BLACKVILLE -- It hasn’t been a typical growing season for watermelon producers. But then again, neither was last year.

Thursday’s Watermelon Field Day at the Edisto Research and Education Center presented growers, industry representatives and interested individuals with the tools to understand and successfully manage the ins and outs of irrigation, disease control and variety selection of watermelons.

Edisto REC Director Dr. John Mueller welcomed the crowd of nearly 200 and turned the program over to Gilbert Miller, Clemson Extension Service area vegetable specialist, who, as Mueller pointed out, “is the person responsible for 99 percent of the work you’ll see here today.”

“This has been quite a different year,” Miller said. “We’ve had around 20 inches of rain so far compared to the 5 inches this time last year.”

Miller introduced the speakers and their topics: Dr. Hamid Farahani – tactical irrigation, Dr. Christina Wells -- the hidden part of the plant, and Dr. Tony Keinath -- disease control.

Farahani described the research being done by Miller at Edisto REC as “spoon feeding the plants.” He emphasized the importance of sustainable and effective irrigation techniques through the use of sensing devices placed in the fields.

“The future is in ‘real time’ capability of managing irrigation needs by bringing your data to your office and using automation to trigger systems,” Farahani said. “The research going on here is answering the questions of when to turn irrigation off and on based on allowable depletion levels, soil field capacity and knowing where the plant roots are.”

Clemson professor Wells broke down the science of plant root physiology to a practical level, explaining three main aspects of a plant’s root system, the hidden part of the plant. She emphasized it is important for growers to understand where roots grow (depth and width in the soil layers), how roots take up water and how roots take up nutrients.

“Most of the fine feeder roots of a mature watermelon plant are in a shallow area near the surface,” Wells said.

Water intake by a plant can be affected greatly by soil type and soil compaction, Wells said. In flooded soils, such as our area experienced this spring, plants suffer from oxygen deprivation, Wells said.

Keinath discussed his latest research into disease control in watermelons. He concentrated on fusarium wilt and gummy stem blight, two major problems in melons. Both affect plant vigor and fruit set and quality. Keinath stressed the importance of alternating fungicides and crop rotation.

Do not reuse plastic mulch, disk up and bury plant debris at the end of the season, rotate fields and improve your management practices, Keinath said.

Following the indoor sessions, the crowd went to the field to look at research projects and variety trials first hand. This was also an opportunity for individuals to ask questions of the speakers.

Dr. Powell Smith discussed watermelon insect control, covering white flies, spider mites, the banded cucumber beetle, squash bugs and more. Smith emphasized scouting as an important aspect of pest population control.

Farahani demonstrated the tools used to measure soil water and David Lankford explained how Earthtec sensors work to transmit information from the field to an office computer. The Clemson University Mobile Precision Ag Lab was also on hand.

Miller gave a tour of his field research projects, including grafted watermelons, variety trials and a briefing on fall research. The tour was followed by a watermelon tasting at which each named and numbered variety could be sampled.

Fred Broughton with the S.C. Department of Agriculture, who directs the Small Farms program and is a support person for the S.C. Fruits, Vegetables and Specialty Crop Association, was on hand. He is also involved in promoting community-based farmers markets.

“This field day does a lot of good,” Broughton said. “It lets farmers in on some of the advances being made by researchers in fruits and vegetables. The demand for local produce is growing and we’ve got to look out for ways for farmers to stay in business and grow safe produce.”

Steve Meadows, interim director of Clemson Extension Service, thanked the agriculture industry representatives and organizations for partnering with the extension service, especially during times of tight financing. A large portion of the money used for research comes through grants of money and “in kind” donations. Continued research at the station would not be possible without the partnership, Meadows said.

Of the nearly 200 attending the field day, approximately 65 were growers. A sizable congressional delegation also attended this year’s field day to experience firsthand one aspect of the vegetable and fruit research done by Clemson University at the Edisto REC.

For more information on past and ongoing research at Edisto REC, visit www.clemson.edu/public/rec/edisto/index.html or contact Gilbert Miller at gmllr@clemson.edu or by calling 1-803-284-3343 extension 225.

n T&D Correspondent Minnie Miller can be reached by writing to her at 138 Nature’s Trail, Bamberg, SC 29003. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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