How to grow bitter melon to get high yield?

Bitter melon likes moisture but is afraid of rain and waterlogging. During the growing period, it requires 70-80% relative air humidity and soil relative humidity. Bitter melon originated in the tropics and requires higher temperatures. It is heat-resistant but not cold-resistant. After long-term cultivation and selection, it has strong adaptability and can grow in the temperature range of 10-35℃. The suitable temperature for seed germination is 30-35℃. Let’s learn together how to grow bitter melon to get high yield.

1. Bitter melon sowing and seedling raising technology

1. Seed soaking and germination

First, put the seeds into 50-60℃ hot water for blanching. Make sure the water temperature drops evenly to around 30℃, then stop stirring and continue soaking for 7-8 hours to allow the seeds to fully absorb water. Then, wash the seeds repeatedly to remove mucus and dirt on the surface, drain them, wrap them in gauze or towels, and place them in an environment of 30-35℃ for germination.

During the germination period, wash the seeds with warm water at 30-35℃ every day to remove surface contaminants, promote the penetration of water and oxygen, and accelerate germination. After 3-4 days, when most of the seeds have sprouted white buds, they can be sown.

2. Nutrient pot seedling cultivation

Arrange the nutrient pots filled with nutrient soil on the seedbed, water them sufficiently and then sprinkle a layer of dry nutrient soil (0.5-1 cm thick). Sow the germinated seeds into pots, one seed per pot, and cover them with 2 cm thick nutrient soil after sowing. Use plastic film to cover the bed and keep the bed temperature at 25-30℃. After the seedlings emerge, ventilate and cool appropriately to maintain it at 20-25℃. When the temperature is above 20℃ on a sunny day, remove the film to allow the seedlings to receive natural light, and cover it again at night.

Remove the film and harden the seedlings 3 days before transplanting to enhance their cold resistance. During the seedling raising period, if the nutrient soil is dry, water it appropriately at noon on a sunny day.

2. Cultivation technology of bitter melon

1. Planting time

Bitter melon is usually cultivated once a year, with sowing mainly in spring and summer. Spring and summer sowing and cultivation are generally carried out in protected areas 30-50 days before the last frost period, and transplanted to the open field after the last frost period. In the low-altitude areas of Jianyang, seeds can be sown in protected areas in mid-to-late February, or seedlings can be raised in the open field from March to April.

2. Planting

Choose a plot of land that has never been planted with melons, deep plowing and drying the soil, and then prepare the land, apply fertilizer, and make ridges in spring. The base fertilizer should be evenly spread at 2000 kg of miscellaneous fertilizers and 40 kg of calcium sulfate per mu of soil, and shallow tillage should be carried out to mix the fertilizer and soil evenly.

Make high ridges with a width of 165 cm, and transplant the seedlings when they grow 4-5 true leaves. Plant two rows in each ridge with a plant spacing of 50 cm, and plant 1,000 seedlings per mu. The planting depth should be based on the level of the cotyledons of the seedlings, and water should be applied in time after planting the seedlings.

3. Management

Intertillage and weeding: Intertillage is generally carried out twice, the first time after the plants have established themselves, and the second time 10-15 days after the first intertillage.

Insert the racks in time: When the melon seedlings start to climb, insert the racks in time. For large-scale cultivation, it is appropriate to insert the "human" rack.

Pruning and branching: In the early stage, remove the side buds or branches below 1 meter of the main vine, let them grow in the middle stage, and remove the closed and weak side branches as well as old, yellow and diseased leaves in the late stage.

Fertilizer and water management: Bitter melon has a long harvest period and consumes a large amount of water and fertilizer. Apply thin fertilizers frequently during the seedling and vine extension stages, and add fertilizers in time during the flowering and fruiting stages. The method of topdressing is to apply 5 kg of urea and 5 kg of compound fertilizer per mu every 10-15 days in the early stage, and then apply 10-15 kg of compound fertilizer per mu every 15-20 days in the middle stage. Keep the soil moist without waterlogging throughout the period.

3. Disease and Pest Control of Bitter Melon

1. Diseases

Seedling blight and damping-off can be treated by spraying 200 ppm agricultural streptomycin, 600-800 times diluted 25% thiophanate-methyl, or 500-600 times diluted 50% carbendazim.

Anthracnose and powdery mildew can be treated by spraying 500 times diluted 50% thiophanate-methyl or mancozeb, or 600-700 times diluted 75% thiophanate-methyl or ricinusone.

The wilt disease can be treated by spraying or root drench with 800-1000 times diluted 70% dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane.

2. Pests

The main insects are aphids, red spiders, yellow melon flies, black melon flies, and melon fruit flies. They can be treated by spraying 500-800 times diluted DDT or dipterex, 200 times diluted insecticide double, 800-1000 times diluted 40% dicofol, or 3000-4000 times diluted 2.5% cypermethrin or cypermethrin.

The above is an introduction to the key technical points of bitter melon cultivation. As long as you master the methods, it is relatively easy to achieve high yields. When referring to it, you should adapt to local conditions.