Complete Guide to Open-Field Zucchini Planting Time, Techniques, and Water and Fertilizer Management
I believe everyone is familiar with zucchini, a vegetable that has been widely cultivated across the north and south of China since it was introduced here in the mid-19th century. Below is a complete guide to open-field zucchini planting time, techniques, and water and fertilizer management!
I. Basic Information About Zucchini
1. Origin and Distribution of Zucchini
Zucchini is an annual vining herbaceous plant native to the southern part of North America. It is also known as xihu, xiong (male) melon, white melon, fan melon, American pumpkin, small melon, vegetable melon, nettle melon, and smoked melon, and it is now grown all over the world. In China, zucchini is widely cultivated in Shandong, Hebei, Beijing, and other places.
2. The Value of Zucchini
Zucchini is rich in nutrients such as vitamins, glucose, and protein. Eating it helps relieve restlessness and quench thirst, moisten the lungs and stop coughing, clear heat and promote urination, reduce swelling and disperse nodules, boost immunity, and fight viruses and tumors. It has a supportive therapeutic effect on conditions such as thirst, edema and abdominal bloating, sores and toxins, as well as nephritis and ascites from cirrhosis. In addition, zucchini can be cooked with meat or as a vegetarian dish, and can be used as a vegetable or a filling, making it very popular with consumers.
3. The Price of Zucchini
Currently, the price of zucchini at the Mawangdui Vegetable Wholesale Market in Changsha, Hunan, is 5 yuan/kg, and the price of zucchini at the Jishou Vegetable and Fruit Wholesale Market is 5.9 yuan/kg; the price of zucchini at 50 g/bag in Xiling District, Yichang, Jiangxi, is 25 yuan, and the high-yield Green Strip Xinrui 1108 zucchini in Xuzhou, Jiangsu, is 85 yuan per box.
II. Complete Guide to Open-Field Zucchini Planting Time, Techniques, and Water and Fertilizer Management
To achieve high returns from zucchini cultivation, in addition to good market conditions and good quality, yield is one of the keys. Below is an introduction to its open-field planting time, techniques, and water and fertilizer management:
1. Zucchini Planting Time
Zucchini can generally be cultivated in two seasons, spring and autumn. The spring sowing time is best in March, and the autumn sowing time is best in September, with the specific timing determined according to local climate changes.
2. Zucchini Techniques
(1) For high-yield zucchini, the cultivation soil is best as loam with a deep soil layer. Before sowing, the land should be prepared and fertilizer applied, mainly organic fertilizer; deep furrows and high beds are used, with plastic film mulching cultivation, and after the film is laid flat, herbicide should be sprayed; before planting, disinfection should be carried out and the greenhouse should be sealed.
(2) Zucchini planting is best in mid-March, when the seedlings are about 30 days old. The density for small varieties is 1800 plants/mu, and for large varieties 1600 plants/mu; after planting, water once a day.
3. Zucchini Water and Fertilizer Management
(1) When zucchini has grown to about 10 cm, carry out the first watering, then water once every half month. At the same time, additional fertilizer is needed, combining watering with fertilization; later, as the temperature rises and the zucchini grows, water once every 10 days, while applying about 60 jin of fertilizer per mu as a top dressing, choosing to water on a sunny morning.
(2) When planting zucchini, set up supports for hanging the vines. When the vines grow to the top, promptly remove side buds and pick off excess diseased and damaged leaves.
(3) Zucchini management should pay attention to preventing and controlling invasions by pests and diseases such as powdery mildew, viral disease, downy mildew, aphids, whiteflies, and red spiders, and agricultural and physical control should be done well.
The above is all the content about zucchini cultivation. Growers should pay attention to the above points. In addition, when zucchini meets the requirements for marketable fruit, it should be harvested in time.