Management Methods and Technical Key Points for the Flowering and Fruiting Stage of Pumpkins

The flowering and fruiting stage of pumpkins marks the transition from reproductive growth to vegetative growth. This is the critical period that determines whether yields will be high or low. To improve fruit set, it is essential to prevent flower drop, but you also need to thin the flowers yourself to decide how many to keep. After fruiting, you should also thin the fruit to ensure the growth of high-quality fruit, keeping those in suitable positions. Therefore, during the flowering and fruiting stage, we have very important work to do.

I. Controlled Fertilization and Watering

For pumpkins, aside from watering thoroughly at transplanting to settle the roots and watering at seedling recovery, no further watering is needed except in drought conditions. Fertilization is mainly done after the fruit has set, focusing primarily on phosphorus and potassium, with basically no nitrogen fertilizer. The plants grow vigorously during the fruiting stage, and applying nitrogen fertilizer can easily disrupt the balance between vegetative and reproductive growth. Topdressing is roughly 50 jin of compound fertilizer per mu.

II. Regulating Growth

The main task is, once the fruit set has reached the target and fruiting has stabilized, to remove the growth point of the terminal bud on the vines. Pinching prevents the branches and vines from continuing to grow and set fruit, which would leave the retained fruit with insufficient nutrients and cause it to drop. During excessive growth, before fruiting, remove excess branches and forks, as well as any non-fruiting branches and vines, to avoid wasting nutrients. Remove old leaves to prevent pests and diseases and to improve ventilation and light penetration.

III. Hand Pollination

To ensure flower and pod development and fruit set, and to prevent inadequate natural pollination, you can collect pollen by hand and then carry out hand pollination on a sunny, windless evening. You can do careful collection and use tools for pollination, or you can directly pick male flowers and pollinate female flowers in suitable weather. Afterward, observe the results to decide whether to pollinate once more.

IV. Disease Prevention

During the flowering and fruiting stages, the main pests and diseases are aphids and red spider mites. Aphids harm many vegetable crops. The adults pierce and suck leaf sap, which may prevent leaves from carrying out normal photosynthesis to produce nutrients for the fruit, and the larvae can chew on the fruit and cause damage. Red spider mites likewise mainly cause harm by piercing and sucking sap. Therefore, prevention must come first, and as soon as they are discovered, pesticides must be used for control. Generally, imidacloprid and fenbutatin oxide are used for control, and multiple pesticides can be used alternately to prevent resistance.

The flowering and fruiting stage of pumpkins is the most important period in the entire growth cycle, and many problems are very likely to arise at this time. Therefore, we need to use certain methods at this stage to regulate the growth balance of pumpkins and ensure yield.