How to plant watermelons to make them big and sweet
If you want to know how to plant watermelons to make them big and sweet, as well as the knowledge of watermelon planting methods and techniques, follow the editor to find out!
Watermelons are sweet and juicy, cool and refreshing, making them an ideal summer refreshment and thirst quencher. They are also one of the most widely cultivated fruits. So, how to plant watermelons? Let's learn about it together.
There are two methods of planting watermelons: direct seeding in the open field and transplanting seedlings.
Direct Seeding in the Open Field
Direct seeding in the open field includes dry seeding and germinated seeding, with the latter being recommended.
Seed selection: Choose varieties with good quality, high yield, and strong disease resistance based on local climatic conditions and market demand.
Sun drying: Before sowing, expose the seeds to the sun for 3 days, avoiding direct placement on concrete to prevent seed damage.
Soaking: Soak the sun-dried seeds in warm water at about 40℃ for 5 minutes, gently rubbing with hands to remove the mucilage on the seed surface for faster germination. Then, soak in a solution of 1000 times methylthiophanate-metabolite wettable powder for 3 hours to prevent wilt disease.
Germination: After soaking, rinse the seeds with clean water twice, drain the water, place them on a wet towel, cover with another wet towel, and put them in an environment of about 30℃ to germinate, keeping the towels moist. Seeds generally start to germinate after 7 hours. If no germination occurs after a day, rinse the seeds with warm water at 30℃. Most seeds will germinate after 2 days and can be sown.
Sowing: Sow around the time of Qingming Festival when the ground temperature stabilizes at 16℃. Create ridges, cover with plastic mulch, dig sowing holes 3 to 4 cm deep, place 2 germinated seeds in each hole, and then cover with fine soil.
Transplanting Seedlings
Compared to direct seeding in the field, the advantages of transplanting seedlings include saving seed usage and cultivating high-quality seedlings with a high seedling survival rate.
The sun drying, soaking, and germination processes for transplanting seedlings are the same as 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 three-element compound fertilizer and 100 grams of biological fungicide per cubic meter.
Filling soil: Use nutrient pots, seedling trays, or seedling bags for seedling raising. Fill the prepared nutrient soil into the pots or trays, bags, and place them neatly on the nursery bed.
Sowing: The day before sowing, water the nutrient pots thoroughly. Sow with the germinated seeds pointing 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. Begin acclimatizing the seedlings a week before transplanting by uncovering the plastic film to ventilate and cool down, and stop watering. Spray a foliar fertilizer before transplanting.
How to plant watermelons to make them big and sweet
Field Management
Fertilization: Fertilization is crucial for planting watermelons. Use mainly organic fertilizer, less nitrogen fertilizer, and more phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. Apply 3000 kilograms of organic fertilizer, 200 kilograms of decomposed cake fertilizer, 50 kilograms of phosphate 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 vine reaches 60 centimeters, leaving one main vine and two healthy lateral vines, and removing the rest at any time.
Pressing vines: When the main vine is 60 centimeters long, press it for the first time, then press every 50 centimeters, for a total of 3 times.
Top-dressing: Start top-dressing when the main vine is 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 fruit reaches the size of an egg, apply a fruit-strengthening fertilizer of 200 kilograms of decomposed cake fertilizer, 10 kilograms of phosphate fertilizer, and 10 kilograms of potassium fertilizer per mu.
Hand pollination: Hand pollination can increase the fruit setting rate and ensure a uniform maturity. The method is to stick the pollen from the male flowers to the stigma of the female flowers every morning when the flowers open.
Choosing and leaving fruit: When leaving fruit, make sure the fruit is stable (the size of an egg) before choosing one fruit in normal shape to leave, and at most two fruits.
Disease and pest control
Anthracnose, vine wilt, 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. Note: Do not apply pesticides during the flowering and fruit-setting stage.
The above sharing on how to plant watermelons to make them big and sweet and the specific content of watermelon planting methods and techniques are for everyone's reference and operation.