The origin of the name cantaloupe is also rumored to be related to tribute. As early as the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, the annual tribute of King Shanshan to King Hami was always the melon of East Lake Shanshan. Because the melon produced in East Lake is sweet and Gan Chun, it has a unique flavor and is praised by everyone. After a long time, people call it the king of melons. King Shanshan gave this tribute to King Hami. King Hami saw that this melon was so special that he sent an envoy to the court of Emperor Kangxi. Emperor Kangxi tasted this kind of melon and asked its name. The chamberlain only knew that it was given by the king of Hami County, and he replied that it was Hami melon. Since then, the name of cantaloupe has spread like wildfire. This legend may not be true, but the name of cantaloupe began in the Kangxi period, which is well documented. In the Qing Dynasty, the Uighur Records of Xinjiang said: "Since Kangxi, Hami surrendered, and this melon began to pay tribute, called Hami melon." There is also a saying that most melons in Xinjiang are transported from Hami to the mainland, so people are used to calling them Hami melons.
Hami melon can be planted in most oases in the north and south of Tianshan Mountain. The annual output of fresh melons in Xinjiang is about 500,000 tons. The famous producing areas of Hami melon are Turpan Basin, Jiashi, Makaiti, Pishan, Yutian, Xiayedi, Jinghe and Wujiaqu in southern Xinjiang, which are close to the desert. Among them, the crisp melon with red heart produced in Turpan area is the most prominent. This kind of melon has now become a high-grade commodity for export (the price is two to four times higher than that of ordinary fruit), and it has crossed the ocean. Melon is oval, weighing 2-3 kg, with gray-green skin and thick reticular fruit stalk. The melon pulp is crystal clear as jade, sweet and full, mellow and refreshing. Biting your teeth is like coating your lips with sticky honey. Because this kind of melon is the best in the East Lake area of Shanshan County, there is a saying that "Xinjiang melon is the best in the world and East Lake melon is the first in Xinjiang".
Hami melon can be divided into two types: net and smooth skin. According to maturity, it can be divided into early-maturing melon eggs, summer melon (middle maturity), wax gourd (late maturity) and other varieties. Different varieties of melons have different shapes, colors and dermatoglyphics. Common fine varieties are crisp red hearts and sweet black eyebrows (melon skin has dark stripes such as beautiful eyebrows, so it is called black eyebrows; "Honey is extremely fragrant", which means flower skirt in Uygur), battery red, iron sheet, green hemp skin, netted fragrant pear, Hami Jiageda, small green husk, crisp white husk and fragrant pear yellow. Plastic greenhouse cultivation is feasible. Every May, early-maturing melons come on the market, and then all kinds of melons mature one after another. Late-maturing black eyebrow honey is very sweet as soon as it comes into the market, approaching the late autumn of 10. This kind of late-maturing wax gourd has good quality and is resistant to storage and transportation. After exposure in autumn, it is wrapped with rope and hung in a warm kiln for winter, and it is still delicious as new in spring. It is common for Xinjiang people to bask in watermelons on the roof, pile melons under the bed, cut melons to entertain visitors, and eat snacks and melons around the stove in cold winter. Hami melon is not only delicious, but also nutritious. According to the analysis, the dry matter of Hami melon contains 4.6%- 15.8% sugar and 2.6%-6.7% cellulose, as well as malic acid, pectin, vitamins A, B, C, nicotinic acid, calcium, phosphorus, iron and other elements. The iron content is two or three times higher than that of chicken and 17 times higher than that of milk. Xinjiang people love to eat cantaloupes, and it is not unreasonable to think that eating more melons can cure diseases and prolong life. Hami melon can not only be eaten fresh, but also be made into dried wax gourd, preserved honeydew melon and fruit juice. Melon seeds can be used as medicine to treat diseases, and feeding melon skin to sheep can promote fat gain. Hami melon is really a treasure of Xinjiang!
Cultivation of Hami melon
1. Land selection. Hami melon is as taboo as watermelon, so the choice of planting place is very important. The most ideal planting place is sandy loam rich in organic matter without melons (except pumpkins). If the previous crop is melon stubble or continuous cropping, the soil should be strictly disinfected. Practice has proved that soil fumigation with canned methyl bromide is one of the more effective measures to overcome the continuous cropping effect.
2. Sow at the right time. The purpose of timely sowing is to ensure the most favorable climatic conditions when the Hami melon fruit matures. The maturity of cantaloupe in spring should be arranged in early May-June, and that in autumn should be arranged in 65438+ 10. In these two periods, the temperature is higher, the rainfall is less, and the temperature difference between day and night in protected areas is large, which can ensure the formation of good fruit quality. Although Hami melon fruit can mature in hot July and August, too high temperature and small temperature difference between day and night will accelerate respiration, which is not conducive to the accumulation of photosynthetic products and lead to poor fruit quality. Therefore, the sowing date of several existing varieties of Hami melon should be arranged in the middle and late June of 65438+ 10, and the autumn planting should be arranged in the late July to early August.
