Cultivation techniques of wax gourd

Wax gourd is an annual trailing or framed herb; stems are yellowish brown hirsute and villous, furrowed. Melon is shaped like a pillow, also known as pillow melon, produced in summer, because when the melon is ripe, there is a layer of white powder on the surface, just like the white frost in winter, so it is called wax gourd, also for this reason, wax gourd is also called white melon. When selecting, pinch it with your fingernails, the skin is hard, the meat is dense, and the seeds have matured into yellowish brown wax gourd.

Cultivation methods of wax gourd

The cultivation methods of wax gourd can be divided into three types: ground wax gourd, shed wax gourd and frame wax gourd.

1. Wax gourd

The plant grows on the ground, the row spacing is sparse, generally planting about 300 plants per mu, the management is relatively extensive, the stem vine is basically free to grow or remove the lateral vine before fruiting, and grow arbitrarily after the fruit. The utility model has the advantages of less florist and lower cost. The disadvantage is that the melon type is poor and the melon is often supported; otherwise, the rate of abnormal fruit is high; the pericarp is easily damaged by the external environment, affecting storability; the utilization of light energy is low, the size of the result is uneven, and the yield per unit area is low. This method is only applicable to the gray-skinned wax gourd varieties sold on the island, but not to the northward transport or export varieties with higher commercial requirements, such as "Qingpidong", "Black Pidong" and "Qingza No. 1".

2. Greenhouse wax gourd

After drawing the vine, the plant is covered with bamboo and wood to draw the vine, which can be divided into high shed and low shed. The height of the high shed is generally 150-200 cm, the height of the low shed is 60-80 cm, and the width of the shed is 250-300 cm. Hainan melon farmers generally adopt the method of low shed. The lateral vine was removed before the plant was put on the shed, and the stem vine grew arbitrarily after it was put on the shed. The fruit setting of greenhouse wax gourd is better than that of ground wax gourd, the fruit size is more uniform, and the yield per unit area is generally higher than that of ground wax gourd, but basically it is still using the plane area, which is disadvantageous to close planting. Generally, it can only be interplanted in front of the greenhouse, and the space can not be fully utilized. And there are many greenhouse materials, and the cost is high. In recent years, in order to save materials, cost and labor, we began to promote an improved grid scaffolding, that is, to build a basic scaffolding with wooden stakes and iron wire, and then weave the fluoron wire mesh. Nylon net can be made at least three times, so it is very convenient and labor-saving to build a frame.

3. Wax gourd

There are many forms of brackets. There is a "one-stop dragon": that is, each pile, at a height of 130-150 cm, is continuously fixed with horizontal bamboo; there is a "herringbone frame"; there are "one-star drum stand longan" and "four-star drum frame longan": that is, three or four bamboo poles are used to form a drum rack, and each drum rack is continuously fixed with Hengzhu. Although there are various forms of wax gourd, all of them are combined with plant adjustment to make better use of space, increase fruit setting rate and make fruit size uniform, which is beneficial to improve yield and quality, intercropping, increase multiple cropping times, and save shelf material than greenhouse wax gourd. Reduce the cost. Under the current conditions, wax gourd is a more reasonable and scientific one of the three cultivation methods.

Cultivation season, sowing and seedling raising and planting density

1. Cultivation season

Wax gourd likes temperature and resistance to heat. In order to obtain high yield, suitable climatic conditions for fruit setting and fruit development should be selected. Climatic conditions have the greatest impact on the fruit setting rate of wax gourd, so special attention should be paid to the seasonal arrangement. Sunny weather, high temperature, high humidity and other conditions are conducive to fruit setting; dry air, low temperature and rainy days, less insect activity is not conducive to pollination; and reduce the pollination capacity of the stigma, so the fruit setting is poor. According to the characteristics of the demand for light and temperature conditions of wax gourd, Lingshui, Sanya, Ledong and other cities and counties in southern Hainan can sow seeds throughout winter and spring and can blossom and bear fruit normally because of the air temperature above 20 ℃ in winter and spring and plenty of sunshine. In the northern cities and counties of Wenchang, Chengmai, Qiongshan, Dingan and Lingao, there are often low temperature and overcast and rainy weather below 15 ℃ in winter and spring, especially from early January to late February. Therefore, special attention should be paid to sowing to avoid planting wax gourd blossom and bear fruit during this period of time. In addition to climate factors, market factors should also be taken into account in the sowing of wax gourd. Because most of the wax gourd cultivated in Hainan, especially those cultivated in winter and spring, are sold outside the island and in Hong Kong and Macao markets. Therefore, in the cultivation season, we should also pay attention to avoid the inland provinces, especially Guangdong, Guangxi and other provinces of wax gourd production peak season. Only in this way can the cultivated wax gourd achieve the goal of high yield and high efficiency. Under normal circumstances, as long as the wax gourd cultivated in Hainan is on the market from late December to early May, its price is higher, and vice versa. According to this, the suitable sowing time for winter and spring winter gourd is from mid-September to early January in the southern part of Hainan, and the best sowing time is from mid-September to early October and from early December to early January in other areas. If sowing from the middle of October to late November, because the flowering and fruiting period is mostly under the influence of low temperature, overcast and rainy weather from January to February, it is very difficult to set fruit, even if it can set fruit, the fruit grows slowly, the development is poor, and the rate of abnormal fruit is high.

