John Bennett: “Everything is conducive right now for everything to go wrong.”
By Clint Thompson
Watermelons produced in Wilcox County, Georgia, are at baseball to softball size in most fields. Considering the late start to the planting season for most growers, that development is not far off for this time of year.
John Bennett, University of Georgia (UGA) Wilcox County Extension Coordinator, discussed the situation facing producers in his area.
“Historically, we try to be in (the ground) by March 25 or at least start, and we probably didn’t get started until the first week of April. We were on average, I’d say safely, 10 to 14 days behind in planting. But I think our crop, with the warm weather we had, we’ve had a few cool days, but we have progressed fairly well,” Bennett said. “I’m not going to say we’re on schedule, but we’re not far behind.”
Fungicide Sprays Needed
But when it comes to keeping pace with fungicide sprays amid the excessive rains this spring, that’s another story.
“We’re going to be behind on fungicide programs, and our disease management right now is going to be imperative. That’s probably going to be our next issue,” Bennett said. “We’re going to have to be in there as soon as we can. We’re probably going to be behind on fungicide programs, so we’re going to have to play catchup and be diligent, use some money and high dollar programs to make sure we stay protected as long as we can.”
According to the UGA Automated Weather Network, rainfall recorded from May 1 to May 19 in nearby Cordele netted 6.75 inches. It was the same rainfall recorded in nearby Vienna as well.
Watermelon diseases respond to weather conditions consistent with heavy moisture which is certainly the case following last week.
“I’ve got some tissue samples in my office right now that we’re trying to look over for gummy stem blight. We’ve seen fusarium in fields already and had some rhizoctonia in some fields and keeping our eye out for downy mildew. Pretty much anything’s game at this point,” Bennett said.
“Everything is conducive right now for everything to go wrong.”