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A Detailed Explanation of Pepino Melon Planting Methods and Technical Key Points

Growing Techniques By Emily Carter 0 views
Fruit Vegetables
Pepino melon, also known as ginseng fruit, pepino, and also called immortal fruit, fragrant pear, or brilliant fruit. The fruit of the pepino melon is mostly heart-shaped or oval; when ripe, the skin is golden yellow, sometimes with purple stripes, and it has a subtle, elegant fragrance; the flesh is crisp and juicy with a unique flavor.

In addition to being high in protein, low in sugar, and low in fat, it is also rich in vitamin C and various trace elements essential to the human body, especially selenium and calcium, whose content is greatly higher than in other fruits and vegetables. Therefore, the pepino melon has functions such as anti-cancer, anti-aging, lowering blood pressure, lowering blood sugar, anti-inflammatory, calcium supplementation, and beautifying; it can also be processed into products such as juice, beverages, oral liquids, and canned goods, and has great development value. China widely cultivates the fruit of a plant originating from the northern slopes of the Andes Mountains in South America; its original name is "pepino melon," and it is now commonly called "pepino melon" throughout China.


Seed Propagation and Seedling Raising
1. Land preparation and fertilization: Before sowing, carry out land preparation, make beds, apply sufficient base fertilizer, and disinfect; keep the soil moist and spread a layer of fine sand on the surface of the bed.
2. Seed selection: Good color, uniform size, plump grains, dry and free of mildew are required.
3. Seed treatment: Warm water soaking, chemical seed dressing, etc. may be carried out to achieve early emergence, uniform emergence, and strong seedlings. Wrap the soaked seeds in a gauze bag and provide suitable temperature, moisture, and air for germination.
4. Sowing method: There are broadcast sowing, drill sowing, and dibbling. Because pepino melon seeds are small, the broadcast sowing method is often used. Sowing should be uniform, generally with a seed spacing of 5x7 or 7x7 (cm).
5. Management after sowing: Spread another layer of fine sand on the bed surface to cover the seeds. If the temperature is below 12 degrees C, plastic film should be covered to maintain soil temperature and soil moisture. If the seedling bed is dry, spray fine water to facilitate germination, and never use large amounts of water for sprinkler irrigation. After the seedlings emerge, the plastic film must be removed. To avoid exposure to the scorching sun, a shade net may be set up. During the seedling period, generally about every 10 days, spray once with low-concentration nitrogen fertilizer, and at the same time strengthen field management, prevent and control pests and diseases, and ensure robust seedling growth.

Planting Methods



1. Select good varieties. At present, eggplant varieties suitable for cultivation in the Guangdong region are mainly those that are resistant to bacterial wilt and disease, tolerant to heat and rain, with purple-red skin, white flesh, and long club shape. Varieties with fruit about 30 cm long include Hongfeng, Changfeng, Zaofeng, Nongyou Long Eggplant, and Guilin Long Eggplant; those with fruit about 25 cm long include Yueqie No. 2, Yuefeng, and Shijie Red Eggplant. Among them, Hongfeng has large, uniform fruit and an attractive appearance. Yueqie No. 2 is a variety with high resistance to bacterial wilt and verticillium wilt; Yuefeng and Shijie Red Eggplant have deep color and very good gloss; Guilin Long Eggplant has high yield and disease resistance, but its flesh is greenish.

2. Site selection and land preparation. The seedbed and planting site should be selected as plots whose previous crop was not a Solanaceae crop, preferably paddy fields, deeply plowed and sun-exposed, with high beds raised more than 30 cm. Bed width including furrows: 1.7 m for double-row planting and 1 m for single-row planting. For the seedbed, 7-10 days before sowing, spray with 500 times pentachloronitrobenzene or Dexon plus 800 times dichlorvos and cover with plastic film for disinfection.

3. Apply sufficient base fertilizer. The planting site must be given sufficient base fertilizer; generally, per mu, apply 1000-1500 kg of fully decomposed pig, cattle, and chicken manure, 80 kg of peanut bran, 50 kg of superphosphate, and 80 kg of lime, applied when making the beds. 1-2 days before sowing, apply fully decomposed finely crushed farmyard manure plus 20 kg of compound fertilizer per mu as base fertilizer and mix thoroughly with the topsoil.

