Improve Melon Yields: Fruit Quality Control Solution

Common Defects when Growing & Harvesting Melons

• Alternaria Leaf Blight
  This fungus is a common problem for melon quality control, especially where the temperatures are high and rainfall is regular/high. It will usually look like small yellow or green spots with a “halo” around them. If left untreated, leaves will curl and die.
• Anthracnose
  Also known as leaf spot or fruit rot, anthracnose lesions are brown in color and can be different sizes on the fruit and on the leaves themselves. Pink spores can also appear during particularly wet weather.
• Cercospora Leaf Spot
  You’ll usually see the initial signs of leaf spot on the older leaves of the melon plant, but as the disease gets worse, the lesions will grow and cover more of the surface of the leaves. In the middle of the lesions you might see that the surface becomes more brittle and prone to cracking.
• Charcoal Rot
  Charcoal rot usually impacts melon quality control in the fall season, and is a severe defect that can ruin a yield. You can spot this rot by its amber/brown to black oozing substance, plus dying leaves, and a lesion at the soil line.
• Fusarium Wilt
  This is another fungus that impacts melon quality control, especially in warm and wet weather conditions or soil. You’ll find lesions on the roots and on the stems, plus inside the fruit you’ll likely see reddish brown discoloration.
• Gummy Stem Blight
  Some people believe that gummy stem blight comes from the seeds themselves, and therefore there isn’t a lot that you can do about it. If you have this problem with your melon crop, you’ll see round brown spots of different sizes on the leaves, and stems will die, while fruit will expel a dark sticky liquid.
• Insect Damage
  One example of insect damage caused by leafhoppers is aster yellows phytoplasma, which will result in yellow foliage, and rigid stems that grow upright in an unusual way. The leaves can be smaller than normal, and the flowers and fruits are small or disfigured. Other insect damage could be caused by cutworms, flea beetles, thrips or squash bugs.
• Mechanical Damage
  Defects that are transferred by insects like aphids can also be transferred during mechanical work, for example the virus cucumber mosaic. Plants will grow poorly, and a yellow mosaic pattern will be visible on the foliage. The fruit itself is also usually discoloured.
• Powdery Mildew
  Usually due to poor air circulation, powdery mildew is noticed by a white, powdery growth which can grow on both the leaves and the stems of the melon fruit. Infected areas will have stunted growth and look distorted in color and shape. It’s most common in dry and humid weather.
• Southern Blight
  Also known as stem and fruit rot, you can recognize the intense scarring that this defect will cause a melon yield. This is most common in tropical and subtropical regions, and will result in leaves wilting quickly, yellowing foliage, brown stems and branches.