Should the side branches of winter melon be removed (when to fork and remove the branches to top the winter melon)

Wax gourd is an annual climbing or trellising herb of the Cucurbitaceae family. Its fruit is one of the most common vegetables on people's tables.

Of course, in addition to being a vegetable, the peel and seeds of winter melon can be used as medicine, and the fruit can also be soaked into various candies.

Winter melon originated in China and East India. It is currently cultivated in various regions of my country. Abroad, it is mainly distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, and is also distributed in eastern Australia and Madagascar.

When planting winter melon, should we top it like other plants? When is the best time to top it? Let's talk about this topic today.

First of all, we can make it clear that after winter melon is cultivated, it needs to be toppled when it grows to a certain stage. Of course, this is mainly an agricultural management measure taken for large-scale planting .

If you are simply planting it for your own use, it doesn't really matter whether you top it or not, just let it grow on its own. This is because the fruit of winter melon is huge, whether it is round or long, one is enough for the whole family to eat for a long time.

Therefore, if you grow it at home for your own consumption, and do not consider the yield and do not worry too much about the number of fruits, it does not matter whether you top it or not.

However, for vegetable farmers who adopt large-scale planting and mainly sell winter melon fruits, topping is very necessary.

Because only through reasonable foundation laying can we avoid the rampant growth of vines, avoid excessive consumption of nutrients, increase the yield of winter melon, and ultimately serve the income of vegetable farmers.

Generally speaking, it is best to top the winter melon when the vine grows to 2-3 meters. However, when the winter melon vine grows to 50-60 centimeters after planting, it is necessary to trim the vine.

This ensures that the main vine of the winter melon can coil around its own drum frame close to the ground, press the vine to a certain extent, and fix the growth direction of the vine.

When the melon vines grow to 16-18 nodes, you can start to guide the vines to the racks. Remove the side vines before and after the winter melons set fruits, and start to top the main vines after leaving the melons with 10-12 leaves.

Generally speaking, all the side vines must be removed before the winter melon sets fruit. If 2 to 3 side vines are retained after the winter melon sets fruit, the remaining side branches and excess female flowers must be removed.

If farmers want to keep large winter melons for sale, they should wait until the vines reach 30 nodes to set fruit. After the winter melons are set, leave 15 to 20 leaves and top them.

When topping, you should choose a sterilized pruning knife to avoid wound infection and the occurrence of pests and diseases. The blade must be sharp.

This is the only way to ensure that the winter melon vines will not be damaged multiple times during the pruning and topping process, and it also avoids the possibility of the winter melon cut being invaded by pathogens .

The purpose of topping is to ensure that the entire plant grows more vigorously and fuller, the fruit-bearing rate of winter melon will be increased accordingly, and the yield can be greatly increased.

Of course, after topping the winter melon, field management must be strengthened. Normally, 3 to 5 days after topping, the winter melon can resume its new growth trend. At this time, watering and fertilizing can be done appropriately to provide the winter melon with sufficient nutrients to ensure that the winter melon can quickly resume its growth activity and promote the improvement of winter melon yield and quality.

Generally speaking, if it is family planting, topping is generally not necessary. If it is large-scale planting, in order to ensure the yield and quality of winter melon, topping of winter melon must be combined with other field management measures. The above is my opinion on this issue, thank you for reading.