Key Technical Points for Open-Field Cultivation of Zucchini

When it comes to zucchini, many people are very familiar with it, because zucchini is white gourd, one of the vegetables often eaten in daily life, and more and more people are growing zucchini. So how should zucchini be planted? And how should it be scientifically managed later? Let's find out together with the editor below!

Zucchini Cultivation Techniques

1. Land preparation and fertilization

Mainly use organic fertilizer. Generally, apply 2000 kg of decomposed organic fertilizer, 75 kg of cake fertilizer, 40 kg of compound fertilizer, and 80 kg of plant ash per mu. Spread the fertilizer evenly on the ground, plow 30 cm deep, and level the ground.

2. Ditching and bed preparation

Use deep furrows and high beds, with plastic film mulching cultivation. Generally, the bed width is 100 cm, the bed height is 20 cm, and the furrow width is 25-30 cm. Before covering the film, level the bed surface again and spray herbicide. When covering the film, be sure to pull it tight and cover it evenly so that the plastic film fits closely against the bed surface, and press the edges of the film firmly with soil. After land preparation, fertilization, bed preparation, and film covering, before planting, fumigate with 45% chlorothalonil smoke agent at 1 kg per mu, close the greenhouse for fumigation and disinfection for about 7 days.

3. Planting

Generally, planting is done in mid-March. When the seedlings have 3 true leaves and 1 heart leaf, or when 4 leaves have just unfolded, and the seedling age is about 30 days, planting is carried out. For small varieties, plant in double rows at a spacing of 40×40 cm, about 1800 plants per mu. For large varieties, plant in double rows at a spacing of 50×50 cm, about 1600 plants per mu. One day before planting, water the seedbed thoroughly, select strong and good seedlings, and try to transplant with more soil around the roots. During planting, the root system should be allowed to spread normally. After planting, water to settle the roots, and seal the planting holes tightly with fine soil. Afterward, water once a day until the seedlings survive.

4. Temperature

During the seedling recovery stage, do not ventilate, and raise the greenhouse temperature to promote root growth. During the day, the greenhouse temperature should be kept at 25-28℃, and at night at 18-20℃. On sunny days at noon, when the greenhouse temperature exceeds 30℃, ventilate appropriately. After seedling recovery, control the daytime greenhouse temperature at 20-25℃ and nighttime at 12-15℃, which is beneficial for female flower differentiation and early fruit setting. After fruit setting, maintain the daytime temperature at 22-26℃ and nighttime at 15-18℃, with the lowest not lower than 10℃. Increasing the day-night temperature difference is beneficial for nutrient accumulation and fruit enlargement.

Open-Field Zucchini Planting Techniques

When planting zucchini, first choose varieties with strong growth vigor under high temperatures, high fruit-setting rate, good quality, and especially strong disease resistance. The suitable sowing period for autumn zucchini is mid-to-late July, with a row spacing of 1 m and a plant spacing of about 40 cm. In terms of water and fertilizer management, from the seedling stage to before flowering and fruit setting, focus mainly on cultivating and preserving water and controlling water and fertilizer, to prevent excessive vegetative growth or "runaway vines" caused by too much soil water and fertilizer. Zucchini mainly sets fruit on the main vine. During the young fruit stage of zucchini, spray Chuhuawang No. 3 to promote the return flow of nutrients from the shoot tips, inhibit excessive growth of the main shoot, convert growth nutrients into reproductive nutrients, promote flower bud differentiation, and improve the fertilization quality of flower buds.

Cultivated Varieties of Zucchini

1. Flower-leaf zucchini: commonly cultivated in northern China, with shorter vines, fewer branches, and a compact plant shape. Each plant sets 3-5 fruits. The fruit is long oval, with dark green skin and irregular yellow-green stripes. The flesh is greenish-white, dense, and low in fiber.

2. Seedless-seedcoat zucchini: a variety grown for its seeds as food. The plant is vining, with vines 1.6 m long. The fruit is short cylindrical. The young fruit can be used as a vegetable. The mature fruit skin is orange-yellow, and a single fruit weighs 4-5 kg.

3. Green-skinned zucchini: the plant vines are 3 m long, and the leaves are heart-shaped, dark green, with irregular serrations on the leaf margins. The fruit is long oval, with a smooth surface, greenish-white, and 6 ridges. A single fruit generally weighs 2-3 kg.

4. Long-vine zucchini: the plant grows prostrate, with stems and vines about 2.5 m long, moderate branching, triangular leaves, shallowly lobed, green, with many hairs on the leaf underside. It begins to set fruit after the ninth node of the main vine. Each plant sets 2-3 fruits. The fruit is cylindrical and slightly narrower in the middle.

Scientific Field Management

1. Clean the garden, remove residual branches and fallen leaves, burn or bury them deeply, remove weeds at the field edges, and after applying base fertilizer, plow the soil 30 cm deep to reduce sources of bacteria.

2. Use high-bed cultivation and cover with plastic film. In winter, use micro-drip irrigation or dark irrigation under the film. For protected facility cultivation, use anti-fog non-drip film, strengthen temperature and humidity regulation in the greenhouse, ventilate in a timely manner, control watering appropriately, and drain moisture promptly after watering, so as to control the occurrence of diseases.

3. Hang vines in a timely manner. Diseased leaves, diseased fruits, and old leaves should be removed promptly and taken out of the field for deep burial. Open-field zucchini should be cultivated and weeded in a timely manner to loosen the soil.

4. In farming operations, diseased plants and healthy plants should be handled separately to avoid spreading viruses, or after operating on diseased plants, wash hands with soapy water before operating on healthy plants.

As mentioned above, zucchini is a relatively easy vegetable to grow, but there are many common pests and diseases, so pest and disease control must be done well. Zucchini has a very high yield, is nutritious and delicious, and has broad market demand, so it is indeed a relatively good planting project. Friends who want to start a business may want to give it a try.