SECTION 4

 COMMODITY PRODUCTION AND PEST CONTROL PRACTICES


 Watermelons

 Approximately 45,000-60,000 acres of watermelon are planted annually in Florida,

 making Florida the leading state in the production of watermelons. During the 1991-92 season,

 approximately 53,000 acres were planted of which 45,000 acres were harvested (FASS, 1993).

 Varieties grown in Florida include Charleston Gray, Charlee, Crimson Sweet, Jubilee,

Jubilee II, Mirage L.S., Prince Charles, Royal Jubilee and Sangria (Maynard, 1992).

Watermelon harvests begin in April or May progressing north and west and end in July. Some

watermelons are grown in the fall in south and central Florida (Stall and Showalter, No Date).

 When practicing double cropping, watermelon is a good crop to follow crops such as

tomato or pepper. Watermelon is only grown on plastic as a second crop in South Florida,

otherwise it is grown on an open bed system with no plastic or methyl bromide. In North

Florida an estimated 3,000 acres of watermelon are grown on plastic as a first crop in order to

hit the early market window. Plastic mulch enables the grower to plant earlier in the season due

to the warming effect upon the soil when using mulch.


Cultural Practices

 Watermelon production can occur on a variety of soil types, however, it is not

recommended to plant watermelon on muck soils. In order to improve the effectiveness of

herbicides and fumigants, it is suggested to plow under old crop residue for decomposition of

organic matter. The soil pH should be checked and adjusted as required (Maynard, 1992).