Melon Production

Melons belong to the Cucurbitaceae family. The plant grows in the form of a vine. It is basically a fruit, but some of it forms may be taken as ‘culinary vegetables’.

Many different varieties of melons are produced including Crenshaw, Juan Canary, Persian and Honeydew. Here is a look at the different factors involved in agricultural melon production.

Soils

Melons grow best in well-drained soils. Heavier soils are proffered because they can hold more water, which slows the start of the collapsing of vines, to ensure that melons grow with as little soil contact as possible, beds should left cloddy.

Irrigation

Too much saturation can be a stimulant for root rot diseases and ground spotting of fruit especially close to harvesting time. Furrow-irrigation method is usually used for melon production because sprinkling has a cooling effect on soil. Irrigations are scheduled as required to allow the replacement of moisture in the beds. The last irrigation is usually scheduled a week before the harvest.

Fertilization

Preplant P₂O₅at 100 to 150 pounds/acre is used by majority of the growers. Materials that are commonly used for fertilization include liquid ammonium phosphate (10-34-0) as a band application near the lines of the seeds or ammonium phosphate (11-52-0) prior to listing the beds. A side stressing of N is used at 150 pounds/acre. It is a normal practice to use to use a liquid solution of UAN-32 (urea-ammonium nitrate.32-0-0) or AN-20 (liquid ammonium nitrate, 20-0-0) as the N source in place of dry N fertilizers.

Pollination

The recommendation is at least one colony of bees/acre; one and one-half colonies/acre is best. The distribution of bees should be such that they are present on at least two sides of a 40-acre field; it is even better if the bees are present within the fields. If the bees are present in large numbers yields are increased. Fruit-producing flowers open only for a day. A well pollinated flower will be visited by 15 bees on average during this period of time. The flower aborts if it’s poorly pollinated. Near the crown of the plant is where the best quality, largest size and earliest maturing melons are produced. For this reason, an adequate number of bees should be present in the field when the first male blossoms develop.

Integrated Pest Control

This includes weed control and insect identification and control. The herbicides that are available for weed management are not very effective, Majority of the growers use mechanical cultivation and hand hoeing for weed control.

Melons produced in the fall season are attacked by crickets, cutworms, aphids, ground battles and some other insects. Spring melons are attacked by mites, melon aphids, cutworms and a few other insects.

Furrow irrigation reduces sudden wilt, which is a serious problem that affects melons after fruit set

Post harvest Handling

Mixed melons can be injured by wrong chilling temperatures. 7 degree centigrade is the temperature that is best for honeydews, Crenshaw’s and Persians and 10 degree centigrade for casabas.

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See Turkey !

In these hot summer days, melons are one of the favorite fruits of the Turkish people, who produce 1.8 million tonnes of melons every year. This places Turkey at the second in the world melon production, right after China, who produces 6.6 million tonnes. All this information is leading to this: We know how to grow quality melons, and now we’ll share our secrets with you.

First thing you have to do is to decide which kind of melon to grow. There are many varieties with different flavors grown around the world and your choice should suit your purposes and climate.

Overall, melons like hot or warm climates. The long growth period requires hot and sunny weather, too much moisture might cause fungal diseases. Clayed or acidic soil isn’t good for melons and it should be able to hold water well.

Melon – Cotton – Grain Rotation

A nice melon picture

To prevent diseases, you shouldn’t produce melons repeatedly on the same field. In Turkey, usually melon – cotton – grain rotation is used.

Before planting melons, you should plow lines with 2 meters of distance between them. On one side of the plowed lines, plant 4-5 seeds in groups with 75 centimeters of distance to each other. Then cover them in 5-6 centimeters of soil. In Turkey, this is done between 20th of April and 5th of May. The seeds will take root and slowly grow and you should see them sprout in 5 to 15 days. You should pull out the weak plants in every group and leave the two strongest sprouts. Later on, you should pull one of those, leaving only one.

Melons like organic materials, so it’s best to use fertilizer made from animal manure. You should apply this fertilizer in autumn, while preparing the field.

Drip Irrigation is Preferred When Producing Melons

While growing, the melon plants won’t require too much water. Actually, very little amounts of water will suffice until the fruits appear. When the fruits start growing, watering every 12 – 15 days will be good but make sure the fruits or the plant itself doesn’t get wet. Because of this, drip irrigation is preferred when producing melons.

Melons don’t require much attention, other than pulling out the foreign plants. Harvesting melons should be done in the morning, and you should immediately take the harvested melons to the bazaar or the depot.

These are some of the tips I’ve learned from my grandfather, whose melons are growing nicely. I hope you find some use among these.