How to Grow Melons? A Detailed Guide to Scientific Melon Cultivation Techniques

When it comes to melons, I believe many people will say they grow them at home! Melons are fragrant and delicious, and many people like to eat them. Moreover, growing melons is very simple and they easily survive and bear fruit, so many people plant a small patch of land at home, and every melon-eating season they have sweet, fragrant, delicious melons to eat!

Scientific Melon Cultivation Techniques

Site selection, land preparation, bed making:

1. The previous crop should be a non-cucurbit crop; sandy loam soil with good drainage is best.

2. Autumn plowing. After autumn, apply 3000 kg of high-quality organic fertilizer per 667 sq m, plow deep, leave the clods to overwinter, store rain and snow, weather the soil, and eliminate disease and pest sources. Spring harrowing: after the soil thaws and returns to slurry, harrow heavily and level the land.

3. Bed making. Make beds and cover with film before Qingming to increase temperature and preserve moisture. Make beds (oriented north-south) with a row spacing of 150 cm and a small row spacing of 60 cm, form ridges with a ridge height of 20 cm, and lay plastic film; as the film is laid, apply all the base fertilizer as a bottom dressing. Generally, apply 20 kg of potassium sulfate-type ternary compound fertilizer per 667 sq m. For double-film cultivation, build the shed and sow at this time.

Sowing:

1. Sowing time. When the 5 cm soil temperature steadily passes 12°C, in this region it generally starts from April 15 to 20, and the suitable sowing period is 20 days.

2. Sowing. First, water by dark irrigation under the film: leave a shallow ditch under the film, and when watering, prop up the film opening with a stick. With this method, the water use per 667 sq m is just over 10 sq m, saving much more water than flood irrigation. After the water seeps down, punch holes and sow, 3-4 seeds per hole, covering with 2 cm of moist soil.

3. Density. After the seedlings are uniform, keep 2000-2500 plants per 667 sq m.

Melon Growing Environment Requirements

1. Best propagation time: the suitable sowing period for melon cultivation is August-October, and no later than November 15. Spring sowing can be chosen in February-March, but it is best to ensure harvest around Qingming and Guyu.

2. Best growing soil: the most suitable soil for melon growth and development is loam or sandy loam with deep soil layers, rich organic matter, fertility, and good aeration, ideally with solid, gas, and liquid phases each accounting for 1/3.

3. Growth humidity requirements: melons are drought-tolerant but not waterlogging-tolerant, yet because their root system is shallow, they have relatively high soil moisture requirements; leaf transpiration is large, so air humidity requirements are relatively low, especially for thick-skinned melons, where the relative air humidity is best controlled below 50%.

4. Best growing temperature: the suitable temperature for growth and development is 18-25°C. The suitable temperature for flowering and fruiting is 22-25°C. Its adaptability is broader than that of cucumber, and its low-temperature resistance is also very strong.

5. Best growing light: sufficient light is required, with daily sunshine duration of 10-12 hours or more. If maintained at 14-15 hours/day, melons grow well.

Precautions for Melon Cultivation

1. Fertilizer application: During the melon growing period, special attention should be paid to increasing potassium fertilizer, which has an obvious effect on improving melon quality. Nitrogen fertilizer should be controlled; excessive nitrogen fertilizer not only lowers the sweetness of melons but also causes excessive accumulation of nitrite, which is harmful to human health. Melon fertilization should follow the principle of “control nitrogen, apply phosphorus, increase potassium” and ensure combined application of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.

2. Key watering points: after sowing, water 2-3 times during the fruit-swelling stage. The first time is after fruit set, when most of the melons have grown to the size of an egg; generally apply 30 kg of ternary compound fertilizer per 667 sq m along with the water. After that, water and topdress according to the environment and growth conditions, adapting to local conditions. Never let the soil alternate between dry and wet, to prevent fruit cracking.

3. Pruning essentials: extensive management with simple pruning, that is, in the middle and late stages when the field leaf area coefficient is relatively large, simply top the plants with a stick to prevent field shading. Double-vine pruning can also be used: when the main vine has 3-5 leaves, top and pinch it, then select and keep 2 robust lateral vines and guide them to spread evenly over the bed surface; the secondary vines bear fruit, leaving 2 leaves before the fruit and pinching, with each secondary vine bearing 1 fruit and each plant bearing 3-5 fruits.

Fertilization and Pest and Disease Control

Melon fertilization is mainly based on base fertilizer. When pinching at 4 leaves, in order to promote the emergence of lateral vines and meet the needs of early fruit development, 15 kg of diammonium phosphate can be topdressed per mu, and 0.3% potassium dihydrogen phosphate can be sprayed on the leaves. After the first melon harvest, decomposed manure water and potassium dihydrogen phosphate can be topdressed per mu.

In principle, melon irrigation should be mainly controlled, and no watering should be done unless there is drought. The whole growth period can be watered four times. The first time is after transplanting and seedling recovery; the second time is a pre-flowering watering before the first flower blooms; the third time is a fruit-swelling watering when the melon grows to egg size; the fourth time is a leaf-surface watering 10 days before fruit harvest.

Pest and disease control: with a prevention-first approach, at transplanting, use 70% Dexon mixed with soil in a 1:5 ratio, apply it into the ammonium, or use the biological pesticide Nongkang 120 to drench the roots, to prevent Fusarium wilt and other root diseases. Grafting seedlings can also be used to prevent Fusarium wilt, with Yunnan black-seed pumpkin as the rootstock. For aphids, Xunya No. 2 developed by the Shenyang Academy of Agricultural Sciences can be used.

Melon is a very common fruit, fragrant and sweet, round in shape like a little ball, and when cut open you will find many seeds besides the flesh. Melon has very high edible value, and whether used to entertain guests or eaten at home, it is very good, economical and affordable!