Friday, June 19, 1998

Comanche County melon growers don't wait on Fourth of July

By J.T. Smith / Abilene Reporter-News

GUSTINE -- You'd better slow your vehicle down if traveling Texas Highway 36 through Comanche County. You might come across a convoy of melons.

It had long been considered quite an achievement to have ripe watermelons by the "Fourth of July" here in Central Texas. Perhaps, bragging rights.

That's growing melons the traditional way. In fact, August -- and even September -- was when melon harvest often reached a fever pitch.

So how come all the melon wagons and trucks on the road in mid-June?

A bunch of young farmers here aren't growing melons like their fathers and grandfathers did -- planting from seed and hoping for the first ripe melons some time in July.

These guys are growing melons from transplants using black plastic and drip or pivot irrigation. Both seedless and regular melons. Great cantaloupes too.

The Melon Production Tour on Thursday spotlighted some top-notch farmers who do it right with precision.

Rodney Stephens has melon showplace

Rodney Stephens is an energetic, intense farmer who has both state-of-the-art watermelon fields and cantaloupes just southeast of Comanche.

Visitors got to view cantaloupes fed water through drip irrigation line along rows of black plastic.

Stephens also spoon feeds the cantaloupe vines fertilizer through the drip irrigation lines just as they need nutrients. (Sort of like a patient hooked up to an intravenous solution in a hospital).

He uses a broker to market his seedless and regular watermelons from New York to California destinations. Stephens does not use a broker for cantaloupes -- which he sells to the local market here as well as markets in Dallas, Austin and so forth.

In 26 years of writing farm news, and 40-plus years of experience with melons and cantaloupes on the family farm and other farms, this farm writer has never seen a more uniform and heavily loaded field of cantaloupes than Stephens' field. Simply outstanding.

Mark Littlejohn has a different color

Variety makes the world go around.

Mark Littlejohn has yellow-meated watermelons, Israel melons and cantaloupes at his place just outside Gustine. Like Stephens, Littlejohn has an excellent crop this year, which also includes some seedless melons by the river.

"Prices have been good this year," Littlejohn noted.

Littlejohn, his wife and child know they will need help in getting the crop harvested. It's an expensive, labor-intensive business.

Mark and Lori Allison have melons and corn under pivot

Another outstanding -- and picturesque operation -- was that of Mark Allison and his wife, Lori.

In addition to their seedless melons under pivot irrigation, an adjacent field of corn also is being grown under the pivot system.

The Allisons also use the black plastic for the transplants.

But in addition, Mark and Lori also plant strips of wheat in the fall which they don't harvest, but leave as windbreaks to protect the tender young melon vines in the spring from what can be treacherous winds in our part of the world.

"If I had it to do over, I wouldn't put the wheat upon the beds -- it got too tall," Mark said, noting it made some mechanical operations much more difficult. "Next time, I will plant the wheat down in the middles."

Diseases and nutrition are key factors

So you want to be like these young tigers and grow some great early melons?

Dr. Chip Lee, renowned Texas A&M plant pathologist, said you could easily tie up $1,000 per acre in production costs.

Anthracnose disease is a dreaded and common invader of melon fields. Lee said some farmers use three pints of Bravo each week to keep their melon fields safe.

"It's very expensive," Lee noted. "You have to be committed."

Some 23 different treatments for foliar disease control in melons and cantaloupes are being evaluated by Texas A&M at one farm here.

Dr. Nancy Roe, Texas A&M horticulturist, said nutrition also is key. A liquid starter solution is important in getting transplants off to a good start.

"A shot of potassium also will help get the root systems strong," Roe noted.

Roe recommends tissue tests -- not just traditional soil tests -- for nutrient needs in melons.

"Soil tests are a good starting point," Roe said. "But a tissue test during the growing season will allow an immediate analysis of the plant's nutrition needs.

Comanche County Ag Agent Bob Whitney is pleased growers are getting a good price for melons.

Jim Farley of De Leon, a veteran of the melon business, said traditional melons will come off later in the season -- which means a long and busy season in Comanche County.

So slow down a bit in Comanche County this summer. You don't need a watermelon for a hood ornament.