Summer Loofah Planting Methods and Key Technical Points
How to plant loofah in summer? Please guide. 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. Its cultivation methods are as follows: 1. Variety selection: For summer loofah, choose varieties that are heat-tolerant, early-maturing and high-yielding. 2. Land selection: Summer loofah has no special requirements for the soil...
How to plant loofah in summer? Please guide
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. Its cultivation methods are as follows:
1. Variety selection: For summer loofah, choose varieties that are heat-tolerant, early-maturing and high-yielding.
2. Land selection: Summer loofah has no special requirements for the soil; as long as the previous crop was not a cucurbit, it can be planted.
3. Land preparation and sowing: Because there is more rain in summer, the land for summer loofah should be prepared with deep furrows and high beds; the furrow width is 1.6 m and the bed surface width is 1.2 m. 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 the seedlings emerge, keep 2 plants per hole.
4. Fertilizer and water management: During the seedling stage of summer loofah, water with manure slurry 2-3 times. At the early flowering stage, apply a heavy topdressing, applying 50 kg of compound fertilizer or 50 kg of peanut meal per mu. After every 2-3 harvests, apply topdressing again, using 15 kg of compound fertilizer, 10 kg of urea and 5 kg of potash fertilizer each time. 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-running and flowering stage, more water is needed; on sunny days, water in the morning and evening. During the harvest period, in addition to watering, maintain a 10-20 cm water layer in the furrows, and drain promptly on rainy days.
5. Field management. Insert bamboo stakes to train the vines: When the vines are 30 cm long, bamboo stakes can be inserted, using a herringbone trellis. After inserting the trellis, do not train the vines immediately; appropriately coil the vines and press the vines, and when female flowers appear, train the vines upward and distribute the vines evenly. Hanging the fruit. When the loofah is curved, it should be hung; use a small packing string, tie one end to the fruit stalk and the other end to a small stone, and pull the fruit straight. This is generally done 2-3 days after picking the fruit. 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.
6. Timely harvest: Summer loofah takes 35--45 days from planting to the first harvest, with a harvest period of 50--60 days. From flower opening to harvesting the commercial fruit takes about 10-12 days, and harvesting should be timely.
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