Artificial cultivation techniques of pumpkin

When we grow pumpkins, many of them may be cultivated artificially. So what problems should we pay attention to when cultivating pumpkins artificially?

Excellent varieties

1. Classification of Pumpkin Plants

When we usually talk about pumpkin plants, we are mainly referring to the five cultivated species of the genus Cucurbita: (1) Black-seeded pumpkin (Cucurbita ficifolia); (2) Indian pumpkin (C. maxima), also known as winter squash, golden pumpkin, and western pumpkin; (3) Mexican pumpkin (C. mixta), also known as gray-seeded pumpkin; (4) Chinese pumpkin (C. moschata), also known as squash and pumpkin; (5) American pumpkin (C. pepo), also known as zucchini and stir-fried melon. In fact, the genus Cucurbita also includes more than twenty other non-cultivated species. This article mainly introduces Indian pumpkin and Chinese pumpkin.

2. Excellent varieties

(1) Chinese Pumpkin

① Honey Pumpkin: Early-maturing hybrid, with a swollen bottom and a slightly longer body, similar to a papaya shape. The mature fruit is yellow with light yellow spots. The flesh is fine, sweet and sticky, with excellent quality. The whole growth period is 95 days, and the single fruit weighs about 2 kg. It has strong resistance to viral diseases.

② Yellow Wolf Pumpkin: An excellent local variety in Shanghai, also known as Xiaozha Pumpkin. The plant has strong growth potential, thick stems, many branches, and long internodes. The first female flower is born on the 15th to 16th node of the main vine, and female flowers appear every one to three nodes thereafter. The fruit is long club-shaped, with a vertical diameter of about 45 cm and a horizontal diameter of about 15 cm. The peel is orange-red and covered with wax powder when fully mature. The flesh is thick, delicate, sweet, and of good quality, and is relatively resistant to storage and transportation. The full growth period is 110 to 120 days, and a single fruit weighs about 1.5 kg.

③ Big Grinding Plate Pumpkin: A fine local variety in Beijing, the first female flower grows on the eighth to tenth nodes of the main vine. The fruit is oblate, shaped like a grinding plate, with a horizontal diameter of about 30 cm and a height of about 15 cm. The young fruit skin is dark green, and turns reddish brown with light yellow stripes when fully ripe, and is covered with wax powder. The flesh is orange-yellow, contains little water, tastes sweet, and has good quality.

④ Small grinding wheel pumpkin: early-maturing variety, the first female flower grows on the eighth to tenth nodes of the main vine. The fruit is oblate and shaped like a small grinding wheel. The young fruit skin is green, and turns brownish red when fully mature, with longitudinal ridges. The flesh is sweet and smooth, of good quality, and a single fruit weighs about 2 kg.

⑤ Oxleg pumpkin: late-maturing variety, the fruit is long and cylindrical, with a swollen end and a seed cavity inside. The flesh is rough and powdery, and it is resistant to storage and transportation. The whole growth period is 110-120 days, and the weight of a single fruit is about 15 kg.

⑥ Snake pumpkin: a medium-ripening variety, with snake-shaped fruit and a non-swollen end where the seed cavity is located. The flesh is dense, sweet and powdery, with a strong glutinous texture and good quality. The entire growth period is about 100 days.

Cultivation management

1. Land preparation, fertilization, and film laying: Indian melons have high yields and require a lot of fertilizer and water, so they should be planted in sandy loam. The previous crop is preferably beans, potatoes, and corn, and it is not advisable to choose a field with a repeated melon crop. The land should be prepared and made into ridges with a width of 4 meters and a length depending on the plant. The land should be prepared 20 days before sowing, and the planting row should be slightly higher than the stems and vines, creeping 2 to 3 cm. This is done so that when applying fertilizer and water in the middle and late stages, the melons and stems will not be watered to prevent the melons from rotting.

Apply 4,000 to 5,000 kg of high-quality farmyard manure and 10 to 15 kg of compound fertilizer per mu. Fertilizer should be applied at a depth of 15 to 20 cm, preferably wide rather than deep, with a hole radius of 50 cm. It is best to apply in trenches to increase the root harvesting area, and it is not suitable for hole application.

After the base fertilizer is applied, lay the ground film. The width of the ground film is 50 cm, and the length depends on the sowing amount. Lay the film 7 to 10 days before sowing and press it tightly on all sides.

2. Hormone treatment: In order to promote early germination, strong growth and high yield of seeds, soak the seeds with 20ppm ABT4 yield enhancer for 4 hours before sowing. After soaking, rinse with clean water, put in a container for germination, the temperature is 20℃ to 25℃, and cover with wet gauze. Wash once a day, and sow after the seeds crack.

