How to Grow Spring Watermelons for High Yields? Key Cultivation Techniques Explained

Melons & Fruits Jan 1, 1970 0 views

1. Choose disease-resistant, high-yielding, high-quality varieties: For medium-to-large fruited watermelons, choose Xinong No. 8, Japanese Jubao Wang, Qingbao Wang, Hei Juguan, Gannong No. 8; for small watermelons, choose Black Beauty mini watermelon; for seedless watermelons, choose Heimi No. 1 and No. 2.
2. Choose a good planting site: It is best to choose light loam or medium loam with a certain slope, convenient drainage and irrigation, deep soil, and rich organic matter. Watermelon is a crop that cannot be continuously cropped; the field should not have grown cucurbit crops for more than 3 years in paddy fields or more than 5 years in dry land.
3. Sow at the right time and cultivate strong seedlings: For early spring watermelon planting with double-film mulching, the sowing period can be in mid-January. At the same time, use heated hotbeds or nutrient pots plus small arched sheds for seedling raising. Plastic nutrient pots with a specification of 8×10 cm can be used.
4. Prepare the soil carefully and apply sufficient base fertilizer: Deeply plow the soil and let it sun-bleach for half a month. Apply 50-75 kg of quicklime per mu, then break up the soil and prepare the beds, making a continuous bed with ditches 2.5 m wide, with one side of the bed 40 cm high and the other side 20 cm high, forming a sloped bed; on the side near the high bed, dig a planting furrow 25 cm deep and 40 cm wide. In the furrow, apply 1000-1500 kg of decomposed farmyard manure per mu, 25 kg of ternary compound fertilizer, 1.5-2 kg of borax, and 4 kg of magnesium sulfate. When applying in the furrow, mix the fertilizer thoroughly with the backfilled soil.
5. Transplanting: Watermelon seedlings can be transplanted when they have 3-4 leaves. The planting density per mu is 400-500 plants for large watermelons and 600-700 plants for small watermelons. The planting holes are 10-15 cm in diameter and 10 cm deep.
6. Double-film mulching: Plastic film plus arched film. Before covering the film, spray 100 ml of butachlor emulsifiable concentrate mixed with 60 kg of water per mu over the entire area. When covering the film, stretch it tight and press the edges down firmly. Cut a "+" shaped opening in the plastic film over the planting holes, move the seedlings in, fix them with soil, water each plant to settle the roots, then seal the film opening with soil. Finally, insert the arched frames and cover with the arched film.
7. Field management:
① Fertilizer and water management: The principle for topdressing is to apply seedling-promoting fertilizer cautiously, apply vine-extending fertilizer skillfully, and apply fruit-swelling fertilizer heavily. The seedling-promoting fertilizer is applied 5-7 days after transplanting once the seedlings have recovered. Generally, urea and compound fertilizer in a 1:2 ratio made into a 0.3% solution is applied once. The vine-extending fertilizer is generally applied about 20 days after the seedling-promoting fertilizer. Use 10-15 g of urea and 15 g of potassium fertilizer per plant, open 25 cm deep furrows on both sides 35 cm from the planting point, apply the fertilizer in the furrows, and cover with soil. The fruit-swelling fertilizer is applied when the young fruit is the size of an egg. Use 30-40 g of urea, 15 g of calcium superphosphate, and 30-40 g of potassium fertilizer per plant, applied 50 cm from the planting point. The application method is the same as for the vine-extending fertilizer, but the furrow position should be perpendicular to the vine-extending fertilizer furrow.
Water management: For spring-planted watermelons, drainage after rain must be done promptly, ensuring the furrows dry after the rain stops. If high temperature and drought occur during the fruit-setting period, furrow irrigation can be used at night, but the bed surface must be kept slightly dry and drained immediately.
