Weslaco
| Transplanted: | February 16, 2004 (average plant population of 2,613 plants/ A) |
| Harvested (three times): | May 19,27; June 3, 2004 |
| Fertilization: | Fertilized with 4-10-10 at 58.5 gal/A (wt. 10.71 lbs/gal) plus 10.5 gal/A N-32 (wt. 11.05 lbs/gal) on January 14. (Rate of actual N-P-K in lbs per acre of 62-63-63). |
| Irrigation: | Transplanted plants into test plots and irrigated feb 16th. Drip applied Feb. 20; March 2 (injected Admire at 16 fl oz./ac.), and March 9. |
| Pest Control: | Drenched transplants in flats with Quadris at 0.2 lb a.i./A on Feb 16 prior to transplanting. Pristine (BAS 516) at 10oz/A for gummy stem blight in a 12″ band, Feb. 19. Ridomil Gold-Bravo at 2 lbs/a, March 24. Sandea (halsulfuron methyl 75%) at 3/4 oz. broadcast/A, March 26 for broadleaf weeds. Gavel 75 DF at 2 lbs/A March 29. Acrobat 50 WP at 6 oz./A (170 gm/A) for downey mildew and Procure 50 WS at 6oz/A (170 gm/A) for powdery mildew on April 13. Ridomil Gold-Bravo at 2 lbs/A on April 27. Gavel 75 DF at 2 lbs/A on May 4. |
| Study Comments: | Excellent yields. Severe downy mildew began after the first harvest |
College Station
| Transplanted: | April 9, 2004 (average plant population of 1,633 plants/ A) |
| Harvested (three times): | July 9, 19; August 2, 2004 |
| Fertilization: | Weekly applications of fertilizer thru drip consisting of N-32 one week then 8-23-6 acid the next week, at a rate of 5 gal/A with enough water to wet the bed under the plastic mulch. |
| Irrigation: | As needed |
| Pest Control: | One application of Admire thru drip when vine length was 18-24 inches at a rate of 2 oz./A. Two applications of fungicide sprayed with one at the vining stage and the other about 10 days prior to harvest. |
| Study Comments: | Triploids were seeded on March 12 and because of poor germination on some varieties some were reseeded on March 22. Diploids were seeded on March 15. |
Crystal City
| Transplanted: | April 15, 2004 (average plant population of 2,613 plants/ A) |
| Harvested (once-over): | July 8, 2004 |
| Fertilization: | 500 lbs of 12-17-4 per acre preplant; injected 20 pounds through irrigation twice. (Rate of actual N-P-K in lbs per acre of 65-92-22). |
| Irrigation: | Drip; April 16 May 18 (20 units); June 1 (20 units) |
| Pest Control: | One Cabrio for disease and one aphid spray. |
| Study Comments: | Most of the culls were simply small, immature fruit. Most of the foliage was lost to downy mildew and then anthracnose moved in. All the rain did not allow for spray applications. Yields were excellent considering all the rain and fruit quality was also fair. The vines which had no leaves obviously had the poorest quality. We did a taste test, but did not include the data due to vast differences in fruit quality |
Lubbock
| Transplanted: | May 14, 2004 (average plant population of 2,178 plants/ A) |
| Harvested (once over): | August 5, 2004 ( only 1 harvest due to heavy powdery mildew infestation) |
| Fertilization: | 80 lbs N preplant (anhydrous) plus 20 lbs N (ammonium nitrate) mixed in slurry and applied through drip lines mid-season. No other nutrients applied. (Rate of actual N-P-K in lbs per acre of 100-0-0). |
| Irrigation: | Every 2-3 days with drip irrigation. Season was cool and moist. |
| Study Comments: | Had planned to harvest more than once, but powdery mildew infections were heavy this year due to humid conditions. Used sunflower wind breaks between replications. Watermelons were transplanted 3′ apart in center of 80″ beds laid with black plastic mulch. There were 5 plants/plots used for this trial. Two beehives were used for pollination. |
