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The Candy pumpkin was bred by Russian breeders for cultivation specifically in non-black earth areas. It not only quickly gained popularity among gardeners, but was also awarded the highest rating by the Institute of the Canning Industry for its excellent taste. The sweet pulp of this variety of vegetables fully lives up to its name.
Description of the pumpkin variety Candy
Pumpkin of the Candy variety is an annual plant with a creeping stem, the length of which can reach 1.5 m. The stem is rough and spiny. Each one usually bears 6–8 fruits. The leaves are heart-shaped, large (up to 25 cm), green, located on elongated petioles. The flowers are large, yellow, with long stalks.
Description of fruits
In accordance with the description of the variety, the Candy pumpkin is large-fruited, and you can often see photos of its giant fruits weighing up to 100 kg. However, its usual average weight in the garden ranges from 1.5 to 3 kg. The fruits are well segmented, have a thick, rough skin, and become bright orange when ripe. There are specimens with longitudinal greenish stripes indicating segments.
The pulp is very juicy, deep orange in color. The seed nest is small, filled with large seeds suitable for food.
Description of the Candy pumpkin characterizes it as a universal table variety, the main distinguishing feature of which is its exceptionally sweet taste. The pulp of the fruit contains about 8% sugar, making the candy suitable for baking, preparing salads, porridges, and purees. It is good in first courses, side dishes, and appetizers. It, unlike many others, can be eaten raw.
The Candy variety has a high content of vitamins and minerals. It is especially rich in ascorbic acid and carotene; there is also sodium, phosphorus and magnesium. This vegetable is a dietary product with a calorie content of 22 kcal per 100 g.
The fruits of this variety have found application in the food industry, in the production of baby food, since they are rich in vitamins and microelements, and products using them do not require additional sweetening.
This variety is also grown in livestock farms. Due to its unpretentiousness, high yield, excellent nutritional value and keeping quality, many farmers use it as animal feed. Description of Candy pumpkin as a fodder crop receives excellent reviews from livestock farm owners.
This vegetable can be stored for up to 10 months at temperatures from +7°C to +15°C and tolerates transportation well.
Characteristics of the variety
This variety is cold-resistant, therefore it is widespread throughout Russia. When grown in the middle zone under long, warm summer conditions, up to 7–8 fruits can ripen on one plant.In the colder and rainier Northwest region, up to 3 pumpkins are harvested from a plant.
The crop easily tolerates drought, but is demanding on soil fertility and requires light.
The Konfetka variety of pumpkin is harvested on average 110–130 days after germination. Depending on climatic conditions and quality of care, from 1 sq. m. 3.6–8.4 kg of fruits are collected, and from one bush – up to 25 kg. The variety is high-yielding.
You can find Candy F1 seeds on sale. This is a hybrid of the same variety. According to the description and main characteristics, the Candy F1 pumpkin is similar to the main variety, and in order not to make a mistake in choosing planting material, when buying seeds you should pay attention to the photo. The bark of Candy F1 is gray in color and has a denser structure. It tastes virtually no different, although some connoisseurs of this vegetable notice nutty notes in its sweet pulp.
Resistance to pests and diseases
This variety suffers from the same diseases and pests as other pumpkin crops. These are white rot, bacteriosis, root rot, powdery mildew, spider mites, etc.
Crop rotation significantly reduces the risk of disease. You should not plant pumpkin after pumpkin crops (cucumbers, squash, zucchini), since the causative agents of their common diseases remain in the soil for several years. The preferred predecessors of pumpkin are onions, potatoes, legumes, and root vegetables.
The general rule when a pumpkin is affected by a disease or pest is to urgently collect and destroy (burn) all affected parts of the plant.
There are special medications for the prevention and treatment of each disease.
Advantages and disadvantages
The varietal advantages of Candy pumpkin include:
- sweet taste of pulp;
- wide possibilities for using fruits;
- high content of vitamins and microelements;
- early ripening, unpretentiousness, frost resistance, drought resistance;
- long shelf life.
The disadvantages of Candy pumpkin, according to some vegetable growers, are:
- demands on soil fertility;
- love of light;
- susceptibility to diseases.
Growing Pumpkin Candy
Pumpkin Sweetie does not require much effort to grow and care for. Harvesting a rich harvest is not at all difficult. Even novice vegetable growers will be able to get beautiful, sweet fruits if they follow the recommendations for planting and cultivating this variety.
Planting pumpkin Candy
When growing Candy pumpkin, you should remember that it, like other large-fruited varieties, requires a lot of space. A distance of 90 to 150 cm is left between plants. It is better to choose a sunny, wind-blown site for planting.
The crop grows well on light and medium loamy soils. The bed is pre-fertilized with manure or compost, and if the soil is very depleted, ash and superphosphate are added to the holes.
Candy pumpkin is grown both by seedlings and without seedlings.
You should sow Candy pumpkin for seedlings from the second half of April to the second ten days of May.
As when forcing seedlings of other pumpkin crops, the seeds of this variety are first soaked in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for disinfection.The optimal substrate for germination is a mixture of turf soil, peat and humus. Individual cups or peat pots are used as containers - pumpkin seedlings quickly form a branched root system and it is almost impossible to pick up grown seedlings without damaging them.
The seedlings are planted in a permanent place after 3 weeks.
Seeds are sown directly into the ground, usually in the second half of May - early June, and in the southern regions they begin from the beginning of May. The planting material is first placed in a damp cloth and left for a day at room temperature. The strongest seeds sprout, which should be hardened in the refrigerator for 2 days.
Place 3-4 seeds in each hole. Of the 3 emerging shoots, the strongest and strongest is left.
If there is a danger of night frosts, cover the plantings with film at night.
Pumpkin care Sweetie
To increase the yield, the bushes are formed: after the appearance of 5-6 leaves, the stem is pinched, as a result of which the plant produces lateral shoots, on which more fruits are formed. In August, when all the ovaries are formed, all shoots are pinched to stop their growth.
Further care of the crop comes down to watering, loosening, weeding and fertilizing. Water the pumpkin with warm water as the top layer of soil dries. During the flowering period, plants require more moisture.
Loosening, weeding and fertilizing begin no earlier than a week and a half after planting and continue until the leaves close.
The Candy pumpkin, like other pumpkin plants, is fertilized with organic matter.Many experienced gardeners prefer fertilizing with chicken manure, but regular mullein will also do. Ammonium nitrate can be used as a source of minerals. The plants are fed for the first time at the 5th leaf stage, then during intensive plant growth, and then every 3 weeks.
Harvest on a sunny day. Pumpkins are left with a stalk up to 10 cm long. If the fruits are not ripe before the first frost and remain in the garden, they are mulched with straw or covered with film.
Conclusion
Pumpkin Candy is an extremely attractive variety for Russian vegetable growers. Its unpretentiousness guarantees a harvest even in areas with risky farming. The sweet pulp of this healthy vegetable can be used not only in confectionery, but is also indispensable when preparing dishes for children.
