Which vegetables and melons are suitable for planting in early spring 2020? With field management techniques

In early March, the temperature gradually warms up, light drizzle begins to fall, and spring plowing gradually gets underway. So which vegetables are suitable for planting in March 2020?

1. Which fruits and vegetables are suitable for planting in early spring?

In early spring, early-maturing fruit vegetables such as greenhouse tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, bottle gourds and zucchini enter the flowering and fruiting stage of management; it is also the time for sowing, raising seedlings and transplanting open-field vegetables. At this time, some crops among the gourds, solanaceous fruits, beans, Chinese cabbages, root vegetables, tuber and yam crops, leafy greens and aquatic vegetables should all be sown for seedlings or transplanted in March, which affects the vegetable supply and income for the first half of the year. At the same time, various overwintering vegetables begin to resume growth, and field management still needs to be strengthened.

(1) Fruits and vegetables suitable for raising seedlings

1. For vegetables in plastic tunnels, cold-frame sowing of gourd vegetables such as winter melon, pumpkin, bitter gourd, bottle gourd and luffa can be carried out in the first and middle ten days of March. For winter melon, varieties such as Guangdong Green-skinned Winter Melon, Hunan Pink-skinned Winter Melon, Qingza No. 1 and Fenza No. 1 can be selected; for bitter gourd, varieties such as Green Show Bitter Gourd and the Chunxiao series can be selected; for pumpkin, varieties such as Miben Pumpkin, Huanglang Pumpkin, Yichuanqing Pumpkin, Persimmon-cake Pumpkin and Red Chestnut Pumpkin can be selected; for bottle gourd, varieties such as Hanlong Qingyu and Biyu can be selected; for luffa, varieties such as Zaoza No. 1, Zaoza No. 2, Feicui Yulong, Feicui No. 2, Bangchui Luffa, Changsha Meat Luffa and Nanjing Long Luffa can be selected.

2. In the last ten days of March, seedlings of late-maturing peppers can be sown, carried out respectively according to the technical requirements for conventional open-field seedling raising.

(2) Fruits and vegetables suitable for sowing

Vegetables for direct sowing include radish, garland chrysanthemum, fennel, Chinese artichoke, bamboo-leaf vegetable, amaranth, lettuce, pak choi and dwarf bush beans.

(3) Fruits and vegetables suitable for transplanting

In the first ten days of March, zucchini can be transplanted, with a row spacing of 1 m * 0.45 m. When the ground temperature at a depth of 5 cm stabilizes above 10°C, seize a sunny day at the tail end of a cold spell and the start of a warm one, and cultivate with plastic film plus a plastic medium tunnel or small arch tunnel cover; covering with plastic film one week before transplanting helps raise the ground temperature. Other solanaceous fruits and gourds can continue to be planted out.

2. Field management

During the flowering and fruiting stage of tomatoes, keep the temperature inside the tunnel below 30°C during the day and above 15°C at night to prevent flower and fruit drop; keep the daytime temperature at 26-28°C and strengthen ventilation. After the middle ten days of March, the small arch tunnel can be removed; when the seedlings are 30 cm tall, insert trellises (or hang vines) and tie the vines, then tie the vines once every 3-4 leaves thereafter. Pruning is mostly single-stem pruning, leaving 4-5 fruit clusters with 2-4 fruits per cluster, and removing other tender branches and flower buds. Bumblebees can be placed in the tunnel for pollination, or 15-20 mg/L of 2,4-D solution can be used to dab flowers, or 30-40 mg/L of fruit-setting hormone solution can be sprayed on flowers to preserve flowers and fruits; be careful not to dab or spray repeatedly, and after the fruits set firmly, appropriate flower and fruit thinning is also needed. After the first fruit cluster sets firmly, water once, and thereafter water once every 6-7 days. Watering should be done on a sunny morning, and after watering, close the tunnel to raise the temperature. The next morning and noon, ventilate promptly to remove moisture. Before hanging vines or inserting trellises, apply 1500 kg of decomposed manure, and when each fruit cluster begins to swell, apply 15 kg of urea as a top dressing. Pay attention to controlling early blight, gray mold, viral diseases and aphids. Temperature regulation and humidity control for peppers and eggplants are basically the same as for early-maturing tomato cultivation.

Before the end of March, cucumbers are mainly kept warm and protected from freezing, using four layers of cover: a large tunnel, straw curtains, a small tunnel plus plastic film, with appropriate ventilation during the day. After the small arch tunnel is removed in the last ten days of this month, set up trellises or hang vines. Top dressing should follow the principle of early, frequent and skillful application to promote early development, stable mid-stage growth and robust late growth of the plants. During the seedling stage, sprinkle and water with decomposed dilute manure water 2-3 times; after fruiting, generally apply urea once every 7-10 days along with irrigation, at 10 kg per mu, or 1500 kg of decomposed human and animal manure. Throughout the growth period, spray 0.2%-0.3% potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution on the leaves every 5-7 days. Before fruiting, watering should be controlled; in the early fruiting stage, water about once every 10 days, and pay attention to controlling downy mildew, powdery mildew, phytophthora blight, fusarium wilt, bacterial angular leaf spot, root-knot nematode disease, Aulacophora beetles and aphids, etc.

The temperature and humidity management after transplanting bottle gourd is the same as for early-maturing cucumber cultivation. Pay attention to using ethephon treatment or removing the main vine to promote fruit set on side vines. The temperature and humidity management after transplanting zucchini is the same as for early-maturing cucumber cultivation.

There are many fruits and vegetables suitable for planting in early spring. I hope everyone can seize the good opportunity of spring planting and welcome this harvest year.