[Objective] The research aimed to explore the most suitable gravel cover- ing thickness for selenium sand melon in arid region of central Ningxia. [Method] The natural gravel, which was from Nanshantai Region in Zhongwei City, Ningxia, was acted as test materials to study the effects of different thicknesses of gravel covering on daily evaporation using evaporator overall weighing method. [Result] The daily evaporation capacity order of the gravel covering thickness was as follows： CK〉HI（5 cm）〉 H2（8 cm）〉 H3（10 cm）〉 H4（15 cm）. Meanwhile, with the increase of test days, the difference of cumulative evaporation capacity between H3 （10 cm） and H4 （15 cm） decreased gradually. Soil evaporation capacity reduced at the pow- er function with the increase of gravel covering thickness, and the decision coeffi- cient of the fitted curve reached to 0.925 5. [Conclusion] With the increase of gravel covering thickness, evaporation capacity of soil reduced gradually, and the soil water content increased gradually. Gravel covering could effectively reduce the evapora- tion. The thicker of covering, the more obvious inhibition effect on evaporation. The thickness of covering should increase moderately to prevent moisture loss from e- vaporation. Gravel inhibition effect on the evaporation wasn＇t obvious when the gravel covering thickness reached more than 10 cm. 10 cm gravel covering was the most appropriate thickness for local natural condition. The soil evaporation capacity along with the change of gravel covering could be simulated with power function e- quation Y=at^b.
