watermelon have take a bright sheen on the leaves (looks like sap) and are
>becoming covered in white spots/dots. Did we get them planted to late? They
>always advertise that fresh grown watermelons will be in the store in time
>for the 4th of July. The bigger melons that made have already have splits in
>them. Any help?
>
>THX
>Nicole
Too many questions and not enough information.
- Here in middle Ga, in a normal year I can get a watermelon ripe for the 4th of July. This year has been cool and wet and the first melon ripened July 27. Back in Virginia we looked for our first mellon around the middle of August. So lateness depends on your location a nd season.
- Watermelons have a few insect pests (striped cucumber beetle is my worst) so do a careful search for chewing/sucking pests on the vine, formatting linkare also attacked by many foliar diseases, Copper based fungicides will control many of these.formatting linkis a good source of info.
- While some varieties are more prone to spliting, the heavier than normal rainfall this year has caused splitting in thick rind varieties, I even have Crimson Sweets spliting, Good thing I didn't even try Tastigold or Scaley bark this year, They split if you look at them crosseyed.