How to Plant Watermelons
This article provides detailed information on how to plant watermelons and shares experience in the cultivation and management of watermelon care, which is quite valuable knowledge. It is recommended to save it for future reference!
Watermelons are sweet and juicy, cool and refreshing, making them an excellent summer thirst quencher. They are also one of the most widely cultivated fruits. So, how do you plant watermelons? Let's find out together.
There are two methods for planting watermelons: direct seeding in the field and transplanting seedlings.
Direct Seeding in the Field
Direct seeding in the field can be done with dry seeds or germinated seeds, and it is personally recommended to use germinated seeds.
Seed Selection: Choose varieties with good quality, high yield, and strong disease resistance based on local climate conditions and market demand.
Sunlight Exposure: Before sowing, expose the seeds to sunlight for 3 days, but do not place them directly on concrete to avoid damaging the seeds.
Seed Soaking: Soak the seeds in warm water at about 40°C for 5 minutes, gently rubbing them with hands to remove the mucilage on the seed surface for quicker germination. Then, soak them in a 1000-fold solution of carbendazim wettable powder for 3 hours to prevent wilt disease.
Germination: After soaking, rinse the seeds twice with clean water, drain the water, place them on a damp towel, cover with another damp towel, and put them in an environment of about 30°C to germinate. Keep the towels moist. Generally, germination starts after 7 hours. If no germination occurs after a day, rinse the seeds with warm water at 30°C. Most seeds will germinate within 2 days and can be sown.
Sowing: The sowing time is around the Qingming Festival, when the soil temperature stabilizes at 16°C. Create ridges and cover with plastic mulch, dig planting holes 3 to 4 centimeters deep, place 2 germinated seeds in each hole, and cover with fine soil.
Transplanting Seedlings
Compared to direct seeding in the field, the advantages of transplanting seedlings are saving seed usage, cultivating high-quality seedlings, and having a higher seedling survival rate.
The seed sunlight exposure, soaking, and germination processes for transplanting seedlings are the same as those for direct seeding in the field.
Nursery Bed: The nursery bed is usually set up in a greenhouse or a small arch shed.
Nutrient Soil: Use a mixture of garden soil and decomposed organic fertilizer in a 7:3 ratio, adding 1 kilogram of ternary compound fertilizer and 100 grams of biological fungicide per cubic meter.
Filling Soil: Use nutrient pots, seedling trays, or seedling bags for seedling cultivation. Fill the prepared nutrient soil into the pots or trays or bags and place them neatly on the nursery bed.
Sowing: The day before sowing, water the nutrient pots thoroughly. When sowing, place the germinated seeds with the芽 tip downward, one seed per pot or tray, and cover with fine soil.
Transplanting: Generally, after 25 to 30 days, when the seedlings have 3 to 4 true leaves, they can be transplanted. Start acclimatizing the seedlings one week before transplanting by opening the plastic film to ventilate and cool down, and stop watering. Spray a foliar fertilizer before transplanting.
Field Management
Fertilization: Fertilization is crucial for planting watermelons. Use organic fertilizers mainly, with less nitrogen fertilizer and more phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. Apply 3000 kilograms of organic fertilizer, 200 kilograms of decomposed cake fertilizer, 50 kilograms of phosphorus fertilizer, 10 kilograms of potassium fertilizer, and 10 kilograms of compound fertilizer per mu.
Pruning: Start pruning about 10 days after transplanting when the main vines reach 60 centimeters, keeping one main vine and two strong side vines and removing the rest.
Pressing Vines: When the main vines are 60 centimeters long, press them down for the first time, and then press them down every 50 centimeters, for a total of 3 times.
Topdressing: Start topdressing when the main vines are 20 centimeters long, using 10 kilograms of potassium fertilizer, 10 kilograms of compound fertilizer, and 100 kilograms of cake fertilizer per mu. Spray a foliar fertilizer of potassium dihydrogen phosphate once a week. When the watermelon fruits are the size of an egg, apply a fruit-strengthening fertilizer of 200 kilograms of decomposed cake fertilizer, 10 kilograms of phosphorus fertilizer, and 10 kilograms of potassium fertilizer per mu.
Artificial Pollination: Artificial pollination can increase the fruit-setting rate and ensure a consistent maturity. The method is to apply pollen from the male flowers to the pistil of the female flowers every morning when the flowers open.
Selection and Retention of Fruits: When retaining fruits, make sure they are stable (the size of an egg) before selecting. It's best to keep one fruit with a normal shape and no more than two.
Disease and Pest Control
Anthracnose, gummy stem blight, Fusarium wilt, fruit rot disease, and powdery mildew are the main diseases of watermelons. Diseased plants can be treated with a 50% carbendazim wettable powder solution. The main pests are aphids, which can be controlled with a 20% imidacloprid solution at 1500 times dilution. Note: Do not apply pesticides during the flowering and fruit-setting stages.
The above-mentioned content on how to plant watermelons and related cultivation and management is shared in full. It is hoped that it will be helpful to those interested in green plants!