What to Do If Melons Turn Bitter? Latest Prevention Methods Explained

Melon is a fruit commonly eaten in summer. Its flesh should be sweet by nature, but melons often turn bitter, which affects the eating quality and hurts sales. So you need to find the cause during the growing process and take preventive measures, so as to ensure the melon's flavor. Let's take a look together at why melons turn bitter, and then solve this problem.

1. Causes of Bitterness

1. High temperature

Melons are planted in spring, and the flowering and fruiting period falls in a high-temperature period, so the root system cannot adapt in time. Absorption capacity weakens, nutrients and water decrease, and bitterness compounds accumulate too much in the fruit, so it turns bitter.

2. Insufficient light

On cloudy and rainy days there is no sunlight, leaf photosynthesis weakens, nutrient accumulation is low, water content is high, and sugar content decreases. In addition, the absorption capacity of the root system decreases after accumulated rain, so there is less sweetness and bitterness compounds cannot be converted.

3. Other causes

Applying too much nitrogen fertilizer makes the fruit prone to bitterness after ripening. If transplanted seedlings are too old, transplanting damages the roots more, and poor absorption will cause bitterness. Or, for transport and storage, fruit picked before ripening and then ripened with chemicals will turn bitter. Most melon stems turn bitter because they contain cucurbitacin B.

2. Preventive Measures

1. Early sowing and water supplementation

You can sow appropriately early. By raising seedlings in small arch sheds or greenhouses, you can advance the flowering and fruiting period by half a month or one month, thus avoiding the effect of high temperature and drought on root absorption. When high temperature and drought occur, water at night to protect the root system and maintain root vitality. You can choose high-quality varieties with stronger roots and tolerance to high temperatures.

2. Site selection and drainage

Plant on sunny, sandy sloping land with enough direct sunlight, not in low-lying paddy fields. In the rainy season, dig multiple drainage channels to absolutely ensure drainage. After rain, you can spread plant ash on wet ground to absorb moisture, supplement fertilizer and strengthen roots, so the root system suffers less damage and maintains normal absorption and utilization capacity.

3. Other methods

For fertilization, you can apply a little more only in the early stage when vines are growing. Later, as long as the leaves are dark green without yellowing, you can skip nitrogen fertilizer, or apply just a little nitrogen fertilizer. For seedling raising and transplanting, transplant as early as possible once seedlings grow to about 8 cm. The day before transplanting, you can water and loosen the soil, and when lifting seedlings you can reduce root damage. For transport and harvesting, do not use ripening agents; harvest only when the fruit is nearly ripe. Bitterness in the melon stem is normal, but if it is too bitter, growth regulators may need to be used for adjustment.

So melons turn bitter because of these various reasons. For the problem of bitterness affecting flavor, solving it still requires identifying the cause accordingly, and then making certain food adjustments. It is believed that this phenomenon will improve, or even disappear.