The Latest Technical Points for Field Management of Bottle Gourd
Bottle gourd is an annual climbing plant, and before it matures, the bottle gourd can be eaten as a vegetable. Moreover, the seeds of the bottle gourd also have medicinal effects such as stopping diarrhea and inducing vomiting, and promoting diuresis to reduce swelling. At present, the planting area of bottle gourd in our country is very extensive, so how should we manage it when planting? Below, the editor brings you the field management of bottle gourd. Let's take a look together!
1. Management during the germination stage
The period from when the seeds show a tendency to germinate until the seedlings grow leaves is the seedling stage of the bottle gourd. Under normal management, they generally emerge from the soil about one week after sowing. After the seedlings emerge, the film should be broken in time according to the growth condition of the seedlings to improve field ventilation. This prevents poor ventilation from causing excessive field humidity. It causes adverse phenomena such as water accumulation, root soaking, and seedling rot. Therefore, after the seedlings emerge, we must break the film in time, poke a small hole at the base of the seedling, and just expose the seedling, but we must not damage the seedling.
2. Management during the seedling stage
The period of growth from 1-5 true leaves of the seedling is the seedling stage of the bottle gourd. The seedling stage lasts about one month, and during the seedling stage the soil should be kept moist. If a phenomenon of water shortage and drought is found, then a small drip irrigation should be given once. The amount of water should not be too much, to prevent root soaking. Then do a good job of trellising to facilitate the vine extension and growth of the bottle gourd. When trellising, pay attention to controlling the position of the base of the trellis and the seedlings. It must not be too close, to prevent damage to the seedling roots. Then fix the trellis to prevent it from being blown over by wind, which would affect the growth of the bottle gourd.
3. Management during the vine extension stage
After passing through the seedling stage comes the vine extension stage, which will continue until before the first female flower opens. During the vine extension stage, the main growth direction of the bottle gourd is vegetative growth. At this time, the root growth rate of the bottle gourd plant accelerates, and the leaf area increases. At this time, we should pay attention to doing a good job of pruning and tying the vines. After the bottle gourd vines grow vertically to a certain height, they cannot continue upward. If management is poor, they will bend, affecting normal growth. So we must timely guide and tie the vines to promote the vines to grow vertically toward the bamboo pole. Then we must also do a good job of bud removal, pinching, and intertillage weeding, concentrating nutrients on the bottle gourd.
4. Management during the expansion stage
After the bottle gourd enters the fruiting stage, attention should be paid to doing a good job of fruit thinning. Usually, keeping one fruit per vine is enough. This facilitates nutrient concentration. Pay attention to observing the growth condition of the fruit, promptly remove small fruits, deformed fruits, and so on, and also promptly remove old and weak leaves, leaves with pests and diseases, and so on, to prevent excessive nutrient consumption from affecting fruit expansion. The growth rate of the bottle gourd during the expansion stage is very fast, so we should pay attention to timely watering and fertilizing to meet the fruit's demand for nutrients and water during expansion. Then appropriately share the weight for the fruit stalk, and tie the bottle gourd stalk to the wire to reduce fruit drop.
The above is a brief introduction to the field management of bottle gourd. The field management of bottle gourd should be reasonably adjusted according to the different growth stages of the bottle gourd. Only in this way can the growth of the bottle gourd be ensured and the planting benefits improved. That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only. Thank you everyone for reading and supporting.