Page 10—Grower and Marketer, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 11, 1999
UNIVERSITY PARK (Cen
tre Co.) Watermelons,
cantaloupes, and other melons
take months to grow, but pa
tient and careful gardeners can
produce superb crops, said a
gardening expert in Penn
State’s College of Agricultural
Sciences.
“Although there are a few
areas in the state where grow
ing seasons are too short, most
gardeners can grow watermel
ons and muskmelons,” said Pe
ter Ferrctti, professor of vege
table crops. “However, most
Pennsylvania gardeners
shouldn’t try to grow Cren
shaw or casaba melons, which
are semi-tropical melons that
require growing seasons with
higher temperatures.”
Ferrctti recommends grow
IRRIGATION
EQUIPMENT
PUMPS
GORMAN-RUPP
BERKELEY
CAPRARI
HALE
TRAVELERS
• HOBBS REEL-RAIN
• KIFCO AG-RAIN
• BAUER
WE OFFER A COMPLETE LINE OF
IRRIGATION EQUIPMENT & SUPPLIES
Toll Free 800-999-1630
Stop By and See Us At
The Mid-Atlantic Fruit & Vegetable
Comention Booth #9 & 10
January 25-27,2000
Hershey, PA
WATSON
& Contractor Supply, Inc.
H (niufk’Kti Mcviianicshui'j. P\ I7nss
l)is|iilhiioi ot All I\[K~nq! liiilmiumi LAunpntcnt
IRRIGATION
Growing Melons Requires Patience,
But Offers Great Rewards
ing melons either from starter
plants purchased at a reputable
nursery or garden center, or in
doors from seed started 19 to
25 days before they are needed
for planting in the garden. Soil
temperatures should be very
warm. “Gardeners should plant
around May 31 in central Penn
sylvania,” Ferretti said.
“Use pots made from peat
moss, so you don’t have to dis
turb the roots when planting,”
Ferretti said. “All you have to
do is break the bottom comers
of the pot, and the roots will
spread out.”
Because melon plants are
vine-like, Ferretti advises spac
ing the plants well apart. “If
you are planting in rows, plants
should be every 2 feet apart in
the row, allowing 6 to 8 feet
RAIN-BIRD
NELSON
BUCKNER
KOMFT
APPLICATIONS
• FARM
• GREENHOUSE
• EURE
between rows,” he said.
Depending on the variety,
melons will take from 75 to 90
days to develop. Each plant
should produce three to five
melons before frosts kill the
plant in the fall. “This is not a
crop for the impatient garden
er,” Ferretti said. ‘They take a
long time to grow, and there’s a
small window of time in which
to enjoy eating them.”
Ferretti says melons require
only moderate fertilizer, noting
that gardeners should not add
too much nitrogen to the crop.
“Too much nitrogen delays
fruit set and therefore fruit ma
turity and yield. It also increas
es the chance for leaf diseases.
If too many leaves are diseas
ed, not enough sugar will be
produced, and the melons will
taste like cucumbers,” he said.
Melon plants have several
insect pests to watch out for:
• Flea beetle. These insects
will attack the plant as a seed
ling only.
• Spotted or striped cucum-
|pwgj| PLANTING FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM
t 2000 W January 25-27,2000
M Mid-Atiantic jjl Hershey Lodge and Convention Center, Hershey, pa
&. Fruit and W Trade Show
Xf i Vegetable |||i Over 130 Suppliers for Fruit and Vegetable Growers
y Educational Sessions
■S i Over 50 Expert Speakers from Across the Nation
Tree Fruits
January 25.2000
The Fire Blight Threat and Its Management
In the Forefront on Fire Blight
Pesticide Application Does Precision Ag
Work?
What are Growers Planting and What are the
Trends
Ethephon Usage in Apples
January 26. 2000
Efficient Use of Pesticides and Drift Mitigation
Overview of Plum Pox
Black Peach Aphid Control
Bloom Thinning of Peaches with WilThm
Mating Disruption for Peaches
Pillar Form Peaches
Novel Peach Training Systems and High
Density
Apnums and Pluots
Peach and Apple IPM
Nematode Suppression
January 27.2000
Airblast Sprayers
Transitional Strategies Without or With
Limited OPIs
Organic Standards
Food Safety Approaches
Future Trends for Apples and Cider
New Technologies for Mating Disruption
Bacterial Spot Control
Peach Breeding
Wegman’s IPM Program and CORE Values
Program
Computer Use
Janaury 25. 2000
Internet for Beginners
Virtual Orchard* Web Site
Palm PC's
Build Your Own Homepage
January 26. 2000
Spreadsheets
Database
Field Mappmg/Record Keeping
Surfing Internet for Ag Sites
Computerizing Pesticide Records
For fruit program and registration tees information, contact
State Horticultural Ass’n of Pennsylvania - Maureen Irvin - 717-677-4184
New Jersey State Horticultural Soc. - William Tietjen - 908-475-6505 or
Maryland State Horticultural Soc. ■ Richard Heflebower 301-432-2767 ext 324
ber beetles or com earworm
beetle. These pests can ruin a
crop by eating large amounts of
foliage. More important, how
ever, is their role as a carrier of
Bacterial Wilt. “As the bacteria
build up in the plant’s water
transportation system, the
plant’s ability to absorb water
is cut off. and the plant sudden
ly wilts overnight,” Ferretti
said. “It takes some time for the
bacteria to accumulate, so the
plant wilts just about the time
it’s ready to bear fruit.”
