When is the best time to plant loofah (how to sow and cultivate loofah for high yield)

What is the best month to sow loofah?

Sponge gourd is a popular vegetable variety. It can be cultivated in open fields or in facilities. In recent years, the cultivation of sponge gourd has brought higher economic income to growers in various places. Good summer management is a strong guarantee for the high quality and high yield of sponge gourd.

Luffa is a vegetable that is very easy to produce in large quantities. It can be grown in greenhouses in the north all year round. Winter seedling cultivation starts in November, spring seedling cultivation starts in February, summer seedling cultivation starts in May, and autumn seedling cultivation starts in August .

High-yield cultivation technology of loofah

1. Seed selection and germination

Planting loofahs should be done in early March. Choose varieties with strong disease resistance, high yield and good commercial quality.

Before sowing, put the seeds in a container, pour in warm water at 55℃-60℃, wash the seed membrane on the loofah seeds, soak for 5-6 hours, take out and wrap them with wet gauze for germination.

2. Seeding and Seedling Raising

The nutrient soil should be prepared before sowing and raising seedlings. The soil used for preparing the nutrient soil should be fine soil sieved with a sieve, and there should be no large lumps of soil in it.

Otherwise, you can use plant root activation functional fertilizer, which not only improves root vitality and root toughness, but also contains a large amount of nutrients needed by loofah, making the nutrients not easily lost and easily absorbed and utilized by plants.

When sowing, it is advisable to sow one seed per hole. Cover the seedling tray with a layer of fine soil. The soil should not be too thick, 2-3 cm is enough. If it is too thick, it will be detrimental to the germination of seeds in the future.

In order to retain moisture and increase temperature, and improve the germination speed and germination rate of seeds, a layer of film should be covered on the seedling tray. When the seedlings grow 2 leaves and 1 heart, the film can be removed. Because the temperature inside the film is relatively high, removing the film too late can easily burn the seedlings.

During the loofah seedling stage, water management is very important. The decision on whether to water should be made based on the soil moisture conditions and the condition of the seedlings. Note that the amount of watering should not be too much each time, just water when the soil is dry.

3. Field Management

(1) In mid-to-early April, when the seedlings grow to more than 10 cm, choose a plot of land that has not been planted with loofah in the past three years for transplanting.

(2) Apply sufficient base fertilizer before planting the loofah. It is best to apply organic fertilizer. Apply 5,000 kg of organic fertilizer per mu, and after fertilization, deep plow the soil to 10 cm-15 cm.

(3) Generally, the planting should be carried out according to the standard of 20 cm to 25 cm plant spacing. When planting, strong seedlings of basically the same size should be selected for planting. Weak seedlings, diseased seedlings and dead seedlings should not be planted.

(4) Place the seedlings in the pit and cover the roots with soil. Do not dig the pit too deep. Water the plants immediately after planting and make sure they are watered thoroughly.

4. Pest and disease control

(1) Open-field cultivated loofahs are highly resistant to insect pests and generally have few insect pests. The main thing to prevent is aphids and powdery mildew. You can spray 1000 times diluted 10% omethoate emulsion or 2600 times diluted 50% cypermethrin wettable powder with water for prevention and control.

(2) During the growth period of loofah, diseases such as downy mildew and powdery mildew are prone to occur. In the early stage of the disease, 60-70 grams of mancozeb per mu can be diluted to 500 times the liquid for prevention and control. Spray evenly. Spray once every 7 days, and spray 2-3 times in a row.

5. Harvest and Market

The harvest of loofahs begins at the end of June . When the loofah fruit reaches 20-30 cm in length, has a round shape, no surface damage, is soft, green, and shiny, it can be harvested.

The fruit of loofah grows fast during its peak fruiting period and can be harvested every 2 to 3 days . Mid-August is the peak fruiting period of loofah. Apply 10-15 kg of Jiamei Yinglilai per mu once a week . Apply 2-3 times and then water to keep the soil moist.