When is the best time to plant honeydew melon?

Sheep Horn Melon is a kind of melon, also known as Sheep Horn Crunchy. It has a sweet taste, thin and crispy skin, and is a very popular "Internet celebrity fruit " in the market in the past two years. So when is the best time to plant honeydew melon? Let’s learn more about it below.

When is the best time to plant honeydew melon?

There are two modes of cultivation of honeydew melon, one is open field cultivation and the other is greenhouse cultivation. Open-field cultivation generally takes place in mid-to-late April, when the temperature is around 15°C, and the fruit matures and is available on the market in August. Now most of them are cultivated in greenhouses, with sowing in mid-to-late February, transplanting in mid-to-late March, and putting on the market in late May.

Key points for planting and management of honeydew melon

1. Temperature management

After the honeydew melons are planted, the ground temperature is low, so the greenhouse should be kept closed. Even if the temperature in the greenhouse exceeds 38°C for a short time, do not ventilate it, so as to increase the ground temperature as soon as possible and promote seedling growth. After the seedlings have grown, ventilate the plants in time according to weather conditions. The temperature should be kept at 21-28℃ for more than 8 hours a day, and the night temperature should be maintained at around 12℃.

2. Key points of fertilizer and water

Before planting honeydew melon, apply enough base fertilizer first. The base fertilizer should be mainly organic fertilizer and supplemented by chemical fertilizer. Honeydew melon needs a lot of water supplementation. The soil moisture cannot be lower than 48% during the entire growing period. Generally, it is watered once every week. The amount of watering in the seedling stage should be slightly less than that in the peak period. Potassium nitrate compound fertilizer should be applied in conjunction with watering every two weeks or so, about 5 kilograms each time.

3. Plant adjustment

Use single vine pruning method, hang the main vine when it is 30 cm long, pinch off the top when it has about 22 leaves, select sub-vines as fruit-bearing vines from the 16th to 19th leaves, pinch off the top after fruiting with 1 leaf left, and keep 3 melons per plant. Remove all sub-vines with less than 16 leaves, and select the second crop of melons from the sub-vines with the 20th leaf, and keep 3 melons per plant. After the second crop of melons is harvested, the seedlings are pulled out every other plant, leaving about 1,100 plants per acre.

4. Pest and disease control

Honeydew melon has weak resistance, so it is very susceptible to diseases and pests, such as powdery mildew and brown spot, so disease prevention and control must be carried out in a timely manner. First of all, we must do a good job of cleaning the greenhouse, and clean the diseased plants and leaves out of the greenhouse in time to avoid the spread of diseases. Physical facilities such as hanging yellow boards or insect-proof nets can be used to reduce the occurrence of pests. Secondly, cultivate strong seedlings and enhance the disease resistance of the plants. Finally, use appropriate amount of pesticide for prevention and control.

In general, honeydew melon is a "celebrity variety" among melons. It is very popular in the market, has strong growth ability, and produces a large number of flowers and fruits, so its planting prospects are very good. Therefore, friends who want to invest in planting must master the relevant planting techniques.