Is there anything quite as delicious as a slice of sweet, juicy, ice-cold watermelon out of the refrigerator? Yes! Watermelon that you’ve grown yourself. It’s not a complicated plant either, so get out your seed catalogue or gardening references, and start thinking how you’re going to go about it.
By nature, watermelon is a warm season plant, and while there are some smaller varieties that will mature with care, in the colder northern regions, they are most commonly grown in more southern climates, where the season is longer, and the sun, more plentiful.
Watermelons can grow in many kinds of soil, but prefer one of sandy loam. Likewise, they tolerate a wide range of pH levels, from 5.0 to 6.8, but do best in the upper ranges of over 6.0. As with many other “fruiting" garden plants, they enjoy a rich bed that has been well worked with compost, prior to planting. After your seedlings are in the ground, you can use side dressings of 1-2-3 fertilizer
Whether you are planting outside directly from seed, or using seedlings, rake up a mound along the row, or create individual hills. Which method you choose, can depend on whether you plant to use a black plastic cover for the row/hills, to help keep both moisture and heat in for the young plants. Pumpkins require a great deal of room, which means you’re looking at hills that are six feet apart, with eight feet between the rows. That can be a lot of plastic. The alternative is to do more work by staking squares of plastic over individual hills.
Plant the seed ½" deep through a hole you’ve made in the plastic. Use 3-6 seeds per hill, and when there is sufficient growth to assess, remove all but the three strongest plants. If you’ve decided to go with rows, and have grown your seeds indoors, then seedlings should be planted three feet apart in prepared rows. Be very careful in gauging when to start your seeds indoors, as watermelons are unlike other plants, in that the bigger they get, the more sensitive they are to being transplanted. One way to avoid this problem, is to plant individual seeds in peat pellets or pots, that go directly into the ground.
If you have grown or purchased seedlings, make sure there is no risk of frost when you set them out, and the evenings are now sufficiently warm.
Watermelons have deep roots and access water better than many plants. However, you may still have to water during a long, dry period. For this, you might like to try laying “soaker" hose along the row. Weeding is also important, and can be accomplished with shallow hoeing. A layer of straw mulch around the plants and between rows can also be effective.
Don’t be alarmed when your first blossoms drop off. Those are the males, and hopefully, they have already done their job of pollinating the female blossoms.
Your crop will mature in anywhere from 60-85 days, depending on your climate, and the variety you are growing. As a rule of thumb, fruit are ready to harvest when the little green curls around the stem have turned brown, when the area of the skin that lays on the ground becomes yellow, and when the skin is resistant to puncture by a fingernail. And of course, there is the tried and true thumping the bottom of the melon for a dull, thud sound that means the flesh is full and ripe.
» left by Anonymous (3 years 115 days ago.)
i wanted to knowm what would help with the weeds--i'm going to try the straw next year Respond to this comment
» left by Ruth from Northeastern Pennsylvania (3 years 85 days ago.)
How do I keep rabbits and/or squirrels from eating my watermelons? Respond to this comment
» left by Jose from United States (2 years 134 days ago.)
how much room do watermelons need to grow? i have been growing my first watermelon plants and now the plant has grown to be so long it is wrapping itself around the other plants in the garden. should i build a type of fence around it or what? Respond to this comment
» left by Dawn VanHorn-Heath from Fullerton, CA (1 year 207 days ago.)
I am considering putting 2 small plants into a pot on my patio. The pot is 3 feet deep and approx 1 3/4's feet across. Is this something I can use to grow watermelon successfully? Respond to this comment
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