Melon Cultivation Management Methods and Technical Key Points

SummaryPruning and vine training: Keep the plants with the best growth on the main vine, then prune off the side branches at the cotyledon node. Temperature management: Maintain the daytime temperature at around 25°C; the nighttime temperature must not be lower than 15°C or higher than 18°C. Fruit setting and leaf removal: Apply hormone treatment and hand pollination to the melons. Fruit retention and selection: When the young melons grow to the size of a walnut, keep 1-2 with the best shape and prune off all the rest. Water and fertilizer management: Water and fertilize according to the soil conditions and growth.

I. Pruning and Vine Training

1. Melon cultivation requires the single-vine pruning method, which means keeping the robust, well-growing plants on the main vine, then pruning off all the side branches at the cotyledon node; the number of side vines should not exceed 4.

2. For weaker-growing plants, the side vines at the cotyledon node may be appropriately increased to about 6, and then all the rest should be pruned off. Pinch off the tips after 2-3 leaves on the side vines, which helps promote nutrient uptake by the plant and enhances its growth.

II. Temperature Management

Melon is a heat-loving fruit. The suitable daytime temperature is around 25°C, and the nighttime temperature should not be lower than 15°C or higher than 18°C. If the temperature is higher than 35°C or lower than 10°C, it will affect fruit setting and fruit swelling in melons, so the temperature must be well controlled. Because of the large temperature difference between day and night, the accumulation of sugars in the fruit can be well increased.

III. Fruit Setting and Leaf Removal

Between 4 and 10 o'clock each day, a yield-promoting agent can be diluted with water for hormone treatment of the melons, as well as hand pollination. After the melons set fruit, as they grow and develop, the lower leaves gradually age, the intensity of photosynthesis begins to weaken, and the permeability between plants is also affected. Therefore, the aged lower leaves need to be pruned off in time, but pay attention to the timing and amount.

IV. Fruit Retention and Selection

1. If the fruit-setting node is low, the melon fruit will be small and the yield low; if the fruit-setting node is high, the melon fruit will be large and the yield high, but the sugar content will decrease somewhat. Therefore, the fruit-setting node is generally in the middle position, that is, between the 10th and 15th leaves of the plant.

2. When the young melons grow to the size of a walnut, select 1-2 melons with the best shape, then prune off all the rest, which helps increase the nutritional area of the fruit and prompts the substances produced by photosynthesis to be transported to the fruit nearby.

V. Water and Fertilizer Management

1. During the growth process, melons need large amounts of fertilizer and water. About 7 days after the melon seedlings recover from transplanting, watering for seedling recovery can begin. After that, watering can be carried out according to the soil conditions and growth. For weak-growing melons, about 10 jin of urea can be applied per mu.

2. However, when the melons are flowering, being pollinated, and setting fruit, watering should not be carried out, because watering will cause excessive growth of stems and leaves, then resulting in poor fruit setting. When fertilizing, rationally match the amounts of nitrogen fertilizer, phosphorus fertilizer, potassium fertilizer, etc., and spray more foliar fertilizer, which helps improve quality and yield.