Melon flowers in the Bootheel

We seem to have skipped through the rainy spring season here in Sikeston and plunged into a hot drought.  The sandy loam soil is soaking up the well water as fast as our Israeli drippers can supply it.  Mother Nature is holding out on a thorough soaking rain that is desperately needed in our region.  All the irrigation systems in the Bootheel are pumping precious moisture as if it were July.

Watermelon plants are native to Africa and love the intense heat as evidenced by the first male flowers of the season.  The male flowers precede the female ovaries to insure sufficient pollen is available.  Each plant has both male and female reproductive systems.  Bees normally pollinate watermelons, however, as a dedicated giant melon grower, we control the pollination to insure the parentage for future generations.  We'll show you how this is accomplished soon so check back!

This is what a potential giant watermelon looks like before pollination.  If we're successful and pollination occurs this tiny melon starts to increase in size so rapidly you shake your head every day while you watch it grow.