Melons, Pumpkins, Cantaloupes | University of Maryland Extension

Updated: April 18, 2025

Vegetable and Fruit News-2025 (Volume 16, Issue 1)

Updated: April 16, 2025

Spring-Seeded Grass Cover Crops in Watermelon Production

Commercially acceptable weed control is difficult to achieve in plasticulture vegetables even with pre- and post-emergent herbicide applications. These applications often do not provide season long weed control between rows. Moreover, several weed species have become resistant to commonly used postemergence herbicides, including common ragweed and pigweed species. Cover crops are an additional tool that could be successfully integrated into a weed management program.

Figure 1. Tractor-Mounted shielded sprayer used for cover crop termination.

Updated: April 16, 2025

Evaluating Spring-Seeded Cover Crop Termination Timing for Weed Control in Watermelon

Updated: April 10, 2025

Ripening Behaviors and Harvest Indexes of Watermelons, Cantaloupes and Honeydew Melons

Ripening Behaviors and Harvest Indexes of Watermelons, Cantaloupes and Honeydew Melons.

Updated: October 23, 2024

Watch for Aphids in Melons

Several reports lately of very deformed watermelon plants, but also a few cucumber and cantaloupe fields. These distortions (fig. 1) most of the time are being caused by melon aphids Aphis gossypii Glover. Melon aphids are small and range in color from a light/dark green mottle (fig. 2), which is most common to whitish, yellow (seen during hot, dry weather), pale green, and dark green almost black forms. The legs are pale with just the tips of some parts black. The cornicles also are black. One trait of melon aphids that make them particularly difficult to manage is that unlike other aphids, their populations do not fade with higher summer temperatures. Immatures look like adults, only smaller.

Watermelon plant with heavy melon aphid population

Updated: October 23, 2024

IPM Threshold Guide for Vegetable Crops

Updated: October 23, 2024

Watch Your Pumpkins and Squash for Squash Vine Borer

I have gotten several emails and calls from growers in different areas of the state reporting they are seeing the beginnings of squash vine borer problems in their pumpkins or squash crops. IF you rotated at least 1/2 mile from your squash/pumpkin fields of last year you should be OK, however, I know some growers either cannot rotate or they cannot rotate very far from last year’s crop.

Fig. 3 Frass (arrow) and pumpkin stem damaged by borers.

Updated: October 23, 2024

Mild Winter Induces Three Pest Problems This Year

There have been problems in our vegetable fields with three pests, which include striped cucumber beetles, leafhoppers and twospotted spider mites. I think most of the problems we are having with these three comes from our mild winter as each has had an outbreak population after a mild winter sometime in the last 12 years.

Updated: October 23, 2024

Thrips and Tree Pollen in Vegetables

At times growers may be surprised to find a fairly large number (10-15 adults and 7-10 immatures/leaf) of thrips on the leaves of cantaloupe, watermelon and potato early in the season. However, no thrips feeding dam age was visible on the leaves.

Updated: October 23, 2024

Mid-Atlantic Commercial Vegetable Production Recommendations (EB-236)

The recommendations are intended for the commercial vegetable grower who has to make numerous managerial decisions. Although the proper choices of variety, pesticides, equipment, irrigation, fertilizer, and cultural practices are the individual vegetable grower’s responsibility, it is intended that these recommendations will facilitate decision-making. Recommended planting dates will vary across the six-state region. Local weather conditions, grower experience, and variety may facilitate successful harvest on crops planted outside the planting dates listed in this guide. This can be evaluated in consultation with the local agents and state specialists. Government agencies and other organizations administrating crop insurance programs or other support programs should contact local Extension agents and/or vegetable specialists for guidance. EB-236