeds for 5-6 hours in warm water(at temperature +50).

Planting seeds is done as follows:

• holes are dug in the prepared bed (about 3 per square meter, plants should be placed according to a 50x70 cm pattern;
• Each hole must first be fertilized with a handful of ash and humus;
• there should be at least 3-4 seeds thrown into the hole. (later of them only one most developed sprout is left);
• on light soil the seeds are buried by 5-7 cm, and on heavy soil by 4-5 cm.

Growing and planting seedlings

The seedling method of growing zucchini allows you to speed up the appearance of the first fruits and increase productivity. Seedlings, as a rule, are difficult to take root, so they are most often grown in plastic glasses with the bottom cut off or in peat pots.

In the room with seedlings, the temperature should be maintained at +20-22 degrees. After the plants sprout, it needs to be lowered a little, and then raised again to the previous level. This is necessary so that the zucchini seedlings do not stretch.

IN plastic cups 1-2 seeds are planted. As the soil dries, the seedlings are watered with warm water at the rate of 1 liter per 10 glasses.

Seedlings are planted in the garden along with containers.

Caring for zucchini in open ground

Zucchini is a culture that does not require special attention. Let us dwell in more detail on the following topic: “Zucchini. Growing and care in open ground."

Loosening the soil

The soil in which zucchini is grown must be warm, loose and sufficiently permeable to water. The loosening procedure on loams should be carried out more often than on sandy soil, since this type of soil is capable of forming a fairly hard crust. Loosening is usually combined with weeding.

Watering

Caring for zucchini in open ground involves regular, but not very frequent watering. One abundant watering every 10 days will be enough. The temperature of the water is also important. If the ovary is too cold, it may rot. Shortly before harvesting, you should stop watering to prevent the fruits from spoiling. When growing this vegetable crop under film, you need to remember that it does not tolerate high humidity, so the greenhouse should be ventilated.

Top dressing

Mullein infusion is good for feeding. The soil is fertilized with it at least twice - during the periods of flowering and fruiting.

Pollination

Caring for zucchini in open ground requires special attention to pollination of the female flowers of the plant. To attract bees and bumblebees, they are sprayed with a solution of honey in the morning (1 teaspoon per glass of water). Another solution is prepared: male flowers are infused in sugar syrup for 24 hours and sprayed female flowers.

If due to unfavorable weather conditions or other reasons, insects are in no particular hurry to pollinate flowering plant, you can do this yourself. To do this, the petals of male flowers are torn off and the female flowers are pollinated with their pollen.

Caring for zucchini in open ground does not involve pinching the tops, since the plant does not need it.

Picking zucchini

The first harvest can be harvested 20 days after the start of flowering. It goes without saying that the fruits will be very small, but in many areas it is these zucchini that are used for food and canned, and caviar is prepared from large fruits.

Caring for zucchini in open ground is not at all difficult. If you properly prepare the soil and regularly water the plants, you can enjoy zucchini dishes throughout the summer season.