Pepino: Growing at home. Growing Pepino. How to grow an exotic fruit on your balcony or in bed

Pepino - in all an unusual fruit: and in what has an exotic taste, and in the fact that it is rare can be found on store shelves, and in the fact that it is possible to grow it on its own plot or even on the balcony in the city apartment. Make it is easy, and if you once grown, for example, tomatoes - then you will not have any difficulty.

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What is Puneno

Pepino is a long-term shrub whose branches are partially apparent. In height, the adult bush can reach one and a half meters. No matter how surprisingly, but the nearest relatives of an unusual plant are tomatoes, eggplants and potatoes. Even bloom Pepino resembles potato blossom. Botanists rank it to the parlor family. In nature, culture grows in Chile, Peru and New Zealand - it is grown on a large scale and is actively used in cooking. The local population adds Pepino fruit to desserts, meat dishes, sauces and soups.

Fruits of different varieties Pepino may have a rounded or oval shape. The color of the mysterious fruit is gently yellow, and along the whole fruit there are purple stripes or specks. Thanks to Pingino's color, you will not confuse it with anything else. The size of the fruit also depends on the variety of the plant: the mass can vary from 50 to 750 grams. If you try to describe the fruit of Pepino, then you can find the external similarity with the weakly wearing a pear, and to taste - with melon, pumpkin and pineapple. That is why overseas fruit Many dacms are called "melon pear."

If you take the cultivation of a tropical delicacy, then collect the harvest will be throughout the season: the fruits do not hurt everything at the same time. As a result, 6-8 kg of fruits can be collected from one bush. Since the appearance of a flower, before the day, the fetus takes off 2.5 - 3 months. The ripeness of the fruit you define on its characteristic color and stripes.

Pepino fruits are very fragrant and delicious: you are happy to taste them in cheese and treated form. If you want to eat fresh fruit, then skin, although it is very thin, it is better to consider, and seeds - to remove the spoon. On average, 80% of the mass of the fetus is a juicy sour-sweet pulp of yellow or white. In addition to culinary pleasure, when drinking Pepino in food, you will also get the replenishment of the balance of iodine in the body - fruit contains a large amount of it. As you can guess the yellow color of the melon pear, it is rich in vitamin C, and in addition, the vitamins of the group B, PP, keratin and iron.

You can store Pepino in the refrigerator 2 months - nothing bad will happen to him and even, on the contrary, the longer there is a fruit, the more severe fragrance gets.

Conditions for growing Pepino

In our country, grown Pepino became quite recently. You can do it on the balcony, terrace, just on the windowsill in the apartment and, of course, in the greenhouse of any type - the culture is thermal-loving and needs a special microclimate.

The first and most importantly, the air temperature in no way should be descended below + 13 ° C. Optimal conditions for comfortable growth:

the temperature is +20 - + 25 ° C for days throughout the entire vegetation period;
lack of sharp temperature fluctuations;
high humidity (about 75 - 80%);
constantly wet soil;
the absence of a strong wind or draft (the plant is simply broken due to the fact that its roots are located almost on the surface of the soil).

In the greenhouse, creating such conditions is easy, especially if it is equipped with a heating / cooling system. However, they grown Pepino and in the open soil. There are more difficulties here. Although culture and tropical, it does not carry too high temperatures. Therefore, with a hot summer, when the degree readings are approaching the mark + 30 ° C, Pepino flowers will crumble and the fruits will not get tight. But if in September - October the weather will be soft, the plant will delight you with abundant flowering and fruits.

You can grow a miracle fruit by putting seeds or sprouted stalks. Both methods are good - you should choose more convenient.

Growing Pepino from seeds

Seeds you can buy in a specialized store or prepare from a mature fetus. The planting material germinates well at home, has a large percentage of germination. However, you should understand that not every variety will give healthy young plants when growing from our own seeds. Hybrids with this method of reproduction can give later flowering or inhomogeneous fruits - the variety is simply degenerate.

The most popular hybrid varieties derived specifically for growing exotic fetus in Russian latitudes is Ramses and Consuelo. Total breeders around the world have already created more than 25 varieties of melon pear.

