What are the pollination methods for the Horned Melon honeydew melon?

The Horned Melon honeydew melon is an early-to-mid-season variety of fruit, with grayish-green skin and pale green flesh. In recent years, more and more people have been growing Horned Melon honeydew, so how do you pollinate the Horned Melon honeydew melon?

1. Basic introduction to the Horned Melon honeydew melon

The Horned Melon honeydew melon is a fruit of the Cucurbitaceae family, genus Cucumis. A single fruit grows 20 to 30 cm long, and a single melon can weigh 600-1200 g.

The Horned Melon honeydew plant has strong growth, dense female flowers, grayish-green skin, pale green flesh, a crisp and tender texture, and abundant, refreshingly sweet juice. It is deeply popular for being either crisp-sweet or soft-sweet.

The nutritional value of the Horned Melon honeydew melon is very high. It contains protein, carbohydrates, carotene, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, niacin, calcium, phosphorus, iron and many other nutrients.

2. How do you pollinate the Horned Melon honeydew melon?

1. Choose to pollinate on a sunny day. If you encounter continuous cloudy days, you also need to properly adjust the fruiting node position.

Pollinating on sunny days is beneficial to plant growth. If the plant grows vigorously, the nutrient supply is also sufficient, so after the fruit sets, it grows quickly and the rate of premium-quality fruit is also high.

2. Choose a suitable node position for retaining fruit, generally between nodes 7-12.

The node position for retaining fruit cannot be too high or too low:

Because if the fruiting node position is too high (nodes 15—16), the fruit will have more leaves below it and fewer leaves above it. This is favorable for the vertical growth of the fruit in the early stage of development, but in the later stage, horizontal growth is inhibited due to insufficient nutrition, resulting in deformed fruit. Therefore, melons should be retained in the middle part of the stem vine, and the suitable node position for retaining fruit is nodes 7—12;

If the fruiting node position is low (nodes 5—6), then the plant has fewer leaves in the lower part, and the nutrient supply in the early stage of fruit development is insufficient, so the vertical growth of the fruit is inhibited. In the later stage of development, the fruit expands faster, which will cause the fruit to be small and flat.

3. After pollination, temperature, fertilizer and water management are also needed to prevent the Horned Melon honeydew from splitting.

When the Horned Melon honeydew grows to the size of an egg, that is, 10 days after pollination, the daytime temperature can be controlled at 25-30°C, with a nighttime temperature of about 15°C; four or five days later, the melon enters the rapid expansion stage, and the daytime temperature can be raised to 30-33°C to promote melon expansion.

During the “danger period” of the Horned Melon honeydew melon, be sure not to water or apply fertilizer, so as to avoid worsening fruit splitting.