② Cultivation, weeding, and earthing up: Cultivation, weeding, and earthing up should be carried out when the watermelon vines are 40-50 cm long. If the vines are too long when cultivating, not only is the operation inconvenient, but the vines and leaves are easily damaged, allowing disease to invade. Also, the loosened soil can easily splash onto leaves, flowers, and young fruits after rain.
③ Training vines and pruning: Training vines and pruning should be done on sunny days after the dew on the leaves and vines has dried. Train the vines toward the lower side of the bed. When training vines, do not turn them over at will or twist them. Use the two-vine pruning method, that is, in addition to the main vine, select and keep one thick lateral vine at the base. For lower densities, use the three-vine pruning method.
④ Artificial pollination: Spring-planted watermelons often encounter continuous rainy weather, which affects insect activity. Artificial pollination can be used to increase the fruit-setting rate.
8. Pest and disease control: Integrated control measures should be adopted for watermelon pest and disease control.
⑴ Soil and seed disinfection: The cultivation site must undergo paddy-upland rotation, with a rotation period of more than 3 years. For soil disinfection, use 40% quintozene at 2-3 kg per mu, mix with 50 kg of poisoned soil, and broadcast over the entire field, or drench holes with 0.1% quintozene solution. For seed disinfection, soak seeds in warm water at 50°C for 20 minutes, then soak in cold water for 8-12 hours, then germinate; or soak seeds in 25% metalaxyl at 800 times dilution for 30 minutes, then soak in clean water for 8-12 hours, then germinate.
⑵ Cultivate disease-free strong seedlings: Strengthen field management during the seedling stage to improve plant disease resistance. During the seedling stage, spray 80% metalaxyl at 800 times dilution to control damping-off.
⑶ Clean the field and maintain field sanitation.
⑷ Promote cultivation methods with deep furrows and high beds.
⑸ Advocate the use of organic fertilizer, stop applying excessive nitrogen fertilizer, and apply more phosphorus and potassium fertilizer.
⑹ Chemical control: ① Phytophthora blight and downy mildew: Use 50% carbendazim at 800 times dilution, or 75% chlorothalonil at 800 times dilution, or 25% metalaxyl at 500 times dilution. Spray again after 7 days, for 2-3 consecutive times. ② Anthracnose: The main disease. Use 50% carbendazim at 500 times dilution, or 75% chlorothalonil at 700 times dilution, or 80% anthracnose Fumei at 800 times dilution for spraying. Spray once every 5 days, for 2-3 consecutive times. ③ Southern blight: Spray 50% carbendazim at 500 times dilution, or 20% triadimefon at 1200 times dilution, or 50% quintozene at 1000 times dilution. ④ Gummy stem blight: Use 75% chlorothalonil at 600 times dilution or 50% thiophanate at 800 times dilution for spraying. ⑤ Fusarium wilt: Adopt measures such as selecting disease-resistant varieties, paddy-upland rotation, seed disinfection, spraying 1000 times dilution of potassium permanganate in the evening, drenching roots with 50% carbendazim at 500 times dilution, and drenching roots with 20% triadimefon at 1500 times dilution. The best way to control Fusarium wilt is to use pumpkin or bottle gourd as rootstock for grafting. ⑥ Viral disease: The main virus types are tobacco mosaic virus and cucumber mosaic virus. Adopt seed disinfection, spray 20% Virus A at 500 times dilution. Yunda 120 and brassinolide have the best control effect on viral disease; spray at the 4-5 leaf stage during the seedling stage. ⑦ Aphids: When tobacco whitefly occurs commonly and severely, use Dagongchen and imidacloprid for control. ⑧ Leafminer: Use insect mite control agents and abamectin at 5000 times dilution for control. ⑨ Yellow squash beetle: Spray Tuojialing at 800 times dilution. ⑩ Melon fruit fly: Use decis at 2000 times dilution, and Aifuding at 5000 times dilution for spraying.
9. Harvest: After pollination, the fruit matures and can be harvested for market in 30-35 days.

How to Grow Spring Watermelons for High Yields? Key Cultivation Techniques Explained

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