What are the causes of premature senescence in winter melon and what preventive measures are there?

Premature senescence in winter melon means that the growing vigor of the winter melon can no longer normally support the winter melon in completing its life cycle; in most cases, before the fruit has ripened, the plant's vigor is low or it dies. Winter melon grows relatively quickly when bearing fruit in the later stage, but if management is improper, premature senescence will occur, affecting yield and quality, and causing serious economic losses for farmers as well. So what are the specific causes of premature senescence? And how should it be prevented? Let's take a look together with Qinnong Web.

1. Low fruit-setting node position

After the winter melon flowers and sets fruit, because the plant is short and grows poorly, the individual plant is relatively small and its growth is weak; in particular, the leaf area is small, so the nutrients synthesized through photosynthesis are relatively few and can no longer meet the needs of plant growth and flowering and fruit setting, thus causing premature senescence.

Preventive measures: For this situation, when choosing what to plant, select excellent varieties with robust growth, and when choosing soil, it is advisable to choose deep, loose, and fertile soil, strengthen fertilizer and water management, and increase the nutrients needed for plant growth. Especially when the plant is growing weakly, in order to avoid premature senescence, some flowers or young fruit can be appropriately removed to reduce nutrient consumption.

2. Insufficient application of base fertilizer

Winter melon has a relatively large demand for fertility during growth, especially for base fertilizer. If the base fertilizer is insufficiently applied and no timely additional fertilization is carried out later, the supply of nutrient elements will be insufficient, and the plant will show premature senescence.

Preventive measures: On the basis of applying enough base fertilizer, when carrying out additional fertilization, apply fertilizer promptly according to the plant's growth condition and fertilizer requirement to supply sufficient nutrients and avoid premature senescence. At the same time, in the later stage, if the plant shows premature senescence, foliar spraying and root topdressing can be carried out at the same time.

3. Soil problems

Winter melon actually has relatively strong adaptability to soil, but some farmers, in order to carry out crop rotation or avoid other crops, are rather careless when choosing land and plant in plots with heavy soil viscosity and poor fertility, while applying insufficient fertilizer and not loosening the soil or weeding in time, leaving the plants to fend for themselves, which leads to nutrient-deficiency premature senescence in the plants.

Preventive measures: Winter melon has relatively strong adaptability to soil, and ordinary soil is enough for planting it. As long as the soil is not too poor or too high in acidity or alkalinity, it can generally grow and bear fruit normally. After planting, management should be carried out frequently.

4. Improper watering

During the growth and fruiting period of winter melon, the demand for water is extremely large. If watering is too little at this time, the plant will not be able to meet the water needed for fruiting and premature senescence will occur. However, during growth, if watering is too heavy, it will cause excessive water accumulation in the soil, affect soil permeability, hinder root growth, and prevent normal respiration and absorption, causing the plant to gradually wither and show premature senescence.

Preventive measures: When watering, do so according to the plant's growth state. In dry seasons, water in time to keep the soil moist, while in rainy seasons, drain water in time to prevent waterlogging and prevent root rot.

The above are the causes of premature senescence in winter melon and the preventive measures brought to you by Qinnong Web. We hope they can help you. If you want to learn more about winter melon, please stay tuned to Qinnong Web.