How to Grow Watermelon from Farmers in Poso
Watermelon
cultivation can be a lucrative source of income. According to the publication
in the Journal of Agribest Vol. 2 No. 1, March 2018, watermelon has a
production contribution of 576,178 tons and ranks 10th out of 26 types of fruit
commodities in Indonesia.
Watermelon
is a tropical plant. Referring to the book "Seedless Watermelon"
published by Dharma Utama Publishing, the watermelon plant originated in
Central Africa, then spread to India and China, to Indonesia.
In its
growth, watermelon requires a lot of sunlight and high temperature air around
25-30 degrees Celsius. Watermelon plants are suitable for areas with rainfall
of 40 to 50 mm per month.
Referring
to the article by Enny Maryani S., S.P. According to the website of the
Ministry of Agriculture, watermelon is suitable for planting in areas or places
with temperatures around 25 degrees Celsius during the day.
So, for
those of you who want to grow watermelons, soil conditions need to be
considered. Soil for growing watermelons is suitable in a pH range of 6 to 6.7.
If the soil conditions do not meet the criteria, then a liming process is
needed to the appropriate soil pH.
Planting
watermelons need to pay attention to many things. Reported from the publication
of the Ministry of Agriculture (cybex.pertanian.go.id), here's how to grow
watermelon.
Planting
watermelons begins with clearing and plowing the soil. Then proceed with the
provision of agricultural lime as much as 1.5 tons / ha for soil pH below 6.
Mix the
soil with fermented manure as much as 1.5 tons/ha and NPK fertilizer at a ratio
of 15:15:15 as much as 100 kg/ha.
Then
stirred so that the fertilizer that has been given is mixed with the soil.
Making
beds is done by hoeing the soil and then raising the soil so that the surface
of the beds becomes higher. The beds for planting watermelons are made as wide
as five meters, the distance between the beds is 60 cm and the height of the
beds is 40-60 cm.
The
next step, the soil in the middle of the bed is divided into two parts and then
lifted to the edge of the bed so that the two edges of the bed will form a soil
with a width of one meter.
So that
in one bed with a width of five meters there are two planting beds on the right
and left one meter wide. The two planting beds are tilted towards the middle.
At the midpoint, where the two beds meet, a 20 cm wide water channel with a
depth of 10 cm is made.
Prepare
plastic mulch by making holes with a diameter of 10 cm at the same distance as
the planting distance. Plastic mulch is covered on top of the bed. The edges of
the mulch are pegged with bamboo slats or wire.
Nursery
preparation for planting watermelons requires a seedbed to protect the young
seedlings. Provide seedling media with a composition of 10 liters of manure, 20
liters of soil, and 150 grams of fine NPK fertilizer. Mix the media and then
put it in the seedling.
After
providing the seedling media, follow the steps to prepare watermelon seeds as
follows.
The
seedling medium is watered sufficiently. Selected seeds that have appeared will
be immediately sown in polybags measuring 1-1.5 cm. Nursery bags are placed in
rows so that they are exposed to full sun. Give transparent plastic with one
end / edge open.
Planting
holes were made one week before planting with a depth of 8-10 cm and a distance
of 20-30 cm from the edge of the bed. The distance between the watermelon
planting holes is about 90-100 cm.
Seedlings
that have grown to four true leaves are ready to be transferred to the field.
One planting hole for one seed. Planting watermelons should be done in the
morning before 10:00 WIB or in the afternoon after 15:00 WIB to avoid plants
experiencing high stress due to the scorching sun.
Fertilizer
for watermelon plants is a type of NPK with a ratio of 15:15:15 and a dose of
two to three grams per plant stem. Fertilizer is watered once a week.
When
the plant has entered the generative phase, KCl fertilizer can be given at a dose
of two to three grams per watermelon plant stem.
In the
maintenance of watermelon plants, it is necessary to pay attention to important
things. Based on the book "Technical Instructions for Watermelon
Cultivation" published by the Tropical Fruit Crops Research Institute, the
following is how to maintain watermelon plants.
