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.
I'm in the UK and for the first time I'm growing water melons. The plant is in the greenhouse and was doing well. There is one melon (about 4 inches in diameter) and three or four smaller fruits. However, the plant seems to be dying with the leaves going brown and any shoots with flowers seem to be withering.
I water every day with the addition of Tomerite. Can anyone help as I haven't got a clue what to do next?
Only water every 2-3 days
Hi, I grow about 1/2 acre of assorted watermelon varieties. Years past have been great in flavor and quality. This year, they all seem to be going "Dead" before they are ripe according to tendril and yellow belly. The few we have cut a little early don't have much flavor. We are barely watering them, just enough to keep alive. Nice composted ground, black plastic and drip tape. Not sure what could be causing this problem. Any other advise on this?
I got some weedkiller on one of my watermelon plants it turned a whitesh gray so is it dead or will it pull out of it
Please i need detail guidiance on the proper management of watermelone to ensure maximum growth and yield.
If you got weedkiller on your fruit, I wouldn't eat the fruit.
I have two watermelons thumb size. How fast will they grow and how long will it take before picking?
Hi Jacqueline,
If you planted your watermelons from seed the days to maturity should be printed on the seed packet. How fast your melons will mature all depends on what variety you have and your climate. Watermelons love hot weather. Generally, watermelons are ready to be picked about 65 to 90 days after sowing.
I planted watermelon seeds from a yellow watermelon that I bought. It is spouting fast but someone told me that seeds from a watermelon don't usually produce melons. Am I wasting my time? Or should I let it continue to grow?
It depends. If your watermelon came from a grocery store, it likely was a hybrid (a cross between two watermelon varieties). In this case, the watermelons that come from that seed may be different from the parent melon and may have inferior characteristics (such as poor quality, taste, etc). Sometimes, something better than the parent might form, but that's rare. If you think your seeds came from a hybrid, and want to just grow the plant to see what develops, good or bad, then continue to grow it.
If, on the other hand, you got a watermelon from a farmer's market, and you know that it was an open-pollinated variety (a cross between plants of the same variety), the seeds will likely come true to type, having the same features as the parent. In this case, if you continue to grow the plant, it most likely will produce fruit like the original watermelon (providing it has the proper light, nutrients, water, temperature, etc.).
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