How to Grow Ridged Luffa? A Full Breakdown of the Latest Planting Methods
Ridged luffa, also known as Guangdong luffa, is a species in the Luffa genus. It gets its name from the 8 ridges on the surface of the fruit. It originated in India and is now cultivated throughout our country. Its flavor is sweeter and more delicate than that of ordinary luffa, and it is quite popular on the market, so how do you grow it? Let's take a look.
1. Site Selection and Land Preparation
Ridged luffa has no strict requirements for soil, but for planting you should choose a ventilated, sunny spot at an altitude above 500 m, and it is best to choose well-drained sandy loam, so that the high summer temperatures do not affect the yield and quality of ridged luffa. After choosing the planting site, plow the soil and build it into beds 4 m wide, then apply base fertilizer along the edges of the beds. Ridged luffa has an extremely high yield, so it needs a lot of fertilizer; generally, each year you should apply 1000 kg of barnyard manure, 20 kg of compound fertilizer and 2000 kg of human waste.
2. Sowing
When planting, direct sowing in the open field is generally used. To avoid root damage during transplanting, the direct sowing method is adopted. Before sowing, sun the seeds for one day, then soak them in warm hot water for 15 minutes, and then continue soaking for 4 hours. Take them out, let them dry, and mix the seeds with plant ash. Open holes in the bed surface and sow, taking care to control the spacing between holes and maintain good airflow between plants; generally sow two seeds per hole. After covering with soil, water them, then cover with plastic film to keep them warm and moist to help them sprout. After the seedlings emerge, break the film in time.
3. Field Management
When the seedlings grow heart leaves, thin them in time, keeping only one plant per hole, removing the extra thin and weak seedlings and leaving the strong ones. After thinning, apply additional fertilizer and water to promote the growth of the seedlings and vines. Wait until the seedlings and vines have grown to about 1 m, then increase the amount of fertilizer applied, and in the fruiting stage increase the number of fertilizer applications, applying fertilizer once after each harvest. One month after thinning, build a trellis in time to guide the vines. Build a large flat trellis between the plant rows for vertical cultivation. After the vines begin to run, set up poles in time for the branches and vines to climb and grow.
4. Pruning
To promote the growth of the main vine, you can remove the side branches and flower buds that sprout from the base of the main vine. When the main vine has grown to the trellis, promptly pinch off the top, remove the male flowers and cut off the side branches, reasonably keeping 2-3 vigorously growing side branches. Also promptly remove old leaves, yellow leaves and excess male flowers to reduce nutrient consumption, so that more nutrients are supplied to the fruiting branches, encouraging more flowering and fruiting and increasing the yield.
The above are the planting methods for ridged luffa. We hope they help you. If you want to learn more about growing, please follow us.