Existing types of melon grown in different countries are striking in their diversity. Their fruits differ in shape, size, taste, but without exception, these plants prefer a sunny and warm climate.
Short description
Melon is a representative of the Cucurbitaceae family, false berry, melon culture. This is an annual plant with a long creeping stem. The leaves are entire, palmately lobed, and consist of five lobes. One melon can give up to eight large fragrant berries. The type of fruit for each variety is different and can have a rounded, cylindrical and even flattened shape. The flesh is greenish, yellow or orange in color.
A bit of history
Melon cultivation was practiced in ancient Egypt. The first mention of it is found in the Bible. It is believed that the birthplace of this melon culture is Northern India. From here it began to spread to the west and east. In Europe, only in the XV century began to grow some types of melons. In Russia, they first appeared a little later and were first brought only to the Lower Volga region.
Useful properties
Melon is widely popular due to the fact that it contains a complex of elements important for humans:iron, citric, malic and succinic acids, vitamins A, P, C. It also contains inosine, which helps cleanse the body of cholesterol and helps strengthen hair roots. Most often, fragrant melon is consumed fresh, but there are many recipes for making delicious jam and marinade. It is often added to meat to create authentic culinary masterpieces.
Any kind of melon has a beneficial effect on strengthening the immune system and the nervous system, helping to cope with the problem of insomnia. Due to its low calorie content, this false berry can be included in almost any diet. It stimulates the cleansing of the body from slagging and helps the smooth functioning of the intestines.
Melon - types and varieties
The photo of these amazing fruits is striking in variety. A huge number of existing varieties are divided into 3 groups - cantaloupe, net and smooth.
The first includes ribbed melons with deep narrow grooves on the surface and having a flattened shape. The sweet pulp has a rich orange color. Fruit length is 20-25 cm. Not suitable for long-term storage.
Mesh melons usually have the correct spherical shape. Ribbing is weakly expressed. This species got its name due to the surface of the fruit, covered with a grayish mesh. The flesh can be either orange or greenish or white, depending on the variety.
Smooth-skinned melons tend to be oblong with thin skins. Ribbingpractically absent.
Choice variety
When planning to plant a melon on your site, you should remember that this plant is very thermophilic, and its fruits ripen at a temperature not lower than 30⁰С. For central Russia, where summer is unpredictable, it is important to choose the right variety depending on the growing season. For example, some types of late-ripening melons take up to 120 days to ripen.
Main varieties
These are the most popular types of melon. Their list is quite large, but most often in our climatic conditions you can find the following varieties:
- Alushta. The fruits of melons are large, up to one and a half kilograms, yellow-orange in color. The pulp is juicy. The ripening time is up to 70 days, and the fruiting is very high.
- Gerimus. The early ripe variety has a good yield, the fruits are medium-sized, smooth, light gray in color, with juicy orange sweet pulp. The plant perfectly adapts to natural conditions.
- Armenian cucumber, or Silver. It has an exceptional shape. Young fruits with a characteristic aroma, reaching a kilogram weight, are ready for use. Melon is excellent at reducing temperatures and is resistant to a large number of diseases.
- Collective farmer. A very popular variety due to its exceptional taste. The weight of a bright orange rounded fruit is not more than 1 kg. The pulp is fragrant, sweet, surprisingly tender.
- Musk. A real midget in the world of melons. The fruit is round or slightlyflattened shape, with clear veins. The flesh is aromatic and sweet, orange or light yellow in color.
Early ripe varieties
- Millennium. The fruit has a round shape, slightly flattened. The pulp is very sweet, white. To be grown both in greenhouse conditions or in greenhouses, and in open ground.
- Princess Anna. An early ripe hybrid, ready to please with fragrant fruits in two months. Differs in strong powerful bushes. The fruit is outwardly attractive, oval in shape, the average weight is about 2 kg. The peel is milky white, the flesh is pale orange, with a honey taste, juicy. The plant is very unpretentious, can bear fruit in the open field, is quite easy to care for.
- Aikido. The hybrid appeared quite recently, but has already earned popularity due to its immunity to diseases. Fruit yellow-brown, veined, white-green flesh, high in sugar.
