Potato, grain, melons and fertilisers

Melon crops include melon, watermelon and pumpkin. Watermelon and melon are eaten fresh or processed: shinni, qovunqoqi (dried melon), salted watermelon. Watermelon contains 10–12 percent dry matter, 6–11 percent sugar, vitamins A, B1, B2 and PP, iron and calcium salts, potassium and magnesium. Leaves are simple, 8–23 cm, grey-green; the taproot goes 1–2 metres or deeper into the soil. Seeds sprout quickly: in good conditions in 3–4 days, and seedlings appear 8–10 days after sowing. Growing melons on one plot continuously strengthens disease and sharply cuts yield, so they are rotated; the best place is sod land, after cabbage and carrots, and they also grow well after maize and rice. Light sandy loam suits them. Melon crops are annual plants. Safety: wash melon before eating and have an adult cut it; do not eat unripe or uncovered, left-out pieces.