Detailed Explanation of Key Field Management Techniques for Open-Field Watermelon

When it comes to watermelon, don't we all think of the scene of eating watermelon in summer? When the weather is hot in summer, people usually cut the watermelon in half and scoop it out with a spoon to eat directly. Although eating it this way doesn't look very ladylike, it feels especially satisfying, especially eating chilled watermelon - that is simply a delicious treat in summer!

Field Management Techniques for Open-Field Watermelon

1. Ventilation and seedling release. 5-7 days after sowing, the seedlings will emerge completely. The leaves of newly emerged seedlings are tender, and when exposed to high-temperature baking, sun exposure, or leaves pressing against the film, the seedlings are easily scorched. When the temperature reaches above 20 degrees C, open holes for ventilation in time. As the temperature rises, enlarge the ventilation openings to regulate the temperature inside the film. Practice has proven that with "early ventilation, late seedling release," release the seedlings after the final frost ends. When releasing the seedlings, first pull out the weeds inside the film, irrigate thoroughly, and seal the planting holes tightly with soil.

2. Pruning and vine pressing. 509 watermelon is suitable for three-vine pruning, which means besides keeping the main vine, keep 2 strong side vines at the base, and remove all the other side vines. When the watermelon has grown 5-6 true leaves, tip the seedling over, that is, remove the growing tip. Tipping the seedling means cleaning off all the branches at the base, then pressing the base of the seedling down with fine soil, forcing the vine to extend in the direction of crawling. The amount of soil pressed should be such that 1/3 of the base petiole is exposed and all the leaves are left outside. Start pressing the vines when the vines are about 30 cm long, and thereafter press the vines once every 30-35 cm of growth. During the fruit enlargement period, vine growth slows noticeably and the leaves cover the ground, so vine pressing can be stopped at this time; generally 5-6 pressings are enough. 3. Fruit selection and fruit setting. Generally, keep one fruit per plant. Do not keep the first fruit; after the second or third fruit has set, remove it in time to prevent excessive vegetative growth causing leggy growth and rampant vines. It is suitable to set fruit at the 13th-15th node. After the fruit has set its size, turn the fruit, cushion the fruit, and cover the fruit. To ensure normal pollination of female flowers and fruit setting, artificial supplementary pollination can be carried out from 7-10 a.m. After 10 a.m., as the temperature rises, pollen viability gradually decreases, and around noon it is completely lost. If done too early, the pollen has not yet been released, so pollination is also unsuitable. When pollinating, first pick the male flower and remove the petals, then gently smear the pollen onto the stigma of the female flower so that pollination is full and even. 4. Topdressing and irrigation for watermelon. When the watermelon sets fruit and the fruit is about the size of a goose egg, dig holes about 20 cm from the watermelon vine to a depth of 10-20 cm, apply 15 kg of diammonium phosphate, and mix in 1 kg of special potassium king for watermelon and muskmelon. Apply about 15 grams per hole, then seal the fertilization holes tightly with soil. Foliar spraying: after fruit setting, spray "Damlin Luxing" plant growth promoter once every 7-10 days, which can promote early ripening of watermelon by 5-7 days and increase yield. One of the important experiences for high-yield watermelon is irrigation. Before the vines are fixed, if the weather is dry, water the planting holes locally two or three times; there is no need for large water applications, and even less for flooding irrigation.

Cultivation Techniques for Open-Field Watermelon  

1. Variety selection  

Select varieties that are marketable and meet market demand, and choose varieties with good quality, high yield, and strong disease resistance. In recent years, the watermelon varieties suitable for spring cultivation in our county mainly include: Fengle No. 5, Meikang No. 8, Xinfeng No. 5, Xinong No. 8, Black Tiger, Lazy Man 818, Black Beauty, Xiaoyu series and other small-fruited melons.  

2. Selection of planting land  

For watermelon planting plots, choose flat land sheltered from the wind and facing the sun. Do not plant continuously on the same land. It is advisable to choose plots with convenient drainage and irrigation, deep soil layers, and rich organic matter. Our town basically adopts a rice-watermelon double-cropping system of paddy field planting for watermelon.  