- Canaria. This hybrid has a very early ripening time of no more than 70 days (usually 60). The bush is quite easy to confuse with a cucumber, thanks to the long shoots resembling a vine. Fruits are oval-shaped, weighing from 1.5 to 3 kg, smooth, without veins, covered with light pubescence, sunny yellow. They have fresh tasty greenish flesh with a characteristic honey flavor. The edible layer is large enough and reaches 7 cm. This variety is very resistant to most diseases characteristic of the culture: fusarium, anthracnose, powdery mildew. He loves light and warmth, so if it gets very cold at night, it is recommended to cover the bed with a film. Generally, thisvery sensitive to light and heat melon.
Species and varieties bred in Russia are represented by Natalina. The fruit of such a melon is round, clean, yellow in color, the skin is thin, the flesh is white with a slight shade of green, medium thickness, juicy and sweet. Remarkably transported, can be stored for a long time. Many gardeners are familiar with lemon-yellow melon, bred in the Krasnodar Territory. It is distinguished by a slightly flattened, lemon-colored fruit (hence the name), covered with small dots. Weight usually does not exceed 1.5 kg. The pulp is firm, has a characteristic vanilla flavor.
Mid-ripening varieties
Altai. Ripening period up to 80 days. The fruit is oval, bright yellow, about 1 kg, with juicy pulp.
Early sweet. The shape of the fruit is close to spherical, slightly elongated, weighing up to 3 kg, bright yellow and smooth. The pulp is yellow-creamy, sweet, fragrant and surprisingly tasty. The bush and flowers are similar to cucumber. The variety perfectly copes with anthracnose and powdery mildew diseases, is cold-resistant and unpretentious. For a chic harvest, it is better to grow in a greenhouse, but in warm areas, open ground is also suitable.
Assol. Fruits are oval-shaped, saturated yellow color with grayish stripes. The pulp is juicy, fragrant, delicate yellowish hue. The variety was specially created for cultivation in farms and household plots. It has a very high yield.
Golden. The fruit is oval, bright yellow, with stripes. The pulp is very juicy. The variety is characterized by a high content of vitamins. It copes well with diseases, grows well in the open field, but prefers greenhouse conditions.
Blondie. The time of appearance of fruits falls on the 80-90th day from the moment of planting. The fruits are very large, slightly flattened round shape, small in size. Very juicy fragrant pulp of amazing taste. When the fruits are ready for harvest, they signal this by the appearance of a specific aroma and a change in color to beige.
All of the above types of melons, with good care, give a good harvest not only in the southern, but also in the middle latitudes.
Late varieties
One of these melons has a corresponding name - Wintering. The variety is very difficult to grow in the latitudes of the middle lane, but it grows well in the south. The owner of light fruits of yellowish-green color, covered with a net. The pulp is tender, greenish in color. Melon can be stored for a long time and is ideal for transportation.
Pineapple is a variety that requires at least 95 days to ripen. Differs in oval mesh fruits with fragrant pulp, reminiscent of pineapple in taste.
Torpedo - these melons have a peculiar elongated shape. The yellow peel is covered with the smallest grid. Highly disease and drought resistant.
Foreign Varieties
Some gardeners also grow foreign types of melons (a photo of one of them can be found below).
Charentay comes from France, this amazing variety is distinguished by small roundfruits with excellent taste. Color - soft yellow, close to white.
Ozhen is a guest from Israel: the shape is round or slightly oval, with a smooth surface, with a lot of veins, a greenish-yellow tone. Differs in fragrant fleshy pulp of pale green color.
Khandalak is an Uzbek melon that tastes very similar to a pear. Small in size, with a thin skin and greenish flesh.
Honey. The origin of the variety is Morocco, its features: an elongated fruit shape, no veining, orange-green skin color, honey pulp, juicy, pale yellow or with a reddish tinge.
Kassaba. Came from Turkey, has an almost regular rounded shape. The fruits appear quite late, closer to winter. The flesh is juicy, but almost completely devoid of flavor.
Almost all varieties and types of melons, with photos and descriptions of which can be found in this article, have their own advantages for growing in central Russia. But more suitable are early-ripening hybrids, resistant to both the vagaries of the weather and most diseases.
