“Watermelon Growing Tips”
Comment Page 2

@gloria, Meru region has variable climatic and weather patterns..........  maybe the hotter parts of Meru

@samuel, Pata Negra survives better in rainy conditions and fruits lying on wet soil, so if your planting period is likely to be interfered with rains, Pata Negra F1 will be a good option although it is round and dark green unlike Sukari F1 that is stripped but they  both attain 7-8kgs and above

@Wangari Mwangi, August is a good time to plant just bear in mind rains are coming in November, do hybrids varieties Sukari F1, Pata Negra, JulieF1, Stark Ayers Star 9908 F1 etc

@James, Hi please send me farm details on my email including watersource i send you quotation for drip irrigation system for your melons.

@George M, the spacing of 1.5 by 0.6m is squeezed but is ok if you are using drip irrigation watering method.......no need to move move within farm applying water....you just open the gate valve for the required duration

@sally,  Coast is good for melons as long as you are not in the saline soil areas, whats your water source?

@MARIA NYAMBURA NJOROGE, hi, send me your soil type, water source and other relevant farm details including topography and slope in my gmail i see and send you quotation for the drip irrigation system for the farm.

@victor bor, please dont mix DAP with the seeds, send me more details including irrigation method.

@Wanda, if you will have irrigation water after the short rains you are most definitely going to do well. do a large acreage that will will give you good quantities that will also enable you to sell further due to economies of scale

@kiplimo kibiego, where is your sweet melon farm located, there are usually fewer farmers in sweetmelons than in watermelons so more frequent shortages in market in Nairobi and Mombasa

@benson kilonzo, too much water suddenly when fruits are big almost always results in bursting. starve your melons at latter stages to develop sweetness we have lot of large poor quality melons in terms of sweetness especially in Nairobi region....yak

@Njeri Gachanja,  South coayist is usually notorious for pests and diseases, you will need to focus on preventive spraying to avoid losses, also kindly send me email with your farm details and water source so that i send you a quote for the drip irrigation system.

@Robert, Best is to do soil fertility analysis and get professional recommendation for your unique soil conditions. this can be done at KARI abc place westlands nairobi, Cropnuts Kangemi, Kephis labs etc. standard is plant with manure and DAP, top dress with CAN or NPK and boost with foliar leaf sprays.

@Kui,  hi, you are in Kitengela,, Nairobi has the greatest demand and is nearby.....also prices usually best in Nairobi. Send me a Gmail i connect you to some brokers you see if you can get a good deal?

@Zachary onsarigo, water logging not good for watermelons, needs well drained well aerated loose soils, you can enhance your clay by adding lots of organic matter and avoid water logging by creating drainage trenches and raised beds and try planting when the rains are away to avoid water logging. or better your can lease land 2 acres and above in watermelon growing area with irrigation water. dont limit yourself to your piece of land. God bless

@filippo,  Hi when using furrow irrigation you need to reduce irrigation frequency and hence pumping cost by applying for example enough water to last a week.....but this will depend on soil moisture retention properties of your soil, if it is too sandy it will not be able to hold water for long so irrigation frequency will still be higher, With furrow also you need to be very keen on early and frequent weeding or else it can easily be overwhelming especially for large farms due to water being available for weeds more than in drip irrigation. When flowering and fruiting stage reaches try and maintain uniform moisture content....means frequent but moderate irrigation. Please get started,, you can only improve.. God bless good luck.

@William, Hi, you probably faced blight or frost in case of cold areas.....if some leaves probably blight.....use preventive fungicides early if your area is prone to fungal attacks. but if it happened suddenly most likely frost.

@James, two acres can give you anything between zero tonnes to 70 -80 tonnes, but usually most farmers get 30 to 50 tonnes from 2 acres.

@Victor bwire, Plant hybrid F1 e.g Sukari f1, Starke Ayres Star 9908 f1, Pata Negra f1, Lahat f1 if you are commercial minded,, avoid the notorious floods please and choose a loose soil area,,  good luck

@wisley rotich, send me an email, concerning market, as long as you have truck loads you will have several options in November....not to worry

@Maureen Nerima, Expect anything between 0 to 20 tonne per acre,, the main problem with non hybrids like sugarbaby, crimson sweet is that maturity is not usually uniform like for hybrid F1 types, plants planted same time may lag behind others even for a month

@Georgina, my first concern is the borehole water quality in that area,, what is the salt content, area is good plant hybrids, October may not too late but keep in mind the rain pattern in your area...avoid too much rain when fruits are ripening,, i hope you know the rain pattern of your area? G0d bless

@violet, To succeed with melons on heavy black clays you need lots of well decomposed organic matter or manure to change the soil to loose crumby rich clay well aerated......if you cant get too much manure or org matter for the whole farm at least get enough to allow a shovel full per planting hole, also  you will need reliable irrigation water of good quality.

