Basics of loofah growing

Mondo Education Updated on 2024-02-20

What are the medicinal properties of loofah?

Luffa cylindrica (L)roem.Vascular bundles of dried ripe fruits. In summer and autumn, when the fruit is ripe, the skin turns yellow, and the inside is dry, the outer skin and pulp are removed, washed, dried, and the seeds removed. The loofah is sweet and flat. Return to the lungs, stomach, and liver meridians. It has the effect of dispelling wind, channeling, invigorating blood and lowering milk. It is used for paralysis and cramping, chest and flank swelling pain, milk blockage, cradle carbuncle swelling and pain, etc. What are the medicinal properties of loofah? Luffa cylindrica (L)roem.Vascular bundles of dried ripe fruits. In summer and autumn, when the fruit is ripe, the skin turns yellow, and the inside is dry, the outer skin and pulp are removed, washed, dried, and the seeds removed. The loofah is sweet and flat. Return to the lungs, stomach, and liver meridians. It has the effect of dispelling wind, channeling, invigorating blood and lowering milk. It is used for paralysis and cramping, chest and flank swelling pain, milk blockage, cradle carbuncle swelling and pain, etc.

What are the main producing areas and main varieties of loofah?

The loofah originated in tropical Asia, native to Indonesia, and there are two main varieties in China, namely the common loofah and the Cantonese loofah (with obvious edges and corners), the former is cultivated in the north and south of the country, and the latter is mainly cultivated in South China. What kind of soil is suitable for growing loofahs? Loofah is a vegetable crop with strong adaptability and low soil requirements, and can be cultivated in all kinds of soils. However, in order to obtain high yield, loam and sandy loam soil with thick soil layer, high organic matter content, good air permeability, and strong water and fertilizer retention capacity should be selected. How to perform loofah seed treatment? According to the different varieties of loofah, choose three ways to soak the seeds at room temperature, soak the seeds in warm soup, and soak the seeds with medicine. What are the main producing areas and main varieties of loofah? The loofah originated in tropical Asia, native to Indonesia, and there are two main varieties in China, namely the common loofah and the Cantonese loofah (with obvious edges and corners), the former is cultivated in the north and south of the country, and the latter is mainly cultivated in South China.

What kind of soil is suitable for growing loofahs?

Loofah is a vegetable crop with strong adaptability and low soil requirements, and can be cultivated in all kinds of soils. However, in order to obtain high yield, loam and sandy loam soil with thick soil layer, high organic matter content, good air permeability, and strong water and fertilizer retention capacity should be selected. How to perform loofah seed treatment? According to the different varieties of loofah, three methods were selected to soak the seeds at room temperature, warm soup and medicine to promote the germination of the loofah seeds. After the soaking process, it is cleaned and then placed at a constant temperature of about 25 degrees Celsius to promote germination. What is the cultivation method of loofah? The loofah likes temperature, and the seedlings grow slowly at low temperatures, so it can be transplanted or seeded for seedling. Before sowing, the seeds are generally soaked, soaked in water for 8-10 hours, wrapped in a damp cloth after being taken out, placed in a warm place, and sown on the seedling bed after 2 to 3 days of dew budding. When the seedlings have 1-2 true leaves, the amount of seeds per mu is 200 300g, and the open field is seeded from late April to early May, 3 4 seeds per hole, and the soil is covered with 15 cm, and fully watered, 3 4 days to emerge; The large-scale cultivation in South China is dominated by prismatic loofah, which can be divided into three sowing periods, spring sowing 2 March, summer sowing 4 May, seedling transplantation, autumn sowing in July and early August, live broadcast in order to extend the ** period. How to plant loofahs in Daejeon? When the seedlings have 4 leaves and 1 heart, they are planted on a sunny day in mid-April. Before planting, it is necessary to apply sufficient base fertilizer, generally 3000kg of decomposed organic fertilizer, 80 120kg of superphosphate, 25 30kg of urea per mu, and then deep ploughing 20cm, rake flat after building furrows, and plant about 2800 seedlings per mu. How to build a melon shed? To grow loofahs, it is necessary to build greenhouses, which can be built with tree stumps or cement. The height of the shed should not be too low, because the loofah is a creeping crop and should be more than 2m. The loofah shed should be made in a semicircle or triangle shape, which should be able to withstand the weight of ripe melons and withstand the ravages of heavy rain. How to carry out the introduction of loofah? When the loofah vine grows to about 30cm and 65cm, the vine should be pressed, and on sunny days, a small ditch can be opened in the field to press the vines into the ditch and then covered with soil, and if it is rainy, it will be pressed directly on the soil to prevent the vines from rotting in the water. When the vine is introduced, it is generally started only when the male flower appears, and after the hedge, the vine is introduced in the shape of a z-shape. It is necessary to properly remove the dead and diseased leaves, and when the leaves grow too much, they should be removed evenly at each position to keep ventilation and light. How to manage water and fertilizer during the growth period of loofah? Although the loofah has a certain drought resistance, the climate and soil conditions with suitable humidity can promote the rapid growth of the loofah. After slowing down the seedlings, water the seedlings in a timely manner, properly control the water and squat the seedlings before fruit setting, and look at the sky, the ground, and the seedlings during the fruiting period to ensure that the soil is dry and wet, and drain the water in time after heavy rain. After sitting on the melon, it is necessary to top dressing in time. Generally, 225 300kg of diammonium phosphate should be used per hectare, and irrigation should be carried out in time after top dressing. Do I need to remove some of the male flowers of a loofah? When there are too many male flowers on the plant, it is necessary to pick the flowers, cut off the excess male flowers, and leave only a small number of male flowers, which can save nutrients. The cut male flowers can be used to make soup and stir-fry. When picking flowers, you can thin the leaves by the way, cut off the overly dense leaves, old leaves, and yellow leaves, ventilate and transmit light, and reduce the occurrence of loofah diseases and pests.