4. Sow at the appropriate time. The suitable sowing period for spring eggplant is late October to November, with a seedling period of 60-70 days. The suitable sowing period for autumn eggplant is June to July, with a seedling period of 25-30 days. In cool regions, off-season cultivation can be sown in March to April and transplanted in May. Generally, the seeding rate is 15-20 grams per mu.

5. Cultivate strong seedlings. Before sowing, the seeds must be disinfected and treated to break dormancy. The disinfection method is: soak the seeds in 10% trisodium phosphate or 0.1% potassium permanganate solution for 20 minutes, then take them out and rinse with clean water for about 30 minutes so that the seed surface is clean and free of mucus; or soak the seeds in warm water at 55 degrees C for 30 minutes. The method for breaking dormancy is: mix 1 gram of gibberellin (920) with 2 kg of water to make a solution, place the seeds in this solution and soak for 4-5 hours, rinse with clean water for 10 minutes, drain, and then sow.

At sowing, the soil should be relatively dry and refreshing. To sow evenly, mix the seeds with dry sand or dry burned soil, sow, and then cover with dry sand or dry burned soil to a thickness of about 0.5 cm. Spring sowing has low temperatures, so after sowing use a plastic film arched shed to keep warm; for summer and autumn sowing, use black mesh gauze to cool down, keeping the temperature inside the shed at 15-20 degrees C and maintaining soil moisture. After sowing, check frequently, remove weeds, and spray pesticide once every 7-10 days after emergence. When the seedlings grow 2-3 true leaves, move overly dense seedlings to places with sparser seedlings or no seedlings, so as to ensure robust seedling growth. When there are 6-7 true leaves, they can be transplanted; 7 days before transplanting, open the plastic film or arched shed to harden the seedlings.

6. Reasonable close planting. For double-row planting, the row spacing is 50-60 cm and the plant spacing is 50 cm, with 1000-1200 plants per mu. For single-row planting, the plant spacing is 40 cm, with 800 plants per mu. After transplanting, water thoroughly to settle the roots; after about one week of recovery, begin applying a small amount of water and fertilizer, and at the same time pay attention to checking for damage by cutworms and the occurrence of damping-off, and replant missing seedlings promptly.

7. Prune at the appropriate time. When flower buds appear on the plant, begin hilling soil; after hilling, appropriately insert bamboo stakes, tie vines, and prune. The first flower on the main stem (the root eggplant flower) should be removed; except for retaining the first lateral branch below the root eggplant, all other lateral branches on the lower part of the main stem should be removed. For large-fruited varieties, besides retaining one lateral branch below each inflorescence on the upper branches, the other lateral branches may also be removed. For plants that grow too luxuriantly or are planted too densely, some leaves should be removed to ensure normal fruit growth and fresh, tender color.

8. Fertilizer and water management. Eggplant has a well-developed root system and vigorous growth. It has relatively high requirements for fertilizer and water, is tolerant to fertilizer, not tolerant to drought, and not tolerant to waterlogging, so fertilizer and water management must be strengthened. Apply less nitrogen fertilizer before fruit set, and apply heavy topdressing after fruit set. When hilling soil, apply per mu 50 kg of compound fertilizer plus urea, 25 kg of decomposed peanut bran, and 50 kg of superphosphate plus potassium chloride between two plants. Topdressing is generally applied once every 5-7 days, or once after each fruit harvest; each topdressing uses 40 kg of compound fertilizer and 20 kg of potassium chloride per mu, or applies human and livestock manure urine; after fruit set, spray foliar fertilizer such as 2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate, which can promote dark green leaf color, improve fruit quality, extend the harvest period, and increase yield.

9. Flower and fruit thinning. Eggplant has two types of flowers: main flowers and secondary flowers. Secondary flowers must be removed to ensure that the main flowers set fruit, so that nutrients can be used in a concentrated way and single fruit weight can be increased. If there is no time to remove the secondary flowers, then promptly remove the fruits set by the secondary flowers.

10. Pest and disease control. Common eggplant diseases include: bacterial wilt, phytophthora blight, verticillium wilt, brown spot, damping-off, sudden wilt, sclerotinia rot, early blight, etc. The main insect pests are red spider mites, tea yellow mites, eggplant yellow borer, etc. To obtain high quality and high yield, attention must be paid to pest and disease control; crop rotation can reduce damage, apply sufficient base fertilizer, increase phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, plant reasonably closely, drain accumulated water promptly, reduce field humidity, promptly remove diseased leaves and fruits, and apply lime at disease outbreak points to prevent the spread of disease.


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