3. Prune and leave the fruit. Correct pruning and fruit preservation techniques are the premise to ensure early fruit setting, early maturity and high quality formation of Hami melon. In the cultivation of cantaloupe, no matter single vine pruning or double vine pruning, only one fruit is left per vine, and the fruit is set at about 12- 15 knots. The fruit setting node is too low, the fruit shape is short, the fruit is small and the yield is low; If the fruit setting node is too high, the fruit will be longer, the ripening will be delayed, the fruit will not be fully ripe, and the sugar accumulation will be less. Artificial pollination can promote effective fruit setting, and Zuoguoling can increase the proportion of deformed fruits and reduce the quality.
4. Fertilizer operation. Scientific and reasonable fertilization is also one of the key techniques for successful cultivation of cantaloupe in Shanghai. According to the absorption law of mineral elements in the growth and development of Hami melon, the absorption ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the growth and development of Hami melon is 1: 0.5: 1.8, and the application amount of three elements per plant in production is: nitrogen 12g, phosphorus 16g and potassium 65438. We increase the proportion of phosphorus and potassium in the fertilizer during the cultivation process, so the Hami melon produced is big, sweet, excellent in quality and crisp.
5. Water resources management. Due to the high groundwater level in Shanghai, water supply will not be the limiting factor for the growth and development of cantaloupe under soil cultivation conditions, but attention should be paid to the matching of the ditch system around the cultivation site, otherwise the groundwater level will be too high in the late growth stage of cantaloupe (especially in the fruit maturity stage), which will easily lead to cantaloupe cracking. Under the condition of substrate cultivation, attention should be paid to increasing the water supply during the fruit expansion period to meet the current water demand of Hami melon, and attention should be paid to controlling the water supply during the fruit maturity period, increasing the concentration of fertilizer and water to prevent fruit cracking.
6. Pest control. Pest control, especially disease control, is the most critical link related to the success or failure of Hami melon planting in protected areas in Shanghai. Among the existing cantaloupe varieties, "98- 18" has good resistance, "Xuelihong" and "golden phoenix" have weak resistance to stem blight, and "Guo Xian" has moderate resistance to powdery mildew. If management is not strengthened in cultivation, the disease may occur and spread. The experience of controlling stem blight in cultivation process is summarized as follows:
① Keep the low humidity environment in the greenhouse. In addition to strengthening the ventilation inside the greenhouse, the fields are covered with plastic films under the condition of soil cultivation to reduce the evaporation of groundwater; Under the condition of substrate cultivation, pay attention to clean up the water leaking from the substrate tank in time and keep it dry in the shed;
② Keep the periphery of the stem base of the cultivated plant dry, and keep the dropper away from the root neck during substrate cultivation;
(3) Strict pruning, timely medication of artificial wounds to prevent the invasion of germs;
④ Strengthen management and be diligent in inspection. Once stem blight is found, the effective agents (64% antiviral alum wettable powder and 70% thiophanate-methyl wettable powder) are mixed with appropriate amount of water in equal amount, and some agricultural streptomycin can be added. ) around the affected area, once every 3 days or so, * * * 2 ~ 3 times. In addition, the effective rate of preventing stem blight can reach more than 90% by applying pesticide at the base of all cultivated plants in greenhouse once.
To prevent powdery mildew and downy mildew, the main measures are to strengthen the ventilation inside the greenhouse, reduce the environmental humidity, and at the same time strengthen the inspection to control the disease in the bud.
Pest control adopts the principle of "prevention first, comprehensive management", and the protected areas are isolated with gauze to reduce the probability of pests entering. Measures such as yellow sticky board can be used to trap and kill "insects that have escaped the net", and a small amount of chemical control can play a good control effect.
7. Appropriate harvesting. Proper harvest is the guarantee to ensure that the fruit is fully mature and fully embodies the excellent quality. Due to the need of magnesium in the process of fruit development and maturity, the magnesium in node leaves is transferred to the fruit, which leads to the loss of green mesophyll tissue due to magnesium deficiency. Therefore, when the tendrils on the fruit-setting festival dry up, the mesophyll of the leaves turns green and the leaves are scorched, it indicates that the fruit is about to enter the mature harvest period. The fruit is harvested too early, the maturity is not enough, the sweetness is low, and the fragrance is insufficient. If the fruit is harvested too late, the gum in the pulp tissue will be dissociated, the brittleness will be lost and the flavor will be poor. When harvesting, the handle should be cut into a "T" shape to prevent germs from invading from the wound of the handle and causing the fruit to rot.