Pumpkin The and the Gourd: A Tale of Two "Yaqteen
Botanical description of bottle gourd:
A herbaceous perennial plant with creeping or climbing stems that can grow up to 4 feet tall meters, with bristles and tendrils. The leaves are simple, covered with a thick, velvety pubescence, and the leaf width is up to 40 cm. The root system is very spreading and goes deep into the soil.
Flowers:
Bottle gourd is monoecious, which means it bears both male and female flowers on the same plant. The male-to-female flower ratio is as high as that of the rest of the cucumber, reaching 9:1.
Male flowers appear 8-18 weeks after sowing, while female flowers appear after about 2-4 weeks. The period for female flowers to appear lasts about 3-12 weeks, depending on the type and environmental conditions.
Flowers are single in the axillary leaves. Female flowers are formed on the lateral stems and, rarely, the top of the stem. Flowers in the axils of the basal leaves are more likely to create nodes and fruits than those near the tops of the stems.
Origin and history of bottle gourd cultivation:
It is grown in tropical and subtropical climates and dry and semi-dry regions.
Africa is his original home; he moved to Asia and the Americas more than 9,000 years ago.
He most likely arrived in the Americas via some fruits that floated on the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. Pumpkin fruits can retain the vitality of their seeds for seven months while floating in seawater. The pumpkin is one of the oldest plants grown in the world, and archaeologists say that the pumpkin crop was used at least 12,000 years ago in the Old and New Worlds. Pumpkin has been known in Pharaonic Egypt since 3500–3000 BC.
It was found in Thailand between 6000 and 10,000 BC, in Mexico, 5000–7000 B.C., and in Peru, 4000–5000 years B.C. It was also found in Europe, in the north of the Alps, during the reign of The Roman Empire in the first century A.D.
Environmental needs of bottle gourd:
Bottle gourd is a warm-weather plant. Seed germination is suitable for temperatures between 20 and 25 °C, and seeds can germinate at temperatures lower than 15 °C and higher up to 35 °C, but germination is slow. The most suitable range ranges from 18 to 22 °C at night and from 30 to 35 °C during the day, and a decrease in temperature from 5 to 10 °C reduces flowering.
Bottle gourd is more cold-tolerant than watermelon and cantaloupe but not frost-tolerant.
Bottle gourd flowers are sensitive to the length of the photoperiod.
The long days and high temperatures increase the number of female flowers over the male ones. In short days and low temperatures, the number of male flowers increases from the feminine.
Suitable soil:
Bottle gourd cultivation works well in a variety of soil types. Only the best lands for farming are loamy, well-drained soils. Bottle gourd plants are somewhat salt-tolerant, as the seeds can germinate in salts up to a concentration of 4600 ppm.
Bottle gourd plants tolerate a wide range of soil pH up to 8. However, the suitable degree of soil acidity approaching 5.6 is one of the characteristics of Egyptian land, which is considered alkaline soil with a pH of 8. It reaches 5.8 degrees in sandy soils and 9 degrees in limestone lands.
This affects the facilitation of nutrients into the soil. The nitrogen element in the soil is available in a 6-8-degree temperature range and decreases with increasing soil alkalinity or acidity.
Nitrogen is very weak at a pH above 5.8 and below 5.5.
Calcium becomes more readily available in the 5.8° range and decreases with increasing soil alkalinity. Elements of phosphorus also become more accessible in this range.
It ranges between 5.6 and 5.7 degrees and decreases with an increase in soil pH from 5.7 degrees; then, it reaches a critical level at 5.8 degrees.
In alkaline soil, the facilitation of all iron decreases; manganese, copper, zinc, and boron become easy factors of critical boron when pH rises above 5.7. Its deficiency becomes apparent at pH 8. However, it begins to increase again with pH above 5.8.
Bottle gourd plants can be grown successfully in alkaline soil whenever possible, as they readily absorb the nutrients required for plant growth. This enables it to be cultivated in both old and new lands.
Sowing date:
Bottle gourd is a summer crop that needs moderate temperatures and is affected by frost. In low temperatures, leaves burn, growth stops, and flowers are reduced or absent. Therefore, in the case of cultivation to produce green fruits, it can extend from March to September in most parts of the Republic. It can be early.
- It is planted in January and February in warm, sandy lands and under PVC cellars. Seeds can also be sown in October in Upper Egypt's lands.
- As for seed production, the most suitable date for sowing is during the first half of Upper Egypt, which begins in March, and Lower Egypt, which starts in April, when plants grow and ripen their fruits in hot, dry weather.
- The plants reach the flowering stage during May when the temperatures are at the appropriate rates for insect activity, so the pollination is successful, the fruits are set, and the seeds are well formed. While the plants are planted early in February, they flower in March when temperatures are relatively low and insect activity is low. This is reflected in the efficiency of the vaccination process, which needs to be completed better.
- Also, when planting, delay planting until May, as the plants reach flowering during June when the temperatures are remarkably high.
- This hot, dry weather causes the pollen to dry, thus not sticking to the insect's body.
- The seed yield decreases.
Seed quantity:
Depending on the grade, about 1.25–2 kg of seeds are required to plant an acre. As the temperature rises at some point during planting, the amount of seed used decreases.
Temperatures. Egypt currently has no advanced varieties or hybrids, and what has grown is an open-pollinated commercial range.
Seed practices for cultivation (The seed germination system):
Germination softens seeds before planting in cold frames to accelerate growth.
