By Clint Thompson
Watermelon season is in full swing throughout Florida. The South Florida crop is currently being harvested, while the North Florida plantings are progressing with an aim towards the Memorial Day harvest window.
Laura Land, a watermelon farmer from Branford, Florida, and member of the Florida Watermelon Association, discussed the harvest timeline that Florida growers can expect over the next couple of months.
“I’d say the deep south, the Immokalee area, they’re going to come in through the month of April. You’ve got some Labelle area that’s still pretty young melons, through the Arcadia, Plant City area that should come in mostly through the month of May,” Land said. “They’ll be tailing out by the time we start here. I’d say here in North Florida if things keep going like they are that we could all start by the middle to the end of May and definitely make that week prior to Memorial Day.”
North Florida plantings were established earlier this year due to warmer temperatures in February. The hope was for growers to start harvesting before Memorial Day, one of the major holidays, with July 4 being the other that Southeast producers hope to capitalize on. But that also could present an issue if too much fruit is on the market at one time. Land does not believe that will be a concern, however.
“What we’ve seen is there’s still never as much volume for the Memorial Day holiday as there is by the time we hit the Fourth of July. Memorial Day seems like we still are below production as far as, if the weather will warm up, up north, it’s a major holiday, so we can sell more than we’ve been producing,” Land said. “So, I don’t see that being a real issue.”