What cultivation techniques must be mastered for high-yielding loofah?
Loofah is called water gourd or winning gourd in Cantonese; in the Pearl River Delta, loofah specifically refers to the octagonal gourd. It is a plant of the Cucurbitaceae family native to India, also known as vegetable gourd, and is widely cultivated in East Asia. Loofah has strong adaptability, tolerates high temperatures, resists low temperatures, resists drought, and has relatively strong resistance to pests and diseases. It has a relatively strong capacity for absorbing water and nutrients, and can be grown in all types of soil.Loofah to achieve high yield, what cultivation techniques need to be mastered? Generally, what time is it planted?
1. Generally, what time is loofah planted?
1. Winter-spring cultivation: sown from November to January-February of the following year, harvested and marketed from December to April of the following year.
2. Summer-autumn cultivation: sown from June to September, harvested and marketed from July to November.
2. How to achieve high yield in loofah? What cultivation techniques need to be mastered?
1. Light and temperature management: Loofah requires relatively high temperatures throughout its growth period. The optimum temperature for growth is 20-24°C, and the optimum temperature for fruit development is 24-28°C; growth is slow at around 15°C, and growth is inhibited below 10°C. During the day, keep the temperature inside the greenhouse at 25-30°C. When the temperature is too high, ventilation is needed to cool it down. When ventilating, open the vents gradually to avoid rapid cooling.
2. Water management: On the basis of watering thoroughly at transplanting, generally do not water before hanging the vines, which helps the loofah roots grow downward. If there is drought, depending on soil moisture, a small watering may be given once as appropriate. After hanging the vines, water thoroughly once combined with fertilization. After fruit set, the water requirement increases. After each flower dipping, water thoroughly once combined with fertilization. Loofah is a moisture-loving crop and requires the ridge surface to look moist, not dry.
3. Trellising and vine tying: 15 days after transplanting, when the vine grows to about 40 cm, it needs to be hung. Use nylon rope of suitable thickness and tie it directly to the wire of the greenhouse frame to form a single-row vertical trellis, with the tops not crossing. Guide the vines vertically upward according to the original planting row spacing and density. Tie the rope below the top 3 leaves of the vine, so as not to break the main vine, and also to prevent the main vine from bending over as it grows.
4. Pruning, pinching, and shaping: After hanging the vines, immediately begin the first pruning, removing all side branches, flowers, and tendrils. After that, tidy them once every 5 days, leaving only the main vine so it grows quickly. About 36 days after transplanting, when the loofah has grown to 16 true leaves, begin leaving flowers for fruit set. After leaving 2 branch tips with flower buds at the top, remove the top growth point and all other branches and flowers. After tidying, hang it up with rope. When the reserved branch shows 3 true leaves, flower buds, and a growing point on a secondary branch, keep 1 good reserved branch, and remove the top growth point and the other branch. In this way, tidying again and again and setting fruit again and again can maintain the production of good gourds that are uniform and similar in size. During the peak fruiting period, remove diseased leaves and excess flowers and tendrils, and remove diseased gourds, insect-damaged gourds, and deformed gourds. After flower dipping, loofah enters a stage of rapid growth. Prevent the lower end of the gourd from resting on leaves or vines, which causes curved gourds. For gourds that do not grow straight, a small stone can be hung at the bottom end of the gourd to pull it straight.
5. Fertilization management: Applying sufficient base fertilizer can largely provide the basic nutrient supply for loofah in the early growth period, but during the fruit-setting period, quick-acting nutrients still need to be supplemented to help the gourds expand. The specific methods are as follows: First, after hanging the vines, apply organic water-soluble fertilizer A to the roots once to help loofah grow quickly; dilute 25 liters of root-promoting synergist per mu and apply by flushing irrigation. Second, after each flower dipping, apply organic water-soluble fertilizer B once combined with watering; apply once after each harvest, 2-3 times per month. Third, to supplement medium and trace elements and regulate the balanced absorption of various nutrients, begin the first spraying of nutrient balance agent after hanging the vines, and then spray once every 15 days. The nutrient balance agent is divided into two types, A and B, applied alternately. The nutrient balance agent should be sprayed in the early morning, when the absorption effect is best.
6. Preserving flowers and fruits: Use a special flower-dipping solution, which can reduce flower drop and significantly increase the fruit-setting rate. Begin the operation after 3 p.m. Select a relatively good flower bud that is about to open that evening and dip it directly in the solution, avoiding getting the solution on the fruit stalk, and remove the other reserved flower bud. The mature loofah grown in this way is straight and will still carry a fresh flower at the top. Yield increases and commercial value is relatively high.