Popular watermelon variety “Crimson Sweet”: overview of advantages, disadvantages and growing technology

Among garden crops, watermelons are not the most common in most of Russia. However, to grow this berry every gardener can do it.

The Crimson Sweet variety has proven itself to be excellent in the Russian climate. To enjoy its sugary pink-red pulp, you need to know exactly how to grow it and what are the basic rules for caring for it.

Description of the watermelon variety

Crimson Sweet is a variety bred in 1963 and received its name (literally “Raspberry Sweet”) because of its especially sweet and tender pulp.

The original seeds are distributed in Europe through the company Claus Tezier. The variety turned out to be so successful that other varieties and hybrids were bred on its basis: the Crimson Wonder variety and the Crimson Ruby F1 hybrid.

Distinctive features

One of the most important distinguishing features of the variety is its early ripening. It takes 70-80 days from sowing to harvest.

Reference! The early ripening of fruits is explained by the fact that in such plants the flowers are visible already on the 4-6th leaf. In varieties of later ripening, flowers are visible only from the 12th or even 15th leaf.

The variety prefers a warm climate, in which it will grow well and produce an excellent harvest even without seedlings. However, Crimson Sweet can be grown in less suitable cool climate conditions. In this case, you should grow watermelons in a greenhouse.

Composition, properties, benefits, calorie content

Watermelon is not only sweet and excellent taste, but also beneficial. The juicy pulp of the fruit contains:

• vitamins A, E, group B, as well as PP, D, C;
• folic acid;
• riboflavin;
• thiamine;
• pyridoxine;
• zinc;
• potassium;
• iron;
• calcium;
• copper;
• carotene.

These beneficial substances help improve metabolic processes in the body, cleanse the bile ducts, and prevent the formation of kidney stones due to the pronounced diuretic property of the berry.

Reference. Watermelon is a low-calorie product. It contains only 30 calories per 100 g of pulp. This is a great dessert for those who are watching their figure, but cannot deny themselves sweets.

Characteristics

The berries grow round, slightly elongated. The peel of the fruit is dense and smooth, has a characteristic striped pattern: light green stripes on a dark green background.

Attention! If the entire range of agrotechnical measures is followed, the fruit grows weighing from 5 to 12 kg.

Crimson Sweet shows excellent productivity: up to 10 kg of berries are harvested from 1 m² of land. Each seedling is capable of producing 3-4 large watermelons.

Watermelon fully lives up to its name. Hidden inside the berry is dense and juicy pulp, which has a rich red, appetizing color and an equally rich taste. There are almost no transverse veins in the structure of the pulp. Watermelon tastes like sugar and honey, deliciously aromatic.

Seeds of watermelon

Watermelon seeds, like the pulp, have a number of useful properties:

1. They have a lot of protein - 100 g of dried seeds contain about 28 g.
2. A high content of arginine is an amino acid that normalizes blood pressure, reduces the risk of coronary heart disease, and has a positive effect on the male reproductive system.
3. The amino acids contained in the seeds (lysine, tryptophan and glutamic acid) have a beneficial effect on mental abilities, maintaining a high level of concentration and reducing fatigue from overexertion.
4. Watermelon contains a lot of magnesium, zinc, manganese, copper and iron that are beneficial for the nervous system.
5. The presence of antioxidants that protect cells from free radicals.

Watermelon seeds are high in calories: 557 kcal per 100 g of dry product.

How to grow this variety yourself

Crimson Sweet can be grown by sowing seeds directly into open ground or growing seedlings from them. The first option is suitable for warm climates. Sowing is carried out on the basis that each plant will require an area of ​​1.5x1.5 m, if it is open ground.

If you grow watermelons in a greenhouse, you will need less space: about 0.65 x 0.65 m. The latter is due to the fact that the vines in greenhouses are tied up, and not laid down, as in open ground. In greenhouse conditions, the yield will be less: 1-2 watermelons per plant, and in open ground - about 4.

Growing in stages and care

If you decide to germinate the seeds, you will have to deal with the seedlings much longer. But you can harvest the harvest a couple of weeks earlier than upon landing straight into open ground.

Seeds are sown for seedlings at the end of April - very beginning of May. Use loose, breathable soil. Seeds are sown in holes up to 1 cm deep. In order for seedlings to appear as early as possible, the planted seeds are kept in greenhouse conditions.

Important! For the first shoots to appear, the variety needs to maintain the temperature at 25-30°C. Otherwise, you will have to wait a long time for seedlings.

Before planting, seedlings are hardened off, gradually lowering the ambient temperature to +10°C.First, young plants are taken out into the open air for 1-2 hours, then this time is increased.

Plants are planted on the site approximately 4 weeks after the first shoots appear.

Important! The soil for planting must warm up to at least 15°C, otherwise the roots of the plant will not be able to develop normally and will die.

