Detailed Explanation of the Latest Bitter Melon Seedling Raising Methods
Bitter melon is a cucurbit vegetable with a relatively strong bitter taste, but it holds a fairly high status in our country. Bitter melon has a series of benefits such as clearing heat and detoxifying, and nourishing and rejuvenating the skin. Its planting area is very extensive, with cultivation in every region and province across our country, and most bitter melon cultivation methods today mainly use seedling raising and transplanting. So how should bitter melon be raised as seedlings for planting? Below, the editor brings you the seedling raising methods for bitter melon. Let us take a look together!
1. Preparing nutrient soil
Before sowing, you must first prepare the nutrient soil, and it is best to start preparing it 4-5 months in advance. First, choose soil that has never been used to grow cucurbit vegetables as the subsoil, then prepare decomposed farmyard manure and pile them together. If there is no fermentation time, you can pile the nutrient soil and use a disinfectant for sterilization. First, fully dilute the disinfectant, then evenly sprinkle it over the soil, mix and stir it thoroughly with the soil, cover it well with plastic film and seal it for about 3 days. Then spread the soil out for one week, and once the effectiveness of the chemicals has disappeared, it can be used. If you do not have a preparation method, you can also buy finished nutrient soil.
⟦NL>2. Seed disinfection
Generally, bitter melon is sown by direct seeding with dry seeds, or the seeds can simply be soaked in clean water for about 4 hours. However, to prevent the seeds from carrying bacteria, we still need to do a good job of disinfecting the seeds before sowing. First soak the seeds for 4 hours, then mix them evenly with Celest or soak them in a solvent such as carbendazim for about 1 hour to prevent fungal diseases. After soaking, rinse the chemicals off the surface of the seeds with clean water, and then they can be sprouted or sown directly.
3. Soaking seeds to promote sprouting
After disinfection, put the seeds into warm water at about 55°C for heat treatment. While pouring in the seeds, stir at the same time to ensure the seeds are heated evenly and to prevent scalding. Stop when the water temperature drops to about 35°C. Then soak for about 7 hours to promote water absorption by the seeds. After soaking, wash off the dirt on the surface of the seeds and air-dry the moisture. Wrap them in wet gauze and place them in an environment of about 32°C for sprouting. During sprouting, the seeds need to be rinsed each day with warm water at about 32°C to avoid dirty matter sticking to the seeds, improve permeability, and promote sprouting. After about 4 days, once most of the seeds have white sprouts showing, sowing can begin.
4. Sowing and raising seedlings
Before sowing, prepare the seedling pots, then put the nutrient soil into the seedling pots, place them on the seedling bed, and water thoroughly. When the water has completely seeped down to the bottom, cover with fine soil. Then begin sowing, placing one seed into each seedling pot. After sowing, cover with another layer of fine soil and plastic film to raise the temperature of the seedling bed and ensure the temperature required for seed germination. After normal emergence, lower the temperature appropriately, control the temperature at about 22°C, and do a good job of ventilation. Uncover the film to promote the seedlings' absorption of natural light, and cover again at night. Three days before transplanting, remove the film to improve the cold resistance of the seedlings.
During the seedling raising period, note that if the nutrient soil lacks moisture, water it in time. Do not do this on cloudy and rainy days, to prevent waterlogging damage, and try to meet the seedlings' water needs as much as possible. Apply topdressing appropriately, and adjust the nutrient ratio and amount of fertilizer according to the growth of the seedlings and the fertility of the nutrient soil, to prevent malnutrition. That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only. Thank you all for reading and supporting.