Pumpkin can be called the vegetable of the month. Not only because on the night of the first of November, it is the main “actor” of the merry Halloween holiday, but also because at this dark time of the year, its bright fruits bring a Sunny mood to the house.
Under the rough rind of the pumpkin canned in the summer. After cutting a heavy fruit, we first feel the ringing aroma of summer freshness, admire the warm, cheerful color of the pulp, and then enjoy its sweet, delicate taste. And there is no need to talk about vitamins, minerals and other useful substances stored by pumpkin and reliably preserved until spring.
That is why this culture is becoming more popular in the garden beds. And it never ceases to delight with beauty, benefits, nutrition, and surprise with an infinite variety.
Of the numerous types of pumpkins in the middle zone, varieties are grown mainly in three varieties: Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita maxima and Cucurbita moschata.
Cucurbita pepo
Cucurbita pepo is the closest relative of zucchini and squash. It is the most unpretentious, precocious, able to ripen after cutting, gaining color and taste. The flesh of its varieties is often light yellow or cream shades, not very juicy and sweet. Therefore, when choosing varieties for sowing, it makes sense to stop at those that have “excellent taste”in the description. One of the important advantages of hard-rusted pumpkin fruits is good keeping quality.
Cucurbita maxima
The fruits of Cucurbita maxima varieties, as you can understand from the name, are large, very large and gigantic in size. But the heat and duration of the Central Russian summer is sometimes not enough to get huge fruits in their entirety and volume (and frankly, they are not very convenient for transportation, storage, processing). For gardeners of the middle zone, varieties with small pumpkins are more suitable. Among the large-fruited ones there are also such, there are quite a lot of them, and every year it becomes more and more.
Pumpkins with small fruits are also quite productive, for example, one plant can produce many (up to nine) kilogram fruits.
For those who strive for records and love a variety of shapes and colors, you should pay attention to the weighty (8-12 kg) ‘Pink torpedo’ – the fruit is elliptical, narrow and very long, with a smooth light pink bark. The flesh is orange, crisp, and juicy.
In General, varieties and hybrids of large-fruited pumpkin are incredibly diverse not only in size, but also in appearance.
For example, a new variety of one of the most unusual pumpkins, which is called “turban” for its original shape and color, was registered by our breeders last year. It is called ‘Turkish turban’. Its small (1-3 kg) beautiful painted fruits with a pattern in the form of stripes and spots have a delicious yellow flesh that breaks up into fibers. A ‘Sea monster’ – a variety with smaller fruits (4-5 kg), but with the same spectacular dark green warty “skin”, which hides an incredibly tender Golden flesh.
Cucurbita moschata
The most delicious — Cucurbita moschata, most have the shape of an elongated pear (although there are other varieties), a rich orange color of the pulp, a small seed nest. They are the most thermophilic, capricious, late-maturing and stored for a relatively short time (about two months). But there is also good news about Cucurbita moschata for Midland gardeners. Breeders in recent years have been actively engaged in breeding new varieties and hybrids of Muscat pumpkins, precocious and hardy, and not only for warm climates or closed ground.
Something special-Cucurbita ficifolia
Usually, varieties named in memory of remarkable breeders are distinguished by outstanding properties. The fruit can be used in cooking, and the plant itself can be used as a rootstock for pumpkin crops (since it is resistant to many diseases) and an ornamental crop.
Beautiful are not only the leaves, but also rounded green with whitish stripes and spots in the form of a mosaic pattern of pumpkins, growing weighing from one and a half to four kilograms. And this pumpkin has an unusual white flesh-juicy, sweet, delicious and smelling of watermelon. Watermelon seeds also resemble large black seeds. It is remarkable that the fruits retain their commercial quality for 250-270 days after removal.
These varieties are only a very small part of the delicious and beautiful pumpkins. The new season will bring new discoveries and new fruits!
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