7 p. / Grafting cucurbits onto rootstocks resistant to diseases and abiotic stresses can be a methodto overcome limited availability of effective pre-plant fumigants or land to rotate and to allowearlier planting. Commonly used rootstocks for cucurbits have resistance to Fusarium (race1&2) as well as cold tolerance, among other favorable traits like increased vigor of the scion. Grafting of cucurbits was developed in Asia primarily to allow production without rotation, because arable land is so limited. In the US, crop rotation schedules for seedless watermelon can be 3 years or longer reducing the amount of watermelon a grower can produce in a season. We have been growing grafted and non-grafted seedless watermelon on the same field/plot for 4 years, with no fumigation or off-season rotation of other crops. During the last 2 years, we planted early (March 1) to determine if grafting could overcome low night temperatures in addition to disease pressures. Treatments included grafted and non-grafted plants, covering with frost protection and non-covered. The results of the last 2 years indicate that grafted plants yielded nearly twice as much as non-grafted plants, suggesting that grafting can be a promising technology for Arizona watermelon producers.

Calsweet' watermelons were irrigated at three levels using a drip irrigation system. Number and weight of melons were recorded for three harvest dates. The low water treatment had significantly lower average melon weight than the medium and high treatments. There were no significant differences between the number of melons produced for each treatment.

No description available.

Five insecticides, four oils, one soap, and two insect growth regulators were evaluated for control of sweetpotato whitefly on muskmelons and watermelons in 1990. Best control (> 80%) was noted from the insect growth regulators at 11 days post treatment, but declined thereafter. Oils as a class provided some control but not all oils provided similar results. Insecticides tested did not provide adequate control and resulted in increased whitefly egg and nymph numbers at 11 days post treatment.

Seedless watermelons have become an important commodity in Arizona. In 1991 16 cultivars were compared and evaluated at the Maricopa Agricultural Center. Tri-X 313 had overall good performance and remains the standard. Several other cultivars show promise.

Calsweet watermelons were irrigated at two levels, utilizing a drip irrigation system for accurate rate measurements. Number and weight of harvested melons were recorded for four harvest dates. There were no significant differences in weight per melon, number of melons and total mean weight for the water treatments within the four harvest dates. For the entire season, number and total weight of melons were higher in the wet treatment; the weight per melon was higher in the dry treatment.

No description available.

Bensulide (Prefar®), clomazone (Command®), sulfentrazone (FMC), and halosulfuron (FMC) treatments applied preemergence (PREE) gave very good weed control of prostrate pigweed (Amaranthus blitoides), lambsquarters (Chenopodium album), and common purslane (Potulaca oleracea) at 5 weeks after treatment (WAT). Bentazon (Basagran ® and halosulfuron applied postemergence (POST) alone were marginally effective at less than 85% against the pigweed species at 2 WAT and controlled lambsquarters and common purslane. POST treatments following PREE treatments were highly effective to control most weeds. Watermelon injury was acceptable for Command and halosulfuron treatments. Basagran caused slight injury when applied POST on the watermelons. Carfentrazone was not effective against the weeds present in this test site and was safe on the crop. The greatest number of marketable watermelons were harvested from plots having treatments that provided effective weed control. Command plus Prefar PREE followed by Basagran POST and Prefar PREE followed by halosulfuron POST treated watermelons yielded high numbers of marketable fruit.

Seeds of the commercial cultivar for seedless watermelons, TriX313, were separated into groups based on thickness in one experiment and on weight in another. Number of triploids and tetraploids were recorded for each category. There were no significant differences in ploidy levels based on either weight or seed thickness. Seeds from this same cultivar were treated with priming solutions of polyethylene glycol (PEG 8000), KNO3, and distilled water for three lengths of time (1,3, or 6 days). The seed was subsequently air-dried for 1 or 7 days and then tested for germination and emergence.

A field experiment with subsurface drip irrigated watermelon was conducted on a Casa Grande s.l. soil at the Maricopa Agricultural Center in 1992 to evaluate the field performance of two slow release nitrogen (SRN) fertilizers in comparison to a conventional soluble N source, urea, ammonium- nitrate (UAN-32). Single, preplant applications of 0, 100 and 200 lbs N/acre supplied from methylene urea (Nutralenes) or 100, 150 and 3(X) lbs N/acre from a methylene urea-ammonium sulfate mixture (MUAS) were evaluated in comparison to treatments of UAN-32 containing from 52 to 445 lbs N/acre made in five split applications. Yield response to N rates above 100 lbs/acre were similar for all three N sources, indicating that a single, preplant application of a suitable SRN material at an adequate rate could provide N efficiently over the entire growing season. The highest numerical yield (49.3 tons/acre) was obtained with a N rate of 150 lbs N/acre from the MUAS material. Monitoring of petiole nitrate levels throughout the season indicated that N release from the MUAS was more rapid and more complete than from the methylene-urea product. At suboptimal N rates, i.e. < 150 lbs N/acre, split applications of UAN-32 appeared to be somewhat more efficient than the slow-release products.