Pumpkin Smile was bred almost 20 years ago by Russian breeders, resulting in a versatile hybrid that can be grown under any climatic conditions. This is an unpretentious culture of early ripe type with a long shelf life. It has a lot of useful substances, is actively used in dietary nutrition.
Pumpkin Smile
Pumpkin Smile tolerates frost well
Pumpkin Smile tastes like melon
Description of pumpkin Smile
Smile is a small-fruited early-ripening variety (the harvest is harvested 80-85 days after planting in the garden). These indicators are relevant for all regions of Russia, up to the northern ones.
A distinctive feature is a bush form with lashes that do not grow to a considerable length. This saves space on the beds. Leaf plates are quite large, painted in bright green color, and have a peculiar pattern.
The flowers are orange in color and have a pleasant scent. The seed part has an oval shape, it is contained inside the pumpkin in a small amount.
Benefits:
- ease of care and cultivation;
- easy adaptation to any temperature and weather conditions;
- applies to all soils;
- early maturity;
- increased productivity;
- frost resistance;
- transportability;
- excellent taste characteristics with a melon flavor;
- sweetness;
- compactness of bushes;
- saturation with nutrients;
- storage duration;
- the constancy and improvement of taste during storage.
Among the shortcomings, only instability to diseases characterized by the formation of rot can be noted. Accordingly, with an increased level of humidity.
Characteristics of fruits and bushes:
- the weight of the variety varies from 500 grams to 1 kg;
- the fruit is formed near the stem;
- one bush creates up to 10 pumpkins, but there are cases up to 15;
- the shape of the fruit is spherical, with a slight flattening;
- the crust is deep orange;
- the surface has stripes of a light shade;
- pulp - medium-term, sweet, orange, aromatic;
- short shoots, but can be found up to 6 meters;
- 4-6 lateral processes are formed on one bush;
- peel - thick, rough;
- peduncle of the ribbed type.
The smile is distinguished by a high level of yield - up to 8 fruits are formed on one bush. With 1 sq. m is collected 3-5 kg.
Due to the stiffness of the peel, the variety has increased keeping quality - fruits can be stored even at room temperature until frost. Plus, they easily endure long-distance transportation.
Applications:
- porridge;
- mashed soups;
- stew;
- casseroles and other dishes.
Due to the average level of juiciness, the variety is not intended for juicing, but it has a low calorie content, due to which it is used in dietary and medical nutrition.
Growing features
The smile is cold-resistant, so most often it is planted with seeds in open ground. But under very severe climatic conditions, it is recommended to first grow seedlings.
The site should not be exposed to strong winds, so it is advisable to plant bushes near buildings, a fence and other structures installed on the north side. Pumpkin should be in open sunlight. It is strictly forbidden to plant a Smile after the growth of zucchini, cucumbers, squash.
Soil preparation
The first thing to do is to properly prepare the soil. To do this, in the fall or spring, digging is carried out to the height of a shovel bayonet. It is important to introduce organic fertilizers (all pumpkins like warm organic pillows). It can be manure, compost and the like.
To stabilize (reduce) the acidity of the soil, peat, dolomite flour or lime are added.
Seed preparation
It is important to immediately sort through the seed material - remove the hollow elements. This is done by hand or the seeds are immersed in water for a few minutes (the bad ones float to the surface).
Next, you need to soak the grains in water with a temperature of up to 50 degrees. To sustain 1-2 days, having laid material in wet fabric. To prevent moisture from evaporating quickly, the seeds are covered with a film. If it is necessary to accelerate the formation of sprouts, special growth stimulants are used.
Growing seedlings
The smile has a delicate root system, so replanting it is undesirable. If there is a need for this, then seeds for seedlings need to be planted in separate plastic or peat cups.
Rules for growing seedlings:
- Pour loose soil into glasses (preferably bought in a store), moisten the soil.
- Insert the seeds with the tip down, sprinkle with earth.
