By Clint Thompson
A common theme so far this spring for North Florida watermelon producers has been damage to plants from wind and sandblasting. It might force some growers to consider their replanting options, says Bob Hochmuth, UF/IFAS Regional Specialized Extension agent in Live Oak, Florida.
“If you keep on getting sandblasted, the first thing that happens is those outer leaves are going to get burned and crispy. The problem is if it gets down into that protected growing point, to the point it has significant damage on the growing point, then it basically kills the plant and/or renders it in pretty sad shape,” Hochmuth said. “Those are ones where they should go over the field, make an assessment, and if they can get access to replants, go ahead and replant those that are really bad.”
After Monday’s rainfall in the region, the rest of the week should provide growers an opportunity to look over the fields and determine what plants need to be replaced and which ones might improve.
What to Look for
“The most important thing is to focus on that new growth and see after a couple of days what that new growth is going to look like. Is it pushing new leaves? Is it clear that it’s not going to push new leaves? That’s where they need to focus on, on deciding whether those plants need to be replaced or not,” Hochmuth said. “It’s hard to see that until you get a couple of good days of growing weather for them to push.
“I spent a good bit of time last week out in the fields, and no matter where we went, if there wasn’t real good wind protection, then there’s a lot of plants that just got the dickens beat out of them. I think the plants, for the most part, are established, so they’re rooting in, and I think would recover pretty quickly if we can get a few days of good, warm nights and good, warm sunny days and no more wind of any consequence for this week.”