The planters are rolling and the green seedlings are slowly spreading as the watermelon season starts up. Red Dirt Melons is 50 hectares into its bigger 2011 270-hectare planting crop, sowing the first lines four weeks ago. Production manager Bridget Schulz has been fighting the waterlogged season with nutrient spraying and fungicide. She has been spraying nutrients on the soil rather than through irrigation so the plants can absorb it easier. Weeds are also a threat Red Dirt is tackling. The team is keeping defence systems on track, as Ms Schulz said bugs don't attack healthy crops. She said watermelons need warm, dry weather, with rains holding up Kununurra planting so far. She said this makes the market stronger, but the hassle touches all farmers.
Planting will continue until mid August, with staggered picking to begin late May through to late November. Ms Schulz will soon introduce bees to the six-week-old flowering seedlings to pollinate. The team is planting about 12 hectares a week, and will pick about 600 tonnes weekly from May onwards. The load might increase, with plans to introduce a butternut pumpkin crop on standby until fields dry. Ms Schulz said it?s a wait and see game for the 30-hectare patch made up of different soils and water channels. The pumpkins will be directly planted, while time has been cut for melons by ordering in Queensland seedlings. The team grew seedlings onsite last season, but ordered ready-made batches from Bowen this year.
More is also in the pipeline, with plans to develop an extra 200 hectares to rest the melon country. Ms Schulz said the new parcel will offer fruitful production and give the fields a chance to rejuvenate. Virgin land gives a better yield; you haven't stripped the soil yet,she said. Ms Schulz said she hopes the weather evens out now, with ideal daily temperatures in the mid-30s and the nightly gauge around 18.
Planting will continue until mid August, with staggered picking to begin late May through to late November. Ms Schulz will soon introduce bees to the six-week-old flowering seedlings to pollinate. The team is planting about 12 hectares a week, and will pick about 600 tonnes weekly from May onwards. The load might increase, with plans to introduce a butternut pumpkin crop on standby until fields dry. Ms Schulz said it?s a wait and see game for the 30-hectare patch made up of different soils and water channels. The pumpkins will be directly planted, while time has been cut for melons by ordering in Queensland seedlings. The team grew seedlings onsite last season, but ordered ready-made batches from Bowen this year.
More is also in the pipeline, with plans to develop an extra 200 hectares to rest the melon country. Ms Schulz said the new parcel will offer fruitful production and give the fields a chance to rejuvenate. Virgin land gives a better yield; you haven't stripped the soil yet,she said. Ms Schulz said she hopes the weather evens out now, with ideal daily temperatures in the mid-30s and the nightly gauge around 18.