What are the manifestations of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium deficiency in loofah and how to prevent it?

1) Nitrogen deficiency plants showed that plant growth was stunted and fruit development was stunted. The new leaves are small and light yellow-green in color. The old leaves are yellowed, the fruits are short, pale green, and are easy to appear when they are generally drought and fertilizer. Prevention method: apply fresh organic matter as basal fertilizer, add nitrogen fertilizer or apply fully decomposed compost. Foliar sprays 02%~0.5% urea solution or topdressing 75kg of urea can also be sprayed with 15 20kg ammonium carbonate with 500 700kg of water.

2) Phosphorus-deficient plants showed dwarfing, small and hard leaves, dark green leaves, and brown areas between the veins of the leaves. In particular, the old leaves at the bottom were more obvious, and the phosphorus deficiency between the leaf veins appeared in large yellow water-stained spots, and turned brown and withered. Prevention: Loofahs are phosphorus-sensitive crops. When the soil is deficient in phosphorus, in addition to applying phosphate fertilizer, the soil should be fertilized in advance; Phosphorus is particularly needed at the seedling stage, and attention should be paid to increasing phosphorus fertilizer; apply adequate organic matter fertilizers such as compost; Emergency measures: can be sprayed 02% potassium phosphate monobasic or 05% superphosphate in water.

3) Potassium deficiency plants showed yellowing of the leaf margins of old leaves, then turned brown and dried up, dwarfed plants, shortened internodes, small leaves, lost green between leaf veins and leaf margins in the later stage, and gradually expanded to the center of the leaves, and developed to the whole plant. Prevention method: apply sufficient potassium fertilizer, especially in the middle and late stages of growth; apply adequate organic matter fertilizers such as compost; Emergency measures: available potassium sulfate per mu on average 3 45kg, 1 topdressing. or foliar spray 03% potassium phosphate monobasic or 1% plant ash leach. In accordance with the principle of formula and balanced fertilization, reasonable micro-fertilizer. Increase the application of well-decomposed organic fertilizer and phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, cooperate with the promotion of the use of biological fungicide and biological organic fertilizer, improve the soil aggregate structure, antagonize harmful bacteria, enhance the ability of plants to resist disease and stress, and greatly enhance the healthy yield potential of plants. How to prevent and control the disease of loofah? The main diseases of loofah are cotton rot, downy mildew, etc., and the following measures are mostly adopted in green production, damage control and disaster reduction of vegetables, melons and fruits, tea, etc.

1) Cotton rot pathogens and symptoms: Flagellates subphylum, Pythium melon and fruit and Pythium delhi. The damage period of loofah cotton rot is divided into seedling stage and melon setting stage, and the seedling stage is mainly caused by cataplexy when the seedlings grow 1 2 true leaves. Fruit infection begins in the umbilicus or invades through a wound and causes whole fruit rot. The growth period of loofah fruit is long, and cotton rot often occurs heavily. The pathogen overwinters in the soil or survives unfavorable environmental conditions and can survive for a long time, and when the conditions are suitable, it can infect melon seedlings and cause cataplexy, which is spread by wind and rain or flowing water and organic fertilizer with bacteria, and invades the fruit to form cotton rot. After autumn, the bacteria form oospores in the tissues of the diseased department for overwintering. During the melon-bearing period, it is rainy and humid and prone to disease.

