In walking through the hydroponic tunnel at the Dixon Springs Agricultural Center this week, the stark difference in powdery mildew disease pressure could not be ignored and was the inspiration for this article.
In the guide from Missouri Extension, High Tunnel Melon and Watermelon Production, originally authored by Lewis W. Jett and revised by David Trinklein, the table lists potential melon cultivars that could be suitable for high tunnel production, and within that table disease tolerance is listed for the cultivars, along with cucurbit type, days to maturity, and fruit description.
‘Sugar Cube’ is an F1 hybrid with tolerance to fusarium and powdery mildew.
‘Jenny Lind’ is an heirloom cultivar with no tolerance to fusarium and powdery mildew.
In hydroponic production, fusarium tolerance is not really a factor that needs to be considered, but powdery mildew can definitely be problematic within high tunnel/protected culture systems. Disease tolerance differences between the two cultivars is illustrated very well in the photo taken of muskmelons being grown hydroponically at DSAC. The dark green vines on the right-hand side of the photo are ‘Sugar Cube’ and immediately to the left, the brown and whitish dying vines are ‘Jenny Lind.’
Source: illinois.edu
Photo Credit: vecteezy-bergamont
Categories: Illinois, Crops