Weed Control In Watermelon Patch

[Stoner]

Is there anything to control weeds on a watermelon patch? My watermelon is coming up very good and is starting to get their yellow blossoms. Some areas of the watermelon patch have a lot of weeds. At this point is there anything to use to control the weeds or is it a hopeless cause? Thanks

As a side note I used my single row Covington Planter with the watermelon seed plate, it did a great job.

 

[deerhunterf350]

STONER,

Are they BroadLeaf weeds , or is it Grass?

How large of patch do you have contaminated with WEEDS ?

 

[LoneCowboy]

a hoe
and mulch it to keep it from coming back (I use grass clippings, but whatever will work)

 

[Stoner]

The weeds are both broadleaf and grass. I would like to use an herbicide but would not know where to start. I cannot hoe the weeds by hand and mulch; the patch is three acres.

 

[Harold_J]

The weeds are both broadleaf and grass. I would like to use an herbicide but would not know where to start. I cannot hoe the weeds by hand and mulch; the patch is three acres.

I am afraid it is almost hopeless. You should have applied some pre-emergent herbicide at seeding/planting time or used plastic mulch, although I suspect you don't need plastic mulch to warm the soil in FLA. There are postemergent products for grasses (Poast and Select) that can be used on watermelons. If you have a lot of grass and a sprayer it might help to use one of these and then try pulling the broad leaves by hand; you might be able to get something out of it, or at least part of the patch.

 

[RichNJKubota]

How big is your watermelon patch?
If it's small then just hand weed.
If you have several rows or maybe and acre or two you can lift the vines up and move them closer in. Then go thru with some sweeps on a 3 point toolbar. The sweeps will take out most of the weeds near the plants.
Go back and move the vines out again.

 

[BigMccorm]

Once the watermelons have reached the flowering stage it is highly unlikely that you will find a herbicide that will be rated for them. Your best bet now (since hoe and mulch is out of the question) is to probably just let it go. Unless you have a walk behind roto-tiller that fits between the rows that would take care of those weeds but the weeds under the plants need weeded by hand.

 

[randy41]

did you plant in rows? i plant so my tiller will fit between the rows. i till when the vines start running into the rows. my melons are planted in plastic so i dont have to concern myself with weeds between plants. after that first tilling they are pretty much on their own. i try to cut down the grass and weeds that grow at the edges of the plastic with a weed wacker. i have 700 row feet of melons. no where near 3 acres.
good luck!

 

[LoneCowboy]

The weeds are both broadleaf and grass. I would like to use an herbicide but would not know where to start. I cannot hoe the weeds by hand and mulch; the patch is three acres.

hire some teenagers. (that's a lot of melons BTW)
or some day laborers or something.

 

[jinman]

The weeds are both broadleaf and grass. I would like to use an herbicide but would not know where to start. I cannot hoe the weeds by hand and mulch; the patch is three acres.

A lot depends on how far apart you planted your melons. When I was young, we planted melons in hills about 8' apart in rows. That way, we could lay the vines parallel to the direction of the row and plow between the vines with a oneway disc. After plowing in one direction, we'd turn the vines sideways and plow across the rows. This left a small area around the base of the plant that still needed manual hand hoeing.

That is the only method I can think of that may work at this stage of your plant growth and such a large patch.

 

[Stoner]

I planted them in rows. The rows were about 5 to 6 foot apart. At this time the rows are disappearing due to the vines growing together. I think weeding at this point is a hopeless cause. I will just let it go and see how they turn out in the end. The watermelon plants look great right now. They do have the yellow blossoms on them now. After the bloom I probably will be adding some liquid fertilizer through the overhead sprinkler system. Next time I will try to do a better job preparing the bed with a pre-emergent herbicide. Thanks for the comments.

