A Complete Guide to the Latest Kiwano Melon Growing Methods
Today the editor wants to introduce to everyone the growing methods of a special fruit. It originates from the South Africa region and is suited to growing in hot, dry environments. It is a new fruit variety that has only appeared in recent years, and it is still very rare on the market. In our country, there is currently not much of it being grown either, so the market price of kiwano melon is also quite expensive, and many friends have not even seen it. So today let us learn about its growing methods together.
1. Land preparation and fertilisation
Kiwano melon is a tropical fruit, so the planting site is generally chosen in areas where the climate is relatively warm all year round. Next, the terrain of the planting site should be relatively high, and both permeability and drainage should be good, ideally with a slight slope. At the same time, the previous crop in the planting site must not be crops such as melons, fruits, eggplants or vegetables. When preparing the land, we should do it in two stages. First is the seedling plot; it only needs to be levelled and finely broken up, then the prepared nutrients are applied. Next is the planting site; during land preparation, base fertiliser needs to be applied, then deep ploughing is carried out, and weeds and impurities in the field are cleaned away. Finally, beds can be made at a width of about 1.2 to 1.5 m.
2. Sowing and raising seedlings
Generally, sowing is carried out in April to May and August to September each year. Before sowing, the seeds need simple treatment: put them in warm water to soak and stir continuously; after two hours, take them out and put them into a chemical agent and stir evenly, then place the seeds at a temperature of 25 to 30 degrees for germination. After one day, sowing can be carried out. When sowing, the seedling bed needs to be watered thoroughly, then the seeds are mixed with a layer of fine sand and evenly scattered on the seedling bed. Finally, cover with a layer of agricultural plastic film to keep warm and retain moisture, and then wait for seedlings to emerge.
3. Transplanting and field planting
When kiwano melon seedlings have grown five or six leaves, that is, when they are about 10 to 15 cm, the seedlings can be pulled up for transplanting. When pulling up the seedlings, be careful not to break the roots. At the same time, some soil from the seedling bed can be kept with them, so the transplanted seedlings are more likely to survive. Finally, field planting is carried out at a density of 2 to 2.5 m per row and 1 to 1.5 m per plant.
4. Field management
After field planting, watering should be carried out immediately, as this can increase the survival rate of the seedlings to a certain extent. Next, about four or five days after field planting, check the growth of the kiwano melon seedlings in the field, and promptly fill in missing seedlings, water and apply additional fertiliser. After the plants have completely survived and grown a large number of roots, intertillage and weeding are needed, and these should be combined with watering. Basically, three to four intertillages and four to five waterings are needed each year. Especially during the flowering period of kiwano melon, the water requirement is the greatest, and generally watering is needed about once every week. Fertilisation is needed about three to four times a year, divided into the seedling stage, flowering stage, early fruit stage and full fruit stage, mainly using chemical fertiliser for additional fertilisation. When the kiwano melon seedlings grow to about 40 to 50 cm, supports should be built to let them grow along the supports. This can not only reduce pests and diseases, but also greatly increase the yield.
5. Pest and disease control
Kiwano melon has extremely strong constitution. Throughout its entire growth period, there are basically very few pests and diseases. However, in high-temperature and high-humidity environments, downy mildew and powdery mildew can be triggered, so we need to prevent them by strengthening the management of water temperature and temperature in the field. At the same time, triadimefon can be used for control. Next, cutworms occasionally appear, and we can use disaxing for control.