Characteristics of Fertilizer and Water Management of Grafted Watermelon Seedlings

The fertilizer absorption ability of grafted watermelon root system is stronger than that of self-rooted watermelon root system. According to the amount of fertilizer applied to self-rooted watermelon, it is very easy to cause plant vegetative growth to be too prosperous, delay sitting melon, and the peel becomes thicker and the flesh color becomes lighter. Therefore, the amount of fertilizer applied to grafted watermelon should be reduced appropriately. The amount of base fertilizer using gourd as rootstock should be 20% to 30% less than that of self-rooted watermelon, and that of using pumpkin as rootstock can be reduced by 30% to 40%. After applying sufficient base fertilizer, it is generally necessary to apply little or no topdressing before fruit setting, especially to control the application amount of nitrogen fertilizer to prevent the influence of sitting melon; after setting melon, the application of expanded melon fertilizer should be based on phosphorus and potassium fertilizer to improve the quality of watermelon.