Detailed Explanation of Winter Melon Planting Time and Methods
Winter melon is a common delicacy on our dining tables, and every part of it is useful: the seeds, the peel, and the flesh can all be used to make medicine. The benefits of winter melon that we know best are that it can reduce internal heat and help with beauty and weight loss, which is why it is so popular among women. Now let's take a look together at when winter melon is sown and how to plant it.
Planting Time
The planting time for winter melon varies somewhat depending on the different climates of different regions. Generally, there are two sowing seasons for winter melon: spring and autumn. That is, from December to around March of the following year counts as spring sowing, and from July to September generally counts as autumn sowing. In fact, it seems this way that it is being sown all year round. For example, the usual sowing time in Guangzhou is January and February, while in the Hunan region it can be said that sowing can be done from December to September of the following year.
Planting Methods
1. Site Selection and Land Preparation
Winter melon is generally planted on plots with good drainage and irrigation and loose, fertile soil. Winter melon has relatively strict water requirements; too much water can lead to blight or symptoms of poor development in the winter melon. When choosing a melon plot, be careful not to choose a plot where any type of melon plant has been grown in the past few years. Many people in rural areas know that if you plant melons again after growing them a few years earlier, basically only melon seedlings will grow. When preparing the land, make water ditches for drainage and irrigation, and be sure to spread a layer of farmyard manure as base fertilizer.
2. Sowing and Raising Seedlings
The sowing methods for winter melon include direct sowing and transplanting. Direct sowing means placing 3 to 5 seeds in each soil hole at intervals of 30 to 50 cm, then covering with a thin layer of fine soil to cover the seeds. If the transplanting method is used, the seedlings must first be raised, and after the seeds sprout and grow to 5 to 10 cm, they are planted at intervals per plant.
3. Field Management
If direct sowing is used, you need to check where thinning is needed, and if there is thinning, you must fill in the seedlings promptly. But if transplanting is used, then if there is no rain, watering must be done every three days until new roots and leaves grow. When the seedlings grow to 20 to 30 cm long, we can consider that if the land area is relatively large, they can be allowed to crawl along the ground to grow directly, but if the land is not especially spacious, then trellising is needed, and then the seedlings should be manually guided onto the trellis to let them grow along it, and this can also avoid many diseases.
4. Fertilizer and Water Management
Fertilizer and water management during the seedling stage is also rather troublesome. Generally, winter melon needs three fertilizations during its growth period. The first fertilization is generally after transplanting is completed, at which time it is to speed up the growth rate of the melon seedlings. The second fertilization is when the melon seedlings have grown to a certain extent and begin to flower. The third fertilization is carried out more than ten days after fruit set, which can promote the growth of the winter melon. Of course, the amount of fertilizer used each time should not be too much, otherwise it will cause continuous growth of melon seedlings while forgetting to set fruit, and then all the work will be wasted.
5. Timely Harvesting
As for harvesting, that depends on you. If you want to eat small winter melon, then it can be eaten once the winter melon is about the size of two fists. Of course, you can also wait until it grows larger; when the leaves on the vine show slight yellowing and aging, that also means the winter melon is ripe and can all be harvested. Do not wait too late, because by then your melon may already be old or spoiled, and that kind of winter melon does not taste very good.