Image Credit:
Pixabay
Botanical Name
Citrullus lanatus
Grown as
Toxicity
Sun Exposure
Water Needs
Height
Spread
Soil pH
Bloom Time
Flower Color
Special Features
Resilience
Plant Type
Planting
When to Plant Watermelons
- In cool climates with short growing seasons, start seeds indoors 2 to 3 weeks before your last frost date. Plan to transplant seedlings into the garden about 2 weeks after that date or when the soil has warmed to at least 65°F (18°C).
- In warmer climates with long growing seasons, sow seeds directly outdoors 1 to 2 weeks after your last frost date, as long as the soil temperature has warmed to at least 65°F (18°C).
- Young watermelon plants can also be bought from nurseries. Plant these after there is no longer a chance of frost; they are very tender. Watch the local forecast and err on the side of caution! Consider laying black plastic over your planting area to warm the soil even more.
- Tip: Starting with young plants can result in an earlier harvest (usually up to 2 weeks earlier), so consider buying young plants, particularly if you live in a cooler climate.
Choosing and Preparing a Planting Site
- Amend soil with aged manure, seaweed, and/or compost before planting. Watermelons are heavy feeders, meaning they need soil that is fertile and has a high nutrient level. Learn more about soil amendments and preparing soil for planting.
- Watermelons do best in loamy, somewhat sandy, well-drained soil. They can struggle in soil that contains too much clay and doesn’t drain well.
- Watermelons prefer a soil pH between 6.0 and 7.5 (“slightly acidic to neutral”).
- Watermelons need A LOT of space—up to 20 square feet per plant. Their vines need room to sprawl, so plant them in a place where they won’t crowd out other crops.
- Growing the vines in raised rows, known as hills, ensures good drainage and will hold the sun’s heat longer.
- Plan to space the plants 2-3 feet apart in a 5-foot-wide hill.
- If you’re growing in traditional rows, space them at least 6 feet apart.
How to Plant Watermelons
- Sow seeds 1/2 to 1 inch deep outdoors or 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep in seed-starting pots indoors.
- Tip: To allow for more root growth, use larger starting pots than you would for most seeds. Also, consider using compostable pots that can be cut away or planted directly in the garden, as this will minimize the risk of damaging seedlings’ tender roots during transplanting.
- If direct seeding outdoors, sow 4 to 6 seeds per hill, eventually thinning to 2 to 3 seedlings.
Transplanting Seedlings
- Handle watermelon seedlings with extreme care when you transplant. Their roots are very fragile, so try not to disturb the soil when removing them from pots.
- After transplanting, cover the plants with row covers to keep pests at bay. Remember to remove the row covers when you see both male and female flowers on the vine, as pollinators will need to access the flowers.
- Find even more tips for planting melons in your home garden.
Growing
Watering Watermelons
- Watering is very important—from planting until fruit begins to form. While melon plants are growing, blooming, and setting fruit, they need 1 to 2 inches of water per week.
- Keep soil moist but not waterlogged. Water at the vine’s base in the morning, and try to avoid wetting the leaves and avoid overhead watering. Reduce watering once fruit is growing. Dry weather produces the sweetest melon.
Fertilizing
- If you choose to fertilize (and many do), make sure it delivers more nitrogen than phosphorus and potassium, as this will encourage leaf and vine growth. However, after flowering begins, use a fertilizer with less nitrogen to instead encourage flowers and fruit. We like to use a seaweed-based fertilizer.
Flowering and Fruiting
- Vines produce male and female flowers separately on the same plant. They often begin producing male flowers several weeks before the females appear. Do not be concerned if the male flowers fall off. The female flowers (which have a swollen bulb at the base) will stay on the vine and bear fruit.
- Blossoms require pollination to set fruit, so be kind to the bees!
- As the fruit is ripening, prevent rotting by gently lifting it and putting cardboard or straw between the fruit and the soil.
General Watermelon Care Tips
- Mulching with black plastic or straw around the plants will serve multiple purposes: it will warm the soil, hinder weed growth, and keep developing fruits off the soil.
- Pruning generally isn’t necessary for watermelon plants, but vine productivity may be improved if you do not allow lateral (side) vines to grow and stick to the main vine. When the plant is young, just cut off the end buds as they form (before the side shoots become vines). You can also pinch off some blossoms to focus the energy on fewer melons (though it’s challenging to kill off a potential fruit).