- Be sure to cover the containers with foil before the first shoots appear.
- The transplant is made in about 19-22 days. During this period, the stem should grow stronger. 3-4 leaves appear on it.
- The seedlings go deeper into the open ground by 5-7 cm.
- The outdoor temperature should not be lower than 10-12 degrees.
- Holes are dug at a distance of 70x70 cm from each other.
- It is advisable to plant 2 seeds in one hole.
- After transplanting, pour water over.
Planting seeds in the ground
Before planting seeds immediately on the beds of grain are prepared by the standard method. Seeds are planted in the same way - 70x70 cm.Other features:
- The laying of seed is carried out at 7 cm. In the northern latitudes, one seed needs to be planted a little deeper, since there is a risk of frost.
- If the temperature drops dramatically, the wells are covered with cropped plastic bottles.
Pumpkin Care Smile
If the pumpkin crop is not looked after, then it will be impossible to get such a high yield. Be sure to adhere to the basic agricultural rules:
- Irrigation. Watering a pumpkin is necessary throughout the entire period, especially when forming the ovaries. Otherwise, they will dry out. Stop irrigation recommended 2-3 weeks before harvest. On one bush, it is necessary to pour from 2 to 5 liters of liquid. The peculiarity is that the dosage of water increases gradually, that is, when seedlings are formed, it is enough to add 2 liters of water, during flowering - 3, after the appearance of the ovaries - 4, with the growth of fruits - 5.
- Formation of the bush. The smile has quite compact and neat seedlings, so the variety especially does not need to form a bush. However, experienced gardeners recommend pinching. Pinch the main lash when one fruit is formed. Side shoots should not be more than 6 pieces, so the rest are removed.
- Thinning. The procedure is carried out when 2 shoots emerge from the ground at the same time. It is impossible to remove the still weakened sprout along with the root system, since the root of the seedling will be disturbed, which is left for growing. Therefore, you need to take miniature scissors and carefully cut off the extra stem at the very edge of the earth.
- Weeding. It is simply necessary to remove weeds, since their presence contributes to the formation of diseases, the spread of pests and insects. In addition, the grass draws nutrients from the soil that are so necessary for the pumpkin plant. The crop should be weeded as the weeds grow.
- Loosening. Any pumpkin loves loose soil, so the process of loosening is required. It is advisable to do this after watering.
- Mulching. In order not to water the plant too often, the mulching method is used. Under each bush, a special material of natural origin is laid (straw, hay, grass, tops, sawdust, and the like).
- Fruit care. Pumpkin is a sunny plant, but large leaves are usually located above the fruit, which reduces the penetration of light and rays to the pumpkin. To exclude this process, it is recommended to break through the foliage (thin out). The collected material can be used as mulch.
- Top dressing. Smile is one of the few varieties that does not need additional feeding. For normal growth, it is enough to apply organic fertilizers when digging a garden. Sometimes it can be fertilized with wood ash.
To get the fruits of maximum size, you will have to control the number of ovaries. A maximum of 2-3 pumpkins should be left on one bush. If you leave all the fruits, then they will weigh 500-700 grams.
Possible difficulties
Sometimes problems arise that are difficult for a beginner to cope with, and it is difficult to determine the cause of poor yields. To avoid such mistakes, you can use the recommendations of gardeners:
- It is advisable to weed the beds every 10-12 days, while loosening them at the same time. These manipulations are carried out after watering.
- After the formation of 2 pumpkins, be sure to pinch the tip of the lash, so that new ovaries will not appear.
- One shoot with fruits should contain no more than 4 leaves. This will provide enough light for the fruit.
- The scourges should not be confused, so they must be untangled periodically. And in order to prevent this, the whips are laid on the ground surface, sprinkled with earth. Additionally, this procedure will allow the plant to put down new roots that feed the stems and other elements of the culture with useful substances and moisture from the soil layers.
