Zucchini - a gilded barrel!

Send

Nutritionists have long taken off their hat in front of a zucchini. Not only does it contain a lot of potassium (up to 238 mg per 100 g), there is sodium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, copper and iron, a set of organic acids, vitamins C, B1, B2, and the proportions of sodium and potassium are almost perfectly maintained (1: 100). If we talk about kilocalories, then in 100 grams of fresh zucchini, there are only 27.

Thanks to all this, zucchini, having settled in the diet of healthy people, helps them to remain so for a long time. This is the replenishment of vitamin C, and the prevention of anemia with atherosclerosis, and the improvement of the entire gastrointestinal tract. And for those who know the doctors firsthand, zucchini is a very valuable dietary product. It is recommended for diseases of the stomach, gall bladder, duodenum, hypertension, obesity, anemia and cardiovascular diseases.

Squash juice is very low in calories, so it is recommended for those who want to lose weight, drinking it prevents obesity and blocks the accumulation of excess cholesterol in the body. We grow this vegetable with pleasure and you will get a huge charge of vitamins and health!

Zucchini (Cucurbita pepo var. giromontina) - bush variety of pumpkin ordinary with oblong fruits, without lashes.

An annual herbaceous plant of the pumpkin genus of the pumpkin family, a variety of common squash. Oblong fruits may be green, yellow, black or white. Easily digestible and healthy vegetable product that has a good effect on digestion and skin health.

Zucchini comes from northern Mexico (Oaxaca Valley), where initially only its seeds were consumed. Pumpkin came to Europe in the 16th century along with other “interesting things” brought from the New World. Initially, zucchini, like most wonders, was grown in botanical gardens. Today it is difficult to imagine Mediterranean cuisine without this vegetable. It is believed that it was the Italians in the 18th century who began to use the unripened zucchini, as we do today.

Sowing seeds and planting seedlings of zucchini

For seedlings, take full peat pots 10x10 cm in size, pour a nutritious mixture of peat and humus into them, or acquire a ready ground for cucumbers, pour over warm water and sow prepared seeds to a depth of 2-3 cm.

Seedlings are grown at an air temperature of 18-22 ° C. Pour the seedlings with warm (22 ° C) water at the rate of 1-2 glasses per 1 pot once for 10-12 days. During the entire period of growing seedlings, it is fed 2 times.

The first top dressing is done 8-10 days after emergence. 1 g of “Bud” (growth stimulator) is diluted in 1 liter of water. Watered with 1 glass for 1-2 plants. The second top dressing is done 8-10 days after the first. In 2 l of water, 1 teaspoon of Agricola-5 is diluted and watered at the rate of 1 cup of solution per 1 plant.

30-35-day-old seedlings are planted in open ground on a bed, which is covered with a film before the onset of warm weather. The planting scheme of zucchini is 70x70 cm. Planting seedlings is carried out in the morning or on cloudy warm days. When planting in a hole, make sure that the pots are tightly pressed by the soil and are 2-3 cm below its surface. It is effective to add to the well before planting an organo-mineral mixture of the following composition: 0.5 buckets of humus or compost, 5 g of urea, 20 g of superphosphate, 10 g of potassium chloride. When planting zucchini, watering is necessary (1-2 liters of water under one plant).

Zucchini can be sown in several places on a sunny, warm place. To do this, use small free areas of land for one or two plants. With proper care, these plants grow well and produce many fruits. When choosing a site, one must remember that it is impossible to grow zucchini in places where pumpkin crops were cultivated in previous years.

Under favorable weather conditions, zucchini can be sown in open ground in holes in the garden according to the same pattern as seedlings (70x70 cm). Sowing is carried out from May 1 to June 10. The bed is prepared as well as under seedlings. In each well, 2 seeds are sown to a depth of 2-3 cm at a distance of 5 cm from each other. In case of germination of both seeds, one plant is removed or transplanted to another bed.

After sowing seeds or planting seedlings, the bed is covered with a covering material or film. In case of frost, additional warming is necessary. The film is removed from the garden after June 12-15. To obtain a crop of zucchini intended for winter storage, the seeds are sown from June 1 to 10.

Care

Shoots of zucchini must be protected from ravens and rooks that peck them. To do this, hang strips of paper or film, as in the protection of strawberries.

Care for zucchini, regardless of whether they were sown by seeds or planted with seedlings, consists of loosening the soil, weeding weeds, irrigation, top dressing.

The first loosening of the soil is carried out when seedlings appear or 5-7 days after transplanting, it is usually combined with weeding weeds. If zucchini is grown by sowing seeds, then when the first true leaf appears, the plants are thinned out, leaving one in the hole. In this case, plants should not be pulled out from the ground with roots, but should be plucked at the soil level.

Plants are watered regularly, about 1 time in 10 days, at 8-10 l / m2, during fruiting, the irrigation rate is doubled. It is necessary to water the plants in the afternoon only with warm water not lower than 22-25 ° С. When watering with cold water, mass decay of young ovaries is possible. At the end of the growing season, 7-10 days before harvesting, watering is stopped so as not to impair the quality of the fruit.

From frequent watering at zucchini, the root system can be exposed, which must be covered with a soil mixture of 3-5 cm layer. In the phase of 3-4 real leaves, the plants should be earthed out, since this contributes to the formation of additional subordinate roots. But it is only necessary to cultivate with brought soil. Zucchini can not be spud like potatoes, raking the ground with a chopper to the plant. In doing so, you damage the root system and instead of helping, cause serious damage to the plant.

