What environmental conditions does melon growth require?
Melons are very popular in China, and in many places they are also called pear melons. They are now grown over a very wide area in China. However, although the growing area is wide, they cannot be grown just anywhere. This is because melon growth is affected by the surrounding environment of the growing site, and both yield and fruit quality are affected to some extent. So today I have brought you the environmental requirements for melon growth. Let's take a look!
1. Temperature
Melon is a typical lowland fruit with strong heat tolerance. Different varieties have different accumulated temperature requirements, but their temperature needs are all similar. Throughout the entire growth period, the temperature should be kept at around 30 degrees, and the germination temperature must not be lower than 15 degrees. Otherwise, melon seeds will germinate with difficulty or even fail to germinate. During the melon seedling stage, the temperature should also be maintained at around 22 degrees; below 8 degrees, cold damage will occur. At different growth stages, the temperature requirements of melons will change, and suitable temperature is the key to ensuring healthy melon growth.
2. Soil
The root system of the melon plant has a strong absorption capacity and has certain requirements for soil. When planting, sandy soil that is deep, loose and soft, and rich in humus should be selected. The soil pH should also be controlled at around 6.5; slightly alkaline soil helps increase the sugar content of the fruit and enhance quality. Moreover, the quality of the soil is closely related to the nutrient absorption of melons. Throughout the entire growth period of melons, the demand for potassium is greater than the combined demand for nitrogen and phosphorus. Therefore, the nutrient level of the soil is very important. It is necessary to ensure sufficient soil fertility and do a good job of topdressing during cultivation.
3. Light
Melons are relatively fond of light. During melon growth, at least 10 hours of light must be ensured every day, though the shade tolerance of melons varies with variety. Melons have a light compensation point for light; meeting this compensation point cannot produce photosynthetic substances, as production and consumption occur simultaneously. However, if this compensation point is exceeded, nutrients begin to accumulate, promoting fruit growth and enhancing fruit quality. If light is insufficient, the growth rate of melons decreases noticeably, and in severe cases they die due to insufficient nutrition.
4. Water
Melon fruits are very juicy, and the water demand during growth is relatively large. The water demand of melons varies with growth stage. For example, during the melon seedling stage, the water requirement is not great, but during important growth periods such as flowering and fruiting, the water demand gradually rises, until the fruit matures. However, during cultivation, relatively low air humidity should be maintained, at around 55%. Therefore, during cultivation we must control the amount of watering well, meeting the water demand of melons at each growth stage while also preventing waterlogging in melon plants, which affects melon growth.
The above is a brief introduction to the environmental requirements for melon growth. In fact, these factors can all be manually controlled during cultivation. However, growth in unsuitable growing areas will still be affected to some extent, so growing areas that do not meet the requirements should as far as possible not be used for planting. That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only. Thank you for reading and supporting us.