How to prune bitter melon to achieve high yield (introduction to bitter melon planting management and pruning techniques)

Bitter melon is actually very easy to grow. It is best to choose a variety that is heat-resistant and disease-resistant, has high yield and good commercial quality, such as Changbai bitter melon, large white bitter melon, short white bitter melon, etc.

If you have bitter melon seeds, you can germinate them yourself. However, the bitter melon seeds have a thick and hard skin, which makes it difficult for them to absorb water and germinate. You need to soak them in warm water at about 30 degrees for 2 days, and then germinate and sow them, which will be much faster.

Bitter melon is very afraid of waterlogging. In low-lying areas or during the rainy season, it is easy to be damaged by waterlogging. Therefore, we must pay attention to drainage, pay attention to high ridge cultivation, apply sufficient fully decomposed organic fertilizer, and add some triple compound fertilizer or superphosphate. This is called dividing the ridges into compartments and digging good ditches, and applying heavy base fertilizer to ensure a good harvest.

The bitter melon vine is thin and long, with strong branching ability. When the bitter melon vine grows to about 1 meter, a large number of side branches will begin to grow upwards, and they are particularly vigorous.

As the saying goes, a thriving seedling will not produce fruit. This is because too many side branches will affect flowering and fruit setting, and reduce the ventilation and light transmittance of the field.

For any kind of crop, the early stage is vegetative growth, mainly the growth of seeds; then there is a period when vegetative growth and reproductive growth coexist, that is, the period when seed growth and inflorescence growth go hand in hand.

After that, we need to control the vegetative growth and promote the reproductive growth, that is, distribute the nutrients to the flowers and fruits. This means it is time to prune.

With trellising and pruning, the yield of bitter melon is not low

1. Build the scaffold

The main vine of bitter melon is long, and the side vines are vigorous and numerous, so a support is necessary to make the stems and vines reasonably distributed in space. People in greenhouses use hanging vines for cultivation, and we are doing a small-scale cultivation and it is also cultivated in the open field, so we just put up a frame.

The pruning and vine guiding of bitter melon varies from person to person and there is no fixed rule.

For example, when the bitter melon vines grow to nearly 2 zhang high (about 30 cm) long, I usually erect a vertical pole every 1.5 meters or so, and then tie them up with horizontal poles to lead the loofah vines onto the rack to prevent the vines and leaves from entangled with each other.

Some people also build racks of 2x3 meters, 1x2 meters, etc., or lead the vines onto the roof or dead trees.

2. Pruning

There are many ways to prune and trim bitter melon:

(1) One method is to keep the main vine and remove all the side branches below 35 cm from the base to encourage the main vine and the upper part of the vine to bear fruit.

(2) Another method is to pinch off the main vine when it is 1 meter long to promote the growth of side vines. Select 1-2 side vines with thick bases and pinch off the vines after female flowers grow to increase early yield.

(3) Some people do not leave side branches at the base, but leave side branches in the middle and upper parts. That is, all side branches below half a meter from the ground are removed, and the side branches in the middle and upper parts that are too dense or weak are also thinned out to maintain a certain level of ventilation and light transmission.

(4) Some people select 3-5 strong side branches at the base, and pinch off the main vine when it grows to the top of the frame, paying attention to thinning out the secondary side branches.

I usually rely on the main vine to bear fruit. I build a rack to guide the vines up the rack, use single or double vine pruning, and promptly cut off the thin side vines and old yellow leaves, and remove all side branches below 80 cm.

It allows ventilation and light to pass through, reduces pests and diseases, enhances photosynthesis, prevents premature aging, and extends the harvest time.

【 Summarize 】

During the entire bitter melon cultivation process, you need to frequently tie up the vines, thin out the side branches, and remove the tendrils and male flowers, etc., in order to increase the fruit setting rate, cultivate good bitter melons, and increase the yield. How do you prune bitter melons? Can you tell me so that I can learn from you?