Ferretti said beetles can ra
vage plants in just one night, so
he recommends using a cover
over young plants at night or
spraying as soon as the seed
lings are planted. The best in
secticides are Marlate (meth
oxychlor), or Sevin and Mal
athion. He also says a general
fungicide will eliminate fungal
diseases in a small home gar
den.
Proper harvesting methods
Vegetables
January 25. 2000
Construction & Use of High Tunnels
Basic Vegetable Production
-Nutrition, Insect and Weed Control
-Handling and Storage
Greenhouse Vegetable Workshop
- Glazings & Ventilation
- Organic and Hydroponic Production
Cole Crops
- Varieties, Insect and Weed Control
Plastic Mulches
- Additives, Colors, Equipment
Sweet Corn
- IPM, Varieties, Nutrition, Weed Control
Sustainable Growing
- Environmental Stewardship-
Dr Rhonda Janke, Kansas State Umv
- Cover Crops
Potatoes
- Varieties, Storage, Drip Irrigation
- Insect and Disease Control
January 26. 2000
Irrigation
- Types and Costs of Equipment
- Fertigation
Peppers
- Varieties, Nutrition
- Insect and Disease Control
Fumigation/Pesticide Application
- New Application Technologies
- The ABC’s of Fumigation
Tillage Alternatives
- Maintaining Soil Quality
- Tillage Systems and Crop Rotations
Processing Crops
- Sweet Corn, Peas, Snap Beans, Lima Beans,
Peppers
January 27.2000
Vine Crops
- Spacing and Varieties
- Pest Management Update
- Tips for Successful Production
Tomato School
- Disease and Insect Control
- Fresh Market Varieties and Breeding
-High Tunnels & Stakes
-Ethrel Use, Fertility for Processing
-Processing Grower Panel
Processing for Value Added
vary by melon variety:
• Muskmelons (canta
loupes). “When they’re per
fectly ripe, a soft tug should
break or slip the fruit off the
vine,” Ferretti said.
• Honeydew. These melons
have a smoother rind, which
ripens from green to a yellow
or creamy color, Ferretti says.
When the color has completely
changed, remove the melon by
cutting from the vine. Some
newer varieties can be picked
by slipping the fruit from the
vine.
• Watermelons. When the
spot where the watermelon
makes contact with the soil
turns light yellow, the melon is
ripe. Another accurate method
to determine pneness concerns
a pigtailed ;endril of growth
near the stem of the watermel
on. “If the tendril is brown or
dried out, the watermelon is
ripe,” Ferretti said. “Water
melons should be removed
from the vine with a knife or
pruning shears.”
Small Fruits
January 26. 2000
Strawberries
- Plasticulture, Greenhouse
Blueberries, Blackberries
January 27.2000
Using Bees to Control Bolrytis
Nematode Injury
Hardy Kiwi
Bramble Basics
Getting Started in Blueberries
Getting Started in Grapes
Marketing & Labor
January 25. 2000
Wholesale Marketing
- “Simply Delicious” Promotion
- What Buyers Want in Local Produce
Labor and Regulatory Issues
- H-2A Program
- What Do You Do if You Get a Letter from INS
or SSA? -
- FQPA, WPS
Crop Insurance
January 26. 2000
Marketing
- Signs that Sell
- Mason Farms Overview
- Starting a Roadside Market
- Customer Service
- Cooperatives, Auctions
- Farmers’ Markets
Flowers
January 26.2000
Bedding Plants
- New Container Plants
- Marketing
- New Pest Control Products
- Diagnosing Insects and Diseases
Perennial Flowers
- Weed Control, Varieties
- Overwintering
January 27.2000
Cut Flowers
- Specialty Cuts in the Greenhouse
- Marketing, New Cultivars
For vegetable and bedding plant program
and registration fees information, contact
Pennsylvania Vegetable Growers Ass’n
William Troxell-717-694-3596