How to Transplant Watermelon Seedlings? A Detailed Guide to the Latest Precautions

Presumably, watermelon is a fruit that everyone is very familiar with. With the development of agriculture in our country today, watermelons can be grown almost anywhere and at any time. However, growing watermelons is not that simple; each growth stage of the watermelon has different management methods. In particular, there are some precautions to keep in mind when transplanting. Below, the editor has brought you the precautions for transplanting watermelons. Let's take a look!

1. Before transplanting

Before transplanting watermelons, you should select a good plot of land and do the soil preparation well. When preparing the soil, plow deeply and cultivate, combining this with the application of base fertilizer. For the base fertilizer, you can use decomposed farmyard manure or poultry manure, but no matter which fertilizer is used, it must be fully decomposed before application. This is because undecomposed fertilizer generates a great deal of heat, and excessively high temperatures can easily burn the seedlings and affect growth. In addition, appropriate amounts of potassium sulfate, urea and various trace elements should be added to the fertilizer. Around Qingming Festival, make the field beds on a sunny day to facilitate later management and harvesting. One week before transplanting, cover the ground with plastic mulch and set up the greenhouse frame properly to raise the surface temperature and promote seed germination.

2. At transplanting

First, we need to select seeds that are disease-free, pest-free, plump and abundant, and high-yielding, and then treat the seeds properly. After selecting the seeds, put them under the sun to dry. This not only disinfects and sterilizes them but also increases the germination rate of the seeds. Dry them for about 3 hours a day for 3 consecutive days. Then soak the sun-dried seeds in warm water at about 50 degrees for 5-7 hours, stirring constantly to remove the mucus on the seed surface and increase the germination rate. After soaking, soak them in trisodium phosphate for half an hour to enhance the disease resistance of the seed plants. Then wrap them in a damp cloth and place them at a temperature of about 30 degrees to promote germination, paying attention to the temperature, which must not fluctuate. When the seeds show white and the embryo buds appear, transplant on a sunny day around Qingming Festival when the ground surface is about 15 degrees.

3. After transplanting

Vine-running stage

After transplanting, when the seedlings grow to about 5 leaves and begin to grow creeping vines, this is the vine-running stage of the watermelon. The vine-running stage of watermelon lasts about half a month. For 2-3 days after transplanting, ventilation should not be carried out, to help the seedlings recover. After successful recovery, ventilation should be carried out appropriately, controlling the temperature and humidity of the greenhouse well, improving air circulation and enhancing light. Properly suppress the growth of the watermelon, improve its stress resistance, ensure healthy growth, and achieve the goal of high yield and high quality.

Fruit-setting stage

Under normal management, after going through the vine-running stage, the watermelon will gradually enter the fruit-setting stage by the end of April. By the fruit-setting stage, the surrounding temperature has gradually risen, so frost protection work can be stopped. During the fruit-setting stage, the root, stem and leaf growth capacity of the watermelon plant is very strong, and if management is slightly poor, it is very prone to excessive vegetative growth. If not dealt with in time, this will seriously hinder flowering and fruiting, leading to a decline in the fruit-setting rate. Therefore, during the fruit-setting stage, ventilation management should be strengthened, and the film should be loosely covered at night, to increase the proportion of nutrients, promote nutrient absorption by the watermelon plant, and improve the fruit-setting rate.

The above is a brief introduction to the precautions before and after transplanting watermelons. Watermelon cultivation has a very specific process, and every process requires everyone to manage it well. Management at transplanting time is very important, because whether the management is good or bad at this time will directly determine the growth and yield of the watermelon plants, so everyone must pay close attention. That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only. Thank you for reading and supporting.