Pumpkin Red Riding Hood - variety description

Pumpkin Red Riding Hood: variety description and characteristics

Decorative pumpkin Little Red Riding Hood: photo of the variety

The pumpkin variety "Little Red Riding Hood" is an ornamental crop that lives for only one year. It has tremendous advantages, resistance to various diseases, parasites and heat, it does not need specific ways of growing. The fruits of this variety are used both for decorating the landscape and for preparing culinary dishes.

The decorative pumpkin Little Red Riding Hood was obtained on the territory of America by a selection specialist L. Burbank from planting material, namely the seeds of the parent variety "Chilean pumpkin". The shape of the fruit resembles the acorn of an oak. Breeders have worked for many years, sparing no effort to get a variety that is easy to grow and care for, with a high level of resistance to heat, various parasites and diseases. Also, this variety has another name given by the people - "turban". All thanks to the external similarity of this variety with a headdress from the East.

The most famous representative of this variety is pumpkin, the fruit of which resembles a huge mushroom, this variety is called "red riding hood". This type of pumpkin belongs to decorative, since the shrub is small in size, the lashes are less than average in thickness, grows up to two hundred and fifty to four hundred centimeters, they weave perfectly and hold on to a vegetable garden and a garden purchased in advance in a store with a theme or self-made supports. This variety has an extensive crown with green foliage. The leaves themselves are small in size, and the shape resembles a circle. Pumpkin variety "Little Red Riding Hood" has shoots below average in density in a fairly large amount.

Pumpkin Little Red Riding Hood is ranked among the varieties with an early ripening period. At the beginning of the summer season, the growing season begins. On the bush, large inflorescences begin to open, the color is yellow. Inflorescences are kept on stems below average in density. Usually in the last week of the first summer month, the process of fruit formation begins.

Pumpkin Little Red Riding Hood: fruit description

Decorative pumpkin Little Red Riding Hood: photo of the variety

For the fruit of the pumpkin Little Red Riding Hood, such a shape and color are considered a rarity. If you look at the pumpkin fruit of the "red riding hood" variety, it resembles a huge mushroom, the cap of the so-called "mushroom" can be either brown or red, its shape resembles a kind of circle, and the "mushroom leg" can be snow-white or just like that white.

The mass of a fully ripe fruit of the "red riding hood" pumpkin variety usually reaches from two hundred grams to two kilograms. It is very difficult to collect fruits with a larger mass, however, there are representatives of this variety with a fruit width of ten to twenty centimeters, and their mass reaches four kilograms.

The insides of the fruit are crumbly, the density of the fruit is seven to ten centimeters wide. This variety has an amazing aroma and sweet taste. Towards maximum ripening, the peel becomes harder and harder, the pulp acquires a more watery structure, and it tastes slightly bitter.The fruits of this variety are used in landscape design to decorate summer cottages and suburban areas.

The level of resistance to various parasites and diseases

Ornamental varieties have the same set of diseases as table varieties. With all this, this variety has a fairly high immunity. Very rarely, the decorative pumpkin Little Red Riding Hood is exposed to such parasites and diseases as: aphids and powdery mildew, spider mites and slugs.

If you store planting material observing all the rules, then you will not need to purchase additional chemicals in shops with a garden and vegetable garden theme.

Pumpkin Little Red Riding Hood: Advantages and Disadvantages

Decorative pumpkin Little Red Riding Hood: photo of the variety

Experienced summer residents and gardeners say that in addition to its unusual appearance, this type of pumpkin has the following advantages:

• ease of growing and care.
• high level of cold resistance.
• high level of resistance to various diseases and parasites.
• high level of drought tolerance.
• large amount of harvest.
• the ability to accelerate growth.
• the variety belongs to the group with an early ripening period.
• long shelf life of pumpkins that have reached full ripeness.

The advantages of the pumpkin Little Red Riding Hood include the possibility of vertical cultivation of this vegetable crop. The scourges easily catch on to the support at a height of up to two hundred and fifty centimeters, forming voluminous thickets. Ornamental varieties grow in suburban and summer cottages to decorate paths, gazebos and garden beds.