In order for the season of moving to a greenhouse or to a balcony of the plant, the plant should be carried out in the first half of February. For the germination you will need light, wet and well-swollen soil (culture need oxygen access to roots). You can purchase a soil for growing tomato seedlings - it contains all the microelements necessary for the melon pear.

Seeds wrap in a wet cloth and put in a dark and very warm place. A few days later, signs of germination will be noticeable, it is possible to plant in the ground.
In the prepared tray, plan the seeds: Sprinkle them on the surface of the soil and slightly trigger the earth.
Cover the tray with a film or glass - it will help create a greenhouse effect that will accelerate the germination of Pepino seeds.
Put the box with seedlings to the room, the temperature in which will be +26 - + 28 ° C. It is important that the temperature is constant.
After about a week, you will notice the appearance of germs. Then you can remove the film (glass) - to cover seedlings now there is no need.
Plants should develop before the appearance of 2-3 sheets. At this time, water them and follow the temperature indoor.
When the leaflets appeared - Seedlings Pepino are ready for picking. Replanted only the strongest sprouts into individual pots. Moreover, for the prevention of bacterial diseases, the soil in pots pre-pour the weak solution of manganese.
After the dive again, cover the pot with a melon-melon film. So there will be a big humidity of the air around the young plant, and it will be easier for it in a new place.
The culture in the first month of life will develop slowly - this is normal and should not cause you concerns. To speed up growth - shift Pepino seedlings.
By the time of transplanting at a permanent place, Pepino will reach 10 cm in height and will already have 8-9 leaves.

Growing Pepino from Chernok

More reliable and at the same time, a simpler way to breed the bush Pepino - shilling. The cuttings take in an adult bush that has moved well to winter. The procedure can be carried out at the end of February.

cut a part of the escape on which there are 7 sheets;
lower a pair of leaflets remove, and the following 3 doine half - so the cutlets will lose less moisture and is rooted faster;
put a cutlets into a jar with clean water room temperature (sheets should not be in water);
after a week, the cuttings will be allowed to be the roots of 1.5 - 2 cm long.

Experienced gardeners and gardeners argue that Pepino is very well rooted - all cuttings appear roots without additional feeding and growth stimulants.

So, when the roots of future bushes rose 2 cm, they need to immediately plant in the ground. For growing Pepino (as we have already mentioned) the mixture is suitable for tomatoes. Take a small pot or simple plastic cups with holes in the bottom for water drain, and put the cuttings in them. It is very important that the soil is loose: culture roots need oxygen access.

Soil preparation and disembarking Pepino

To bust a melotic pear felt perfectly, it is necessary to plant it in lightness with neutral acidity. Well, if the garlic, beans, onion or cucumber grew up to Pepino on the plot. Another fall after harvesting the predecessor, the Earth needs to be swapped and cleaned from weeds and the remains of the roots.

In the spring, when it came to plant our exotic fruit, act as follows:

thoroughly explode;
make rows, the distance between which is at least 70 cm;
the landing depth should be small;
make organic fertilizer - compost (4 kg per square meter);
pour soil;
seed out Pepino to land in a checker order, so that between the plants there is a gap 50 cm;
it is advisable to land at night;
after landing, the culture must be pouring, and then repeating watering every few days (do not allow soil drying);
the beds are necessarily murdered with dry ground.

Only questions remain when and where to plant a tropical Pepino. Of course, it is better to plant in the greenhouse: this will allow you to land before (in mid-April), extend the vegetation of plants and get early fruits.

If there are no greenhouses on your site, you can land in open soil, but a little later - in May, when the probability of night frosts is minimal (for each region, these are different dates). However, it is advisable for the garden to build a small film shelter for the plant for the first time to protect it from wind and possible cooling. The easiest version of the protective design is the reinforcement wire in the form of the arch above the bed, which is covered with a dense film. Do not forget that the day of the greenhouse needs to be opened so that the garden is ventilated. It will be possible to remove the shelter when the weather becomes stable warm, and the bush will go to the phase of active growth.

