Key Technical Points for High-Yield Cultivation of Winter Melon in Greenhouses in Early Spring
Trellised cultivation of winter melon in greenhouses not only brings it to market early, but also gives higher early and total yields. 1. Varieties: generally use Guangdong Province green-skinned winter melon, Yichuanling No. 4, etc. 2. Raising seedlings: raise seedlings with heating in early January, using 8×8 cm plastic seedling pots. 1-2 days before sowing, the seeds must be sun-dried; after soaking and disinfecting the seeds...
Trellised cultivation of winter melon in greenhouses not only brings it to market early, but also gives higher early and total yields.
1. Varieties: generally use Guangdong Province green-skinned winter melon, Yichuanling No. 4, etc.
2. Raising seedlings
Raise seedlings with heating in early January, using 8×8 cm plastic seedling pots. 1-2 days before sowing, the seeds must be sun-dried. After soaking and disinfecting, wash the seeds clean with water and place them at 30°C-32°C to germinate; they generally sprout within 48 hours. Before germination, place the seedling pots on the seedbed to preheat, and water them thoroughly 1 day before sowing. Sow one seed per pot, cover with 1.5 cm of nutrient soil, and then cover the seedbed with plastic film. Keep the seedbed temperature at 28°C-30°C during the day and 17°C-20°C at night; after emergence, lower the temperature appropriately to prevent leggy, spindly seedlings, keeping it at 25°C-28°C during the day and 15°C-18°C at night. The seedling age is 35 days; transplant when there are 3 true leaves and 1 heart leaf to 4 true leaves and 1 heart leaf. 5-7 days before planting, control water and lower the temperature to harden the seedlings, and water the seedlings thoroughly 1 day before transplanting.
3. Planting
In early February, apply fertilizer and prepare the land. Per mu, apply 2000 kg of fully decomposed high-quality organic fertilizer, 150-200 kg of oil cake, 10 kg of urea, and 15 kg of potassium sulfate, then deep-plow and harrow finely to make beds. The bed width is 1.3 m, the ditch width is 0.4 m, and a 0.2 m wide, 0.5 m deep irrigation ditch is opened on the bed surface. The small row spacing is 0.6 m and the plant spacing is 0.4 m. When planting, water thoroughly to settle the roots, and cover with plastic film the next day.
4. Field management work after planting
1. Greenhouse temperature regulation: within one week after planting, keep the greenhouse temperature at 28°C-30°C during the day and 18°C-20°C at night; after the seedlings have recovered, until flowering and fruit setting, keep it at 25°C-28°C during the day and 16°C-18°C at night; after fruit setting, keep the greenhouse temperature at 28°C-32°C during the day and 15°C-18°C at night.
2. Preventing fruit drop, retaining fruit, and hanging fruit: winter melon in early spring in greenhouses is prone to fruit drop, so Zuogualing produced by the Zhengzhou Fruit Research Institute can be used to treat the young fruit. 1-2 days before the reserved female flower opens, spray the young fruit with a 100-150 times dilution of Zuogualing. When the young melon grows to 0.2 kg, select and retain 1 melon per plant; when the young melon grows to 0.5 kg, hang the melon with plastic string.
3. Fertilizer and water management: 5-7 days after planting, water to help the seedlings recover in the dark ditch. When the main vine grows to 6-8 unfolded leaves, apply vine-extending fertilizer at 15-20 kg of urea per mu, flushed with water. When the young melon grows to 0.3 kg, apply melon-swelling fertilizer at 20 kg of urea and 5-8 kg of monopotassium phosphate per mu, flushed with water; after 1 week, give one small supplemental watering, and stop watering 5-7 days before harvest.
5. Management of the second crop of melons: before harvesting the first crop of melons, generally remove all female flowers on the lateral vines retained at the top. Immediately after harvesting the first melons, apply fertilizer and water, applying 20 kg of urea per mu. 7-10 days after harvesting the first crop of melons, select and retain well-developed female flowers on the lateral vines and treat them with Zuogualing; they can generally be harvested after 25 days.
6. Pest and disease control
1. Disease control: common diseases mainly include powdery mildew and gray mold. For powdery mildew, choose 20% triadimefon emulsifiable concentrate at 2000 times dilution, or 70% thiophanate-methyl