Cooperative Extension Service
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
The University of Georgia

Volume 8/Number 2
February 2004

George Boyhan, Extension Horticulturist-Vegetables
East Georgia Extension Center
Nessmith-Lane Building, 2nd Floor
PO Box 8112
Georgia Southern University
Statesboro, GA 30460
912-681-5639 | 912-681-0376, Fax | 912-682-3481, mobile

Vidalia Onion Field Day Just Ahead

Another year has passed, and it's time for our Vidalia Onion Field Day. We will have the field day this year on April 1, 2004, at the Vidalia Onion and Vegetable Research Center at Lyons, Ga. The field day will start at 12 p.m. with a sponsored lunch followed by visits to the field plots from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Some of the experiments we have underway include cultivar evaluations, fungicide trials, direct seeding onions, and soil-borne disease assessments. Dr. Ron Gitiatis will be there to give an update on the new onion virus problem as well.

I hope to see you at the field day.

Schedule of Events

Directions

8163 Highway 178
Lyons, GA 30436
(912) 565-7822

From I-16: Get off at the Swainsboro/Lyons exit (U.S. 1) and head south on U.S. 1 to Lyons. Continue south on U.S. 1 to Highway 178 south. Take this to Stanley Store and continue on Highway 147. The farm is located just before the Tattnall County line. It will be on your left, and there is a black and brown sign out front. You will pull into the driveway for the house at the location and continue back through the gate to the farm. The house has a large U-shaped hedge in the front yard.

From Reidsville: Take Highway 147 south toward the Georgia State Prison. You will pass the prison on your right and continue on, passing Rogers State Prison on your left. Continue until you cross the Toombs County line. The farm will be on your right, marked by a black and brown sign. You will pull into the driveway for the house at the location and continue back through the gate to the farm. The house has a large U-shaped hedge in the front yard.

From Athens: Take Highway 15 south to Higgston and turn left on Highway 292 to Lyons. Turn right on Highway 178, which will turn into Highway 147. The farm is on the left and has a black and brown sign out front. You will pull into the driveway for the house at the location and continue back through the gate to the farm. The house has a large U-shaped hedge in the front yard. If you enter Tattnall County, you've gone too far.

Phone numbers:

George Boyhan
912-681-5639 Office
912-682-3481 Mobile

Randy Hill, Farm Superintendent
912-565-7822 Office
912-282-4453 Mobile

Vidalia Onion Committee Meeting

The Vidalia Onion Committee met on February 19 at the Captain's Corner restaurant to discuss the upcoming season and get an update on the virus problem on onions. Dr. David Langston and Dr. Ron Gitiatis were there to give an update on what is currently known about this problem. Dr. David Bridges was there as well, to offer the University's support as they face this new challenge.

Bo Herndon, the new chairman of the VOC, indicated that Commissioner of Agriculture Tommy Irvin would pay one-half of the bank note the VOC has outstanding. This should help the Committee get back on a cash footing for future marketing and promotion. In fact, this may free up money later this season as assessment money comes in from growers. Currently they have no marketing or promotion budget, so they can use this money to pay off the note.

Triploid Watermelon Pollenizers

Both Syngenta and Seminis are offering a pollenizer this year. In both cases, they claim the pollenizer does not compete with the triploid (seedless) plants while supplying sufficient pollen. Check out the link below to Syngenta's site to see how the field is configured. Basically, the field is planted 100 percent to the triploid variety with the 'SP-1' interplanted in a 3:1 ratio (3 triploids to 1 pollenizer), and Seminis's 'Companion' planted to a 2:1 ratio.

http://www.rogersadvantage.com/products/super_pollenizer.asp

Although growers could plant an entire field with triploids and then come back and interplant at the recommended ratio, they probably will want to have their planting rig set up so they can do the interplanting at the same time they plant the triploids. This would avoid the extra cost of a second trip across the field.

The 'Companion' pollenizer is a short-vine watermelon that never gets any larger than 3-4 feet across from vine tip to vine tip, so it does not compete with the triploid. It produces light green fruit (what they call a "gray melon") about the size of a small 'Crimson Sweet.' The flesh is sweet, but the quality is not very good, and presumably growers would not harvest it for sale. The leaves are unusual in being entire rather than lobed as a normal watermelon would be. In terms of cost, I was told Seminis will charge growers for the triploid and 'Companion' seed, and there would also be a per-acre technology fee. I'm not absolutely sure about this, so have your growers check with Seminis.

'SP-1' from Syngenta is a normal vining watermelon but with highly dissected leaves, so they don't offer much coverage (don't compete with the triploid crop). The fruit is again a light green color and somewhat smaller than 'Companion,' but the flesh is like a citron, with no flavor. Syngenta claims this pollenizer will produce abundant pollen for the triploid crop. They are only offering 'SP-1' as seedlings, so the grower cannot buy seed. Syngenta has contracted with transplant growers to produce these plants in their FullCount program. See the link below for transplant producers and pricing.

http://www.rogersadvantage.com/products/full_countproducerprofilesSE.asp

Transplants of both the triploid and pollenizer should be planted at the same time. If you have growers with triploids ready to go now, they probably will not be able to use these pollenizers. They could obtain 'Companion' seed from Seminis and direct seed their triploids, but I won't recommend it except on a limited experimental basis. Seminis is offering 'Companion' for their triploids at $100 per 1,000 seed, but if you don't buy their triploid seed, the cost is $500 per 1,000 seed. The FullCount program from Syngenta probably requires advance notice to purchase 'SP-1,' and I would not expect plants to be available otherwise.

We're only a few short weeks away from onion harvest. There was a lot of worrying about the crop through the winter, particularly with this new virus problem. However, in the past few weeks, the onions are looking remarkably good. I can't remember seeing better-looking onions at the Vidalia Farm. I'm also hearing that the onion crop is looking very good overall. Some growers will still have to contend with fields that have lost stand, so yields may be off in many cases.

Don't forget about our Vidalia Onion Field Day on April 1. We really need to have the support of growers, particularly during this fiscal crisis. Talk to you next month.