How to grow thumb-sized watermelons
In comparison with the common knowledge of green plant and flower cultivation techniques for thumb-sized watermelons and dwarf watermelons, let's learn about them together next.
The planting methods for thumb-sized watermelons include the following steps:
1. Selection of seedling trays and soil, choose a 50-hole seedling tray, select high-quality mature soil, crush the mature soil, sieve out stones and other impurities, crush the straw, mix it thoroughly with the mature soil and wood ash, and fill the seedling tray for later use. The proportion is 10-20 parts straw, 70-100 parts mature soil, and 15-25 parts wood ash.
2. Seed cleaning and germination, select seeds of moderate size and full grains, soak and clean them with clear water, maintain the water temperature at 20-30 degrees Celsius, and soak for 10-35 minutes. Use an incubator for germination, which has multiple shelves with wet towels on them. Spread the seeds on the wet towels, maintain the incubator humidity at 65-80%, and the temperature at 25-30 degrees Celsius. Water the wet towels every 6-8 hours. When more than 80% of the seeds have a sprout length of over 5mm at the bottom, the germination is complete.
3. Sowing thumb-sized watermelons, plant the germinated seeds in the seedling tray, with a depth of 1.5-3cm. After sowing, water the seedling tray thoroughly. You can use greenhouse planting or cover the seedling tray with plastic film to maintain a temperature of 20-25 degrees Celsius and humidity of 60-70%.
4. Transplanting thumb-sized watermelon seedlings, when the seedlings in the seedling tray reach a length of 10-15cm, transplant them along with the soil in the seedling tray. Plant 420-450 seedlings per mu. Dig a trench 20-30cm deep 40-50cm away from the watermelon plants and apply 1000-1200 kg of organic fertilizer per mu.
5. Shaping the thumb-sized watermelon vines, bury a pole next to each watermelon plant and connect these poles horizontally and vertically with wire to form a net with a grid size of 10cmx10cm to 30cmx30cm. When the seedlings grow beyond 35cm, tie the watermelon vines to the nearest wire. After the main vines produce lateral vines, retain two sturdy lateral vines near the base of the main vine and remove all other lateral vines. Every 40-50cm, tie the main and lateral vines in sequence to the nearest wire, with the two lateral vines on both sides of the main vine. When the main vine length exceeds 80cm and the lateral vines exceed 60cm, pinch the tips of the main and lateral vines and remove any remaining lateral vines to complete the shaping of the watermelon vines.
6. Fertilizing and watering thumb-sized watermelons, during the vine growth stage, use the first stage of fertilizer at a rate of 750-900 kg per mu, fertilize twice a month, and water every 5-7 days using an irrigation method. 7-10 days before the flowering and fruiting stage, apply the second stage of fertilizer once, at a rate of 1500-1800 kg per mu. During the growth stage of the watermelons, apply the third stage of fertilizer, at a rate of 4000-4500 kg per mu, water every 15-20 days using a spray method. Do not water 10-15 days before the ripening stage of the watermelons. The first stage of fertilizer includes organic fertilizer 100-200 parts, soybean meal 20-25 parts, urea 35-50 parts, dicyandiamide 10-15 parts, ammonium sulfate 5-10 parts, superphosphate 5-8 parts, and potassium sulfate 15-20 parts. The second stage of fertilizer includes organic fertilizer 100-150 parts, urea 80-100 parts, soybean meal 15-20 parts, zinc sulfate 1-2 parts, magnesium sulfate 0.5-2 parts, superphosphate 10-12 parts, potassium dihydrogen phosphate 30-35 parts, and potassium sulfate 20-25 parts. The third stage of fertilizer includes organic fertilizer 80-90 parts, urea 20-25 parts, diammonium phosphate 10-20 parts, boric acid 12-15 parts, superphosphate 30-40 parts, potassium sulfate 30-35 parts, potassium chloride 50-60 parts, potassium phosphate 25-35 parts, zinc sulfate 3-5 parts, magnesium sulfate 1-2.5 parts, manganese sulfate 1-1.5 parts, and selenium sulfate 0.5-1 part.
The detailed explanation of how to grow thumb-sized watermelons and the cultivation techniques for dwarf watermelons provided above. I hope this article can help you with green plant management!