By Clint Thompson
The watermelon season continues to move northward up the state of Florida. Harvests are well under way in the central and northern areas of the state.
Laura Land, member of the executive council of the Florida Watermelon Association, highlighted the current season and where growers are concentrating their harvests.
“The southern parts are coming to the end of their crops. They’re finishing up a little bit. Most everybody is moving to the Wauchula, Sebring area; not quite central, but not really south. They’re just getting started. Crops look good in that area,” Land said. “I think things are pretty much on schedule. It looks like there will be some of every age in the North Florida area; some from before Memorial Day all the way through July, from the looks of watermelons here.
“The southern areas have had some difficulties with their quality, and their crops are finishing up a little faster than they expected because they should still be picking some watermelons. But they’re finishing up fast. The area there in Wauchula, Arcadia is looking much better, and they’ve all got great crops.”
Whitefly Impact
Part of the issues that continue to challenge South Florida producers are whitefly infestations.
“The whitefly situation throughout the entire watermelon business is a problem. South Florida just can’t get past it. They’ve got too many other crops that keep the whiteflies alive throughout the year,” Land said. “There’s too many problems, that you can’t even mention all the problems that whiteflies cause.”
In the most recent edition of the South Florida Pest and Disease Hotline in April, whitefly infestations were observed in high populations across multiple areas, including Southwest Florida, along the east coast and in Homestead, Florida.
“In South Florida, the acreage has picked back up. They all, but in Immokalee, they all but quit growing watermelons. There were a few watermelons but not too many as the whitefly populations had gone down and some new chemicals had come out. They were making some headway on it and having good crops again, but I think we’re seeing the change back around where there’s no cold winters to get rid of those whiteflies. You can’t combat them,” Land said.
Whiteflies are responsible for transmitting multiple viruses, including cucurbit leaf crumple virus and cucurbit yellow stunting disorder virus.
“The viruses that transmit into the plant, there’s just no stopping those. The viruses, we don’t have any cures for whatsoever,” Land said. “Long-term, it affects the fruit, and that’s your real problem.”