What to Do About Pesticide Damage in Watermelon? A Detailed Guide to the Latest Prevention and Control Methods
The fruit surface of watermelon is smooth and the rind is very thin. This characteristic determines its sensitivity to pesticides, so pesticide damage occurs very easily during watermelon cultivation. So how should pesticide damage in watermelon be prevented and controlled? Follow the editor and take a look.
1. Symptoms of pesticide damage
Pesticide damage has two types, acute and chronic. In the acute type, obvious symptoms appear from a few hours to 3-4 days after spraying, and develop rapidly, such as burning, wilting, leaf drop, and flower and fruit drop. In the chronic type, after spraying, a relatively long time passes before obvious reactions are caused, because physiological activities are inhibited, showing poor growth, leaf deformity, delayed maturity, poorer flavor, and unfilled seeds. The performance on leaves is especially obvious and widespread, such as spots of various colors, local tissue scorching, perforation or shedding, or leaf yellowing, chlorosis, thickening and deformity, etc.
2. Causes
After pesticides are sprayed onto leaves, they invade through stomata, hydathodes and wounds, and sometimes also penetrate through the epidermis of branches, leaves, flowers, fruits and roots. During application, the particles of the pesticide directly block the stomata and hydathodes on the leaf surface, or directly enter the intercellular spaces of the tissues, causing the crop's respiration, transpiration and assimilation to be inhibited. After the pesticide enters the crop tissues and cells, it reacts chemically with some internal substances, causing physiological functions to be destroyed and abnormal symptoms and physiological abnormalities to appear.
3. Prevention and control methods
Choose relatively safe pesticides, and try to avoid spraying during periods when the crop's tolerance is relatively weak. Generally, the seedling stage and the flowering and fruit-setting stage are the most prone to pesticide damage, so special attention is needed. Correctly master the application technique, strictly prepare the pesticide according to concentration and dosage, achieve scientific and reasonable mixing, and avoid applying pesticide at hot noon, because under strong light and high temperature, the crop's tolerance weakens and the pesticide's activity increases, making pesticide damage very likely. When seeds, sprouts and seedlings are slightly damaged, strengthen management, appropriately supplement nitrogen fertilizer, and promote the seedlings to resume growth early and return to normal growth. When leaves and plants are severely damaged, irrigate promptly, apply more phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, and cultivate the soil to promote root development and enhance recovery ability. If the wrong pesticide is sprayed, a large amount of water can be sprayed or poured, and attention should be paid to drainage and irrigation.
The above is an introduction to the prevention and control methods for pesticide damage in watermelon. We hope it can help you. To learn more related knowledge, please stay tuned to us.