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Hollow heart is a condition in watermelons that causes unfilled spaces in the flesh, and it can also leave growers feeling a bit empty in the wallet.
The condition can severely reduce the marketability of watermelons, and the problem was a main topic during a session on vine crops Feb. 10 at the virtual Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention.
Seedless watermelon varieties â which total 95% of U.S. production â are particularly vulnerable to hollow heart, as are varieties that donât have dense flesh.
Inadequate pollination is the primary cause of the problem, said Gordon Johnson, an Extension fruit and vegetable specialist at the University of Delaware.
Matt Boyer Jennifer Talik
⢠Matt Boyer of Boyer Orchards was named the Outstanding Grower of the Year.
Boyer began working in his familyâs orchard when he was young, graduated from Penn State with a horticulture degree in 1979, and returned home to manage the farm in New Paris, Bedford County.
Matt and his brother, Bruce, bought the orchard from their parents in 1989, and they now farm with their sons.
In the last decade, Matt has overseen orchard expansion, the adoption of new varieties and food safety certification, and the shift to H-2A labor.
Boyer was the president of SHAP in 2008 and 2009, is the treasurer of Appalachian Fruit Growers and volunteers at the Pennsylvania Farm Show apple booth. He is a member of several other grower groups.
Tree fruit scientists spoke about recent research on bitter rot and apple replant disease on Tuesday during the Mid-Atlantic Fruit and Vegetable Convention.
Bitter rot causes sunken lesions in apples and produces orange spores. At least eight species of fungus cause bitter rot, but they are closely related, produce identical symptoms and can be managed essentially the same way, said Phillip Martin, a Penn State doctoral student.
Bitter rot has been increasing in recent years, thanks in large part to the expanding acreage of Honeycrisp. Popular with consumers, the variety is also highly susceptible to bitter rot fungi.
Bitter rot grows best in long periods of wetness between 70 and 80 degrees. The fungus often infects the fruit and stays dormant until late in the season or even after harvest.
Lots of farms scrambled to set up home delivery and online sales at the beginning of the pandemic last spring. Even if they didnât have all the details sorted out, farmers focused on getting the new offerings up and running so they could keep serving customers.
Now that farms and consumers have had a growing season to settle into a new normal, itâs a good time for farmers to review how their new marketing channels are working and to make sure they can be permanent drivers of sales.
âIf people arenât coming on farm in the current environment, can you afford not to deliver?â said John Wodehouse, a Penn State Extension business management educator.