@Wangari Mwangi, Thika town is hot enough, try Stark Ayers Star 9908 F1 hybrid,, performs very well.  God bless you.

@Joe, Thanks for observation at Mbeere, i have been there and the soils are really good,, the spacing is too too close, if you squeez melons too much you get completion for light apart from nutrients.....even if you give excess nutrients and enough water....fruits will be small due to limited photosynthesis...... if you have to really squeeze do 1m by 0.6m but i prefer 1.5m by 0.6m if you have drip irrigation installed. Also Joe, lots of thing we do not know......the 2 tonnes per acre may also be because of poor crop protection, repeatedly farming melons on the same piece of land, poor nutrition, poor irrigation ......could be anything or all the above combined.  Good luck do your homework well and God bless.

New Hybrid seed from south Africa worth trying out. Stark Ayres Star 9908 F1,,looks identical to Sukari F1 but average fruit size is 10 - 12kgs. Most farmers claim it is more vigorous and more resistant to diseases than others. Local supplier/ dealer Pannar seeds Kenya. Lets try this and share feedback. God bless you all.

@charles Muasa, Hi, trust you are fine, kindly share your feedback from your recent harvest if you do not mind we see if  there is anything we can learn together. ......

@Mwangi, Congrats Sir for venturing into it, hope you will not quit on us. when i started out i made losses for 3 seasons.... a whole year, if you keep on you will succeed, the only way you will have failed is by quitting. as a friend of mine, Kellie Murungi (CEO at a popular Service Industry Company), put it when she had lost 1 million in farming.... " CONSIDER THE LOSS MONEY AS SCHOOL FEES.... LEARN FROM THE EXPERIENCE AND PRESS ON UNTIL YOU GRADUATE NOW THAT YOU HAVE PAID YOUR TUTTION FEES"  thats a good way to look at it, keep at it and you will succeed. The problems you have mentioned are all manageable. nothing overly concerning or too trouble some. Melon fly you put baits and spray your plants protectively, distorted fruits you but beehive in farm if due to poor pollination or if due to viral infection you identify early and uproot, also control aphids, whiteflies, cucumber beetles that spread the mosaic viral infections.... keep at it now that you have paid your 'school fees' you will succeed if you seal all previous loopholes. God bless

@Mwangi, Sorry for your savings going down the drain, the insects on the underside of your leaves are simply Aphids, they suck on the leaves and spread bacterial and viral diseases.... you can control them with any systemic insecticide like Imidacloprid, Aceptamiprid etc. Very important to invest in consultation when venturing into a new venture especially when you are putting all you life savings in it. Too much passion may lead to overlooking the finer details and hardwork required. i am Very sorry boss.

To all water melon farmers in Melon fly infested areas please observe the following: Melon flies do not feed on the watermelon fruits, they simply pierce to lay eggs within, this is evident by a small black spot on the surface. once a fruit is pierced it looses value and melon fly affected fruits to be plucked off so that the rest of the plant nutrients can be directed to other fruits. if you leave the affected fruit , what is going to happen is that the eggs are going to hatch and forms maggots that will feed on the fruit internals and open more opening for bacteria to come in an the whole fruit eventually rots. Remove it the soonest the better.

Another important practice is burning the removed affected fruits or burrying them very deep more than 2 feet deep. if you do not do this, the eggs will still develop and eventually maggots and new Melon flies armed and ready to harass you the next time you plant and it becomes a vicious cycle...... this is crucial information that especially farmer in Watermelon zones should share freely and create awareness to combat the Melon fly propagation.  Good luck you all. God Bless.

I STILL SUPPLY DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEMS FOR WATERMELON, PLEASE SEND ME FARM DETAILS FOR INQUIRY ON MY GMAIL ADDRESS FOR QUOTATIONS.

@Geoffrey Kavate,  Thanks for inquiry, watermelon and maize should do well since maize is tall enough not to be affected by melons spreading all over and taking all the sunlight as would be the case for shorter plants... whatever the spacing you adopt just make sure the melons and the maize are 2feet or a 60cm away from each other to limit competition for nutrients and water. you can for instance have rows of watermelon spaced 1m by 1.5m and maybe in between the rows you put two lines of maize.... plan you layout whichever way but remember to separate your maize to maize by 30cm and melon to maize by 60 cm.   Due to everything being rainfed you will need to be diligent in early weeding before the melons spread all over and weeding becomes a nightmare.  Good luck  boss,, really looking forward to this feedback ,, please kindly do share your results down the line. God Bless.

@wisley rotich, Hi, now is a good time, December last year prices were good at 25-30/- per kg farm gate. so you have good chances but no guarantees in farming. Good luck.