Wax gourd is a familiar home-cooked fruit and vegetable, and many friends have planted it. In the process of wax gourd planting, pruning is usually not in place, which will cause the white length of wax gourd plants and the poor permeability between plants, thus affecting the yield and quality of wax gourd to a certain extent, so pruning is a very important link in wax gourd planting. As we all know, the stems and vines of melon crops have strong branching ability, and each node can produce lateral buds, grow lateral branches, and the lateral branches can be regenerated. Generally, before the wax gourd bears fruit, all the lateral branches should be cut off. After the wax gourd bears fruit, 2~3 lateral branches should be left, so that it will top when it grows to 2 true leaves, and generally the second wax gourd female flower will bear fruit. If you want to put big wax gourd on the market, you'd better choose about 28 ~ 30 knots to set fruit. After the wax gourd is seated, leave 18~20 leaves for topping. The vines on the back of the fruit are not removed to increase the leaf area, which is beneficial to the transportation of nutrients to the wax gourd fruit.

Common pruning technique of wax gourd: single pruning method of main vine

The lateral branches of the front lateral buds of the main vine 12- 14 leaves are all smoothed, and the lateral branches of the mother vine 14- 16 are reserved for melons. When the leaves grow to 9- 10, the total number of leaves has reached 23-26, and the top growth can be pinched off.

Multi-branch pruning method

Select 2-3 robust lateral branches at the base of the main vine of the plant, remove all other lateral branches, leave melons on the lateral branches, and pick 5-6 leaf cores behind the melons on each lateral branch to avoid the vigorous growth of the main stem and concentrate nutrition to grow into big melons. This multi-side pruning method is only suitable for the cultivation of ground melons, not for the erection of melons in greenhouses.

Continuous coring pruning method

Leave the third female flower in the fifth section of the main vine to bear the first melon, remove all the side branches in front of the melon, and leave two leaves to pick the core after the melon. After sitting on the melon, leave two leaves to pick the core behind the melon, and also remove all the side branches except the melon. Wait until the side branch of the second melon is seated, and continue to let the next side branch bear fruit in the same way until it can't bear fruit at last. This pruning method can make melon seedlings grow vigorously at the same time, prolong the growth period and increase the number of melons, thus increasing the yield.

Matters needing attention in pruning

1: cloudy days are not suitable for pruning branches. When pruning on cloudy days, the wound is difficult to heal, and pathogens take the opportunity to infect. It is best to do it in the morning 10 to 2 pm on a continuous sunny day to promote wound healing.

2. After watering, 1 ~ 2 days is not suitable for pruning and raking. Pruning after watering causes a large amount of bleeding and the wound is not easy to heal. Pruning should be done in sunny days after watering for 2-3 days.