Posts Tagged Pollination
September 5, 2009 at 3:57 am · Filed under Melon ·Tagged acre field, ammonium nitrate, ammonium phosphate, band application, colony of bees, cucurbitaceae family, duri, fertilization, Fertilizers, furrow irrigation, honeydew, irrigation method, irrigations, liquid solution, melon production, melons, Pollination, root rot diseases, sprinkling, stimulant
Melons belong to the Cucurbitaceae family. The plant grows in the form of a vine. It is basically a fruit, but some of it forms may be taken as ‘culinary vegetables’.
Many different varieties of melons are produced including Crenshaw, Juan Canary, Persian and Honeydew. Here is a look at the different factors involved in agricultural melon production.
Soils
Melons grow best in well-drained soils. Heavier soils are proffered because they can hold more water, which slows the start of the collapsing of vines, to ensure that melons grow with as little soil contact as possible, beds should left cloddy.
Irrigation
Too much saturation can be a stimulant for root rot diseases and ground spotting of fruit especially close to harvesting time. Furrow-irrigation method is usually used for melon production because sprinkling has a cooling effect on soil. Irrigations are scheduled as required to allow the replacement of moisture in the beds. The last irrigation is usually scheduled a week before the harvest.
Fertilization
Preplant P2O5 at 100 to 150 pounds/acre is used by majority of the growers. Materials that are commonly used for fertilization include liquid ammonium phosphate (10-34-0) as a band application near the lines of the seeds or ammonium phosphate (11-52-0) prior to listing the beds. A side stressing of N is used at 150 pounds/acre. It is a normal practice to use to use a liquid solution of UAN-32 (urea-ammonium nitrate.32-0-0) or AN-20 (liquid ammonium nitrate, 20-0-0) as the N source in place of dry N fertilizers.
Pollination
The recommendation is at least one colony of bees/acre; one and one-half colonies/acre is best. The distribution of bees should be such that they are present on at least two sides of a 40-acre field; it is even better if the bees are present within the fields. If the bees are present in large numbers yields are increased. Fruit-producing flowers open only for a day. A well pollinated flower will be visited by 15 bees on average during this period of time. The flower aborts if it’s poorly pollinated. Near the crown of the plant is where the best quality, largest size and earliest maturing melons are produced. For this reason, an adequate number of bees should be present in the field when the first male blossoms develop.
Integrated Pest Control
This includes weed control and insect identification and control. The herbicides that are available for weed management are not very effective, Majority of the growers use mechanical cultivation and hand hoeing for weed control.
Melons produced in the fall season are attacked by crickets, cutworms, aphids, ground battles and some other insects. Spring melons are attacked by mites, melon aphids, cutworms and a few other insects.
Furrow irrigation reduces sudden wilt, which is a serious problem that affects melons after fruit set
Post harvest Handling
Mixed melons can be injured by wrong chilling temperatures. 7 degree centigrade is the temperature that is best for honeydews, Crenshaw’s and Persians and 10 degree centigrade for casabas.
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September 4, 2009 at 2:22 pm · Filed under Greenhouse, Melon ·Tagged cucumbers, drip irrigation system, female flower, glasshouse, grass clippings, Greenhouse, inch pipe, inch pots, male flowers, melon seeds, mid day, Organic matter, paint brush, Pollination, potting soil, seedlings, single line, straws, tennis balls, trellis
When you start to feel that cucumbers is no longer attractive to grow in your greenhouse, and your friends no longer visit you in late summer to avoid the free tomatoes, you should really consider of growing melons.
Sow the melon seeds in your greenhouse between mid April and end of May. Sow them directly into 3 inch pots using standard potting soil.
Once the seedlings bear two true leaves, plant them out in a cold glasshouse inside growing bags. Better yet, plant them directly into well-prepared soil (with lots of organic matter) in your greenhouse. Composted grass clippings and straws are good ideas if your melons are trenched in using the double digging method.
Create some support for your melons. This may be a single line of string tied to the supports in the glasshouse roof, which is then secured in the ground with a peg next to the base of the melons. Or, you can always use a fan trellis.
As the melons start to grow, tie the strongest shoots to the support and pinch out the side shoots that grow from the main stems. When the stems reach the top of the support, pinch out the leading shoots. This trick will help your melons concentrate on bearing more and larger fruits.
Next key is watering. Water your melons well. Oh, they love plenty of water. The best way is using a drip irrigation system. Another is inserting a 3 inch pipe when planting those melons so that water can directly touch the roots. Remember that it should be constantly moist, not wet. So water your melons well, but never too much.
