A Detailed Explanation of the Effects and Uses of Ethephon
What are the effects of ethephon? How is it used? Experienced netizens are asked to help explain. In daily life, ethephon is often used to ripen fruits such as bananas, tomatoes and persimmons, but what exactly are the effects of ethephon? How can it be used for good results? Many netizens do not know much about this, so Zhongdi Network...
What are the effects of ethephon? How is it used? Experienced netizens are asked to help explainIn daily life, ethephon is often used to ripen fruits such as bananas, tomatoes and persimmons, but what exactly are the effects of ethephon? How can it be used for good results? Many netizens do not know much about this, so Zhongdi Network has compiled the effects and uses of ethephon, listed in detail below for netizens' reference.
Effects of ethephon:
Ethephon is an organophosphorus broad-spectrum low-toxicity plant growth regulator, a plant growth regulator that can promote plant ripening. Ethephon mainly enters the plant body through crop leaves, bark, fruit and seeds, then is transported to the site where it acts, releasing ethylene. It can promote fruit ripening and colouring, promote the abscission of leaves and fruits, dwarf plants, change the ratio of female to male flowers, and induce male sterility in crops, etc.
When ethephon is sprayed on crops, it is quickly absorbed by the crops. Since the pH of the cell sap of general plants is above 4, ethephon gradually releases ethylene after entering plant tissues, and as the pH increases and the temperature rises, the release rate of ethephon also speeds up, playing roles such as promoting fruit ripening, inhibiting the elongation growth of crops, and promoting the occurrence of adventitious roots.
Ethephon can be used on many crops, such as rice, corn, Jinqiu pear, grapes, peaches, tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, cotton and many other crops. Rational use of ethephon can increase yield and efficiency.
Uses of ethephon:
1. Used for ripening cotton:
If the cotton has strong late growth potential and many autumn bolls, ethephon is often used for ripening. Applying ethephon to cotton requires that the boll age of most cotton bolls in the cotton field exceeds 45 days, and the daily maximum temperature on the day of application must be above 20 degrees.
For ripening cotton, mainly a 40% ethephon aqueous solution diluted 300-500 times is used, sprayed in the morning or when the temperature is high. Generally, after applying ethephon to cotton, it can accelerate boll cracking, reduce frost-damaged bolls, effectively improve cotton quality, and thereby increase cotton yield.
2. Used for ripening tomatoes:
Generally, there are two methods for ripening tomatoes with ethephon. One is dipping the fruit after harvest: tomatoes that have grown to full size but are not yet ripe and are in the "colour-turning stage" are dipped in a 0.001%-0.002% concentration ethephon solution, then piled for several days, after which the tomatoes will turn red and ripen.
The second is painting the fruit on the tomato plant: a 0.002%-0.004% concentration ethephon solution is painted on tomato fruits in the "colour-turning stage". Tomatoes ripened by this method are similar to naturally ripened fruits.
3. Used for ripening bananas:
For ripening bananas with ethephon, generally a 0.0005%-0.001% concentration ethephon solution is used to dip or spray bananas that are 70-80% ripe. If the temperature is too high, ventilation and heat dissipation must be adopted to prevent the bananas from developing detached stalks, and when the temperature is below 20 degrees, heating is needed. Bananas treated with ethephon can quickly soften and turn yellow, lose their astringent taste, decrease in starch, and increase in sugar content.
4. Used for promoting the abscission of fruits such as jujube, hawthorn, olive and ginkgo:
Jujube: Spray ethephon from the white-ripe stage to the crisp-ripe stage of jujube, or 7-8 days before the customary harvest. If it is used for processing candied jujubes, the application time can be appropriately earlier, and the sprayed ethephon concentration is best at 0.0002%-0.0003%. Because jujube fruit skin is very thin, if it is a fresh-eating variety, ethephon should not be used to promote abscission.
Hawthorn: Generally, 7-10 days before the normal harvest of hawthorn, spray a 0.0005%-0.0008% concentration ethephon solution.
Olive: Generally, when olives are close to maturity, spray a 0.0003% concentration ethephon solution.
For the above fruits, 3-4 days after spraying, shake the large branches and the fruits will fall off.
5. Used for cultivating short and sturdy rice seedlings:
When the seedlings of double-cropping late rice grow to the five- to six-leaf stage, spray 50 kg of 0.001% concentration ethephon solution per mu of seedlings. This can make the seedlings short and sturdy, save labour when pulling seedlings, and has advantages such as fast greening after transplanting, early tillering and early heading.
6. Used for inducing flowers in cucumbers:
Generally, when cucumber seedlings have 1-3 true leaves, spray a 0.0001%-0.0002% concentration ethephon solution. Generally only one spraying is needed; if a second spraying is required, it can be done 1 week after the first application.
Using ethephon in cucumbers at the early stage of flower bud differentiation can change flowering habits, induce the occurrence of female flowers and reduce the opening of male flowers, thereby increasing fruit set and increasing the number of cucumbers.
Precautions for ethephon:
1. After ethephon is diluted to prepare a solution, its stability becomes poorer due to the decrease in acidity, so ethephon should be prepared and used immediately.
2. The optimal use temperature for ethephon is above 20 degrees; if the temperature is below 20 degrees, the efficacy is reduced.
3. Because ethephon is an acidic agent, it decomposes to release ethylene when it encounters alkali, so ethephon cannot be mixed with alkaline substances.
4. Ethephon technical material has an irritant effect on human skin and eyes, so attention must be paid to human safety when using it.
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