Which vegetables can be intercropped in a tomato field? Planting times and methods
In order to make full use of the land and increase agricultural income, most regions of our country adopt intercropping models to increase yields, but due to the low production level of growers, who randomly plant vegetable varieties and do not know how to properly carry out rotation and intercropping techniques, both output value and economic benefits are low. So which vegetables can be intercropped in a tomato field? When should they be planted?
1. Land preparation and fertilization
Choose a field with flat terrain, convenient drainage and irrigation, a relatively low groundwater table, fertile soil, and where solanaceous crops and melon and bean crops have not been planted for 2-3 years. Deeply plow the land, apply 2000-2500 kg of decomposed organic fertilizer and 20 kg of compound fertilizer per mu, break up the soil and level it finely, open furrows and make beds, with a bed width of 1.1-1.4 m.
2. Variety selection
Choose tomato varieties with tolerance to low temperature, weak light, and strong disease resistance, such as Duoruijixing, Ruixing No. 5, Sufen No. 11 and Sufen No. 13; cowpea varieties, such as Gandie No. 3, Yanjiang No. 1 and Yanzi Jiang No. 2; melon varieties, such as Lubao and Japanese Tianbao.
3. High-yield cultivation technique for intercropping tomato with cowpea
(1) Sowing and seedling raising time
Tomatoes are raised as seedlings in August and transplanted in September, go on the market in February of the following year, and finish at the end of February to early March; cowpeas are raised as seedlings in plug trays in early February, with a seedling age of 15 days, and are interplanted between tomato plants, go on the market at the end of April, and finish at the end of May to early June.
(2) Planting density
The row and plant spacing for tomatoes and cowpeas is 0.45 m × 0.50 m, with 2200 holes per 667 m2.
(3) Field management
During tomato cultivation, the temperature at tomato emergence is controlled at 25-30°C; after 70% of the seedlings have emerged, remove the plastic film for ventilation, and after the cotyledons of the seedlings have spread, the temperature is controlled at 15-20°C; after 1-2 true leaves, the daytime temperature is controlled at 25-30°C and the nighttime temperature is controlled at 15-20°C, maintained for 15-20 days.
During cowpea cultivation, before the seedlings emerge, the temperature is kept above 25°C; after emergence, the daytime temperature is controlled at 25-28°C and the nighttime temperature is controlled at 15-18°C.
4. Resting the greenhouse
Seal all exits of the greenhouse, do not water, apply organic fertilizer and then rotary till. Because of the high summer temperatures, the temperature inside the greenhouse can reach 60-70°C. High-temperature greenhouse sealing can effectively kill pathogens and insects inside the greenhouse and in the soil, reducing diseases and pests inside the greenhouse and in the soil.
5. High-yield cultivation technique for rotating tomato with melon
(1) Sowing and seedling raising time
Tomatoes are raised as seedlings in August and transplanted in September, go on the market in February of the next year, and finish at the end of February to early March; melons are raised as seedlings in plug trays in early February, transplanted in early March, go on the market in June, and finish at the end of June.
(2) Transplanting density
The row and plant spacing for tomatoes is 0.45 m × 0.50 m, with 2200 holes per 667 m2; the row and plant spacing for melons is 1.33 m × 0.40 m, with 1200 holes per 667 m2.
(3) Temperature management
During melon cultivation, after sowing, the daytime temperature is controlled at 28-32°C and the nighttime temperature is controlled at 18-20°C; after the seedlings have all emerged, the daytime temperature is controlled at 20-26°C and the nighttime temperature is controlled at 10-13°C; after the true leaves have flattened out, 22-30°C during the day and 13-20°C at night; at 2-3 true leaves, ventilate to harden the seedlings, maintaining 18-20°C during the day and 10-15°C at night; the seedling age is about 30 days, and transplanting is done at the 4-5 leaf stage. The temperature management for tomatoes is the same as in 3.3.
6. Field management and pest and disease control
(1) Light management
During cultivation, in order to improve the light conditions of the seedbed, under the premise of ensuring the temperature required for normal seedling growth, the covering should be removed as early as possible and put on as late as possible. When low-temperature cold waves occur, it is only necessary to strengthen covering at night and in the early morning and evening, and increase light as much as possible during the day.