Once the flowers grow, take a small paint brush and lightly brush each flower to aid pollination. It is recommended to be done during mid-day since it is when the humidity is high. After 2 or 3 days remove the male flowers (note: a female flower has a melon-like growing at its bottom part).
Once the fruits grow, feed them with a liquid melon fertilizer (the one usually used to fertilize tomatoes as well) once a week.
When the fruits are as big as tennis balls, support them using string nets. As the summer passes by and the fruits reach full size, remove a few leaves to allow them ripen. Keep in mind that in the peak of the summer your greenhouse must be kept humid by watering the path early in the morning. Keep a bucket of water standing still inside it is a good trick, too.
Growing melons may be challenging, but the rewards are worth the efforts. The harvest can be enjoyed in various dishes. Tasty sweet!
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April 15, 2009 at 2:49 pm · Filed under Squash ·Tagged Agriculture, cpa, crop season, cucumber, early spring, female flowers, flies, Flower, Fruit, Greenhouse, greenhouses, high temperature, insecticides, insects, insemination, light frost, mosquito, mosquito net, muslin, Plant, Pollination, ppm, Seed, seedlings, spring season, squash plant, viruses
Squash cultivation is economical during fall, early spring and single-crop seasons. The appropriate drilling periods are September during the Fall season, the end of October, the beginning of November (in a single crop season) and the middle of December during the early spring season. Squash seedlings are grown in the same manner as that of cucumber seedlings. However, as there is a considerable risk of viruses during the fall season, seedlings need to be covered with a fine muslin or a mosquito net for protection against white flies.
Squash plants should be trellised using string in order to maximize space and pruning is not necessary. However, fruit flowers which are not inseminated on the plant and thus not able to grow should be picked up and discarded (as these are the most appropriate environments for the development of grey mould and white mould, which are serious diseases found in greenhouses). Additionally, squash does not like too much heat.
On the other hand, squash grows well in low temperatures but a light frost can cause plants to die, so they must be carefully watched. Male and female flowers, which are on the different parts of the squash plant, need to be pollinated via insects, therefore, unnecessary insecticides should be avoided.
In addition, in January and February during a single crop season (when the environment is not appropriate for insemination), it is possible to promote fruit sets by using 4 CPA hormone application with the dosage of 20 PPM to newly emerged female flowers. Squash should be harvested once every 3 three weeks (at the latest) during winters and once every two weeks during other seasons. Harvesting should be accomplished via a knife and fruit should not be harmed. In addition, during seasons with high temperatures, harvesting should be done early in the morning.
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April 12, 2009 at 7:33 am · Filed under Articles, Beekeeping, Editor's Corner, Mother Nature, Seeds, Vegetative Production ·Tagged bees, Flower garden, free seeds, garden, Pollination, sunflowers
Life used to be far less complex than it is today, a sentiment that I’m sure countless generations before me have uttered time and time again. My reference point is the late 70s and early 80s, which doesn’t seem that long ago (in Read the rest of this entry »
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April 7, 2009 at 6:54 am · Filed under Orchard, Seeds, Vegetative Production ·Tagged Apple, apricot, bloom, cherry plum, Flower, flower production, Fruit, fruit production, Fruit tree, fruit trees, fruit types, hazelnut, Orchard, peach, pear, Pollen, pollens, Pollination, production trees, seedlings
Foreign pollination is a must for fruit production trees of many fruit types and varieties. Despite heavy flower production, fruit trees that tend to produce little to no fruit likely suffer from a lack of effectively-inseminating species. Read the rest of this entry »
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April 1, 2009 at 4:43 pm · Filed under Articles, Beekeeping, Mother Nature, Seeds, Useful Methods ·Tagged Bee, beetles, birds and bees, close quarters, critters, dragonflies, elbow room, family audiences, Flower, hearts content, house flies, Hummingbird, moths, nectar, next crush, paced lives, Pollen, Pollination, Pollinator, Seed, Species, spring and summer, stamens, suitors, task list, white noise, winged creatures
In our fast-paced lives, we tend to get caught up in a never-ending task list of must-do, must-see business (or white noise, as the locals call it). We’re always going, going, going and yet we never really arrive anywhere in particular. It’s quite a shame, really, because the blur of our activities leaves us numb and co Read the rest of this entry »
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Agricultural Biodiversity 