Summer planting techniques and suitable temperature of new Taiwan cucumber varieties Xiaqing No. 3 and Kaohsiung No. 4

With the intensification of global warming and climate change, in this increasingly warm environment, summer cucumber is faced with high temperature production restrictions, which further affects the growth quality. Generally speaking, the most suitable growth temperature of cucurbit is 20: 30 ℃. When the temperature of growing environment is higher than 35 ℃, it will cause physiological imbalance, which will affect the birth of female and male flowers and the shape and quality of fruit, such as longer stalk, smaller transverse diameter, shorter fruit length, more abnormal melon ratio, such as sharp tail melon and wasp melon, and easy to form bitter melon. In this regard, after years of experiment and improvement, the agricultural improvement farm in Kaohsiung District selected the varieties "Xiaqing" (Kaohsiung No. 3) and "Xiazhi" (Kaohsiung No. 4), which are suitable for summer planting.

Special variety characteristics, suitable for Taiwan's climatic environment

After breeding, Xia Qing and Xia Zhi are heat-resistant varieties, which are quite suitable for the hot and humid environment of summer and autumn in Taiwan. Xiaqing is a promising variety because of its early flowering, crisp and sweet taste, suitable for whole fruit consumption, resistance to hot and humid environment in summer and high yield. The plant is of non-cardiac type, bearing female flowers at 4-5 nodes and many female flowers on lateral vines. Early flowering, spring and summer planting to flowering takes about 28 days, autumn planting to flowering takes about 32 days, pericarp emerald green, pulp green, fruit powder, pericarp furrow is not obvious, fruit surface has white thorns, fruit length 12 ~ 17 cm, fruit width 2 cm 3 cm, single fruit weighs about 80 ~ 95 grams. "Xia Qing" can be used as a way of eating fruit, cold salad and fried food, and there are different ways of eating according to different harvest specifications. When the fruit is 12cm to 15cm long, it can be eaten directly as a fruit because of its crisp, sweet and non-astringent taste; when the fruit is harvested more than 17cm, it can be cut and fried without peeling, which is catching up with the trend of whole food consumption.

Similarly, summer plant also has the advantages of heat resistance, high fruiting ability and green pericarp, non-resting plant type, 3-4 nodes bearing female flowers, and lateral vines bearing female flowers. Early flowering, it takes about 32 days from spring and summer planting to flowering, and 40 days from autumn planting to flowering; the pericarp is dark green, the pulp is green, the pericarp is inconspicuous, there are white thorns on the fruit surface, the fruit is 17-19 cm long, 2.5-3.5 cm wide, and the weight of a single fruit is about 95-115 grams. Spring and summer are the most suitable cultivation periods in Gaoping area. In terms of taste, the taste is crisp and sweet, less astringent, and it is very suitable for fruit or cold.

The growth is strong, but it is still necessary to master the principles of cultivation and management.

Apart from their excellent edible quality, Xiaqing and Xiazhi deserve commendation for their strong growth and adaptability to high-temperature, humid and hot environment, which are very suitable for production in summer and autumn, but there are still a few points to pay special attention to during cultivation:

It is suitable for planting in the high temperature period of spring and summer in Gaoping area, and it is recommended to be planted in summer in the central and northern regions.

It is a first-generation hybrid of monoecious plant, and the yield can be increased by pollination by honeybee. Kaohsiung No. 4-Xia Zhi has a little single pseudo-fruit in winter.

In order to prevent the harm of melon borer, melon fruit fly, virus vector insects and virus diseases, it is suggested that the cultivation method should be cultivated with cantaloupe arch frame with melon net or traditional cross bamboo frame with a distance of 1.1 m × 0.5 m and with simple facilities to prevent melon borer, melon fruit fly, virus vector insects and virus diseases. When the temperature is low, it is recommended to use greenhouse facilities with heat preservation function.

The two varieties have more roots, so the application of nitrogen fertilizer should be reduced to avoid excessive growth affecting flowering and fruiting and bitter fruit.

Pruning mode: it belongs to non-heart-stopping type and the main vine has 4 or 5 nodes, that is, melon strips. In order to avoid affecting the growth potential of the plant, the lateral buds and fruits of the main vine less than 20 cm should be removed as soon as possible, and fixed and tied up at the same time. The side vine above 20 cm of the main vine can be coring after 2 sections.

It is not resistant to all kinds of cucumber diseases and insect pests, which is similar to the existing cultivated varieties, and its control methods can be carried out by referring to the recommended methods in the plant protection manual.

Fruit appearance of Kaohsiung No. 4 "Xia Zhi".

Because the most suitable growth temperature of cucurbit is 20: 30 ℃, and the temperature in summer and autumn in Gaoping area is often higher than 30 ℃, it is easy to produce poor pollination, sharp tail and bending of fruit in high temperature period. In the selection of small cucumber varieties, farmers should be distinguished by season or temperature when planting, and different temperatures are suitable for planting varieties. Xia Qing and Xia Zhi, in addition to their own excellent food quality, their strong growth and resistance to high-temperature, humid and hot environment have also been transferred to Xinhua Seedling Company to produce seeds for sale.