2. Sowing and raising seedlings

When winter gourd is cultivated in Hainan in winter and spring, it is suitable to adopt nutrition bowl to raise seedlings because of the influence of low temperature. The required nutrient soil should be prepared in advance, which can be made from fertile garden soil which has been baked and screened, cooked pig, cow dung residue, grain husk ash or coconut bran, etc. The volume ratio of the three is about 6:2:2, and a small amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium compound fertilizer can be added. Generally, the amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium compound fertilizer should be controlled at 0.2% and 0.3%, and the mixture should be fine and evenly mixed to prevent root injury. Wax gourd seeds are usually soaked in 50-55 ℃ warm water for 10-15 minutes (stirring while soaking), and then soaked at room temperature for another 10-12 hours, preferably at a temperature of about 30 ℃. Seed soaking time is longer, germination is faster and neat, one and a half to two days, most of them germinate; seed soaking time is shorter, germination potential is poor. The seeds with smooth seed coat (such as green wax gourd seeds) are easy to cause anoxic rotten seeds and low germination rate because of their poor permeability. Therefore, for this kind of seeds, the seed coat should be scrubbed with fine sand, the adhesion should be removed, and the seed should be germinated at a constant temperature of 28-30 ℃. Before germination, rinse the seeds with clean water once a day in the morning and evening, filter out the water in time, and then continue to germinate. If there is no constant temperature equipment, it is safer to soak Sichuan and direct broadcast to the seedling bag or seedling bed. According to the author's experiment, soaking seeds with 100-150ppm gibberellin can make the seeds germinate quickly and neatly. The day before sowing, the nutrient soil in the bowl should be watered thoroughly, the sowing depth should be 2-3 cm, and 1-2 seeds should be germinated in each bowl. The seeds should be placed horizontally or upwards, and covered with sunshade net or straw immediately after sowing. In case of cold wave or overcast and rainy weather, it is appropriate to cover with plastic film. After sowing to before emergence, pay attention to watering, but do not have too much water, in order to prevent rotting roots, just keep the soil moist. When about 70% of the seedlings emerge, the mulch should be removed in time. Properly control the moisture before the heart-breaking of the seedlings to promote the root growth; after the heart-breaking, often keep the nutritive soil in a semi-dry and semi-wet state, so that the melon seedlings grow steadily. It can be transplanted into the field in about 25-30 days. 2-3 days before planting, 10% thin human feces water and 80% Dysen zinc 800 times or 75% chlorothalonil 600 times solution can be used for transplanting with fertilizer and medicine.

3. Planting density

The planting density of wax gourd varies with variety, cultivation mode and cultivation season. The yield per unit area of small wax gourd is composed of plant number per mu, fruit number per plant and fruit weight per mu. Proper close planting can increase the yield. Most of the large wax gourd varieties have one fruit per plant, and its yield per unit area is composed of the number of plants per mu and the weight of single fruit. Therefore, proper close planting should be ensured on the basis of single fruit weight. The vine leaves of wax gourd plant grow on the ground, which is not easy to adjust and not suitable for close planting; greenhouse wax gourd is basically flat growth, which is not conducive to close planting; wax gourd can use space to grow, combined with plant adjustment and vine introduction is conducive to close planting. At present, most of the wax gourd varieties cultivated in Hainan are large varieties, which are generally cultivated in a flat shed with a border width of about 350 cm (continuous ditch), double-row planting, plant spacing of 70-80 cm and about 500 plants per mu; generally, the row spacing of wax gourd is 150 × (70-80) cm, and 600 plants can be planted per mu; the general border width of wax gourd is about 400-500 cm (continuous ditch), double-row planting, plant spacing is about 80-100 cm, and 300 plants per mu. The planting density of wax gourd is also related to the level of fertilizer and water management. With sufficient fertilizer, convenient drainage and irrigation and high level of management, we should focus on growing fruit in order to strive for high yield and high quality, but not too dense. On the basis of removing all the lateral vines, the topping of the main vine can be denser than that of not topping.

