Summer loofah is crisp and sweet and sells well on the market, with a detailed explanation of high-yield cultivation techniques

    Loofah is deeply loved by people for its crisp texture and sweet taste. Summer loofah is planted from late April to early July and comes to market from June to October, mainly supplying the autumn season. Its cultivation techniques are as follows:

Loofah

    I. Variety selection.For summer loofah, choose varieties that are heat-tolerant, early-maturing and high-yielding.

    II. Land selection.Summer loofah has no special requirements for the land; as long as the previous crop was not a gourd-family crop, it can be planted.

    III. Land preparation and sowing.Because there is a lot of rain in summer, summer loofah land preparation should use deep furrows and high beds; the bed including the furrow is 1.6 m wide, and the bed surface is 1.2 m wide. Summer temperatures are high and seedlings emerge quickly, so direct sowing is generally sufficient. Before sowing, soak the seeds for 3-4 hours, or soak them and then sprout them for 24 hours before sowing. Use single rows with two plants per hole, with a hole spacing of 30-40 cm; place 3-4 seeds in each hole, cover with 1.5 cm of soil, cover with gauze netting, and water. After emergence, keep 2 seedlings per hole.

    IV. Fertilizer and water management.During the seedling stage of summer loofah, apply manure water 2-3 times. At the early flowering stage, apply a heavy topdressing, applying 50 kg of compound fertilizer or 50 kg of peanut bran per mu. After every 2-3 harvests, apply another topdressing, each time using 15 kg of compound fertilizer, 10 kg of urea, and 5 kg of potassium fertilizer.

    During the seedling stage of summer loofah, there should not be too much water; too much is not conducive to root growth. During the vine-extension and flowering stages, more water is needed, so on sunny days water in the morning and evening. During the harvest period, in addition to watering, keep a 10-20 cm water layer in the furrows, and drain promptly on rainy days.

    V. Field management.1. Insert bamboo stakes to guide the vines. When the vines are 30 cm long, bamboo stakes can be inserted to form a trellis. After inserting the trellis, do not guide the vines upward immediately; instead, let the vines coil and press them appropriately, and guide them upward only when female flowers appear, so that the vines are evenly distributed.

     2. Hanging the fruit. When the loofah fruit is curved, it should be hung. Tie one end of a small packing string to the fruit stalk and the other end to a small stone to pull the fruit straight; this is generally done 2-3 days after picking the fruit.

     3. Remove old leaves. In the late harvest period of summer loofah, the diseased leaves and old leaves below affect ventilation and easily spread diseases, so they should be removed promptly.

     VI. Timely harvesting.Summer loofah takes 35-45 days from planting to the first harvest, and the harvest period is 50-60 days. From flower opening to harvest as a commercial product is about 10-12 days. Harvesting must be timely; otherwise, it easily becomes fibrous and inedible, affecting both yield and quality.