How To Increase Melon Plant Productivity

Introduction

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Greetings, how are you steemit friends? hopefully healthy always and keep the spirit. In today's discussion I discuss about melon plants.

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Image source

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Melon (Cucumis melo L.) is a plant that produces fruits with greenish-green to red. Melon plants are included in the tribe of pumpkin (Cucurbitacea). Part of the melon is edible fruit (mesokarp). Melon fruit flesh has a soft texture, usually enjoyed for dessert, used as a mixture of fruit or ice can also be used for drinks such as juice.

Growth of melon plants spread and spread. Leaf shape menjari and stem is not big. Melon is one of the high value economic plants. Plant growth is environmentally friendly, can be planted in the home page or by using polyback.

Melon comes from the Persian Hot Basin or Mediterranean region border between West Asia with Europe and Africa. Then the Plant is widespread to the Middle East and to Europe.

Melon plants were brought to America by Columbus in the 14th century and grew extensively in Colorado, California, and Texas. Finally melon plants spread throughout the world including to Indonesia.
[Source]

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Melon Plant Classification and Morphology

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Kingdom	Plantae
Division	Spermatophyta
Subdivision	Angiospermae
Class	Dicotyledonae
Order	Cucurbitales
Family	Cucurbitaceae
Genus	Cucumis
Species	Cucumis melo L

source

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Melon plants are seasonal crops that spread with the help of a supporting pole. This melon plant consists of 2 copper leaves so it is covered in dikotil plant class.

Melon plants have secondary roots and primary roots. The length of the primary root from the base of the stem reaches 15-20 cm. While the secondary root of the fiber is called tertiary root, it will spread 35-45 cm.

Melon tree stems are light green and hairy, transverse diameter, and have a book or segment attached to the petiole. Usually in the main stem there is a new branch, the length is about 3-5 cm.

Leaf shape of elongated melon plants and leaves are green. The leaves of the plant have a rough surface, and the arrangement of leaves alternately.

Melon plants have female and male flowers that grow in the armpits of the leaves, male flowers in groups of 3-6 pieces. While the male flowers will appear in the axillary leaves behind with a long flat stalk and consists only of the crown of flowers and stamens and unfruitful.

Melon fruit consists of fruit skin, fruit flesh, and seeds. Melon skin is hard and thick. In the skin of melon fruit has a layer epidermis, mesodermis and endodermis. Shape melon fruit is round, oval. The color of fruit is green, yellow and also old old greenish. While the meat is white.

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Types Melon

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Before planting melon, preparation of superior melon fruit seeds is very important to do as a guarantee the production process can run smoothly. In addition, the preparation of melon fruit seeds that have superior quality play an important role in producing quality melon. Here are the famous melon types:

• Melon Christianism
• Melon Sill Hybrid
• Melon Surprise
• Melon Ivondequoit, Miller Cream, Netted Gem, Hacken Sack and Osage
• Melon Honey Rock and Improved Perfecto
• Melon Imperial
• Melon Queen of Colorado and Honey Gold.

To facilitate the melon planting and grouping system, the melon are divided into two types:

1. Netted-Melon Type
   The characteristic of this type melon peel hard, rough, veined and pictorial like a net. The scent is relatively fragrant compared to the winter-melon, faster cooking between 75-90 days, durable and long lasting to save.
   These melon varieties are: (1) Cucumis melo var. reticulatus, small fruit, veined and fragrant; (2) Cucumis melo var. cantelupensis, large fruit, scaly and fragrant skin.

1. Winter-Melon Type
   The characteristics of this type of melon, the fruit skin is smooth, shiny and the aroma is not fragrant, slow fruit cook between 90-120 days. This type of melon is easily damaged and is not durable to be stored. [Source]

Varieties of this type of melon fruit, (1) Cucumis melon var. inodorous, smooth fruit skin, elongated fruit with a diameter of 2.5-7.5 cm. (2) Cucumis melo var. flexuosus, smooth fruit surface, fruit lengthwise between 35-70 cm. (3) Cucumis melo var. dudain, small size, often for ornamental plants. (4) Cucumis melo var. chito, the size of lemon fruit, often used as an ornamental plant.
[Source]

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Preparation For Melon Planting

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A. Land of melon cultivation

Cultivating melon plants require land at an altitude of 200-2000 m asl and temperature ranges from 12-27 ⁰C. While the required soil structure is sloping and not windy conditions.

In addition, melon plants can also be cultivated in high-temperature land between 30 ⁰C to 35 ⁰C, but the irrigation should be good because the melon plants require a lot of water during cultivation. In the nursery nursery, carried out at a base temperature of about 26 ⁰C, if the temperature condition is higher then it can affect the growth of seedling seedlings.

