How Many Melons Should One Cantaloupe Seedling Keep? A Detailed Guide to Thinning the Fruit
After early spring, cantaloupe seedlings need to be raised. With good management, they can be harvested 2 months after transplanting. The cantaloupe growing cycle is fairly short. So how many melons should one cantaloupe seedling keep? And how should it be managed?
1. How Many Melons One Cantaloupe Seedling Should Keep
Generally, one cantaloupe seedling keeps only one melon, as the melon grown this way is the sweetest. Fruit thinning is usually done in two steps. First, keep 2 small young fruits on each vine. When the two young fruits are the size of an egg, choose the one with better growth, a smooth surface and an even shape to keep, and remove the other.
2. Cantaloupe Management
1. Pruning: When growing cantaloupe, pruning is very important. Good or poor pruning directly affects the later yield and quality of the cantaloupe. If the top is pinched off too early, the cantaloupe will not grow large. Also, keeping too many flowers and fruits will lead to uneven growth in size due to insufficient nutrient supply, or to deformed melons. If the wrong pruning method is used, the cantaloupe vines are prone to premature aging or excessive growth, which affects light exposure and air circulation, and worsens disease.
2. Trellising: When growing cantaloupe in a greenhouse, the trellising method is generally used. After transplanting, the cantaloupe can be tied to the trellis and hung up. The growth vigor of cantaloupe is relatively very strong, so it produces many side vines, and the female flowers mainly grow on the side vines. The number of leaves on the lower part of the vine used for fruiting determines the size of the melon produced. The best position for setting fruit is from the 10th node to the 15th node on the vine, so side vines below the 10th node and above the 15th node should all be cut off, to waste as few nutrients as possible.
3. Disinfection: When the cantaloupe vine grows to 22 to 24 nodes, it should be topped. This wastes as few nutrients as possible while also ensuring air circulation and light exposure between plants. When adjusting the vines and removing leaves, do not tear them off roughly by hand. A sharp blade that has been disinfected and sterilized must be used to cut them off. This can effectively prevent bacteria from infecting the wound site and raising the risk of disease for the cantaloupe vine. Choose a sunny midday period for the operation, so that the wounds caused by pruning can dry and heal as quickly as possible, to prevent some diseases from occurring. And after the operation is completed, apply some sterilizing medicine to the wounds to avoid infection.
4. Pollination: The flowering period of cantaloupe is relatively short, generally 15 days. So within these 15 days, the management measures of pruning and removing side branches, as well as pollination, fruit setting and water and fertilizer management, must be done well. These key points directly affect the later yield, so every task must be completed carefully and meticulously. Cantaloupe is a crop with separate male and female flowers. The male flowers open before the female flowers. Generally, the female flowers open between 7:00 and 9:00 in the morning, so if artificial pollination is used during this time, the fruit-setting rate will be much higher.
5. Fruit setting: From the 5th to the 7th day after fruit set, choose a young fruit with a smooth surface, no scars and an oval shape, and keep one. The rest should be cut off together with the side branch using a blade that has been disinfected and sterilized. Generally, one cantaloupe keeps only one young fruit. From 5 to 7 days after pollination, when the young fruit has grown to the size of an egg, the fruit can be set.
The growing cycle of cantaloupe is relatively short, and it generally reaches the market fairly quickly. Keeping one melon per cantaloupe seedling allows this melon to fully obtain nutrients, grow more vigorously, and the melon produced is also sweeter.