A Detailed Guide to Yellow River Honeydew Melon Cultivation Techniques and Precautions
The Yellow River honeydew melon is a research product of Northwest A&F University. Because the Yellow River honeydew has a short production cycle and stores and transports better than ordinary melons, it is widely welcomed in the market. However, to grow Yellow River honeydew, we still need to master certain techniques and methods, so that we can ensure our labor gets a matching return.
How to Grow Yellow River Honeydew Melon
1. Soil: The Yellow River honeydew melon is not strict about soil requirements, but sandy loam with deep soil, good permeability and no easy water accumulation is most suitable. The Yellow River honeydew melon shows premature senescence in the late growth stage, so sandy soil is suitable for early-maturing cultivation; while heavy clay soil, because early spring ground temperature rises slowly, is suitable for late-maturing cultivation. The suitable soil for Yellow River honeydew melon is pH5.5-8.0. Soil that is too acidic or too alkaline must be improved before cultivating Yellow River honeydew melon.
2. Light: The Yellow River honeydew melon likes light and needs 10-12 hours of light per day to maintain normal growth and development. Therefore, the cultivation site for Yellow River honeydew melon should be chosen far from villages and woods to avoid shading. When cultivating in protected facilities, try to use plastic film and glass with high transparency that do not hold water droplets.
3. Temperature: The Yellow River honeydew melon likes warmth and tolerates heat, and is extremely intolerant of cold. The seed germination temperature is 15-37℃. Sowing in open fields in early spring should be done when the temperature is stable above 15℃ to avoid seed rot. The suitable temperature for plant growth is 25-30℃, and it can grow within 14-45℃. The optimum flowering temperature is 25℃, and the optimum temperature for fruit ripening is 30℃. The diurnal temperature difference has a great influence on the quality of Yellow River honeydew melon. A large diurnal temperature difference is beneficial to sugar accumulation and improvement of fruit quality.
Yellow River Honeydew Melon Cultivation Techniques and Precautions
1. Watering and topdressing: When cultivating Yellow River honeydew melon in early spring in a greenhouse, the temperature is low at planting time and water evaporation is low. After watering at planting, attention should be paid to keeping warm and controlling watering. After the seedlings recover, carry out intertillage and hoeing in stages, and spray Tianda 2116 Zhuangmiaoling 600 times dilution to promote healthy growth of the seedlings. At the vine extension stage, a three-element fertilizer with higher nitrogen content can be applied once in combination with watering. During the fruit enlargement stage, 10 kg of potassium sulfate, 10-20 kg of potassium dihydrogen phosphate per mu, or fluid fertilizer can also be applied. During the growth period, foliar fertilization with 0.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate or photosynthetic micro-fertilizer can also be applied 2-3 times. The Yellow River honeydew melon is a chlorine-sensitive crop, so compound fertilizers containing chlorine, especially those containing dichloride, should not be applied in large amounts.
2. Pruning, pinching and vine hanging: The Yellow River honeydew melon has strong branching ability, and most varieties mainly bear fruit on secondary vines and tertiary vines. Therefore, pinching is generally carried out when the seedlings grow to 4-5 true leaves to promote side branch growth. After the young fruit sets, pinch the secondary vine again to promote nutrient transport to the young fruit and promote its expansion. The pruning method for Yellow River honeydew melon can be carried out according to the fruiting habits of different varieties. Generally, thick-skinned Yellow River honeydew melons cultivated in greenhouses mostly use single-vine or double-vine pruning. Single-vine pruning is to pinch the main vine when it has 4-5 true leaves, keep one strong secondary vine at the base, and remove all other secondary vines. After the tertiary vines growing from nodes 7-11 of the retained secondary vine bear fruit, pinch 1-2 leaves before the fruit. When the secondary vine grows to 25-30 leaves, pinch it as well, and remove all tertiary vines that do not bear fruit.
3. Artificial pollination and fruit hanging: The Yellow River honeydew melon is a monoecious crop with unisexual flowers, and most varieties have female and male flowers, mainly pollinated by insects. When the temperature is low and insects are few in early spring, artificial pollination is generally required for greenhouse cultivation. After the female flower opens, before the temperature rises to 20℃ that day, select a newly opened male flower of the day, remove the petals, and gently smear the stamens onto the stigma of the female flower. After pollination, hang a tag marked with the date to determine the harvest time. Generally about one week after pollination, when the young fruit grows to the size of an egg, select and retain fruit. Remove excess flowers and young fruits. When the young fruit grows to the size of a fist, hang the fruit, using a plastic rope or nylon rope tied to the fruit stalk at one end, or placing a grass ring under the young fruit, or hanging it with a plastic mesh bag, hung on a support or on the wire of an indoor crossbar.
Characteristics of Yellow River Honeydew Melon
The Yellow River honeydew melon is a new variety bred by the Melon Research Institute of Gansu Agricultural University through hybridization of a single-plant variant offspring of Lanzhou honeydew melon and the Mexican melon variety Ganlu. It belongs to the medium-early maturing varieties.
The whole growth period is 105—120 days, and it matures 35—40 days after fruit setting. The fruit is oval, with smooth skin, green when immature and golden yellow when mature, sometimes with netting. The flesh is light green, sweet, slightly cloying, and comparable in taste to Hami melon. The flesh thickness is 3—4 cm, and the flesh is firm and resistant to storage and transportation.
Nutritional Value and Benefits of Yellow River Honeydew Melon
The Yellow River honeydew melon is a new variety bred by hybridizing a single-plant variant offspring of Lanzhou honeydew melon with the Mexican melon variety Ganlu. It tastes fresh and sweet, even sweet enough to be cloying. After the fruit matures, it is fragrant and delicious. The soluble solids content is above 12%, with a maximum of 14%. Its vitamin C content is higher than that of watermelon, grapes and apples.
The benefits of Yellow River honeydew melon include quenching thirst, relieving restlessness and heat, promoting urination, clearing blocked qi, treating mouth and nose sores, and being an excellent summer heat reliever. Eating honeydew melon has a significant promoting effect on the human hematopoietic function and can be used as a dietary therapy for anemia. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that melon fruits are cold in nature and also have the benefits of relieving hunger, promoting bowel movements, supplementing qi, clearing lung heat and relieving cough, and are suitable for patients with kidney disease, stomach disease, cough and phlegm asthma, anemia and constipation.
However, Yellow River honeydew melon is cool in nature and should not be eaten too much, so as to avoid diarrhea. People with beriberi, jaundice, abdominal bloating, loose stools, cold-type cough and asthma, as well as those after childbirth or after illness, should not eat too much. Yellow River honeydew melon contains more sugar, so people with diabetes should eat it cautiously.
There is actually relatively little corresponding content about Yellow River honeydew cultivation techniques, so if we want to grow better Yellow River honeydew, on the one hand we can refer more to general melon cultivation methods, and on the other hand we can accumulate experience through continuous practice on the basis of these techniques.