Since the germination of seeds is low at temperatures that can be lower than 20 degrees Celsius, This procedure takes place as follows:
1. The seeds are placed in a bit of gauze or light burlap for twenty-four days. One hour in lukewarm water containing a fungicide (Topson MO or Vitavex). or Rezolux) at a rate of 1 gram of pesticide per liter of water, assuming that the water is changed every 24 hours.
2. The seeds are then filtered from the water and wrapped in gauze or burlap. Wet the beef and put it inside the refrigerator beneath the freezer for twenty-four hours.
Consider that the plant's length does not exceed 1-3 mm, and then the seeds are sown properly after they are removed from the fridge.
Seedling production:
It is usually recommended that seedlings be provided for early seed planting for 4-6 weeks under protection.
The best mixture for generating seedlings has been confirmed to be peat moss and fiber. Myculite at a ratio of 1:1, and the pH of the peat moss is adjusted to raise it from 4.3 to 7 by including 4 kg of tile powder; this quantity is decreased in the case of peat moss with a pH better than 5.3.
Add 150 grams of superphosphate and 200 grams of sulfate to each peat moss bag, along with ammonia, 25 grams of Benlite or Topsin, 50 grams of any combination of trace factors (iron, zinc, and manganese), or 50 cm3 of foliar fertilizer.
Small quantities of those gadgets are dissolved in the correct amount of water and sprayed. The environment is mechanically or manually combined with water added daily and continues.
Mixing until the aggregate is saturated with a suitable quantity of moisture is called "first fullness." The combination of the surroundings and the strain on it causes the water to come out from between the fingers.
The blending is finished on a chunk of plastic, and after ensuring the integration is complete, the edges are wrapped.
Wrap the mixture in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for twenty-four hours.
Fill eighty-four-inch foam trays halfway with the mixture and press down on the environment inside the trays till it has a suitable consistency.
Each eye receives one seed. The trays are irrigated on the pinnacles of each eye, and an empty tray is placed on the stack and blanketed with a plastic sheet to maintain warmth and moisture. The trays are inspected daily and separated as quickly as germination begins, considering there may be no postponement. Spread the trays so that the cotyledon leaves do not flip yellow.
Irrigation :
It is assumed that irrigation is performed on the protector (pilot) so that water reaches the plants from above the radiation path.
Increased irrigation water and water reaching the back of the terraces aid in the spread of fungal diseases. Irrigation must be regulated during flowering, setting, and fruit development with frequent light irrigation.
Where irregularity affects the percentage of nodes and flower drops, irrigation must be stopped before harvesting the fruits to extract the seeds in time for the fruits to dry.
Ordinary soil needs 4-6 irrigations, which increase with light and sandy soil. It may reach ten irrigations, considering the delay in the first irrigation until the roots can penetrate the soil deep.
Fertilization:
Plant growth stages and their relationship to fertilization:
First, the stage of vegetative and root growth
At this stage, the plant needs large amounts of phosphorus, which enters the cell and is involved in cell division and the formation of new vegetative and root growth.
The synthesis of ADP-ATP energy compounds is necessary to absorb elements and nutrients from the soil through the roots, raising their absorption efficiency, especially in the early stages of growth.
But there must be nitrogen next to it. Phosphorus is in large quantities at this stage because it is included in the protein and nucleus composition.
All new vegetative growths are referred to as It is also mentioned that potassium is essential at this stage because it aids in cell division.
Osmosis, but the plant needs it in small quantities. Further, magnesium and iron's primary role is in forming chlorophyll. It also shows the critical role of calcium. The formation of solid walls for new cells in new growths is also bought in quantities.
Second: the stage of flowering and settling:
It is necessary to reduce the quantities of nitrogen while increasing the amounts of phosphorus and potassium.
This is due to the importance of phosphorus in the first stage of the five stages of formation.
Fruit is the product of cell division.
Third: The ripening stage of fruits until harvest:
Here, potassium appears in the second stage of fruit growth when the cells are complete. In the third stage, which is the completion of fruit growth, potassium is responsible for transporting the carbohydrates formed in the leaves to the fruits.
Therefore, you must:
- Paying attention to nitrogen and phosphate fertilization during the first periods of cultivation, the growth of plants, and until the plants reach the flowering stage, as well as a solid vegetative and root system. Ammonium sulfate must be used.
As a source of nitrogen during the land preparation for cultivation and growth. Vegetative until flowering. Ammonium sulfate can also be replaced with urea. When temperatures drop or the growth rate of plants decreases, flowering. Then nitrogen is added in the form of ammonium nitrate.
Ripening and harvesting:
Harvesting green pumpkin fruits begins 60 days after planting when they are ripe. The skin of the fruit is juicy (soft) and green. This is accomplished by severing the fruit from a portion of the neck (approximately 5 cm) with a sharp knife. Harvest every 3–4 days.
When leaving the fruits to obtain seeds, it is recommended to collect the green fruits at once and leave the fruits after that until maturity.
Yield:
are pumpkins a fruit or vegetable?
Pumpkins are technically a fruit!
Botanically speaking, they're fruits because they develop from the flower of the pumpkin plant and contain seeds. More specifically, pumpkins are classified as a type of berry called a "pepo" - a fruit with a hard outer rind and no internal divisions.
However, in culinary terms, pumpkins are often treated as vegetables because they're savory rather than sweet (at least in their natural state), and we typically use them in savory dishes like soups and side dishes, even though pumpkin pie is sweet.
So the answer depends on whether you're asking from a botanical or culinary perspective - but scientifically, they're definitely fruits! This same botanical-vs-culinary distinction applies to tomatoes, cucumbers, and squash too.