Of the shortcomings, one cannot fail to mention the bitter taste of fruits that have reached full ripeness. Other disadvantages include watery flesh and very hard rind. If you harvest a crop that has not reached full ripeness, then there will be no bitterness in the taste.

Is it possible to eat the fruits of the Red Riding Hood pumpkin for food?

Of course, you can, however, it is worth using only fruits that have not reached full ripeness. You can include fruits in your diet without any heat treatments and after boiling, baking. The insides of the fruit will be soft and sweet, with a melon-like aroma.

In cooking, the decorative pumpkin variety "Little Red Riding Hood" is used to make salads, cream soups, smoothies, cereals, and mashed potatoes.
Nutritionists say that the pulp of the fruit contains keratin, beneficial trace elements and vitamins.

Remember that young pumpkins do not have bitterness, which means that baby food can also be prepared from them.

How is the Red Ridge pumpkin properly grown?

Decorative pumpkin Little Red Riding Hood: video about the variety

Pumpkin Little Red Riding Hood is one of the easiest to grow and care for. The place of further growth must be chosen taking into account a sufficient amount of sunlight, loose and fertile soil. Low acid soil is ideal.

Red Riding Hood pumpkin can be planted in open soil in the last week of the second spring month. As mentioned above, the plant has a high level of resistance to cold weather and sudden changes in temperature. Germinate the planting material in advance, namely the seeds, wrap them in a cloth for two days, when it starts to dry, it is necessary to slightly moisten it with warm water. You can sow non-germinated seeds, but you should not wait for seedlings soon.

There is also a method of growing pumpkin varieties "Little Red Riding Hood" using seedlings:
In the last week of the last winter month or the first week of the last spring month, place the planting material, namely the seeds, in the stimulating solution for two to three days. Buy it well in advance from a garden-themed store.

• When the seeds begin to hatch, move them to a fertile peat container.
  Place a thick film on top and leave the peat container in a place where there is enough sunlight.
• After pecking the first shoots, remove the dense film.
• Fourteen days before moving the plants into open soil, young shoots must be hardened: move them to the balcony and open the window, you must leave them in the fresh air for fifteen to thirty minutes.
• Before replanting the pumpkin in open ground, it is worth adding mineral or organic fertilizers.
• The space between plants should be at least fifty centimeters.
• When the air temperature is less than fifteen degrees, it is worth covering the plants with a thick film.

Of course, this variety is very easy to grow and care for, but the introduction of complex dressings is necessary. Usually, fifty kilograms of fresh manure is spent on ten square meters, this will contribute to the development of foliage, shoots and fruits. It is necessary to apply mineral fertilizers to the soil especially during the flowering process.

For the decorative pumpkin Little Red Riding Hood, regular and abundant soil moisture is also important. You need to water the plants only with warm and settled water. The less watering, the thinner and weaker the shoots, the foliage acquires a yellowish color, the fruits acquire a bitter taste, an unhealthy appearance.

• If you want to make a "live" fence, you should purchase a vegetable garden and a garden in a store with a theme, or make your own support. Stakes made of wood, metal and plastic will do.
• It is worth pinching the shoots to accelerate their growth. So they can grow up to one hundred centimeters. For decorative varieties, this procedure must be done regularly.
• Harvesting is necessary in the last week of the last summer month or at the beginning of the first autumn month.
• Place the sponge in a solution of baking soda or rubbing alcohol, and then wipe the pumpkin fruit for a longer shelf life.

Decorative pumpkin Little Red Riding Hood: variety reviews

Natalia, 40 years old, Krasnodar

I got the pumpkin seeds of the Krasnaya Riding Hood variety on the market a year ago. One sachet contained three seeds. I planted it in the garden at the dacha in the last week of May, did not want to bother with seedlings. I did not carefully choose the site, I planted it where there was a lot of space, namely at the fence. The seeds really sprung up quickly, after thirty - forty-five days the whips grew above the fence. Due to the fact that I did not attach much importance to leaving, I did not expect a good harvest. From each pumpkin bush, Little Red Riding Hood collected fourteen pumpkins on average.

Anastasia, 64 years old, Vladimir

I have been sowing pumpkin seeds of the Red Riding Hood variety for three years in a row. The whole family adores its taste. It is written correctly that you need to collect at a certain time. Inside, the fruits are sweet and crumbly.