(2) Water management
Water can be applied in an appropriate amount, and should be applied little and often. Watering time should be chosen from 10:00 to 12:00 on sunny days. When the bed soil humidity is too high, ventilation to reduce humidity or spreading dry soil can be used to lower humidity. When ventilating to reduce humidity, heat preservation must also be taken into account, mainly so that the seedlings are not damaged by freezing.
(3) Pollination management
Melons use bee pollination, and tomatoes use 4-CPA spraying on flowers. The use of black film mulching for weed control can not only save manpower and material resources and reduce the occurrence and spread of pests and diseases, but also increase vegetable yield and improve vegetable quality.
(4) Pest and disease control
In terms of pest and disease control, before sowing, expose seeds to sunlight and soak seeds in warm water; in midsummer, seal the greenhouse at high temperature; use insect-proof nets and hang yellow boards to trap and kill aphids; cover with silver-gray film to repel aphids; manually remove diseased plants and insect eggs, etc.; strictly control the number of applications, concentration, and pre-harvest interval of various pesticides. After entering the harvest period, only agents with low toxicity and short pre-harvest intervals may be selected, and different types of agents should be used alternately as much as possible. Promptly pull out severely diseased plants, remove diseased leaves and diseased fruits, clean the field, and create a suitable growing environment.
① Tomato pest and disease control
A. In the process of tomato pest and disease control, adhere to the principle that prevention is more important than treatment. In addition to seed disinfection and transplanting with pesticide, after transplanting and seedling recovery, spray once with 20% moroxydine hydrochloride wettable powder at 300 times dilution or 1.5% Zhibingling aqueous emulsion at 800 times dilution to prevent viral disease and early blight.
B. When aphids are found, promptly spray with 10% imidacloprid wettable powder at 2000 times dilution for control. For cotton bollworm, spray with 3% abamectin • beta-cypermethrin emulsifiable concentrate at 1000 times dilution for control.
C. When late blight damage is found during the fruiting period, promptly spray with 72% cymoxanil • mancozeb wettable powder at 800 times dilution for control.
② Cowpea pest and disease control
A. Pay attention to timely control of leafminers, pod borers, anthracnose, rust, and powdery mildew, etc. For leafminers, use 10% cyromazine suspension concentrate at 300-400 times dilution for control. For pod borers, use 1.5% emamectin benzoate emulsifiable concentrate at 3000 times dilution or 5% Regent (fipronil) emulsifiable concentrate at 1500 times dilution for spray control.
B. For anthracnose, use 10% difenoconazole water-dispersible granules at 2500 times dilution for control. For rust and powdery mildew, use 25% triadimefon wettable powder at 4000 times dilution or 15% Fenxiuning (triadimefon) wettable powder at 1500 times dilution for spray control.
③ Melon pest and disease control
A. For damping-off and rhizoctonia rot, use 72.2% Previcur (propamocarb hydrochloride) aqueous solution at 750 times dilution + 20% Kebingling (chlorothalonil • ethylicin) powder at 1000 times dilution + 0.138% Bihu (gibberellic acid • indolebutyric acid • brassinolide) wettable powder at 10000 times dilution for spraying or root drenching, and spray once more after transplanting and seedling recovery.
B. For powdery mildew, use 75% Nativo (trifloxystrobin • tebuconazole) water-dispersible granules at 3000 times dilution for spraying.
C. For downy mildew, use 68.75% Infinito (fluopicolide • propamocarb) suspension concentrate at 500-800 times dilution for spraying, and spray again after 3 days.
D. For anthracnose, use 75% Nativo water-dispersible granules at 3000 times dilution or 43% Horizon (tebuconazole) suspension concentrate at 3000 times dilution for spraying.
E. For aphids, use 70% Admire water-dispersible granules at 3000 times dilution for spraying.
F. For whiteflies, use 22.4% Movento (spirotetramat) suspension concentrate at 1000 times dilution for spraying, and spray again after 7-15 days.
7. Yield and output value
The average tomato yield is 7500 kg per 667 m2, with an average price of 3.6 yuan per 1 kg, and an output value of 27000 yuan; the average cowpea yield is 2500 kg per 667 m2, with an average price of 2.8 yuan per 1 kg, and an output value of 7000 yuan; the average harvested melon yield is 2500 kg per 667 m2, with an average price of 4 yuan per 1 kg, and an output value of 10000 yuan.