At the same time, plants are fed for the first time at the rate of 10 l of water, 20 g of ammonium nitrate, 40 g of superphosphate and 20 g of potash fertilizers, spending a bucket of solution for 10 plants. The second time top dressing is carried out during flowering based on 10 l of water, 20 g of phosphorus and 40 g of potash fertilizers for 5-6 plants. At the same time, choosing potash fertilizers, it must be remembered that zucchini do not tolerate chlorine; potassium sulfate should be used. Very good results are given by dressing plants with diluted infusion of mullein (1:10) or chicken droppings (1:15).

An important element for obtaining a high crop of zucchini is the creation of the necessary conditions for a good pollination of female flowers. Therefore, to improve pollination, it is necessary to regularly gently push apart the leaves of plants, giving access to flowers by insects. And to attract insects, you need to dissolve 1 teaspoon of honey in a glass of water and spray flowering plants with this solution in the morning.

Many gardeners insist on male flowers in sugar syrup for a day and female flowers are sprayed with the resulting solution.

If there is cloudy weather for a long time and there are no insects at all, then manual pollination of flowers is necessary. To do this, tear off a male flower, tear off its petals and apply pollen to the pistil of a female flower (in the center of the flower). With one male flower, 2-3 female ones can be pollinated.

We must not forget that zucchini cannot tolerate high humidity, so if you grow zucchini under the film throughout the summer, then with the termination of morning frosts in hot weather, you must lift the film from both ends and ventilate the shelter or perforate the entire film, i.e. make it has many holes.

Collection and storage of zucchini

The period from flowering to the full formation of zucchini is 15-20 days. Harvests begin to be harvested when the fruits have reached consumer ripeness, that is, 15 cm long and 5-7 cm thick. At this time, their stem is juicy and the fruits are easily cut with a knife.

Under favorable external conditions, the fruits grow rapidly, and on fertile soils each plant produces up to 15-20 fruits during the growing season.

During the period of intensive growth, the fruits must be harvested every other day, not allowing them to outgrow. Irregular removal of fruits dramatically slows the formation of subsequent ovaries. In addition, in terms of taste, timely-picked fruits are significantly superior to overripe ones.

The maturity of the zucchini is determined by touch: the peel should be quite firm, and when tapped, a dull sound is heard.

Zucchini is collected, leaving a long stalk on each. If possible, they should be held in the sun for several days, so that the skin is dried and hardened. Fruits should not be touched by frost, t. This greatly affects the keeping quality.

Zelentsy zucchini are well stored at a temperature of 0-2 ° C for 12-14 days, then the quality of the fruit deteriorates and they become coarser.

Ripe zucchini fruits can be stored in a dry, ventilated cellar or under normal conditions for up to 4-5 months. They are stored one at a time in nets suspended from the ceiling, or laid on shelves lined with straw. However, they should not be in contact with each other.

Diseases and Pests

Anthracnose

It is expressed in roundish, somewhat vague spots on the leaves of plants planted in protected ground. The spots, increasing, merge, covering a significant part of the sheet plate, giving it the appearance of a burned one. Then the leaves turn brown, dry and crumble. Orange lining forms on the lashes and stems.

Control measures. Compliance with fruit change and destruction of post-harvest residues; processing greenhouse frames and wooden parts of greenhouses with bleach (200 g per 10 l of water). When the first signs of the disease appear, the plants are treated with 1% Bordeaux fluid, but no later than 5 days before harvesting.

Ascochitosis

It affects the leaves and stems of plants grown in protected ground. Symptoms of the disease are observed in the nodes of the stem, on the incompletely removed petioles of leaves and shoots, then spread up and down the stem. Gray spots with numerous black dots form on the affected areas. Leaf disease is also noted, starting with lower, weakened and least lighted, in the form of chlorotic spots with a large number of black dots.

Control measures. Replacing contaminated soil; seed disinfection before planting; compliance with the optimal regime when growing plants; dusting of areas affected by the disease, a mixture of sulfuric acid copper and chalk (1: 1).

Bacteriosis, or angular spotting

Distributed in zucchini grown in sheltered soil, it affects all organs of plants. Symptoms are light brownish spots on the cotyledons, oily angular spots on the leaves, which gradually darken and dry out. The affected tissue falls out. In place of dried oily stains, ulcers form. On the diseased organs of plants, sticky droplets of a cloudy yellowish liquid appear. When dried, they form a film.

Control measures. Crop rotation compliance; soil replacement; when the first signs of the disease appear, spraying the plants with 1% Bordeaux fluid. The treatment is repeated after 10-12 days.

White rot

It affects all the organs of pumpkin plants, manifests itself in the form of a white flaky plaque, on which black dots subsequently appear. Plant tissues become soft and mucilage, the plant withers and then dies.

Control measures. The alternation of cultures. Placement of cucumber after legumes, onions or cabbage; treatment of diseased areas with crushed charcoal, fluff lime or chalk; foliar feeding of plants (1 g of zinc sulfate, 2 - of vitriol and 10 g of urea per 10 l of water).

Powdery mildew

It affects leaves and stems from the moment of their growth, they look chlorotic, underdeveloped and even die. On old leaves, round white spots appear on the underside, the number and size of which gradually increase, they merge. The leaves become light or yellow-green, wrinkled and darken.

Control measures. Crop rotation; deep autumn digging; removal of affected leaves, plant debris and weeds; maintaining in greenhouses a temperature of 20-25 ° C and optimal humidity. When the first signs of the disease appear, the plants are sprayed several times with an interval of 8–9 days with infusion of mullein or hay dust, necessarily both sides of the leaves. With continued spread, the focus of infection is treated with ground sulfur or sprayed with 80% colloidal sulfur.

We look forward to your advice on growing it!