Types
- ‘Golden Midget’: 70 days to maturity. Bears petite, yellow-skinned, 3-pound melons with pink flesh. Good for northern gardeners.
- ‘Sugar Baby’: 80 days to maturity. Produces 10-pound melons with bright red flesh. This variety of smaller fruit can be planted just 4 feet apart.
- ‘Sweet Beauty’: 80 days to maturity. A 2004 All-America Selection. Bears 6-pound, oblong melons with red flesh.
Comments
I thought blossom end rot was from a lack of magnesium, and Epsom salts would prevent it because it is pure magnesium
Hello there I am a first time watermelon grower this year. I planted Jubilee in mounds made of composted cow manure and topsoil. I have 6 sprouts so far and they are just starting to open but they are yellowish and I don't know why. The ones I planted inside were nice and green but these ones look as though they are dyeing already. I thought maybe it was too much or too little water? But I don't know how to tell. Please help!
Watermelons like loamy well-drained soil. Keep the soil moist but not too wet. The plants also need warm soil, they grow best if the soil temp. is 70F or more. Maybe your soil hasn't warmed up yet. Please see our planting and care tips on top of this page.
I live in Jamaica; I tried planting watermelon twice during the rainy season and as soon as they started putting on blosoms they wilted. Is it that there were too much water on them or something else. Can you give me some advice please?
Hello!
It's April 26 here in Brooklyn. I bought and planted a watermelon seedling today. AFTER planting is I read that it is best to plant them when the ground has warmed to 70 degrees - so I'm guessing that will happen a month form now. Will this just be slow growth for the plant the first month or will it be detrimental....e.g. should i buy a new plant and start again in a month? Or perhaps even start indoors now from seed and have seedlings ready in a month.
THANK YOU!!
Hi, Mark: Well, perhaps you can take some solace in knowing that a lot of people never read the general notes anyway, at any time, so at least you found out rather than let yourself in for a big surprise! But you might still be OK. What cold does to a watermelon seedling is just stress it out, often for life, so it grows more slowly, has smaller fruit, etc. The first thing to do is protect your plant for the next few weeks: Cover it at night, protect it from wind, just sort of baby it. At the same time, go ahead and start another indoors for later transplanting. It's double the trouble, but you may end up with double the reward! Thanks for writing -- and for reading!
Hi Ive been trying to grow several variates of watermelons 200 to 300 plaints a year for the last 10 years putting manure on in fall, working ground up well and deep. heeling rows up. not heeling. planting on a slop. less slop, less water, more water, no water. seem like tried almost every thing. they grow large fruit larger then store but just will not get ripe before the vines die even planted late last year. same thing.I live in Missouri the only thing i haven't tried is pruning the fruit and runners
Please help
I'm from Southern California a good thing we do out here to develop sweet,ripe,and clean fruit is evenly lay black plastic down weigh it down with dirt or mulch do it won't move on you then poke holes in plastic and plant seed, plastic black plastic keeps soil 90 degrees and kills weeds,keeps fruit unprescidently clean and.you will have a high germination rate for direct sow.base watering of plant is advised once plant appears drip or soaker hose I have found to be the best and cost efficient
I am a first time grower and I have planted watermelon its been two months and I still don't have a lot of stems yet can you please give me pointers and tips I also think I went the wrong way I sowed em like strawberry instead of hills of dirt did I do wrong how much do I water ? In need of help please
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Hello, S-man: This could be any number of things. Possibly your fruit are not getting adequately pollinated (you can research how to help them). Possibly this is blossom end rot, which is caused by a chemical imbalance (lack of calcium) during development (again: research; your pH should be between 6.0 and 7.0). Possibly this could be the result of over- or inconsistent watering; water regularly and deeply, but only every 2 to 3 days. Mulch to help conserve moisture. Possibly this is a pest or disease, such as bacterial fruit blotch. We would say that the best thing to do is start from scratch. Take out the top 4 to 6 inches of soil to make sure that there are no diseases or diseased seeds remaining. Rebuild and care for meticulously, and you should have a melon patch that will treat you right forever. Thanks for asking!