Effects of reducing chemical fertilizer and combining with organic fertil-izer on soil nutrients,melon yield and quality

ZHOU Lili; ZHOU Xiaoyu; YU Xuan; ZHAO Yanhao; ZHANG Feixue; WANG Fengying; SHEN Weixin

doi:10.16861/j.cnki.zggc.2025.0602

Abstract：This study investigated the effects of reducing chemical fertilizer combined with organic fertilizer application on soil nutrients,melon yield,and fruit quality using Cuixue 5 melon as the test material through six fertilization treat-ments including no fertilizer(CK),conventional fertilization(T1),organic fertilizer substituting for 20%chemical fertilizer(T2),30%(T3),40%(T4),50%(T5).The results demonstrated that,compared with the T1 treatment,the T2 to T5 treat-ments all effectively stabilized soil pH and alleviated the soil acidification caused by the application of chemical fertilizer alone.Furthermore,soil organic matter content and electrical conductivity(EC)exhibited an increasing trend with a higher proportion of organic fertilizer substitution,with the T5 treatment showing the best comprehensive performance across multiple soil fertility indicators.Regarding yield,no significant differences were observed among the fertilization treat-ments,although the T1 treatment(chemical fertilizer alone)recorded the highest numerical yield.In terms of fruit quality,compared with T1,the T2 to T5 treatments improved fruit taste,with the T5 treatment achieving the highest taste score.A comprehensive evaluation using principal component analysis further confirmed that the T5 treatment was the most effec-tive.Under the conditions of this experiment,the T5 treatment(50%substitution of chemical fertilizer with organic fertil-izer)maintained melon yield while effectively improving soil physicochemical properties and enhancing fruit flavor quality.Therefore,it is recommended as an optimal fertilization strategy for achieving the dual goals of reducing chemical fertilizer input,increasing efficiency,and synergistically improving quality in melon production.