A Detailed Guide to the Cultivation Methods and Key Techniques of the Kiwano
Today, the editor is going to introduce to you the cultivation method of a special fruit. It is native to southern Africa and is suited to growing in hot, dry environments. It is a new fruit variety that has only appeared in recent years. It is still very rare on the market, and currently it is not grown much in our country, so the market price of the kiwano is quite expensive, and many friends have not even seen it. So today let us learn about its cultivation methods together.
1. Land preparation and fertilization
The kiwano is a tropical fruit, so the planting site is generally chosen in a region with a warm climate all year round. Next, the terrain of the planting site should be relatively high, and both permeability and drainage should be good, preferably with a slight slope. At the same time, the previous crop in the planting site must not be crops such as melons, fruits, eggplants or vegetables. When preparing the land, we should do it in two stages. First is the seedling bed; it only needs to be leveled and finely raked, and then the prepared nutrients can be applied. Second is the planting site; during land preparation, base fertilizer should be applied well, then deep plowing should be carried out to clean up weeds and impurities in the field, and finally beds should be made with a width of about 1.2 m to 1.5 m.
2. Sowing and raising seedlings
Generally, sowing is carried out in April and May and in August and September each year. Before sowing, the seeds need a simple treatment: soak them in warm water and stir continuously, then after two hours remove them and put them into a chemical agent and stir evenly. Then place the seeds at a temperature of 25 to 30°C for germination. After one day, they can be sown. When sowing, the seedling bed needs to be watered thoroughly, then mix the seeds with a layer of fine sand and scatter them evenly on the seedling bed, and finally cover with a layer of agricultural plastic film to keep them warm and moist, then wait for the seedlings to emerge.
3. Transplanting and planting out
When the kiwano seedlings have grown five or six leaves, that is, when they are about 10 to 15 cm, they can be pulled up for transplanting. When pulling up the seedlings, be careful not to break the roots, and at the same time some soil from the seedling bed can be kept with them, so that the young seedlings are more likely to survive after transplanting. Finally, plant them at a density of 2 m to 2.5 m per row and 1 m to 1.5 m per plant.
4. Field management
After planting out, watering should be carried out immediately, as this can increase the survival rate of the young seedlings to a certain extent. Next, about four or five days after planting out, check the growth of the kiwano seedlings in the field, and promptly fill in missing plants, water and apply additional fertilizer. After the plants have completely survived and grown a large number of roots, intertillage and weeding are needed and should be combined with watering. Basically, three to four intertillages and four to five waterings are needed each year. Especially during the flowering period of the kiwano, the water requirement is greatest, and generally watering is needed about once every week. Fertilization is needed about three to four times a year, divided into the seedling stage, flowering stage, early fruiting stage and full fruiting stage, mainly using chemical fertilizer for additional fertilization. When the kiwano seedlings grow to about 40 to 50 cm, supports should be set up to let them grow along the supports. This can not only reduce pests and diseases, but also greatly increase the yield.
5. Pest and disease control
The kiwano has extremely strong constitution, and basically few pests and diseases appear throughout its entire growth period. However, in a high-temperature and high-humidity environment, it can cause downy mildew and powdery mildew, so we need to prevent them by strengthening the management of water temperature and temperature in the field, and at the same time triadimefon can be used for control. Next, cutworms occasionally appear, and we can use Disaxing for control.