Abstract:

To explore suitable pollination methods for facility watermelons in Jiangsu region, experiments were conducted by detecting different indicators of watermelon yield and quality under three pollination methods: mason bee, bumblebee, and artificial pollination. The results showed that the longitudinal and transverse diameters of artificial pollination of Jingjia 301 watermelon were higher than those of mason bee pollination and bumblebee pollination; Among the three pollination methods of Jingmei 2K, the mason bee pollination has the largest vertical and horizontal diameter; There was no significant difference in peel thickness among the three pollination methods. The peel thickness of Jingjia 301 watermelon pollinated by bumblebee was higher than that of mason bee pollination and artificial pollination; The peel thickness of Jingmei 2K pollinated by mason bee was higher than that of bumblebee pollination and artificial pollination; The highest content of edge sugar and central sugar of the three pollination methods for Jingjia 301 and Jingmei 2K watermelons are all mason bee pollination; The mason bee has the lowest pollination cost, which is 41.67% of manual pollination and 67.57% of bumblebee pollination. On the premise that there is not much difference in various quality and yield indicators, mason bee pollination has the lowest cost and the best effect, so it is suitable for promotion and use in facility watermelon cultivation.

Key words: watermelon, facility cultivation, pollination, mason bee