Effects of Application Rates of Vermicompost on the Growth and Quality of Specialty Small Watermelons
LI Chen
LIU Lijuan
SHE Xiaoling
ZHOU Chengxian
LV Yang
WANG Fuli
NIE Qing
LI Ting
Abstract：To investigate the appropriate application rate of organic fertilizer for specialty small watermelons,this experiment used the specialty small orange-fleshed watermelon variety'Jingcai No.3'as the material.Four treatments were set up:three concentrations of vermicompost—T1(2 t/667 m2),T2(4 t/667 m2),T3(6 t/667 m2)—and the conventional farmer practice of vermicompost application T4(8 t/667 m2).Plant height,stem diameter,yield,and fruit quality were measured.The results showed that the T2 and T3 treatments performed relatively well in terms of plant growth and fruit quality indicators.Based on a comprehensive evaluation of all experimental data and field performance,it was recommended that after reducing the basal fertilizer rate in high-fertility soils,if the goal was to maximize yield,the optimal organic fertilizer application rate was 4 t/667 m2,reaching the greatest height(2.08%higher than the control)and achieving a relatively high yield(5.49%higher than the control).If the goalwas to optimize fruit quality,an application rate of 6 t/667 m2 was recommended,with better fruit quality,and central sugar content increased by 3.22%compared to the control.Further field trials and demonstrations should be conducted to facilitate the application and promotion of these findings based on market demand and the needs of growers.
Keywords：Small watermelonorganic fertilizer application rateyieldfruit quality
Publication Date：2026-03-31
Online Publishing Date：2026-08-28(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：5( 23-27 )