Cultivation techniques of small watermelon in summer and autumn

Watermelons planted in summer and autumn, especially small watermelons, have excellent quality, high price, good benefit and broad market prospects. The relevant practical experiences are summarized as follows.

The watermelon varieties selected for summer and autumn must be able to withstand high temperature and rain, be stable in fruit setting under the condition of high temperature, and have higher sugar content in the environment with small temperature difference between day and night. Better varieties: black Beauty, Xiaoling, Liling, Xiaolan, Diana. It is determined that the sowing date will be sown in mid-May, sit after the plum rain, and harvest before the typhoon. During this period, sowing is more suitable for open field cultivation, with less risk and lower cost. The early sowing period from late June to early July is not affected by Meiyu, but it is easily affected by typhoon in August, so rain shelter facilities should be adopted. This issue can be listed in mid-September, the market is better. Soil preparation should be done without continuous cultivation as far as possible. If you want to use the previous crop for muskmelon continuous cropping, you must immediately pour 500 times formaldehyde solution on the border surface and disinfect the soil after the harvest of the previous season. In addition, the low pH value of the soil is easy to cause wilt, so the fields with excessive acidity can be neutralized by quicklime. The growth period of watermelon in summer and autumn is short, and the demand for soil fertilizer is very high. generally, the basic fertilizer is based on organic fertilizer and 500 kg of mature organic fertilizer per mu, 40 kg of potassium sulfate compound fertilizer, 30 kg of superphosphate and 0.5 kg of borax. Soak the seeds in 55 degrees warm water and stir them, wait for the temperature to drop to room temperature, then soak the seeds for 4 hours-6 hours, accelerate germination in the environment of 30 degrees, generally accelerate germination for 24 hours, and sow seeds immediately after sowing, first pour the planting hole thoroughly with germicidal water, then put the exposed seeds into the irregular planting hole, and pay attention to the bud head down. Generally, put 1 ungerminated seed in a germinated hole and 2 seeds, cover with a layer of fine soil after sowing, and then cover the soil with a sprayer to make it closely connected with the seed. Sowing should be carried out in the evening or on cloudy days so that the seeds can germinate in a short period of time to avoid sun exposure and dehydrate the seedlings. Field management and planting: make a border with a width of 2.8 meters (continuous ditch), each with 15 rows, with a plant spacing of 0.5 meters per mu and plant 400-540 plants per mu. Fertilization: one week after planting, live plant fertilizer is applied, mainly nitrogen fertilizer, to promote the occurrence of lateral vines, mainly by watering planting holes. Compound fertilizer was applied one week after the living tree to promote vine extension. The application of expanded melon fertilizer when sitting melon is as big as an egg can be combined with field irrigation into the border ditch. In the later stage of melon development, when the plant grows slowly and has premature senescence due to high temperature, it can be sprayed with nutrient liquid fertilizer or potassium dihydrogen phosphate. Pruning: all the vines that occur before the melon position should be removed, and the vines that occur before the melon position should be sprayed. Pruning: the vine that occurs in front of the melon position can be allowed to grow as a nutritive vine. The pruning is mainly composed of three or four vines of the main branches, with 3-4 for each small watermelon and 1-2 for medium-sized melons. In order to increase the fruit setting rate, artificial pollination should be carried out. Small watermelons mature about 25 days after pollination and medium watermelons mature about 28 days after pollination. The prevention and control of diseases and insect pests is the same as that of watermelons in spring, but summer and autumn is in the high temperature and rainy season, and the incidence of anthracnose is serious. It is advisable to take the policy of prevention and control once a week after entering the fruit setting period, and spray medicine after every continuous rainstorm.