3. Sowing at the right time: Sowing should be done after Grain Rain in the north and after Qingming Festival in the south, with 1 to 2 seeds per hole, sowing on demand. Use a wooden stick to make holes 2 to 3 cm deep, with a spacing of 1 meter between plants, and 300 to 500 plants per mu. Seal the holes with fine wet soil after sowing. In cold areas in the north, you can build an arch shed with a height of 30 to 40 cm and a width of 50 to 60 cm to prevent frost damage. Remove the film after the frost period. Check frequently after sowing to prevent sunburn from burning the seedlings.

4. Management: Indian pumpkins mainly produce fruits on the main vine, and do not keep the root fruits. Leave 1 to 2 fruits more than 2 meters away from the root or at 10 to 12 pairs of leaves. If you want a large fruit, it is best to keep 1. If you want more seeds and fruits, you can choose to keep 2 to 3. When the remaining fruits are firmly planted, remove the rest.

After the melon is left, the main vine is cut off when it grows to 10 to 12 leaves. The vine is left for about 4 meters, and more leaves are left in front of the melon to increase the nutrient area. The side vines are all removed. Pressing the vines Indian pumpkin grows vigorously, with large leaves. In order to prevent wind from blowing and breaking the vines, increase root growth, and promote the growth of the melon, the vines should be pressed as they grow, and buried 3 to 5 cm in the soil. The melon can be pressed into a bow shape at the point where the melon is formed to increase the weight of the melon.

[Pollination]: To increase the fruit setting rate during the flowering period, artificial pollination should be carried out. Pick off the newly opened male flowers and place them upside down on the female flowers to allow pollination. Remove the useless male flowers before they are fully opened to reduce nutrient consumption. Do not pollinate on the same plant.

[Spraying hormones and topdressing]: When the young melon grows to more than 10 kg, topdressing should be done in time. Topdress 2 to 3 kg of diluted manure and 100 grams of diammonium per plant, divided into 3 to 5 holes for topdressing, and irrigate after application. It is also possible to dig trenches on both sides of the melon vines for fertilization to promote the growth of roots, melons, and leaves. During the pumpkin growth period, you can spray 1000ppm Fengnong 10,000 times Zhibaosu, Duoxiaohao (1 bag of 6 grams per mu), etc.

【Disease prevention】: No insect pests were found in the Indian pumpkin during its growth period, and diseases such as mosaic disease and root rot were found. It should be sprayed with 200 times Bordeaux liquid, or anti-curing agent, carbendazim, etc. If the disease is serious, root irrigation can be used for prevention and control.

[Putting pumpkins under the ground]: When the pumpkins grow to 20 to 30 kg, use ropes or willow branches to form a circle to put pumpkins under. Put 2 to 3 pieces of rope (stones are also OK) under each pumpkin, and keep it 3 to 5 cm above the ground to prevent the pumpkins from rotting and make the pumpkins have uniform color.

5. Harvest in time: When the melon turns orange-red, the surface shows ridges, and it cannot be pressed with fingers, it is considered ripe and should be harvested, processed or stored in time.

Cultivation techniques

1. Choose high-yield, disease-resistant and stress-resistant varieties

2. Prepare the land in time and apply enough basal fertilizer 3. Sow seeds at the right time to ensure that the seedlings are complete, strong and vigorous, laying a good foundation for high yield in the later stage

4. Carry out artificial assisted pollination during the flowering period to ensure fruit setting.

5. When the weather changes during the fruit expansion period, water the fruit reasonably, timely and appropriately; pay close attention to the occurrence and development of pests and diseases, and make correct, timely and reasonable responses

6. Harvest, store and sell at the right time.

Pumpkin likes a cool and humid climate and is very easy to cultivate. It can grow well and produce large fruits whether planted on the wall of the yard or on the ridge of the field. It can be sown directly from seeds. It can also be transplanted from seedlings.

For direct sowing, you can prepare the land in the winter of the previous year, apply enough base fertilizer, and bury the seeds in February or March of the second year. Because the seedlings are long and grow fast,

It is necessary to apply fertilizer in April, May and June, and pay attention to watering. Pumpkin management is relatively extensive. Because the root system is well developed and the leaves are rooted between the nodes, it is necessary to pay attention to soil cultivation so that nutrients can be absorbed.

A pumpkin seedling can produce many branches. In order to prevent the nutrients from being too dispersed, you need to make forks. Leave 2-3 main vines for a seedling. According to the soil fertility and the growth of the pumpkin seedlings, you can remove the top buds after a few embryos. As long as the soil is fertile and you water and fertilize the pumpkin frequently, you can usually grow a pumpkin with 3-5 leaves. If you leave too many pumpkins, they will not grow big. It is very easy for branch buds to grow in the axils of the pumpkin. Be careful to remove them, otherwise they will compete with the pumpkin for nutrients, causing the pumpkin to wither and fall due to lack of nutrients.