- It is better to use rainwater for irrigation. The liquid from the tap is not suitable, since it contains various substances (chlorine, etc.) that negatively affect the plant. If there is no rain, then collect water from the water supply in a large tank and let it settle (harmful substances will settle and evaporate).
- The temperature of the irrigation liquid should vary from 22 to 25 degrees.
- To enrich with minerals and trace elements, carry out additional dressing. Iron, potassium, magnesium and phosphorus are found in abundance in chicken manure. Half a liter of litter is enough for a bucket of water. Infuse the solution for 9-10 days. Feature - it is necessary to introduce organic matter between the rows. It is forbidden to pour chicken droppings into the holes, as it burns the plant, which leads to the death of the latter.
- It is strictly forbidden to fertilize Smile with a mixture of liquid manure, urea and ammonium nitrate.
- You can repeat feeding only after 2 weeks.
Disease and pest resistance
Pumpkin culture The smile is quite resistant to diseases and pests, but completely unstable to diseases of a putrefactive nature.
List of non-hazardous diseases and pests:
- powdery mildew;
- mosaic;
- bacteriosis;
- peronosporosis;
- anthracnose;
- wireworm;
- caterpillars;
- spider mite;
- gourd aphids.
Dangerous putrefactive diseases:
- Rot is gray. It is characterized by a fungal infection, is localized first on the ovaries, then spreads throughout the plant. Symptoms: mold, gray-watery plaque, the presence of black sclerotia and conidiophores. For treatment, a special paste of copper sulfate and chalk is used.
- White rot. The cortical part of the fetus is affected, which is covered with a white coating, which is subsequently converted into a putrefactive structure. As the disease progresses, rot spreads to the inside of the pumpkin, which eliminates the possibility of using the vegetable for food. You can get rid of white rot with a solution of copper sulfate.
- Rot is black. Pathology affects all parts of the plant, except the roots. Symptoms: gray-white spots, black coating. Treat with specialized pharmacy products.
- Root rot. Roots and stems rot. The disease can be recognized by a brown bloom. Treatment is based on a reduction in humidity.
As prevention against rot such measures are used:
- with increased humidity, add the root part of dry soil;
- do not overmoisten the soil when watering;
- break the weed in a timely manner;
- disinfect the soil and tools;
- don't plant pumpkins too close to each other.
Harvesting and storage
Harvesting occurs in September, depending on the time of planting (level of soil warming). You need to collect fruits with the following symptoms:
- dry stalk and stem;
- hardness of the peel;
- color saturation of the pulp and rind.
You need to pick pumpkins together with the stalks, and store under the following conditions:
- temperature regime - from + 5 degrees to + 15;
- humidity level is 75-80%;
- Before laying for storage, each fetus is inspected for damage;
- the room must be well ventilated or well ventilated.
Reviews of gardeners
Ekaterina Vasilievna Melnichenko, 56 years old. I first tried Smile about 12 years ago. I liked the taste and the small size. After that I decided to grow the variety in my summer cottage. In the first year, I planted a little and tried to look after as much as possible. As a result, I got an excellent result. The next year, due to my health condition, I could not often go to the dacha, so the pumpkin grew by itself. I was surprised that this year I got the same harvest. I think this variety is versatile and very unpretentious.
Yuriev Nikolay, 39 years old. Pumpkin has always been grown for the household (pigs, cows, ducks and chickens), so I needed a variety that was completely easy to grow. The neighbor advised Smile. Of course, its size is not impressive, but there is practically no need to take care of it, and this is the main argument given my employment. By the way, the taste is not bad, we cook porridge, casseroles and pancakes from pumpkin.
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A smile pleases not only with its sunny appearance, but also with its nutrients and excellent taste. The fruits of the variety are used for many diseases, obesity and simply to strengthen their own health. Growing the Smile pumpkin in your garden is a lot of fun, because the culture does not require much effort and cost.
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Russia. City: Zheleznogorsk
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