After deep plowing and drying the soil for half a month, break up the soil and prepare the beds, making the bed surface 1.5 m wide and the bed height generally about 20 cm; on one side near the high bed, dig a planting furrow 30 cm deep and 30 cm wide. Apply 1000-1500 kg of decomposed farmyard manure, 25 kg of compound fertilizer, 1.5-2 kg of borax, and 4 kg of magnesium sulfate per mu in the furrow. When applying in the furrow, mix the fertilizer evenly with the backfilled soil.  

3. Seed soaking  

Select plump watermelon seeds and soak them in warm water at 55 degrees C, stirring continuously. When the water temperature drops to 30 degrees C, continue soaking for 5 hours. Wash off the mucus on the seed coat, drain the water, and sow in time.  

4. Raising strong seedlings  

Generally in mid-to-early March, use nutritional pots (seedling trays) for centralized seedling raising, avoiding direct seeding. The average temperature in Hengyang from March to April is relatively low. One week before seed soaking and germination, prepare the nutritional soil, fill the nutritional pots with nutritional soil, and cover them with film. This prevents rain from wetting the nutritional pots. When sowing, first water the nutritional soil thoroughly with a watering can, then sow, and cover with 1 cm of wet fine soil. The seedling age is 30-35 days, and when there are 2-4 true leaves, they can be transplanted to the field. Spray the seedlings with pesticide one day before transplanting to prevent diseases and pests.  

5. Seedling stage management and seedling retention density  

After emergence, pay attention to ventilating the seedlings in time to prevent them from being scorched to death. Watermelon seedlings can be planted when they have 3 leaves and one heart. The planting density per mu is 600-700 plants for large watermelons and 700-800 plants for small watermelons. 

What to Pay Attention to When Planting Open-Field Watermelon  

1. Choose high, well-drained plots;  

2. Dig matching drainage ditches. The field ditch, outer ditch, and main drainage ditch should be deeper than 25, 30, and 40 cm respectively, so that drainage is convenient when it rains and water drains away when the rain stops, with no water accumulating in the ditches;  

3. Form high ridges to avoid water accumulating at the base of the watermelon seedlings;  

4. Choose varieties with strong resistance, such as Kangbing 948, 8714, Jinzhong Guanlong, Xin Hongbao, etc.;  

5. Sowing and transplanting should not be too early. Transplanting in mid-to-late April when the temperature warms up is more suitable;  

6. Lay plastic mulch. The cost of plastic mulch is not high, but it has the effect of raising ground temperature and keeping the roots dry, and harvesting can be about one week earlier;  

7. If conditions permit, lay plastic mulch and build simple small hoop sheds to improve disaster resistance, transplant earlier, set fruit earlier, and set fruit before the plum rain arrives, bringing the fruit into the plum rain period, preventing the high humidity and abundant rain during the plum rain period from causing only vine and leaf growth without fruit setting.

Selection of Watermelon Planting Varieties  

There are many varieties of thick-skinned muskmelon for greenhouse cultivation, basically relatively early-maturing small-fruited varieties. There are smooth-skinned types and netted types. Among the smooth-skinned types, there are also yellow-skinned systems and white-skinned systems; the netted types include full-netted and semi-netted systems. The flesh color includes white flesh, green flesh, red flesh, etc.  

Thick-skinned muskmelon is a high-grade fruit. Its commercial fruit must have a beautiful appearance, high sugar content in the flesh, good quality and flavor, and be resistant to storage and transport with a long shelf life. In humid and rainy areas, early maturity, disease resistance, tolerance to low temperature, and weak light are also required. The varieties suitable for cultivation in this area are first-generation hybrids such as Elizabeth, Huatian 2503, Xiboloto, Zhuangyuan, Yucui, Luolan, Huilihong, etc.

There are many kinds of watermelon, and different watermelons also have different tastes. Therefore, when planting watermelon, attention should be paid to selecting varieties with good quality. Only watermelons with good taste have market space; otherwise, a whole year of hard work will be wasted. Therefore, in watermelon planting, the selection of varieties and the selection of land are both quite important and must not be ignored!