I have grown Sakata’s Yellow Buttercup watermelon for years and have used many different pollinators. This year I used Sakata’s SWD8732 and SWD8585 and saw a significant increase in fruit set and overall yield versus when I used a competitor’s variety to pollinate my Yellow Buttercups.

Greg House

Omega, Georgia

Bold Ruler sets fruit earlier than any variety I’ve used in the past. This was our second year growing it and we will net around 80,000 lbs per acre after several harvest trips across the field. In my 32 years of growing watermelons, I’ve never had a variety perform like this one. We are going to continue Bold Ruler on our farm.

Charles W. Patterson

Patterson Farms
Omega, Georgia

We tried Citation because we wanted a 60-count watermelon in our program. It exceeded our yield expectations. It’s a dense watermelon that gets a concentrated uniform fruit set and packs out beautifully. Citation is early enough that we even saved a couple of spray trips and some money. Any time we can keep money on the farm is a good thing.

Broc Moore

Southern Acres Farms
Lenox, Georgia

I planted Bold Ruler and Affirmed on part of my acreage. I liked what we saw. They have a place in my rotation with other varieties.

John F. Davis

D & D Farms
Lenox, Georgia

We trialed Alaniz Gold melon from Sakata in 2012 and were very impressed with size yield and quality!! We were so happy that we decided to make it the main variety in our program!

Jacob and David Mendrin

JND Farms, Inc.
Fresno, California

This year we replaced some acreage with Atlantis cantaloupe and were tickled to death with the results. We had better yields, size and sugar. Atlantis will see a lot more acreage next year.

Alan Parrish

Sweet Dixie Melon Company
Ty Ty, Georgia

We had five varieties from three companies this season, and Charismatic stood out the most across the board – from quality, tonnage and earliness, and it held its size across multiple harvests.

Dustin Blank

FF Produce/The Farm
Estero, Florida

This was my first year growing Bold Ruler watermelon. I really liked how it set fruit six to seven days earlier than my other varieties. The yield was as good as the other melons and there were no quality problems. I will be growing Bold Ruler next year.

Lee Norman

D&L Produce
Moultrie, Georgia

We trialed Sakata watermelons in 2010 and in 2011 took a longer look at Citation, Affirmed and Bold Ruler. We split our production in 2012 with all three varieties because each fits a need we have. We can tailor our plantings to meet whatever need we have. We can be early or main season. We can plant more Affirmed if we want a few more 36-counts; or Bold Ruler for 45-counts; or Citation for more 60-counts, and still get the yields and quality we need and expect.

Buck Moore

Southern Acres Farms
Lenox, Georgia

Alaniz Gold was an exciting find for Westside Produce. Early in its life cycle we took interest in both its size and yield potential and added it to our program in 2012. We intend to make it a bigger part of our planting schedule and are encouraged by its long-term viability.

S. Garrett Patricio

Westside Produce
Firebaugh, CA