 

[Harold_J]

I planted them in rows. The rows were about 5 to 6 foot apart. At this time the rows are disappearing due to the vines growing together. I think weeding at this point is a hopeless cause. I will just let it go and see how they turn out in the end. The watermelon plants look great right now. They do have the yellow blossoms on them now. After the bloom I probably will be adding some liquid fertilizer through the overhead sprinkler system. Next time I will try to do a better job preparing the bed with a pre-emergent herbicide. Thanks for the comments.

You say you planted the rows 5-6 feet apart. Did you do any tilling/cultivating between the rows and around the plants when the plants (and weeds) were small? That probably would have helped a lot.

I realize you can't weed the whole patch by hand but you could try weeding a small portion (pick the best looking spot) and see how those turn out.

 

[Nuru]

hire some teenagers. (that's a lot of melons BTW)
or some day laborers or something.

I agree, a set of day laborers should do the trick, you might have to get them to come back or get new ones for a couple of days.

 

[Stoner]

As far as soil preparation I tilled the soil three to four times before planting. The seedbed looked pretty clean at the time of planting. As weeds came up I pulled them by hand. We had a couple of rains and it was almost like the weeds jumped out of the ground overnight. The weeds got ahead of me and it was no longer feasible to weed by hand. There is something about a natural rain that makes things grow so much better then an overhead sprinkler. My watermelon plants still look healthy, if they make it, the expected harvest date well be the middle of August. This is the first time that I planted watermelon and cantaloupe and so far I am please with the results except for the weeds. I like a nice clean garden; my watermelon and cantaloupe look messy. Next time I will have to learn more about pre-emergent herbicides. I have never used them before. I have not planted a garden this large before either.

 

[Harold_J]

... My watermelon plants still look healthy, if they make it, the expected harvest date well be the middle of August. This is the first time that I planted watermelon and cantaloupe and so far I am please with the results except for the weeds. I like a nice clean garden; my watermelon and cantaloupe look messy. Next time I will have to learn more about pre-emergent herbicides. I have never used them before. I have not planted a garden this large before either.

Good luck with the melons, hope they make it. Maybe give them a little extra water and fertilizer to make up for the weed competition. Instead of running the fertilizer thru the sprinklers you could broadcast some dry fertilizer or calcium nitrate/nitrate of soda by hand from a spackle bucket and only throw it where the main plant rows are; that way you wouldn't be fertilizing all the weeds. As soon as you throw some down, turn on the water. Three acres wouldn't be too hard, you would only have to keep up with what you are watering at one time.

Looking at herbicides for next year is a good idea but the main thing is you have to set up your rows so that you have some way to cultivate between them up until the vines start to run. Either a tractor cultivator, finger weeder, spring tooth harrow, walk behind rototiller or something. Or if the rows are far enough apart a small 3-point disk. You can't just rely on the herbicides alone.

We used to grow a lot of melons but suffered from what I would call evening sales. My neighbor put a sign in his patch, "1 MELON IN THIS FIELD IS POISONED, KEEP OUT!" The next morning when he returned the sign was still there, but the number 1 was crossed out and replaced with a 2.

 

[deerhunterf350]

STONER,

If possible I would get as many of the weeds cut out before they go to seed, once they go to seed, you will have 10X the problem next year.

Dan

 

[jbdss]

I don't have any broadleaf weeds, just grass in my watermelon patch. The questions that I have are: The grass seems to keep the ground moist, what are the implications on the patch if you don't weed at all? Second, some of my actual watermelons don't get access to sunlight but the plants themselves do. Are there implications if the actual watermelons don't get sun?

 

[Harold_J]

I don't have any broadleaf weeds, just grass in my watermelon patch. The questions that I have are: The grass seems to keep the ground moist, what are the implications on the patch if you don't weed at all? Second, some of my actual watermelons don't get access to sunlight but the plants themselves do. Are there implications if the actual watermelons don't get sun?

Your melons well be better of if they are shaded, they won't get sun scald. If you want to kill the grass and have a sprayer you could use a herbicide like POAST or SELECT. The grass will turn red and die in a few days and still shade the ground.