Key points of towel gourd cultivation in open field in spring

Towel gourd (scientific name: Luffa cylindrica), the Pearl River Delta towel gourd refers to star anise gourd, is a kind of cucurbitaceae plant native to India, also known as vegetable gourd, widely cultivated in East Asia. Can not be eaten raw, but also for medicinal purposes, there are cool, diuretic, blood circulation, dysmenorrhea, detoxification effect, as well as anti-allergic, cosmetic effect.

Requirements for growth environment of towel gourd

Lighting: towel gourd is a short-day crop, like strong sunlight, and more resistant to weak light. In the seedling stage, the treatment with short-day light and large temperature difference is beneficial to the differentiation of female flower buds, early fruiting and high yield. In the whole growth period, shorter sunshine and higher temperature are conducive to the growth and development of stems and leaves, maintain vegetative growth, and improve the development and yield of flowering and fruit setting, young melons and so on.

Temperature: towel gourd is a temperature-loving and heat-tolerant crop. The suitable temperature for the growth and development of towel gourd is 20 ℃ 30 ℃, and the suitable temperature for towel gourd seed germination is 28 ℃ 30 min.

Moisture: towel gourd likes wet, afraid of drought, high soil moisture, good growth when water content is more than 70%, slow growth when less than 50%, air humidity should not be less than 60%. When 75%-85%, the growth rate is fast and there are many melons, and when the air humidity reaches saturation in a short period of time, it can still grow and develop normally.

Soil: towel gourd is a vegetable crop with strong adaptability and loose soil requirements. It can be cultivated in all kinds of soil. However, in order to obtain high yield, loam and sandy loam with thick soil layer, high content of organic matter, good air permeability and strong ability of water and fertilizer conservation should be selected.

Key points of towel gourd cultivation in open field in spring

The open-field cultivation of towel gourd in spring is a traditional cultivation mode, which is generally raised in protective facilities (such as plastic shed) and planted in the field when the air temperature and ground temperature are suitable, the management is simple and the benefit is high.

1. Variety requirements. Select varieties with strong heat tolerance, strong resistance to virus disease, high yield and high quality, such as Cuiyu towel gourd, Jiangshu No.1 towel gourd, five-leaf towel gourd, Shanghai towel gourd and so on.

2. Sowing and raising seedlings. The seedlings are raised in the greenhouse and the seeds are usually sown in the middle and late March. Prepare nutrition bowls (with nutritious soil) or 72-point trays (with melons and vegetables cultivation substrate) before sowing. First soak the seeds in warm water of 50-55 ℃ for 15 minutes, then soak the seeds for 8 hours when the water temperature drops to about 30 ℃, then accelerate the germination in the environment of 25-30 ℃, and sow the seeds when the bud is 0.5cm long. First, pour through each nutrition bowl or hole plate with water, put a budding seed flat inside after water infiltration, cover the soil 1 cm thick, cover with plastic film to keep warm and moisturizing. After sowing, the bed temperature was controlled at 25-30 ℃, and the seedlings could emerge in about 1 week. Ventilation and cooling should be done at this time, keeping 25-28 ℃ during the day and 15-18 ℃ at night to prevent overgrowth. Keep it dry and wet in the bowl or acupoint plate, do not water too much to prevent retting roots. Cooling and refining seedlings 5-7 days before planting, keeping 20-25 ℃ during the day and 13-15 ℃ at night, generally without watering.

3. Timely planting. Turn the land deeply before planting, apply rotten organic fertilizer 3000-5000 kg per mu, flatten the border, the width of the border is 2.8m-3m, and the width of the furrow is 0.6m-0.7m. The suitable seedling age is from 2 leaves and 1 heart to 3 leaves and 1 heart, which is generally planted in the middle and last ten days of April. Plant a row on both sides of the border, with a plant spacing of 30-35 cm and 1200-1400 plants per mu. Immediately after transplanting, watering live trees, laying plastic film, drilling holes to introduce seedlings outside the film.

4. Field management. After planting slow seedlings, apply dilute dung water to extract seedlings in time, and often water them during flowering and fruiting period to keep the soil moist, generally watering every 5-7 days. 15 kg of ternary compound fertilizer per mu was applied every two weeks, and fertilizer was applied every two times during the harvest period. When the vine is 30-40 cm long, the frame is set up in time, and the flat shed support is generally used. The scaffolding is 2 meters high, one shed per border. Tie the vine on the shelf in time, remove all the side branches below the first female flower, and generally no longer remove the side vine after going up the shed. The old leaves, diseased leaves and excessive male flowers and tendrils were removed during the full fruiting period, so as to facilitate ventilation and light transmission and reduce nutrient consumption.

5. Pest control. Towel gourd cultivated in open field has strong resistance to diseases and insect pests, and there are few diseases, so there is no need for control. However, when the management is too extensive and the weather is dry, aphids, whitefly, virus diseases and other diseases and insect pests are easy to occur, and attention should be paid to prevention and control.

6. Timely harvest. The fruit is soft, the pericarp hairs are reduced, and it can be harvested when it reaches the harvest size of this variety.