How to plant seedless watermelon: Key points of seedless watermelon cultivation technology

How to plant seedless watermelonToday's sharing of life experiences on how to plant seedless watermelon and the green plant maintenance aspects of seedless watermelon cultivation techniques, please correct me if there are any mistakes!Watermelon is known as the "king of fruits", introduced from the Western Regions to the Central Plains in ancient times, hence the name "watermelon". Watermelon contains the highest water content among all fruits, and is also rich in glucose, fructose, malic acid, lycopene, abundant vitamin C, and rich mineral salts, making it a major summer fruit for cooling off. Seedless watermelon has gradually become familiar to consumers in the market in recent years and is very popular. Many farmer friends have asked how to plant it. How is it cultivated? Today, let's explore the cultivation techniques of seedless watermelon.As everyone knows, ordinary seeded watermelons are diploid. Soaking ordinary watermelon seeds in a solution of colchicine (0.2-0.4% concentration) for 24 hours (or dripping the solution on the plant growth points of ordinary watermelon leaves when they are flat, twice a day for 2-4 days) can induce a mutation to tetraploid watermelon. Tetraploid watermelon is the parent stock of seedless watermelon (triploid watermelon), which needs to be produced every year. In the seed collection garden, arrange the mother and father plant ratio (tetraploid, diploid) as 4-5:1. When the mother plant shows buds, remove its male flowers (remove male flowers every 2-3 days) and retain the male flowers on the father plant to force the tetraploid mother plant to accept the pollen from the father plant, obtaining triploid hybrid seeds, which are the seedless watermelon seeds. Planting and cultivating with triploid watermelon seeds results in seedless fruit, which is the seedless watermelon. Thus, the cultivation of seedless watermelon includes two parts: tetraploid watermelon and triploid watermelon cultivation. Below, we will share the related techniques in detail.I. Tetraploid Watermelon Cultivation1. Sowing and Seedling RaisingThe sowing period of tetraploid watermelon is slightly earlier than that of ordinary diploid watermelon. Its seeds are full and do not need to be shell-broken for sowing. Due to the low seed propagation coefficient, it is better to soak the seeds to germinate and then plant them in a nutrient pot, which needs to be placed in a plastic greenhouse bed (or greenhouse) for保温 seedling raising.2. Planting Density: About 500-700 plants per mu.3. Seed Selection and RetentionBased on the characteristics of tetraploid watermelon, select large, upright, full, thin-skinned, fine flesh, high sugar content, and fully matured fruits for seed retention.4. Properly Increase Fertilization, especially phosphorus and potassium fertilizers, to improve seed yield and quality.II. Triploid Watermelon Cultivation1. SowingBefore sowing, soak the seeds in warm water at 54-56°C for 2-3 minutes to kill various bacteria on the seed surface. After disinfection, wash the surface粘液 of the seed shell with cold water, dry it, and then use pliers or teeth to open one-third of the tip of the seed. Do not apply too much force to injure the seed embryo, and do not make the opening too large to avoid seed rot during germination. The germination temperature is slightly higher than that of ordinary diploid watermelon, generally 31-33°C. The radicle can emerge within 24 hours, and the germination rate of triploid watermelon is generally around 50%, with a high rate reaching 70-80%.2. Sowing Period and Seedling RaisingThe sowing period of triploid watermelon is slightly earlier than that of ordinary diploid watermelon. The seedling rate is generally around 40%, and it is suitable to use a nutrient pot in a well-insulated and protected area for seedling raising.3. Planting Density: About 500 plants per mu.4. For triploid watermelon cultivation, it is necessary to prepare diploid watermelon plants and strengthen artificial pollination. The pollen development of triploid watermelon is poor, making it difficult to self-pollinate and unable to stimulate the ovary to produce fruit. Therefore, in the triploid watermelon plot, it is necessary to set up diploid watermelon pollination plants, that is, plant 1 diploid watermelon plant among 4-6 triploid watermelon plants for pollination to stimulate ovary expansion and fruiting. When the triploid watermelon pistillate flowers open, collect pollen in the early morning on sunny days for artificial pollination. The sowing period of diploid watermelon should be about 7 days later than that of triploid watermelon, so that the flowering period of diploid watermelon male flowers coincides with the initial flowering period of triploid watermelon pistillate flowers for pollination. The other management methods for triploid watermelon are the same as those for ordinary diploid watermelon.III. Rapid Propagation of Seedless WatermelonThe complex seed production of seedless watermelon has severely affected the development of field production. If asexual propagation methods are used, seedless watermelon plants can be rapidly propagated. The key techniques for tissue culture are as follows:1. Seed Tissue Culture Procedure: Seed disinfection, inoculation → Bud differentiation induction → Root differentiation induction.(1) Seed disinfection and inoculation. Take triploid watermelon seeds and soak them in 75% alcohol for 1 minute, then soak them in 0.1-0.2% mercuric chloride for 30 minutes, and then immerse them in sterile water for 3-4 hours. After the seeds are softened, remove the seed coat in a sterile environment, take out the seed embryo, and transfer it to an MS basic culture medium. After the roots and cotyledons have grown, cut off the radicle and continue to inoculate and culture to promote bud proliferation and axillary bud germination.(2) Bud differentiation induction. Transfer the cotyledonary apex to a bud-inducing medium, that is, add 3 mg of benzyl adenine to each liter of MS medium, causing the axillary buds between the cotyledons to start germinating and proliferating together with the apex, forming a bud cluster at the base of the cotyledons. After 1 month of culture, about 10 buds can be formed. To expand propagation, the bud-inducing medium can be used continuously.(3) Root differentiation induction. Cut the buds induced by the bud-inducing medium and transfer them to a rooting medium, that is, add 0.2 mg of indole acetic acid to each liter of MS medium to induce root formation, gradually forming a complete seedless watermelon test-tube seedling.2. Organ Tissue Culture. Using different growth stages of seedless watermelon stems, shoot tips, leaves, petioles, flower peduncles, pistillate flowers, and young fruits for tissue culture can all obtain callus, which can differentiate into small plants under suitable conditions. There are two culture methods:(1) Use MS medium supplemented with 2,4-D and hormones to produce callus in the culture, then transfer the callus to an MS medium supplemented with naphthylacetic acid to promote the differentiation of buds and roots, gradually forming a complete seedless watermelon test-tube seedling.(2) Direct seedling culture. Use the thicker stem segments with lateral buds, disinfect them, and then plant them directly in the rooting medium. After 10 days, buds and roots will start to grow, and seedless watermelon test-tube seedlings can be obtained.The specific introduction of how to plant seedless watermelon and the key points of seedless watermelon cultivation techniques shared in this article are for reference by netizens.