Title: WATERMELON – Pest & Disease Management – TFNet – International Tropical Fruits Network
Headings: WATERMELON – Pest & Disease Management
WATERMELON – Pest & Disease Management
Pest and Disease Management:
Disease Management:
Fruit physiological disorders:
Reference:

Content: The crops may have to be replanted several times, resulting in delayed harvests. Pre-germinating seed or planting container grown seedlings will reduce loss. Crows can be a devastating and annoying pest. Just before harvest they can reduce the salability of melons by punching holes through the skin with their sharp beaks. Often not content with eating from just one melon, the crow will hop from melon to melon, in this way populations of crows can wipe out an entire crop in just a few days. Crows can be deterred with the use of a sound device such as a gas gun, or bird alarm. Fruit physiological disorders: Physiological disorders are caused by nonpathogenic agents that affect fruit quality. Usually, aesthetic qual­ity is degraded. The cause can be either one or a combination of environmental, genetic, or nutritional factors.