Watermelon farmers are increasing as these fruits are gaining more popularity than ever before. With any watermelon Farm, you’ll be planting new seeds continuously to maintain the numbers of fruits you can harvest.
However, to get the best crops, you do need to care for all the fruits in your watermelon fields. You can find several areas your crops are under threat. Several groups of animals love the taste of your watermelons, and you need to know how to protect watermelons from pests.
Since you own a fruit farm, melons require extra care because rats, insects, germs, and other microbes quickly attack them. In our guide, you can learn how to control watermelon vines, thus offering more chance to harvest fully mature watermelons.
By the end, you’ll have more information on vine productivity and why it’s essential to follow what coolong stresses. (Read Can Hamsters Eat Ice Cream)
General Care Tips For Watermelon Vines
Here are a few tips on protecting your watermelons while making vines accessible. You’ll also find that your farm equipment can get in, yet you can generally protect vines from damage by pruning to keep your drive rows clear.
Tips for how to protect your watermelon farm.
1. Use A Trellis System
It is a crucial tool for safeguarding the watermelon farm and preventing rodents from taking advantage. A trellis system prevents the growth of mold, mosquitoes, and other pests that live in the soil.
It is recommended to create a trellis system up to the highest point of the land since climbing rodents may quickly jump onto vines, making it difficult for rodents to get your fruit. If you want even more security, you can add some netting on the top of these trellises to cover your watermeloan vines.
2. Adding a Scarecrow
The usage of a scarecrow can help deter rodents. The scarecrow’s noise and movement will scare them away. Dead vines are not only a hazard to you but also attract pests even after you harvest them, so be sure to get rid of them regularly so pests and others won’t gather in the vines.
3. Natural Repellents
Using natural repellents is another strategy for keeping pests away from your melon farm. Pepper sprays can be made by mixing hot pepper sauce, garlic, dish soap, and water.
Use a spray bottle to apply this concoction to the soil in your super melon farm, focusing on regions where rodents are most likely to appear.
4. Use Bird Netting
Get some bird netting if you care about your melons lasting through the season. This is a net made to protect your melon from birds and other flying pests. The bird net could be handy if you’re trying to keep squirrels and prevent rodents from your garden fruit farm.
In addition to being practical, these are useful for stopping other animals like rat snakes.
5. Hot Caps
Rodents are just one problem. Mold, insects, and other microbes need consideration, and here you can find hot caps help. Hot caps are small tents (plastic bags) that shield growing fruit from frost while letting the plant breathe.
6. Floating Row Covers
Using floating row covers is another kind of crop protection for your melons. These are portable and simple to use. This covering keeps insects away while enabling air and water to reach the plants. (Read Why Do Budgies Chirp)
7. Melon Cages
One of the best ways to protect your watermelon farm from rodents and other animals is to use wired melon cages. It may sound complicated, but you can make your own melon cages using chicken wire and insert them into the surrounding soil.
Once your fruits develop, add your cages to protect them from rodents and other animals so that you can harvest clean fruits. You can purchase plastic ones or make your own, yet it depends on the size of your farm for which is the best way.
Typical watermelon farms are in groups of five or six beds. Then, they are divided into larger drive rows. You’ll also find that melons don’t need much pruning of the main vine; thus, once your cages are set, that is where they will remain.
8. Pest Control
You can apply organic pest control by simply using a hose to spray water on your crops and, for improved results, adding soap to the water before spraying. Remember not to do this in the evening as it can cause mold, or during the middle of the day, or you can scorch your melons leaves.
General Melon Care
Remove Punctured Fruit
Rotten melons attract insects and rodents, so remove them from the farm. Clean the farm of dead leaves, rotting fruit, and rotten melons. Remove fallen leaves and fruits regularly if your farm has food for pests and rodents.
Reduce the number of seeds placed on one plot to maintain production without overplanting.
Only Plant One Variety
Most of the time, rodents and mice prefer a particular kind or kind of food crop. If your farm produces a variety of fruits, they will almost certainly only be drawn to one.
So, plant many types in various parts of your land.
Fertilize
Melons are heavy feeders, so you’ll need to give them fertilizer every week or so in the growing season. Soil amendments also help and are easy to add when you have mesh melon cages.
How To Protect Melon Farm Step by Step:
How to keep rodents off your melons with melon cages. While you can use chicken wire, here is another method.
- Purchase hardware cloth.
- To completely wrap your mature melons, cut square-sized pieces of hardware cloth large enough to complete encircle, or surround your melons.
- Use metal string or wire to make a cylindrical shape.
- Make your wire end folds.
- Close the melon cage opening.
How to care for your watermelon plant?
Melon plants require 1 to 2 inches of water daily when growing, flowering, and bearing fruit.
Keep the soil moist but not soggy.
Morning watering should be done at the base of the watermelons vine’s base rather than overhead watering and avoid wetting the watermelon leaves. Once setting fruit, watering plants can be reduced.
FAQs
What is the best fertilizer for watermelons?
Apply a phosphorous-rich fertilizer, such as 10-10-10, to watermelons at a rate of 4 pounds per 1,000 square feet (60 to 90 feet of row). On the planting bed, make a trench that is 4 to 6 inches deep and 2 inches from the melons row side.
Plant while covering the fertilizer to prevent the seeds from touching it.
What to put under watermelons while growing?
Put softball-sized or larger melon plants immediately on small plywood, coarse straw, or plastic sheeting areas. The likelihood of the watermelon underside rotting is greatly reduced if it doesn’t sit directly on moist mulch or dirt.
What animals eat watermelon plants?
Watermelons are also enjoyed by raccoons and deer, especially when they are ripe. Usually, the damage caused to watermelon plants is not as severe as what coyotes do to your watermelon farm.
They might make the rind and scoop out or chew some of the meat, but they rarely eat the entire melon.
Do mice eat watermelon?
Mice can and will eat a wide variety of fruits. Namely, mice apples, bananas, pears, melons, plums, peaches, berries and oranges. Some mice will also develop preferences for particular foods. (Read Can Chickens Eat Cheese)
What are the benefits of watermelon seeds?
Benefits of watermelon seeds for health.
- Benefits for the skin Consuming roasted watermelon seeds as a snack can be great for your skin.
- Benefits for hair.
- Better control over blood sugar.
- Increases energy.
- Stops osteoporosis.
What smells keep coyotes away?
Coyotes hunt in packs and have a keen sense of smell that they utilize to locate food sources. You can use this by repelling them with scents they don’t like, such as wolf urine, white vinegar, potent fragrances, and cayenne/chili pepper.
How do I protect watermelons from animals?
Simply lay a melon cage over each of your watermelon plants to complete the task. This popular defense technique won’t prevent insect damage, but it works well against rodents and birds.
Put this melon cage over your plants to keep animals and birds away from your melon plants.
What are coyotes afraid of?
Coyotes typically experience a reasonable amount of fear in relation to particular situations. Coyotes are terrified of humans, things are thrown in their general direction, loud noises, bright lights, and predator urine. All of these things can aid in keeping coyotes away from your watermelon farm.
What kills watermelon vines?
Statewide occurrence of the soilborne fungus illness fusarium wilt of watermelon. Where susceptible types are planted, the disease can do significant harm because it kills the entire plant before harvest.
