Wax gourd vine dropping should be flexible to ensure uniform growth in the greenhouse
In the early stage of black-skinned wax gourd expansion, drench the roots once with a mixture of 800x Xingpeng Phosphorus-Potassium No. 1 and 800x Xingpeng Calcium-Magnesium No. 1, applying 1~1.5 kg per plant, evenly poured into the soil around the plant roots. At the same time, during the expansion period of black-skinned wax gourd, spray the leaves once every 7~10 days with 0.1% magnesium sulfate, 0.3% monopotassium phosphate, 3...
During interviews in wax gourd greenhouses in Gucheng Subdistrict and Luocheng Subdistrict of Shouguang City, the reporter observed that due to weather influences, wax gourd growth in greenhouses this year has been uneven, with significant differences in time to market, which makes management difficult for vegetable farmers.The reporter saw in the wax gourd greenhouse of Shao Lianquan, a vegetable farmer in Luocheng Subdistrict, that although his wax gourds initially grew unevenly, through continuous adjustment, the wax gourd growth gradually became uniform, making management operations easier.
"Now some wax gourds have been sold early and urgently need vine dropping, while some wax gourds have not grown enough and cannot have their vines dropped yet, making management relatively difficult. When I drop the vines of wax gourds, I do it according to their growth condition," Master Shao told the reporter.
How to drop vines according to plant growth condition? According to Master Shao: For those wax gourds sold early, vines should be dropped in time, but note that when dropping vines, never do it all at once; the extent should be small, level with or slightly lower than the upper steel wire. Because if the vine dropping extent is too large, and the wax gourds on both sides have not been harvested, such vine dropping will cause the unharvested plants to shade the harvested wax gourds, affecting their light penetration, causing plants that originally grew well to receive less light and become weaker. For those plants whose wax gourds have not been harvested, let them climb upward along the steel wire, and it is best not to drop their vines. Because if vines are dropped before the wax gourds are harvested, the fruit will be at the bottom of the plant, with less chance of receiving light, poor fruit coloration, affecting their marketability. For these wax gourds, timely head training should be done to encourage upward climbing, and when they climb above the steel wire, let the main vine climb north-south along the steel wire.
"After all the wax gourds in the greenhouse have been harvested once, a major adjustment should be made so that their subsequent growth is uniform and easy to manage. I do it this way: for plants with early-harvested gourds, keep the fruit on the upper part; for plants with late-harvested gourds, keep the fruit on the lower part. After all fruits have set, uniformly drop the vines of all wax gourds in the greenhouse, and the height should preferably be kept consistent when dropping vines. In this way, because of the deliberate earlier fruit setting, the fruit height after vine dropping is basically consistent. After such management, the subsequent wax gourd growth is basically uniform, and management becomes easier," said Master Shao.