The humidity required by melon plants during growth ranges from 70 to 80%. While the plants are still young to adult needs a maximum of 80% and at least 60%. If the moisture is too high, it can invite disease-causing organisms such as fungi that can affect the condition of the plant.

While rainfall required by melon plants, area with rainfall ranges from 2,000 to 3,000 mm / year or about 166.66 to 250 mm / month.
[Source]

B. Soil Condition

Melon plants can grow on open land such as land made bandengan, polybag, or certain other containers. Cultivation of melon plants requires ideal soil is clay soil, sandy, loose soil, good drainage, fertile, and contains soil pH between 6.0 to 7.0.

According to crop research in Indonesia, the use of soil medium mixed with bamboo leaf humus with a ratio of 1: 1 will further increase the growth a melon plants. While the soil media mixed with a mixture of bamboo leaves humus and manure with a ratio of 1: 2 will affect the condition of melon fruit to achieve maximum fruit diameter. Another option of soil mixture suggested by the plant experts needed for the cultivation of melon plants is with a mixture of soil with elements of clay, sand, humus, and manure with a ratio of 1: 1: 1: 1. [source]

Before planting melon seeds, first done is the soil eruption, the process of crushing done by digging up to a depth of ± 30 cm, then reverse the soil this is so weeds can not grow and develop. this process should be done during the dry season so that the land is easily destroyed and debilitated.

The size of the bed is 5-7 m long and 30-50 cm wide for planting one row or 1-1.25 m wide when planting two rows. High mound of soil in each of the beds 30-50 cm. [source]

C. Preparation for Melon Planting

After making a bandengan, then the installation of mulch in the period of 3-7 days before the seeds are planted. The mulch function for the ground cover, the material used is black plastic. The use of mulch aims to keep soil moisture and soil temperature stable, also can prevent the growth of weeds.

Next is the making of the planting hole, how to perforate the mulch using iron or tin cans that are heated for plastic can be penetrated with a diameter of ± 10 cm.

After the planting hole is ready. Next pairs of pole (ajir) in bed. Ajir works to support the plants or tendrils, the shape of the foot of the same triangle with a distance of ± 25 cm.

D. Selection of seeds

Seeds can be obtained from the producer or market, try the superior seeds with good quality assurance. In addition, varieties are selected according to climatic conditions where the seedlings will be planted.

E. Preparation of Fertilizer.

Fertilizers used in melon plants are organic and inorganic fertilizers. For melon plants, the fertilizer used is different from each phase, so prepare the types of fertilizer that will be needed.

Organic fertilizers that need to be prepared are compost, cattle manure, super TW plus, muhus, Gro-Mate, and Stratos. While inorganic fertilizers such as Urea, TSP, ZA, KCI, ZK, SP-36, NPK and some types of leaf fertilizer is usually in the form of liquid fertilizer.

In addition, to increase the growth of plants can be used fertilizer, Rootone F, IBA, IAA, Atonik 6.5 L, Dekamon, and others. As for the necessary substances the soil can use such as, zaegro -1, lime hydrate, dolomite, calcite, and others. [Source]

Melon plant drugs need to be prepared to anticipate the onset of disease. Drugs that need to be prepared and used include insecticides, bactericides, fungicides for fungi, and nematicides.

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Conclusion

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Melon (Cucumis melo) is included in the pumpkin tribe. Melon plants his life propagate but can not climb. The cultivation of melon is at an altitude of 200-2000 meters above sea level. If the altitude is less than 200 meters, melon plants tend to produce small fruits.

Melon plants require air humidity ranging from 70 to 80%. While the plants are still young to adult needs a maximum of 80% and at least 60%.

The famous type of melon is:

• Melon Christianism.- Melon Sill Hybrid.
• Melon Surprise.
• Melon Ivondequoit, Cream Miller, Forbidden Gem, Hacken Sack and Osage.
• Melon Honey Rock and Improved Perfecto.- Melon Imperial.
• Melon Queen of Colorado and Honey Gold.[Source]

To increase the productivity of melon plants, use organic and inorganic fertilizers. While drugs to eradicate disease are insecticides, bactericides, fungicides for fungi, and nematisida.

This is all I can discuss today and thank you to all friends who have visited my blog, if there are any shortcoming and different view I apologize. Hopefully this discussion will be useful for all of us.

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Source :

[wikipedia.org]

[Source]

[agroteknologi.web.id]

[Source]

[budidaya-petani.com]

[bestbudidayatanaman.com]

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