The Latest Prices of Hami Melon Seeds and a Detailed Guide to Growing Them

The Hami melon is a class of excellent sweet melon varieties, an annual trailing or climbing herbaceous plant of the genus Cucumis in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae. It is not only sweet and fragrant but also rich in nutrients, and it is widely cultivated across our country, with those produced in Hami, Xinjiang being the most famous. Its variety resources are very rich, and by maturity period it is divided into early-maturing, mid-maturing and late-maturing varieties. Let's take a look together at the prices of Hami melon seeds and how to grow them!

Prices of Hami Melon Seeds

Note: There are more than 180 varieties of Hami melon, with shapes including oval, ovate, mallet-like, long club-shaped and many others, and sizes varying greatly, from as small as 1 kilogram to as large as 15-20 kilograms. The rind may be netted or smooth, the color may be green, yellow-white and so on, the flesh may be white, green or orange-red, the texture may be crisp, crumbly or soft, and the flavor may be mellow, delicate or fruity. Prices on the market differ enormously from variety to variety.

Sowing Methods for Hami Melon

1. Trenching: Dig the melon trenches more than 10 days before sowing Hami melon seeds, so that there is ample time to sun the trenches. Dig north-south trenches, with a spacing of 3.8-4 m between two trenches, a trench mouth width of 1.2 m, a bottom width of 0.5 m and a depth of 35-40 cm.

2. Laying plastic film: For Hami melon, lay the film first and then sow. The plastic film is 60-70 cm wide. Before laying the film, draw water to soak through 30 cm of the sowing strip, lay the film along the same horizontal line, and make sure there is a 30-40 cm light-collecting surface at the top.

3. Sowing: Hami melon is generally sown by dibbling on the film. The dibbled holes should be placed 15 cm from the trench edge, with a sowing depth of 3 cm and 2-3 seeds per hole. After sowing, water should be applied promptly to preserve soil moisture; for plots with a high sand content, check the soil moisture and replenish water at any time.

Seedling Raising Methods for Hami Melon

1. Water management: During the seedling stage of Hami melon, water must be strictly controlled. According to the degree of dryness or moisture of the pots in the seedbed, water an appropriate amount before noon on sunny days, and after watering wait until the moisture on the plant surface and soil surface has evaporated and the water marks have dried before covering with plastic film again.

2. Temperature management: For spring seedling raising of Hami melon, emphasis is placed on keeping warm and preventing disease. The seedbed uses multiple layers of film covering, with electric heating wires laid on the ground, and usually adopts the “two high, two low” method of variable-temperature management.

3. Ventilation and humidity reduction: After the Hami melon seedlings emerge, within the range permitted by the bed temperature, the plastic film of the small hoop shed should be uncovered as much as possible to increase ventilation and reduce the air humidity in the seedbed. On rainy days, short periods of ventilation should also be carried out around noon to reduce humidity and increase light.

4. Checking seedlings and replanting: After sowing Hami melon, check the seedlings and replant promptly. Thin to a stand when there are 2 true leaves, removing the small and keeping the large, removing the weak and keeping the strong. At the same time, carry out earthing up during the seedling stage; soil clods can also be placed on the windward side to block the seedlings, preventing wind and pressing down the soil.

5. Timely thinning to a stand: Thinning Hami melon to a stand should be determined according to variety characteristics and soil fertility. Usually the plant spacing is 35-45 cm, and the number of plants retained per mu is 750-850.

Growing Methods for Hami Melon

1. Field selection: Hami melon cultivation avoids melon stubble and continuous cropping plots. Rice stubble fields that have not grown cucurbits within 3 years, are high and well-drained, should be selected, and sandy soil rich in organic matter with good permeability is the first choice for growing Hami melon.

2. Applying sufficient base fertilizer: Plow one month before planting Hami melon, with a plowing depth of 25-30 cm as appropriate, open the supporting ditches and apply sufficient base fertilizer all at once. Generally, 1000 kg of commercial organic fertilizer, 30 kg of potassium sulfate-type ternary compound fertilizer and 50 kg of superphosphate are used per mu.

3. Land preparation and bed making: When making beds for Hami melon, high beds and high ridges must be used. Generally, four beds are made for trellis cultivation and two beds for ground-crawling cultivation. The bed surface should be turtle-back shaped, and full plastic film mulching should be adopted (transparent plastic film in spring), which helps preserve moisture, reduce humidity and prevent weeds.

4. Timely planting: Hami melon is generally planted from late February to mid-March. For ground-crawling cultivation, the plant spacing is about 45 cm, with 2 beds per shed and about 500 plants per mu. For trellis cultivation, the plant spacing is about 40 cm, with 4-5 beds per shed and about 1100 plants per mu.

5. Reasonable pruning: Different pruning methods should be adopted for Hami melon according to the fertility level of the plot. Two-vine pruning is mostly used on soil with good fertility, and single-vine pruning is mostly used on soil with poor fertility. Intertillage should be carried out 2-3 times before the first irrigation, to a depth of 15 cm, and weed control should be done well.

6. Reasonable topdressing: Topdress Hami melon 1-2 times during the fruit enlargement period. It can be applied in holes 30 cm from the roots, using 10-15 kg of compound fertilizer per mu, combined with foliar spraying of monopotassium phosphate. Stop applying fertilizer and water 15 days before the melons ripen to prevent fruit cracking.

7. Supplementary pollination: Hami melon generally uses manual supplementary pollination. In spring, the time should be from 7-10 am, choosing male flowers of the same variety from different plants that open that day, removing the petals, and evenly and gently dabbing the stamens on the stigma of the female flower.

8. Topping and fruit selection: When Hami melons grow to the size of an egg, based on a comprehensive judgment of the growth and development of each fruit, select and keep one well-formed, robust young melon and remove the rest. Topping is usually carried out at the 28th-30th node. Generally, single-vine plants keep one melon, and double-vine plants keep two melons.

9. Turning and propping the melons: After the netting forms on Hami melons, turn them once every 7 days, turning in one direction, turning one third of the surface each time, to prevent spots. It is best to prop the melons up with small wooden sticks in a triangular shape.

10. Disease control: The main diseases of Hami melon include bacterial angular leaf spot, downy mildew, Phytophthora blight, powdery mildew, sunscald and gummy stem blight. The commonly occurring diseases are bacterial angular leaf spot and Phytophthora blight, and they must be controlled promptly, with accurate application of chemicals and measures in place.