Make sure you’ve got your spray schedules for watermelon correct to fight the many pathogens affecting watermelons in Florida.
In our last few blog posts, we have shared the diseases that commonly affect Florida watermelons, specifically in North Florida; and we shared tips for managing diseases. The information was courtesy of a UF/IFAS blog. The experts had one more bit of information concerning spray schedules for watermelon. See it below.
Info on Spray Schedules for Watermelon
The blog shared the following concerning spray schedules for watermelon:
Spring Schedules:
- “A typical spring spray schedule in Florida should start 1 week after transplanting and then use a 7 to 10-day schedule.
- These schedules should be shortened to 5 to 7 days during prolonged rainfall periods and should only be greater than 10 days if it is very dry and no disease is present.
- Pay attention to pre-harvest intervals (PHI) for late season sprays as they may be as high as 14 days.
- Chlorothalonil is a quality early season disease control product but should not be sprayed within 21 days of harvest as it can cause watermelon rind burn.”
Concerning Fall spray schedules, the UF/IFAS Watermelon Spray Guide 2025 (the source of this information) maintains that “heavy rains often occur in the fall with cooler temperatures occurring late in the season, so additional products should be added to or replace chlorothalonil in sprays 2 and 3. Some example products include Orondis Ultra for downy mildew and Luna Experience for gummy stem blight. Caution: Recent years have seen many viruses emerge and hence there is a high risk for crop failure in growing fall watermelon.”
The experts at UF/IFAS advise consulting the Vegetable Production Handbook of Florida for more detailed information on watermelon disease management: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/collections/vph.
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