The place is ideal for the cultivation of melons in the range of 250-700 meters above sea level altitude. When the altitude is less than 250 meters, melon plants tend to produce small fruit. While in the highlands with temperatures below 18oC, the plant is difficult to develop.
Melon plants require humidity levels of 50-70%. The average temperature suitable for cultivation melon 25-30oC with rainfall ranging from 1500 to 2500 mm / year. Melon fruit quality will be better if there are differences in day and night temperature is quite significant.
Type of melon
Type of melon is very diverse. However, only three popular cultivars are cultivated, namely reticalatus, inodorus and cantalupensis.
Reticalatus. This type of melon is the most popular cultivars. The shape is rounded with a green rind and texture berjala, such as coated webs. Flesh colored light green to orange.
Inodorus. This type has a smooth rind not berjala. The shape is rounded to oval. Fruit skin color pale yellow to greenish yellow. No flesh color is green, orange to white. Flesh not flavorful.
Cantalupensis. This type has a bumpy rind such as pumpkin, or called berjuring. Flesh is yellow or orange, very strong aroma. Cantaloupe included in this species.
Melon plant nursery
Melon plants for cultivation usually generative propagated from seeds or seedlings. For the cultivation of one hectare required melon seed plant trees around 16.000- 20.000, equivalent to 500-700 grams of melon seeds.
Before planting the seeds should germinate in advance. You do this by soaking the seeds in warm water for 6-8 hours. If the seed has not contain fungicides, fungicide can be added to the soaking water as prescribed.
Once drained and the soaked seeds sown on a damp cloth or newspaper that has been dampened. Leave for 1-2 days until the seeds germinate. Keep the humidity of the cloth or newsprint. When visible dry splash water.
Then prepare a small polybag or nursery trays. Fill with a planting medium mix soil with compost or manure in the ratio 2: 1, see how to create a media hotbed. Immerse the melon seeds 1-2 cm deep into the planting medium.
A nursery should be protected with a clear plastic roof or lid. This is necessary so the seedlings are grown protected from excessive sun and rain water running straight. Media seedbed should continue to be controlled and observed that the humidity up. Watering it regularly but not too wet.
Seeding process typically takes up to 10-14 days. Or marked by the growth of 2-3 leaves. In this phase, the seedlings are ready to be moved to the planting site.
melon cultivation
Land preparation and planting
The land for the cultivation of melons should be plowed in advance to smooth chunk of land. Then the form of beds with a width of 100-120 cm, height 30-50 cm long, 10-15 meters and the distance between beds 50-60 cm.
After that provide basic fertilizers such as compost or manure as much as 15-20 tonnes / hectare. Add also ZA, KCl and SP-36 each 375 kg, 375 kg and 250 kg per hectare. Mix the fertilizer over the beds and mix well with soil beds. Let the land for 2-4 days.
When the pH of the soil that will be used for the cultivation of melons is less than 5, give dolomite or agricultural lime as much as 2 tons per hectare. Combine with seedbed soil at least 2-3 days prior to basic fertilization.
Furthermore lid beds with black plastic mulch silver. The black color is facing the ground and the silver color to the exterior. Make the planting hole at the top of the mulch. In each of the beds there are two rows of the planting hole with the distance between rows 60 cm and the distance between holes in a row 50-60 cm. Closure of mulch should be done a minimum of 2 days prior to planting.
The next step of planting seed that has been prepared. One seed for each planting hole. Then flush to order not wither because of drought. Planting should be done in the afternoon when the sun is not too hot.
Care melon cultivation
a. marker installation
To produce good fruit, the plants must be supported with stakes or sticks of bamboo. Functions that the resulting fruits do not come into contact with the ground. Besides that there is penetration of sunlight to all parts of the plant.
Marker installation should be done before the plants grow big. Usually before the age of 3 days since the plant was first cultivated. This meant that the stakes are plugged in not injuring the plant roots.
Set up a marker over 1.5 meters. Plug the marker in the planting hole is askew, leaning toward the upper end of the bed. So that the marker-stakes intersect, forming the letter X. Then prepare the bamboo blade longer and place them horizontally between the crosses of the stake-stakes, tie with raffia.
b. Sprinkling
Regular watering is needed in the cultivation of melons. Watering should be done every evening until the age of plants one week. Further watering is done every two days.
When the rainy season drainage must be functioning properly. Do not let the waterlogged soil. Melon plants do not require soil that is too wet.
c. fertilization aftershocks
Supplementary fertilization required from one week old plants. The fertilizer should be given a liquid. Solid fertilizer can be dissolved in advance. Fertilizers used can be an organic liquid fertilizer or artificial chemical fertilizers.
Fertilizer aftershocks with artificial chemical fertilizers are given as much as six times. Fertilizer dissolved in water and then applied to plants. Dose of fertilizer 200-250 ml / plant. The following table fertilizer requirements for the cultivation of melons:
A practical guide melon cultivation
d. artificial pollination
In the dry season the pollination carried out by insects pollinators. But when the rainy season usually decreases the intensity of insect pollinators. To get good quality do artificial pollination.
Artificial pollination is done in the morning, before lunch at 10. When the flower buds are already rather wilted or close. Perform artificial pollination in the female flowers, especially flowers that are in the branch 9 to 13th. In one tree can be grown at least 3-4 candidates fruit. And then selected again, so the fruit is maintained until the harvest is 1-2 per tree, depending on the size of the fruit. When large fruit size, just one per tree.
e. Pests and diseases
Melon cultivation in tropical areas such as Indonesia are quite vulnerable to pests and diseases. Pests that attack melon cultivation include aphids, fruit flies, caterpillars, thrips, mites. While the disease that attacks include anthracnose, fruit rot, stem rot and mosaic.
To avoid pests and diseases do technical culture such as crop rotation, balanced fertilization and maintain field sanitation. When the pest has invaded a suitable spray with pesticides. Pesticides can be organic or synthetic pesticides. Spray according to the recommended dosage.
harvesting
Usually the cultivation of melon is ready for harvest after 3 months old. The characteristics of melon is ready for harvest for reticalatus among other types of fiber mesh on the surface of the skin looks clear and rough, the surface of the skin around the stalk looks cracked, yellowish green color and has issued a scent.
Melon fruit should be picked in the maturity level of 90%, or about 3-7 days before fully ripe. It is useful to give more time to the distribution.
Harvesting is done by cutting the fruit stalk with a knife or scissors. The stalk is cut like the letter T, so the section cut is leading to the leaves rather than fruit. Harvesting preferably in the morning at around 8-11 and done gradually. Choose fruit that is truly ready for harvest.