Prevention and control methods: increase the application of well-rotted organic fertilizer and phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, reasonable nitrogen control and micro-fertilizer. Cooperate with the promotion of the use of biological bacteria and biological organic fertilizers to improve the soil aggregate structure, antagonize harmful bacteria, and enhance the ability of plants to resist disease and stress. When planting, high furrows or ridges are used to plant melons to prevent the furrows from being waterlogged after rain. In case of rainy weather during the melon period, it is necessary to take precautions early when the humidity is high. Choose varieties that are resistant to moisture and disease. The loofah trellis should be built higher, the drooping fruit should not come into contact with the ground, and at the same time, attention should be paid to ventilation to prevent moisture from being trapped. In the north, we should pay attention to timely insertion, less watering in the early stage, more cultivation, and pay attention to wind and humidity reduction when cultivating in sheds. Biological control: Before the onset of the seedling stage, the roots are irrigated with 500 times of Bacillus subtilis or Trichoderma harzianum containing more than 1 billion spores per 1g. Scientific drug prevention and control: before the onset of the seedling stage or at the beginning of the disease, spray (irrigate) the roots with 600 times of the plant inducer aqueous agent (5% amino-oligosaccharide) (or 1000 times of 6% 24-epirupine oligosaccharide aqueous solution) and 800 times of 30% oxachloride aqueous agent, respectively. During the growing period, spray the melon evenly in time. Also available 72600 times of 2% downy mildew hydrochloride aqueous solution or 800 times of 72% frost urea cyanide manganese zinc wettable powder, or 2000 times of 27% oligosaccharides and pyraclostrobin aqueous solution, or 800 times of plant inducer island (5% amino-oligosaccharides) aqueous solution or 6% 24-epirupine oligosaccharide aqueous solution 1000 times + or 25% pyraclostrobin suspension 2000 times (or 75% oxime tebuconazole water dispersible granules 2000 times, 25% copper laminate aqueous solution 500 times, 80% Allicin EC 1000 times liquid, etc.) spray. Depending on the condition, the number of medications should be grasped, generally once every 10 days or so, and 2 to 3 times in a row. Rational compounding and alternate rotation of medications. Before harvesting, the last medication should be stopped in strict accordance with the pesticide safety interval, and the medication should be stopped one month before harvest if there is no explanation.

2) Downy mildew pathogens and symptoms: belonging to the subphylum Flagellates, Pseudodowny mildew, and Pseudodowny mildew Cuba. It is not easy to occur under normal environmental conditions. When it occurs, it mainly harms the leaves, in the early stage of the disease, irregular brownish-yellow spots appear on the front of the leaves, and gradually expand into polygonal yellow-brown lesions, when the humidity is high, the back of the lesions grows white-gray-black mold, and the whole leaves die in the later stage. The disease spots are abundant, the melon leaves are dry, the plant is prematurely senescent, the melon strips are bent and thin, and the yield and quality are reduced. In the southern region where loofahs are planted, the fungus overwinters or summers on diseased leaves, spreading through wind, rain and insects. In the north, the pathogen mainly blows from the south or adjacent areas by the monsoon for initial infection and re-infection. During the melon-bearing period, it is rainy or humid, and the disease is severe.

