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.