Watermelon

Wael Elwakil, Nicholas S. Dufault, Joshua Freeman, Mark A. Mossler, andJoshua H. Freeman

Florida is the only U.S. supplier of watermelons from December to April. Florida watermelons are harvested throughout the year, although the vast majority of production is harvested from May to July. This fact sheet profiles Florida watermelon crop production and pest management practices.

Tara Wade, Kelvin Amon, Kevin R. Athearn, andCraig Frey

Eight states produce most US watermelons. Most of the fruit (almost 80%) are grown in California, Florida, Georgia, and Texas, with Florida leading in domestic production. In 2019, Florida’s watermelon output accounted for 25.2% of total US production, 24.7% of national watermelon acreage, and 29.6% of the overall US crop value. The value of Florida's watermelon output accounted for 13.2% of the state's total vegetable production. This publication provides information on both seeded and seedless conventional watermelon acreage, volume, and pricing for California, Florida, Georgia, and Texas from 2010 through 2021. It is one of a series illustrating trends in Florida’s five most economically important specialty crops, excluding citrus: tomatoes, bell peppers, watermelons, sweet corn, and strawberries. This information will be useful to producers, Extension agents, and others interested in specialty crop commodities trends.

Malcolm T. Sanford and Jamie Ellis

In an effort to more widely disseminate information on optimizing watermelon pollination, this paper presents an overview of the introductory material on honey bee management and the section on pollination agreements and services in the Agriculture Handbook Num. 496, "Insect Pollination of Cultivated Crop Plants," authored by S.E. McGregor and published by the Agriculture Research Service, USDA, in 1976, which is no longer available.

Thomas Obreza, Robert Hochmuth, Mark Warren, Tatiana Sanchez-Jones, Craig Frey, Thomas A. Obreza, andRao Mylavarapu

Nutrient management recommendations for watermelon are described according to the standard UF/IFAS recommendation format of 1) a calibrated soil test result; 2) target soil pH; 3) the "4Rs" of fertilizer management: rate, timing, placement, and source; and 4) water management factors.