Control methodsAgricultural control: select disease-resistant varieties. When the disease first appears, the diseased leaves should be removed in time to reduce the spread of pathogens. Increase the application of well-rotted organic fertilizer and phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, and reasonably supplement micro-fertilizer. Cooperate with the promotion of the use of biological bacteria and biological organic fertilizers to improve the soil aggregate structure, antagonize harmful bacteria, and enhance the ability of plants to resist disease and stress. Pay attention to the pruning of vines to ensure ventilation and light between plants. Rational implementation of crop rotation. Mountain biological control: It is expected to strengthen protection before the onset of the disease, especially grasp the loofah seedling stage, vine extraction stage, early flowering stage, fruit setting stage, and full fruit stage, respectively, foliar spraying of plant resistance agent Shimasin (5% amino-oligosaccharide) water solution 800 times or 6% 24-epirue oligosaccharide water agent 1000 times solution, stimulate loofah rooting and promote growth, increase yield and quality, disease resistance and stress resistance on the basis of spraying 500 times of Bacillus subtilis or Trichoderma harzianum containing more than 1 billion per 1g, or 036% matrine aqueous solution 800 times solution, or 25% spinomycin suspension 1500 times. The above is better mixed with island water agent, and the mountain scientific drug prevention and control: seed treatment, 2 3 days before spring loofah sowing, soak the seeds in 55 warm water for 30 minutes, and stir constantly, after the water temperature drops, pick up and wrap it in gauze, etc., freeze it in the refrigerator for 4 hours, and then take it out and then use water to spread it for 12 hours, drain the water with 600 times of the plant inducer aqueous agent island (5% amino-oligosaccharide) + 10% difenoconazole water dispersible 1000 times liquid soak the seeds for 2 3 hours, and then put it in the incubator of 25 30 to promote germination. Seedbed disinfection, select soil with good soil quality and high fertility as culture material, add an appropriate amount of organic fertilizer and a small amount of lime and plant ash for sterilization, and use 800 times of 72% frost urea cyanide and manganese zinc wettable powder in the mixture to spray the soil. It is expected to spray in time before the onset of the disease or in the early stage, in the loofah seedling stage, vine extraction stage, early flowering stage, fruit setting stage, and full fruit stage, respectively, foliar spraying of 800 times of plant resistance agent Insin (5% amino-oligosaccharide) aqueous agent or 6% 24-epirue oligosaccharide aqueous agent 1000 times solution, stimulate loofah rooting and promote growth, increase yield and quality, disease resistance and stress resistance on the basis of timely spraying control, you can choose 72600 times of 2% downy mildew hydrochloride aqueous solution, or 800 times of 72% frosty urea cyanide manganese zinc wettable powder, or 525% oxazolone, cyanide (fast net) 1000 times, or 47% Chunlei Wang copper (2% Chunleimycin 45% copper oxychloride) wettable powder 1000 times, or 27% oligosaccharide pyraclostrobin aqueous solution 2000 times, or 25% pyraclostrobin suspension 2000 times (or 75% oxime tebuconazole alcohol water dispersible granules 2000 times, 25% copper cycline 500 times, etc.) are sprayed evenly. At the same time, it can also treat a variety of other diseases.

How to control loofah pests? The main pests of loofah are wild borer, etc., and the following measures are mostly used in green production, pest control and disaster reduction of vegetables, melons and fruits, tea, etc. Wild borer belongs to the order Lepidoptera, Moth family.

1) For the occurrence of several generations of damage in a year, the largest number of occurrences in July and September, and the generations overlap, the harm is serious, the staple mesophyll is eaten, and only the leaf veins are left in a large area when it is serious, which seriously affects the yield and quality of loofah.

2) Prevention and control methods: After harvesting, combined with accumulated fertilizer, concentrated burning of dead vines and fallen leaves to reduce the source of insects. In the early stage of larval occurrence, the damaged leaf curls should be removed in time to eliminate some larvae biological control: spray 1 billion spore grams of BT biological agent 300 500 times the solution at the peak of egg hatching, or 036% matrine aqueous solution 800 times solution, or 25% spinomycin suspension 1500 times. Scientific drug prevention and control: after the egg hatching period, the young larvae are in the peak stage of immediate control, and the preferential use of 5% lice mite urea emulsifiable concentrate 1500 times liquid spray control, to maximize the protection of natural enemy resources and media insects. Other agents can be sprayed with 10% cyantraniliprole dispersible oil suspension 2000 times, or 20% chlorantraniliprole suspension 2000 times, or 50% phoxanthion emulsifiable concentrate 1000 times, 10% chlorfenapyr suspension 1500 times, etc., and at the same time treat thrips. Add the permeable agent, spray evenly and penetrate thoroughly, and grasp the number of medications according to the insect situation. How to pick a loofah? The loofah has a strong continuous fruiting and it bears fruit very quickly in the summer. With proper maintenance and management, it can bear fruit once in 3 to 4 days. 10 to 14 days after flowering, when the fruit is fully grown and relatively brittle, it should be harvested in time. Picking should be done in the morning, using scissors to cut from the fruit stalk. Be careful not to pull with your hands so as not to tear the vine apart.

How to process loofah? (1) The loofah takes the original medicinal materials, removes impurities and residual seeds, flattens them, cuts them into small pieces, and sieves away the ashes. (2) Take the loofah charcoal, put it in a frying container, heat it with a fire, fry it until the surface is charred black, the inside is brown, spray water to extinguish the fire, take it out, and dry it.

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