If you grow Pepino at home in a pot or a tub, then take a plant on a balcony on warm days or open the windows - culture needs sunlight and fresh air.

Formation of a bush Pepino.

It is very important not to miss the moment and conduct border and step-in - the formation of a bush plant.

So, although Kush Pepino is quite strong, but under the weight of pouring fruits can break. In addition, it is noticed that the plant that falls on the ground ceases to bloom and fruit. Avoiding similar troubles will help the setting of the Trellier - a comfortable plant support.

When plants are planted, along the beds, take a few durable supports (it can be pipes, fittings or wooden bars). Distance between supports - 2-3 meters. And their height above the ground is 70-80 cm. Next you need a durable wire or wire. Tension it between the supports at a distance of 20-25 cm from each other. The resulting "strings" in no case should have to be saved.

Already 20-25 days after disembarking into the ground bush Pepino need to start tapping and forming:

remove all the shoots of the plant, leaving the three most powerful sprouts - they will be the basis of the bush;
tell shooting to the lower "string" Toplar: the central escape is vertically, and the side - a little rejoice on the parties;
as the stems grow up, tip them up so that they are vertically, leaning on the sleeper - this will allow the plant to reach the sun and gain strength for the development of fruits;
all the fruitful branches that are separated from the three main, can not be supported, but simply "hang" on the threads of the tag, so that they do not learn to the ground;
when you notice that steppes are formed on fruit branches (additional processes) - cut them off so that they do not pull the nutrients needed Pepino to aging fruits;
the bush is very prone to the formation of stepsing - they need to remove them every week, otherwise instead of the crop you will receive only branches.

Pepino: Regular care

Regularly loose land and remove the weed plants between the beds.
Water the exotic bush, so that the soil always remains wet.
Check the leaves and stems Pepino for the presence of pests. The affected portions of the bush need to immediately process in order to prevent the dissemination of the disease.
Feed the bushes with organic fertilizers (a korovyan in proportion 1:10): the first time - after rooting the seedlings and the beginning of active growth, the second time - at the stage of formation of fruits. Do not forget to water the culture immediately after the feeding.

Preparation of "uterine" plants Pepino

To get young and healthy bushes next year, it should be prepared back in August. For this, the cushions of the main bush are germinated by steying plants. If you begin training in the second half of summer, then to the onset of cold, young plants Pepino will be prepared - it will be formed a full-fledged root system.

How to grow stepsing plants:

In July, crop steps with bush and root them.
Spring young bushes to the parent plant - so they will be easier to develop. The main bush will provide protection from the Sun and excessive moisture evaporation.

Wintering of young plants Pepino

By the end of September, when the night temperature will decrease, the processes are already rooted. Do not allow the plant to transfer the temperature below + 13 ° C, otherwise all growth processes in the stems will be suspended.

drop the young plants along with the land of the earth (it is important not to injure the root system);
put them with a box or flower pots (at the bottom there must be a drainage and layer of the finished soil mixture for the cultivation of tomatoes);
if the air temperature allows, leave a box with plants on the street for several days - so it will be easier for them to transfer the place shift;
then bring pots from Pepino to a residential room and place on the windowsill (it is desirable that the windows do not go north);
in winter, Pepino care for both other bedroom plants, and in April he will be ready for landing in the ground and fruiting.

Pepino: pests and fight against them

It can be harmful to exotic shrubs that are well acquaintances insects can be harmful: whiteflink, wave, spider tick and Colorad beetle. Processing plants from pest encroachments can also be as well as other cultures in your greenhouse. In order not to use chemical insecticides, make a decoction of tobacco, yarrow, onion husk or garlic and spray Pepino from the sprayer once a week. This will help get rid of the problem, but also will retain the ecology of fruits on your bed. Before sending uterine plants to wintering, also be sure to treat them from pests.

As for chemicals, there are no special means for processing Pepino. You are suitable insecticides to protect tomato or eggplant. However, Pepino can show increased sensitivity to chemicals and even die from their impact. Therefore, test the drug on a small process before processing the entire plant.