Pickleworm and melonworm rarely attack watermelon. The principal insect and mite pests on watermelons in Florida are aphids, rindworms (caterpillars feeding on the rind, including beet and fall armyworms, cabbage looper, tobacco budworm, corn earworm, saltmarsh caterpillar, and others), whiteflies, and thrips.
What animal is eating my watermelons?
What Animals Will Eat Watermelon Plants? Bugs like aphids and caterpillars love to devour watermelon leaves and fruits. Birds, squirrels, rabbits, and even coyotes all love sweet melons. Watermelon juice is known for its hydrating properties.
What is eating holes in my watermelon?
Raccoons and birds make holes in the tops of melons and scoop or suck juices from the fruit’s inside. If you are unsure of the animal culprit, sprinkle a light dusting of limestone powder around your melon plants and try to identify the animal based on the footprints left behind.
How do you protect watermelon from pests?
Step by step: How to keep rodents off your melons with melon cages
- Get hardware cloth.
- Cut square-sized pieces of hardware cloth large enough to complete encircle your mature melons.
- Secure a cylindrical shape with metal string.
- Create your wire end folds.
- Close one end of your melon cage.
- Cage your melon.
Do rodents eat watermelon?
For starters, rats love watermelon. Watermelon is sweet, and there’s little doubt that rats have a sweet tooth.
What animal eats watermelon rinds?
Yes, squirrels love nuts, vegetables, and fruit.
They will eat almost any variety of fruit, and for watermelons, this includes the rind. The squirrels’ love of fruits and vegetables makes them a farmer’s nightmare.
How do I protect my watermelon farm?
Coolong stresses that the best way to protect vines is to turn them back in drive rows. Watermelon fields are set up in several groups of five or six beds that are divided by larger drive rows, which make the vines accessible by farm equipment.
What can you spray on watermelons?
Contact fungicides should be the backbone of most cantaloupe and watermelon spray schedules. Two contact fungicides for this purpose have the active ingredient chlorothalonil or mancozeb. They may be used all season-long.
What animals eat watermelon in garden?
Raccoons and deer also like watermelons, particularly as the fruit becomes ripe. Damage inflicted by these animals usually is less extensive than the handiwork of coyotes. They may make holes in the rind and scoop or chew some of the inside of the flesh, but they don’t usually consume an entire melon.
Do mice eat watermelon?
Fruits: Mice enjoy and can eat a variety of different fruits. Some mice will develop preferences to certain items, but you can offer your mouse apples, pears, bananas, melons, peaches, plums, oranges, and berries just to name a few. Vegetables: There are also many fresh vegetable options that can be fed to mice.
Do squirrels eat watermelon?
As long as it is fed in moderation, watermelon is safe for squirrels. This doesn’t mean that you should give your squirrels watermelon on a daily basis. Squirrels are scavengers and won’t have a problem getting the foods they need to stay healthy, without having to eat watermelon.
What to put under watermelons while growing?
Instead, place small patches of plastic sheeting, coarse straw or a piece of plywood directly under melon fruits that have become at least softball sized. As long as the melon doesn’t rest directly atop wet soil or mulch, there’s much less chance for the melon’s underside to rot.
Do birds and squirrels eat watermelon?
Yes, birds can eat watermelon. Watermelon is a fruit that is high in sugar and moisture, which makes it a good source of energy and hydration for birds. In addition to watermelon, birds can also eat other fruits, such as apples, grapes, and strawberries.
Do racoons eat watermelon rinds?
Watermelon rind serves as a good source of dietary nutrients to raccoons and deer, and it’s a fruit they both enjoying eat.
Do possums eat watermelon?
And, they are doing so in the most adorable way possible. This group of five sibling opossums is thoroughly enjoying their bowl of delicious watermelon. If everyone liked fruit this much, we would be a much healthier world! Opossums are, sadly, regularly hit by cars in North America.
Can watermelon plants get too much sun?
Watermelons require full sunlight in order to thrive. The plants can tolerate some partial shade, particularly in hotter climates, but plenty of sun is necessary to develop the sugars in the melons. Excessively shady conditions will reduce the number and size of the fruits.
How do I keep ants off my watermelon plants?
One is to mix equal amounts of borax and sugar and place this around the base of the plant. The mixture will kill any ant that eats it. Cornmeal and sugar are also a good mixture to try. The cornmeal will expand after it is eaten and will also kill the ants.
Do watermelons need to grow on the ground?
Watermelons need A LOT of space—up to 20 square feet per plant. Their vines need room to sprawl, so plant them in a place where they won’t crowd out other crops. Growing the vines in raised rows, known as hills, ensures good drainage and will hold the sun’s heat longer.
What is the best time for spraying watermelon?
Start spraying when vines start to run, no later than when the first (male) flowers open. From vine run until mid-May, spray every ten days. After mid-May, spray every week through harvest regardless of the weather. Downy or powdery mildew can attack any time a crop goes more than a week without a fungicide.
Is Epsom salt good for watermelons?
For sweeter watermelons and cantaloupes when the plant starts vining and again when small 1-inch melons appear, spray with 6 1/2 tablespoons Epsom salts and 3 1/2 tablespoons borax in 5 gallons of water. For more fruit on your pepper plants, fertilize the plant by burying an open one-half pack of book matches near it.
How do you control weeds in watermelon?
The best option is to apply fertilizer via drip irrigation so the fertilizer is delivered directly to the root zone of the crop, reducing the amount of nutrients available to weeds. Polyethylene mulch can be used to suppress weed seed germination in rows.
Lorraine Wade is all about natural food. She loves to cook and bake, and she’s always experimenting with new recipes. Her friends and family are the lucky beneficiaries of her culinary skills! Lorraine also enjoys hiking and exploring nature. She’s a friendly person who loves to chat with others, and she’s always looking for ways to help out in her community.