Select and prepare the land and apply sufficient basic fertilizer

The root system of wax gourd is very developed and the growing period is long. in order to obtain higher yield, sandy loam with deep soil layer and rich organic matter and pH value of 6-6.5 must be selected to grow in clay loam; at the same time, in order to avoid cold wave and early spring drought in winter and spring, and summer rain in later stage, it is appropriate to choose fields with north to south and convenient drainage and irrigation. Autumn wax gourd is often affected by Taiwan wind and rain, so it is appropriate to choose sloping and dry land with convenient irrigation and drainage.

After the melon field is selected, ploughing and harrowing should be deeply ploughed as soon as possible, and its depth should be about 30 cm. For wax gourd cultivated in winter and spring, it is better to use late rice fields with convenient drainage and irrigation. Ploughing and tanning should be done as soon as possible after late rice harvest, and ploughing and raking should be fine before planting. After soil preparation, planting rules should be planned and the border surface should be made; then, ridge should be ridged again, the width of the ridge is 80-100 cm, the height of the ridge is about 30 cm, half of the ridge is left on each side of the ridge, and there is a shallow ditch between the ridge and the half of the ridge, so as to prepare for the use of ridge and topdressing during the trailing period. The hole is planted along the ridge according to the distance between plants, with a depth of about 30 cm and a width of about 40 cm. The growth period of wax gourd is long, and the root system has strong absorptive capacity, so it is necessary to apply sufficient base fertilizer. The base fertilizer is generally based on high-quality farm manure, more than 2000 kg per mu, 30-50 kg of bean cake and 40-50 kg of superphosphate, which are mixed in ditch or hole after composting, and fully mixed with the soil before sowing or planting. For loam or clayey soil, 30-40 kg of ternary compound fertilizer and 15-20 kg of urea per mu can be mixed with full-layer fertilizer to meet the balanced supply of nutrients. On the other hand, the heavy sandy soil should be applied less to prevent fertilizer damage.

Plastic film mulching

The soil touch mulching cultivation of wax gourd with high and stable yield can create superior cultivation environmental conditions such as temperature, light, water, fertilizer and soil, promote the growth and development of roots and plants of wax gourd, and reduce the harm of some diseases and insect pests, cold, drought, rainstorm and so on. Therefore, the obvious effect of increasing production can be obtained. It has been proved by experiments that the yield of winter gourd cultivated with plastic film mulching in Hainan in winter and spring is generally 30% Mel 50% higher than that of open field cultivation, and sometimes the yield is more than doubled in bad weather conditions.

The cultivation of wax gourd covered with plastic film can only be covered on the ridge. The width of plastic film is 80-120 cm, and the colors are white, black, silver gray and so on. White film warming effect is good, but weeds are easy to grow, pre-bud herbicides must be sprayed before mulching: for example, butachlor or Acetochlor, with a dosage of 75-100 ml per mu, spray soil surface with water of about 30 kg, and then cover with film; black film has a poor warming effect, but can prevent the occurrence of weeds; silver gray film can ward off aphids and reduce the occurrence and spread of virus diseases. Before mulching, we must pay attention to leveling the ground, apply sufficient base fertilizer, and keep the soil moist. When covering the film, be sure to flatten the film and tighten the border guard. When planting melons after plastic film mulching, you should pay attention to drenching enough root water and cover the opening with fine soil. After that, pay attention not to make the humidity in the film too large, so as not to cause retting roots. As long as the soil is moist when covering the film, there is no need for watering within about 20 days after the seedling is moved. If there is a shortage of rice in the future, the method of furrow irrigation should be adopted, and only half of the ditch water should be irrigated.