Cooperative Extension Service
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
The University of Georgia
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
Watermelons in Georgia from 1999 to 2002 have increased in value from $49.5 million to almost $95 million, while the number of acres has gone from almost 34,000 acres in 1999 to slightly more than 29,500 acres in 2002. The only reason I can see for this dramatic increase in value is the greater prevalence of seedless watermelon production. I tracked watermelon shipments out of Georgia in The Packer (produce newspaper) this past season, and better than 60 percent were seedless.
Recently several seed companies have been promoting the use of pollinizer plants. Pollinizer plants are diploid watermelon selections that are interplanted with the seedless plants. They do not compete with the seedless plants, so an entire field can be used to produce seedless watermelons. Up until now, one-third of a field was planted to pollinizers that reduced the seedless yield.
Seminis Seed Company has already introduced their pollinizer as the variety 'Companion.' This is a short internode watermelon that does not grow any larger than 3-4 feet across from vine tip to vine tip. The company recommends it be planted every second plant in the row. This pollinizer produces a fruit with a light green rind, which will be easy to distinguish from seedless varieties. Syngenta should have their pollinizer ready for next season. They are calling it SP-1 (super pollinizer-1). It produces a light green fruit, but unlike 'Companion,' it has a normal vining habit. The plants, however, produce a highly dissected leaf with small fruit that was selected to produce abundant pollen and not compete with the seedless crop. Finally, Hazera Seed also has a pollinizer called 'Minipool.' I have not seen this variety and don't know anything about it.
I evaluated Seminis' 'Companion' last year and again this year, and it performed well. These pollinizer varieties, if they perform as expected, may result in the Georgia watermelon industry going completely seedless.
Finally, several companies are looking at introducing personal or palm watermelons (see photo). These seedless watermelons weigh between 3 and 5 pounds and are ideal as a serving for one or two people. These melons differ from previous small watermelons (often referred to as "icebox" melons) in that they are somewhat smaller, are seedless and have a very thin rind. Seedless watermelons in particular can have a rind that is an inch or more in thickness, whereas these palm melons typically will have a rind that is ¼ to ½ inch thick, resulting in more edible flesh.
At the Edisto Research and Education Center in Blackville, South Carolina, they were testing these palm melons from Rogers Seed Co. 'Petite Perfection' and 'Precious Petite' were the two varieties they tested. In the Americal Vegetable Grower, September issue*, they were discussing a Syngenta variety called 'PureHeart.' Rogers is owned by Syngenta, so it is unclear if these varieties are actually the same thing. In addition, Seminis is also introducing a new palm melon called 'Bambino.'
As of right now, these melons will be grown and marketed through exclusive arrangements between the respective seed company and a grower/shipper. Most watermelons are sold by weight, and these small melons are not productive enough to be marketed in this fashion. Contract growing, exclusive marketing and high per-melon retail prices are going to be the norm with these new varieties. These could be a real winner for the seed companies with their convenient size and high quality. I have tried the Rogers offerings, and the quality is excellent.
Onions are monocots, which means they have only one cotyledon. They are in the same class with lilies and grasses. They are believed to have originated in the Eurasian region of Turkey, northern Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Two important characteristics of onions are their unique odor and that they grow under cooler temperatures. Their adaptation to cool growing conditions has not limited their geographic spread. They are grown in almost all regions of the world from cool mountainous regions of the tropics to the boreal zones of temperate regions. They have accomplished this by being day-length sensitive, with types classed as short-day, intermediate-day and long-day, which describes the conditions under which these plants bulb. Vidalia onions, of course, are short-day types that bulb during the relatively short days of late winter.
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Fig. 2.1. Key stages in the growth of bulb onions form seed. (Rey et al., 1974. Reproduced courtesy of Revue Suisse de Viticulture, Arboriculture et Horticulture.) (A) Seed in soil after sowing. (B) The 'loop' stage. After germination underground, the cotyledon appears as a loop or hook above the surface. (C) First leaf 'flag' stage. The first true leaf appears while the cotyledon is still sharply bent to form a whip shape. (D) Cotyledon senescence. After the appearance of the second and third true leaves, the cotyledon withers and falls following progressive desiccation. (E) Fourth leaf 'leek' stage. The fourth leaf appears and the neck of the plant starts to thicken while the first leaf shrivels. (F) Fall of the first leaf. The first leaf falls and the second leaf becomes detached at the sheath and begins to senesce from the tip while leaves five, six and seven appear. (G) Start of bulbing. The bulb begins to form; the second and third leaves dessicate while leaves eight to thirteen appear; the plant reaches maximum height. (H) Bulb swelling. |
It is helpful to be able to describe the stages of onion growth, particularly as it relates to the application of a particular cultural practice. Terms have been developed to describe these growth stages. The diagram above, from Onions and Other Vegetable Alliums, illustrates these different stages. When the cotyledon first emerges, it is called the "loop" stage because the tip of the cotyledon is still attached to the seedcoat underground. When the cotyledon releases from the seedcoat, it is called the "flag" stage. At this point, the growth stages often refer to the number of true leaves that have formed. When the fourth true leaf has formed, it is called the "leek" stage, because this is when the neck begins to thicken. Bulbing usually begins sometime between the eighth and thirteenth true leaf appearance.
For example, early herbicide application is often related to the number of leaves formed, with greater herbicide resistance occurring after the second true leaf stage. Dr. Stanley Culpepper can help you and your growers determine optimum herbicide application and timing.
We have planted our plantbeds at the Vidalia Farm and the seedlings are up. This year, we will have 35 entries in the variety trial and two observational entries (single replication). This year, along with the variety trial, I plan on continuing work on direct seeded onions, onion fertility, evaluating transplant size and timing on dry bulb production, and organic onion production.
My wife and daughter have been after me for years to take them on a cruise and we're finally going. We're going on a four-day cruise to Cozumel, Mexico. This is a first time for us; maybe I shouldn't have watched that "Titanic" documentary the other night.
Talk to you next month.
[* Poorman, K. 2003. Honey, I shrunk the watermelons. American Vegetable Grower. Sept. 2003, p. 11.]