Further care includes:

1. Proper watering. When the ovaries form, the plant should be watered 2 times a week at the rate of about 3 buckets of water per 1 m². As soon as the fruits appear, watering should be stopped immediately.
2. Timely applied fertilizer. It is applied twice as the culture develops - 2 weeks after planting watermelons in open ground and during the period of ovary formation.

Slurry or chicken droppings that have been kept in water are applied as fertilizer. Superphosphate and potassium chloride are added to the resulting slurry. During re-feeding, mineral fertilizers are applied.

Features of cultivation and possible difficulties

Main features of the variety:

1. Photophilousness. Remaining in the shade, the fruits will not be able to gain sweetness or will stop growing altogether. Plants should be completely open to light from all sides.
2. Thermophilia. The variety will grow and gain sweetness only in dry, warm weather. The temperature range should range from 20 to 25°C.
3. Dislike for fertile, black soil, and heavy peat lands. It will be difficult for the plant to break through such dense soil.
4. Adding excessive amounts of organic fertilizers to the soil contributes to the growth of green mass. For this reason, the plant has little or no energy left to develop fruits.
5. After the fruit has formed, the plants should not be watered. Otherwise, you risk changing the sugary taste of the berry to watery.
6. Sensitivity to mineral fertilizers. If there is a shortage of them, the watermelon will develop worse fruits, and their taste will noticeably deteriorate.

Diseases and pests characteristic of the variety

The variety is insensitive to some diseases characteristic of pumpkins, for example, fusarium. However, there are pests that can ruin your efforts.

One of the most common is the common crow, which gets to the berries before you do. To control birds, a scarecrow is installed in the garden.

Among the diseases affecting the variety, it is worth noting the following:

1. White rot. The disease is favored by high humidity and frequent and sudden changes in weather. As a result, watermelons stop growing and the fruits cannot develop normally. Copper sulfate is used to combat the disease.
2. Black rot. Watermelons become infected with this fungal disease through insects. To get rid of black rot, you should remove all affected areas, weed the ground and sprinkle it with copper chloride.
3. Powdery mildew. Looks like a whitish coating on plants. You can get rid of it if the diseased plants are uprooted and burned, and the soil is treated with Karatan.
4. Anthracnose. It is expressed in the presence of brownish spots on the leaves and fruits. To combat it, weeding is carried out, and the plants are treated with Bordeaux essence and cuprosan solution.
5. Root rot. If plants are affected by this disease, they are completely removed. This is the only way to preserve healthy watermelon specimens.

Harvesting and application

Determining the harvest time is not so difficult: the stem of the watermelon begins to dry out. The fruit's tendrils and leaves also dry out, signaling approaching ripeness.Another sign of ripeness is the size of the fruit: the larger it is, the more ripe the berry. A fully ripened watermelon will crack easily if scratched.

Attention! In a ripened watermelon, the rind becomes uniformly glossy and shiny. A yellow spot appears where the fruit touches the ground.

If you plan not to use the crop immediately, but to store it, collect the fruits only in dry weather.

Important! Store watermelons in a cool, dark place with high humidity. The fruits are periodically inspected, rejecting spoiled specimens.

Options for using the crop:

• fresh, treating family and friends to a treat;
• leave for storage for up to 2 months, observing all necessary conditions;
• pickle unripe watermelons;
• make jam from watermelon rinds.

Advantages and disadvantages of the variety

The variety has the following advantages:

• high yield, which more than pays for the effort spent on care;
• excellent transportability - during transportation the watermelon does not suffer either outside or inside;
• tolerates dry weather calmly, is able to grow and develop with irregular watering;
• high sugar content;
• immunity to a number of typical pumpkin diseases.

Disadvantages of the variety:

• possible watery taste with excessively frequent watering;
• Excess nitrogen fertilizers affects the rapid growth of green mass, and the fruits become small.

Reviews

Gardeners are planting fruits unusual for cool climates at their dachas with interest. Everyone’s impressions of the work done and the resulting harvest are extremely positive.

Olga, Omsk: “I plant this variety regularly: I can only say positive things about it. I germinate the seeds.After planting in the ground, be sure to monitor the temperature; if it is cloudy, you should cover the plants. As soon as the fruits grow (at least up to 15 cm in diameter), I stop “insulating” them. The harvested fruits are sweet, the seeds are fully ripened and turn black.”

Slava, Voronezh: “I’ve been growing Crimson Sweet for a long time. Growing such watermelons in the garden is a pleasure. It ripens very early, you can treat everyone with a sweet dessert. The pulp is tender, juicy, and perfectly refreshing in the heat.”

Alex, Pushkino: “I grew seedlings in a greenhouse from purchased seeds. Then I transplanted it into the beds, without even covering it with anything on top. Small watermelons grew without any chemicals. The colors of the fruits are bright. The watermelon itself is juicy, pink-red and crispy inside.”

Conclusion

By choosing the tender, sugary Crimson Sweet, you will certainly please yourself and your family with an excellent dessert straight from the garden. By carrying out simple plant care activities, you will definitely get excellent, large specimens of this berry. The high yield of the variety and its long-term preservation compensate for the efforts spent on care.