What Is the Price of Zucchini Seeds? A Detailed Guide to Growing Methods

Zucchini, also known as xiong (male) melon, white melon, small melon and so on, is an annual trailing herbaceous plant of the genus Cucurbita in the gourd family. It originated in southern North America and other places and is now distributed throughout the world. China began introducing and cultivating it from Europe in the mid-19th century. Its fruit is eaten as a vegetable. Let us take a look below at zucchini seed prices and growing methods!

Zucchini Seed Price List

Note: There are a great many cultivated varieties of zucchini, and their seed prices differ depending on the variety. When purchasing, be sure to look at the variety first (mainly at variety characteristics, yield and so on) and then at the price, so the prices above serve only as a reference; the actual price should be taken as final!

Cultivated Varieties of Zucchini

1. Mosaic-leaved zucchini: Commonly cultivated in northern China, with shorter vines, fewer branches and a compact plant shape; each plant sets 3-5 fruits. The fruit is long oval, the skin dark green with irregular yellow-green stripes, and the flesh greenish-white, dense in texture and low in fiber.

2. Naked-seeded zucchini: A variety grown for its seeds as food. The plant is trailing with vines 1.6 m long; the fruit is short cylindrical. Young fruits can be used as a vegetable, while mature fruits have orange-yellow skin and weigh 4-5 kg each.

3. Green-skinned zucchini: The plant has vines 3 m long and heart-shaped, dark green leaves with irregularly serrated margins. The fruit is long oval with a smooth, greenish-white skin and 6 ridges, generally weighing 2-3 kg per fruit.

4. Long-vined zucchini: The plant grows prostrate, with stems and vines about 2.5 m long and moderate branching. The leaves are triangular, shallowly lobed and green, with abundant fine hairs on the underside. Fruits begin to set after the ninth node of the main vine, with 2-3 fruits per plant. The fruit is cylindrical and slightly narrower in the middle.

Sowing Methods for Zucchini

1. Variety selection: Early-maturing zucchini varieties include Zaoqing Yidai, Yiwohou, Atai Yidai, Tezao No. 1, Xiaobaipi and Mosaic-leaved zucchini, while mid-maturing varieties include Long-vined zucchini. Generally, cultivation in early spring in greenhouses (rooms) gives relatively high returns.

2. Disinfection and sprouting: After sun-drying the zucchini seeds, place them in water at 50-55°C and stir for 15 minutes, then soak them at room temperature for 6-8 hours. After washing, keep them warm and moist at 25-30°C to sprout, rinsing once with clean water every 6 hours; they will germinate in 2-3 days.

3. Preparing the nutrient bed: For zucchini nutrient soil, use 6 parts garden soil and 4 parts decomposed barnyard manure, sift and mix evenly, then add, per square meter of bed soil, 15 kg of sifted chicken manure and 5000 g of compound fertilizer, mix evenly and set aside.

4. Sowing time: The soil temperature for transplanting zucchini must be above 12°C. For production in plastic greenhouses, seedlings are generally raised in February to March with a seedling period of 30-40 days; for open-field production, seedlings are generally raised in March to April with a seedling period of 25-30 days.

5. Sowing method: Place one germinated seed flat in each nutrient pot or soil block with the sprout facing down, then cover with 2 cm of fine soil, and immediately cover with plastic film to keep warm and moist. The sowing rate is 400-500 g per mu.

Growing Methods for Zucchini

1. Land preparation and fertilization: Zucchini base fertilizer is mainly organic fertilizer. Generally, apply 2000 kg of decomposed organic fertilizer, 75 kg of cake fertilizer, 40 kg of compound fertilizer and 80 kg of plant ash per mu. Spread the fertilizer evenly on the ground, plow deeply 30 cm and level the ground.

2. Ditching and bed making: Zucchini is cultivated with deep furrows, high beds and plastic film mulching. The bed is 100 cm wide and 20 cm high, and the furrow is 25-30 cm wide. About 7 days before transplanting, fumigate and disinfect the shed with 1 kg per mu of 45% chlorothalonil smoke agent.

3. Transplanting time: Zucchini seedlings are transplanted when they have 3 leaves and 1 heart or 4 leaves just unfolding, at a seedling age of about 30 days. Small varieties are planted in double rows at 40×40 cm spacing, about 1800 plants per mu. Large varieties are planted in double rows at 50×50 cm spacing, about 1600 plants per mu.