Watermelon
plant embroidery is carried out no more than 10 days from the first stage of
planting. This is to ensure uniform plant growth.
Seedlings
that are attacked by stem fall (rot) disease need to be destroyed then the
surface of the soil is removed and replaced with new soil and then planted with
embroidered seeds.
Watermelon
plant embroidery is done no later than 3 days after planting (DAT) until the
plant is 10 days old. Watermelon plants that are too old if they continue to be
embroidered will result in non-uniform growth.
This
will affect the maintenance of watermelon plants and control of pests and
diseases when they are mature.
If the
watermelon plant has too many branches and leaves, it will inhibit generative
growth. In addition, if the environmental conditions are humid, the plants will
be susceptible to disease or low production (small fruit).
Branches
that are maintained only three to four main branches per plant so that the
watermelon fruit size becomes large. Pruning the growing point is done seven to
ten days after planting using a sterile knife or scissors.
The
former watermelon stalk pruning is sprayed with a fungicide. If the branch
reaches a height of 20 cm, then three healthy and sturdy branches are left to
be maintained as the main branch if you want to maintain more than one fruit
per plant.
Artificial
pollination is usually carried out from the fourth week of the second month or
21 days after planting until the third week of the month or 28 days after
planting. The advantage of artificial pollination is that the fruit produced is
perfect and the watermelon plant population can be regulated
The
female flowers are selected starting from the 13th or 14th leaf internodes to
get satisfactory results. One pollinator male flower is only pollinated on one
female flower.
Three
to five days after pollination, the success of the pollination can be known.
The hallmark of successful pollination is that the pollinated flowers turn
upside down and face down so that the ovules develop. The number of fruits that
are maintained depends on the needs and conditions of the plant.
Provision
of litter/straw for fruit mats serves to suppress weed growth. Fruit that is
not given a base results in an abnormal shape and is susceptible to disease.
In the
rainy season, fruit mats are replaced with bamboo slats. Because wet hay can
lead to the proliferation of plant diseases.
Watermelon
plants need a lot of water, especially in the vegetative phase. Irrigation in
the generative phase (appearing flowers) needs to be reduced. When the plant
begins to bear fruit, watering is added and reduced during the fruit ripening
phase.
Weeding
is done carefully so as not to touch the roots of the watermelon plants.
Additional
fertilizers given to watermelon plants at the age of 25 days after planting
were foliar fertilizers and flush fertilizers with high nitrogen content. The
foliar fertilizer used is a multimicro type with a dose of 2 cc/liter and a
mixture of ZA + NPK (15:15:15).
The
fertilizer is diluted in a 1:1 ratio, which is 5 grams per liter of water. The
generative phase and fertilization by giving 10 grams of NPK per liter were
thawed and watered as much as 250 ml per plant hole.
In the
enlargement phase and the increase in fruit sugar content (45-55 days after
planting) additional KNO3 fertilizer in the amount of 10-15 grams per liter was
thawed. Flush 250 ml of fertilizer per plant hole.
Watermelon
fruit turning is done twice a week. The color of the fruit skin that is never
turned will turn yellowish white because it is not exposed to sunlight.
There
are several factors that affect the harvest age of watermelons. Referring to
the book "Technical Instructions for Watermelon Cultivation", the
harvest age of watermelons varies from 65 to 85 days after planting, depending
on genetic factors, climate, and cultivation practices.
Watermelon
planting at an altitude of 700-900 meters above sea level has a longer harvest
life, which is about 90 to 100 days after planting. The characteristics of
watermelons that are ready to harvest are:
The
right time to harvest is in the morning, because the process of accumulating
nutrients occurs at night. The fruit is harvested by cutting the stalk using a
knife at a distance of seven centimeters from the fruit.
Watermelon
harvest is carried out in stages by prioritizing plants that are ready to
harvest first. Harvested fruit is collected in baskets with care to prevent
physical fruit defects.
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