How to grow loofah seedlings, loofah cultivation techniques

Now let me tell you in detail how to cultivate loofah seedlings and how to better cultivate loofah?

Cultivation technology of loofah

Luffa is a member of the Cucurbitaceae family and the Luffa genus. It is an annual climbing plant. The young fruit is edible and is a vegetable that can be used to fill the gap between summer and autumn. The mature fruit has well-developed fiber and is called "luffa net". It has medicinal effects such as regulating menstruation, removing dampness, and eliminating dysentery. It can also be used as a washing material. The stem juice can be used as a raw material for cosmetics.

(-) Biological characteristics

The root system of loofah is well developed and has strong absorption capacity. The stem is vine-like, five-ribbed, green, and has strong branching ability. There are tendrils at each node. The leaves are palmate or heart-shaped. The male and female flowers are monoecious, the corolla is yellow, the male inflorescence is racemose, the female flowers are solitary, and the ovary is inferior. The fruit is short cylindrical to oblong cylindrical, with or without ribs, and the surface is wrinkled or smooth. The seeds are oval and flat. The seeds of ordinary loofah are thin, smooth, with wings on the edges, grayish white or black, and the weight of 1000 grams to 120 grams. The seeds of ribbed loofah are thick, black, without wings on the edges, and have a clamp-like seed tuber on the navel. The weight of 1000 grams is about 220 grams.

Luffa is resistant to high temperatures, and the suitable growth temperature is 18℃-24℃. Among melons, luffa is the most resistant to moisture, and requires higher temperatures during the flowering and fruiting period. In the hot summer and autumn, as long as there is no lack of water and fertilizer, the flowering and fruiting are always very vigorous. The luffa produced in a drought environment is more fibrous and older. Luffa is a short-day plant. It grows slowly under long light and quickly under short light.

(II) Types and varieties

There are two species of loofah for vegetable use in botany, namely common loofah and angular loofah.

1. Ordinary loofah has an oblong cylindrical shape, with dense hairs on the young fruit, no edges, smooth skin or fine wrinkles, and tender flesh. Excellent varieties in the Yangtze River Basin include Nanjing long loofah, club loofah, Shanghai fragrant loofah, Changsha meat loofah, Wuhan white marble frost, etc.

2. Ribbed loofah is a specialty of Guangzhou suburbs. It is stick-shaped, with obvious edges and corners, and has well-developed fiber. Ordinary loofahs have thin skins and are easily damaged by melon flies in the south, while ribbed loofahs have thick skins, and melon flies cannot lay eggs in young fruits. Famous varieties of ribbed loofahs include green-skinned loofahs and black-skinned loofahs.

(III) Cultivation techniques

1. Seeding and raising seedlings In the Yangtze River Basin, sowing is done from early March to late April. Seeders sown before Qingming should be raised in hotbeds, cold beds or plastic sheds before transplanting. Seedlings raised without nutrient pots should be transplanted at the two cotyledon stage. Seedlings raised with nutrient pots can be transplanted when there are 2-3 true leaves. Sponge gourd can also be soaked and germinated before direct sowing. The amount of seeds per mu (1 mu = 667 square meters) varies depending on the planting method. For direct sowing, 3 seeds per hole are needed, and 15g-20g of seeds are needed. For seedling transplanting, only 10g of seeds are needed to plant one plant per hole.

2. Field management The cultivation of loofah in front of and behind the house is very extensive and rarely managed. However, there is a lot of management work for large-scale commercial production of loofah. The main work includes setting up supports, watering and fertilizing, inter-cultivation, weeding, ridge cultivation, artificial vine guidance, vine tying, etc. When Nanjing loofah is cultivated on a large scale, cucumber racks are used. After the cucumber harvest is over, the herringbone racks are retained, the melon vines are pulled out, the residual leaves are removed, and then a bamboo pole is placed across the herringbone racks between the two rows, and the four rows of herringbone racks are connected to form a flat trellis. Each loofah is inserted with a bamboo pole to guide the vines to the rack. Loofahs need more fertilizer and water. After planting the living plants, use diluted manure water to irrigate the seedling fertilizer, and then water every 3-5 days on sunny days. When the melon vines are on the trellis and begin to bear fruit, irrigate with heavy fertilizer once. During the melon bearing period, water frequently when the weather is dry and the ground is dry, and apply 2-3 topdressing fertilizers as appropriate. When the loofah is on the rack, the plants grow rapidly and the vines need to be tied in time to prevent them from being broken by the wind. When pruning the vines, tendrils, side vines and excessive male flowers are removed, leaving only a small number of male flowers, and deformed and rotten melons are thinned out.