4. Transplanting method: Water thoroughly 1 day before transplanting zucchini. Select strong, good seedlings and move them with as much soil around the roots as possible. During transplanting, let the root system spread out normally. After transplanting, water to settle the roots and seal the transplanting holes tightly with fine soil, then water once a day until the seedlings survive.

5. Temperature management: During the seedling recovery stage, the shed temperature is 25-28°C during the day and 18-20°C at night; after recovery, 20-25°C during the day and 12-15°C at night; after fruit set, 22-26°C during the day and 15-18°C at night, with the minimum not lower than 10°C.

6. Hand pollination: In early spring, when temperatures are low, zucchini must be hand-pollinated. Generally, before 9 a.m., pick male flowers that opened that day, remove the corolla and gently dab it on the stigma of the female flower, or use plant hormones such as anti-drop agent and fruit-setting agent according to the instructions.

7. Fertilizer and water management: Zucchini should be watered in good time according to soil moisture. If fertilizer is lacking later, the film can be broken and 10-15 kg of compound fertilizer applied per mu, or a foliar fertilizer sprayed.

8. Timely harvesting: Zucchini is mainly eaten as young fruit and is harvested when it meets market fruit requirements. Plants with vigorous growth should keep somewhat more fruits and larger fruits; excessively vegetative plants should have their fruits harvested somewhat later; weak plants should keep fewer fruits and have them harvested earlier.

Pest and Disease Control for Zucchini

1. Powdery mildew

[Damage] In the early stage of the disease, nearly round small powdery spots appear on the leaf surface or underside and on young stems, mostly on the upper leaf surface. In severe cases the entire leaf is covered with white powder. In the later stage of the disease, heaps of yellow-brown small granules grow on the white fungal patches, and the small granules later turn black.

[Control] Spray 40% sulfur-multi suspension concentrate at 800 times dilution evenly before noon in the early and initial stages of the disease, once every 5-7 days, for 2-3 consecutive sprays.

2. Cottony leak

[Damage] It harms the fruit and sometimes the leaves, stems and other parts. In the early stage of disease on young fruits, oval, water-soaked dark green lesions appear.

[Control] Use high-ridge cultivation, avoid flood irrigation and prop up the fruits. In the early stage of the disease, in combination with control of gray mold and powdery mildew, spray 72% chlorothalonil wettable powder at 600-800 times dilution.

3. Viral disease

[Damage] When the disease occurs, dark green lesions appear on the leaves. On severely affected plants, the upper leaves are deformed and claw-like, the plant is dwarfed and the leaves become smaller; later the leaves yellow, wither or die. Diseased plants set few or no fruits, and the fruit surface shows tumor-like protrusions or deformities.

[Control] From the early stage of the disease, begin spraying 20% Virus A wettable powder at 500 times dilution, once every 10 days, for 3 consecutive sprays.

4. Whitefly

[Damage] Adults or nymphs gather on the underside of leaves to suck sap, generally concentrating on the upper tender leaves, and the damaged leaves dry up.

[Control] Spray early when whitefly density is low, once a week for 3 consecutive times. Options include 25% buprofezin wettable powder at 1500 times dilution, sprayed evenly on the underside of leaves.

5. Leafminer

[Damage] The larvae mine the leaf mesophyll into winding tunnels; only the upper and lower epidermis remains at the damaged spots, and black excrement is present inside the tunnels. In severe cases the damaged leaves wilt and die, affecting yield.

[Control] Use 90% trichlorfon or 25% phosmet emulsifiable concentrate at 1000 times dilution, etc. During the peak emergence of adults, spray 6000 times dilution of mieshabei; during the larval damage period, spray 25% quinalphos emulsifiable concentrate at 1000 times dilution for control.

6. Red spider mite

[Damage] Adults and larvae gather on the underside of leaves and pierce and suck sap. Yellow-white spots appear on the surface of damaged leaves, and in severe cases the leaves of the whole plant turn yellow and wither.

[Control] Use 73% propargite emulsifiable concentrate at 2000 times dilution, or 25% quinomethionate wettable powder at 1000 times dilution, spraying once every 7-10 days, focusing on the underside of tender leaves and stem tips, for 3 consecutive sprays.