By Clint Thompson
The current dry weather in North Georgia is impacting specialty crop production. That’s not a bad thing for producers growing pumpkins, explains Drew Echols, owner of Jaemor Farms in North Georgia. He outlined what the pumpkin crop is experiencing this time of year.
“Once those plants get out there and get real big, it takes a whole lot of water because those leaves are big and they dry out every single day. Dry weather is a good thing as far as disease goes, but then on the other side of that, pumpkins, they like cool nights. We don’t have them right now,” Echols said. “Even in North Georgia, we don’t have cool nights. Luckily, we’re not setting fruit right now. That’s the good news, we’re nowhere close to setting fruit. We’re about a month away from that.”
According to the latest release of the U.S. Drought Monitor, the majority of North Georgia is moderately dry, starting in Dade and Walker counties, stretching eastward to Stephens and Rabun counties and southward to Paulding, Cobb and Fulton counties. Central Georgia is either abnormally dry or moderately dry. The worst conditions are located in Marion, Schley, Taylor, Peach, Macon, Houston, Pulaski, Bleckley, Dodge, Twiggs, Wilkinson, Baldwin, Jones and Jasper counties.
Echols is optimistic about this year’s crop, if the region can avoid excessive rains over the next couple of months.
“I think pumpkins are going to be good. I feel good about it right now,” Echols said. “The worst thing on pumpkins is like everything else, we just don’t need an overabundance of rain in September. These tropical storms are usually what gets you.”