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Rochester, Minnesota

I posted this under another discussion, but I felt it was important enough to have as it's own topic.

Many of our melon growers use Styrofoam under their melons instead of perpendicular wood boards to get their melons off of the ground. Some melon growers only use sand under their melons thinking that is sufficient for keeping the bottom of the fruit clean and dry.

One grower shared a picture of the bottom of their melon and to me it obviously had rot circles from having been sitting on Styrofoam which didn't allow for water to drain away.

I have said this before, and I thoroughly believe you have to have them up in the air. Before the use of boards, I would have up to a quarter of my melons rot every single year. I figured it was just the cost of growing melons.

Since I have started putting the melons on boards, I have never lost a melon to rot. That doesn't mean it can't or won't happen, but the odds are greatly decreased.

I prefer non painted pine or cedar boards since not only do they allow air flow, but they also wick moisture away from the melons. Styrofoam will not do that.

I understand that pumpkin growers like to use foam because it's a nice big sheet that sits under a huge growing fruit. Pumpkin growers also are really good at building elaborate shelters over their fruit that result in a very dry growing area for the fruit.

Watermelons are less likely to have these elaborate shelters, which means we have to deal with more moisture. This results in more need for air flow under the melon.

I have picked melons and seen the beginnings of little rot circles where the boards were; especially if I was using 2x6 boards instead of 2x4s. But in general there is enough air flow to slow that whole rot process down.

8/6/2010 10:11:56 AM

Trinity River Bottom

i made the same mistake growing on styrofoam. the melons i picked all had that brown looking rot on the bottom . also crackes coming from them spots .none of them seem to have gone into the melon .do you think that could be what stopped mine from growing . they went from 2.7 lbs a day to nothing . pretty much over night. only got 50 days out of them before they quit growing.

8/6/2010 10:47:39 AM

Rochester, Minnesota

I do not at all understand the physiology of how a rot attack affects the internal growing of the melon. I had a melon once that a deer bit into the end of the fruit leaving a nasty hole and of course eventually started rotting. I was able to keep that melon growing quite sometime to get viable seeds before it went down. In that case it didn't seem to prevent growth.

8/6/2010 11:18:06 AM

Garner, NC

MMM. Thanks for the tip, I have read your tip sheet many times and wish I had paid more attenion to the boards. Picked my 88 Dawson this moring due to rot, 50 some days on foam and the bottom looks like buck shot got it.


Is there any reason us watermelon growers don't build elaborate shelters over our fruit to result in a very dry growing area for the fruit. This year 3 out of 6 have rotted, so next year yall might see some melon huts with matching stutters and a rocking chair.

8/6/2010 12:07:51 PM

sevierville, Tn

Kirk, they don't usually go from 2.7 to 0, must have been a problem somewhere. Was your vine ok ??

8/6/2010 1:32:06 PM

Trinity River Bottom

no the vine went down also lost every leaf the same week. i think to much rain and no sun. vine is recovering and have new fruit set . we'll see what happens now.

8/6/2010 2:02:42 PM