Growing Watermelons

Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Watermelons

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Everyone seems to love juicy watermelon in the summertime. Native to Africa, melons require warm temperatures and a long growing season. Here’s how to plant and grow watermelons in your garden!

About Watermelons

Because watermelons need a long period of warm weather to grow well, they tend to be more popular in warmer climates with long growing seasons. However, gardeners in colder climates can still have success in growing watermelons by starting seeds indoors or purchasing young plants from a nursery, and by growing shorter-season varieties. Depending on the variety of watermelon, it can take between 70 and 100 days to go from planting to harvest.

Planting Dates for WATERMELONS

Planting Calendar for all Plants

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 occurring; they are very tender. Watch the local forecast and err on the side of caution! Consider laying black plastic over your planting area in order 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.

Watermelon plant

How to Plant Watermelons

Sow seeds ½ to 1 inch deep outdoors or ¼ to ½ 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.

Care

How to Grow Watermelons

Watering

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 are 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! Learn how to support pollinators in your garden.
As fruit is ripening, prevent rotting by gently lifting it and putting cardboard or straw between the fruit and the soil.

Baby watermelon

General 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 a challenge to kill off a potential fruit).

Pests/Diseases

Harvest/Storage

Watermelons don’t continue ripening after they are picked, so harvest time is important. They generally ripen over a two-week period, so keep your eye on them.

How to Tell If a Watermelon Is Ripe

Dr. Bill Rhodes, professor of horticulture at Clemson University, offers the following advice on how to tell when watermelons are ripe:

Thump it. If the watermelon sounds hollow, it’s ripe.
Look at the color on the top. The watermelon is ripe when there is little contrast between the stripes.
Look at the color on the bottom. An immature watermelon will have a white bottom; a ripe melon will have a cream- or yellow-colored bottom.
Press on it. If the watermelon sounds like it gives a little, it’s ripe. (Note: Rhodes doesn’t like this method because it can ruin the quality of the fruit.)
Check the tendril. If it’s green, wait. If it’s half-dead, the watermelon is nearly ripe or ripe. If the tendril is fully dead, it’s ripe or overripe; it’s not going to get any riper, so you might as well pick!
Stems should be cut with a sharp knife close to the fruit.

How to Store Watermelons

Watermelons can be stored uncut for about 10 days. If cut, they can last in the refrigerator for about 4 days. Wrap tightly in plastic.

Recommended Varieties

‘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.
‘Golden Midget’: 70 days to maturity. Bears petite, yellow-skinned 3-pound melons with pink flesh. Good for Northern gardeners.

Wit & Wisdom

What’s in a name? Watermelons are 90% water.
The pumpkin vine never bears watermelons.
August 3 is National Watermelon Day (U.S.)!

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Reader Comments

Of course it is it's amazing

I have two different

I have two different varieties of watermelon and certain plants are growing faster than other plants. I was considering hybridizing them, so my question is this: will the plants continually produce male and female flowers throughout the growing season or does each plant need to be roughly the same age so that they flower at same time? Also, some of the same plant variety are emerging from the soil about 4 to 6 days after their brothers and sisters. I'm new to growing watermelons, but who doesn't love a couple slices of watermelon during the summer. Thank you for your assistance. :-)

Watermelons have separate

Watermelons have separate male and female flowers on the SAME plant so they don't need another plant to pollinate. What they need are the pollinators—the bees. Watermelons do cross-pollinate with other watermelon varities. If you do decide to encourage cross-pollination, then I imagine you would want flowers opening around the same time. The female watermelon flowers do not open for very long and this is a morning event. You can always hand pollinate by plucking off a healthy male flower, removing its petals, and wiping the pollen on its stamen on to the center of the female flower. Note that you will not have a hybrid in this first generation. You need to save the seeds from the crossed melon and plant them next season to see what you get!

My watermelons are developing

My watermelons are developing both male and female flowers, but the plants are still quite small. Should I pinch off the flowers to let the vines develop more, or is it fine for them to put out flowers despite being fairly small? (I would say square foot large plants.) I grew watermelon last year and the vines were huge and sprawling, so I'm a little concerned despite the vines otherwise looking very healthy.

I'm going to be planting

I'm going to be planting watermelon next year and I want to make sure everything is perfect so I can have an excellent and successful harvest. :)
Using a tool provided by our local university I have found the watermelon seeds recommended for my area. However since I have never grown a watermelon before I don't know which of these watermelons are the sweetest.

Charleston Gray
Crimson Sweet
Dixielee
Jubilee
Tendersweet (Orange)

The only one I think is sweet (based off a youtube video I saw of this harvest) is the Jubilee watermelon. Any thoughts/help on this? Thank you :)

I don't know every variety

I don't know every variety but there are some very sweet watermelons on your list (Crimson Sweet, Jubilee) based on this reference chart which lists the "Brix" sweetness level:
http://agsyst.wsu.edu/watermel...

The tendersweet orange is the

The tendersweet orange is the sweetest with crimson sweet after that.

I have probably 10 water

I have probably 10 water melon plants growing in a 30 gallon container, can i just let them spill from the container and ramble on the ground?

Watermelon plants should be

Watermelon plants should be spaced 3 to 5 feet apart.

I am in the southern part of

I am in the southern part of Nigeria, i planted watermelon and it started well, but after producing fruit, It started rusting and some are even cracking. Please what can i do to prevent these terrible damage to my farm? at least almost 45 percent of the fruits are affected, please help.

It sounds like charcoal rot.

It sounds like charcoal rot. There are no effective controls for this fungus. Try altering irrigation to prevent water stress. This may alleviate the problem.

First looks like you don't

First looks like you don't give enough water and food to them, you must prepare you soil before planting, make a canal about 1 feet deep x 2 feet wide, start with manure mix with hay or grass, then put some sand and after mix good dirt with compost, try to make elevated beds for them about a feet high you can plant 4 plants in a 9 feet bed in between you can plant beans or peas to feed the grown, then live 9 feet free where you can plant other crops, and again 4 watermelons in a 9 feet bed, if you need more information about Poly Culture feel free to contact me B r o t h e r a y i n j e s u s at p r i e s t dot c o m I will be more than happy to help you! I hope this tip help a lot of people. The Peace of Our Good Lord Be with You All!

We live in Central fl, and

We live in Central fl, and planted jubilee water melons in grow box's. have 3 and 4 vines in both box's.
Have lots of fruit the size of quarters now, doing well. The leaves are looking a little dry and some look wilted. We water 2 times a day down the tubes. When planting we added a rather large row of slow release Fertilizer down the middle. Do I need to do any thing else?

Make sure the water is at the

Make sure the water is at the proper level (including, not too high). Watermelons may wilt during the heat of the day, but should perk back up at night. If not, check for pests such as aphids or squash bugs, or the squash vine borer. Fusarium wilt can also cause vines to wilt at midday, with leaf margins drying, but hopefully that's not the case with your plants. As the plants grow, they will need support--provide trellising, and support the fruit as it grows.

i have about three acres of

i have about three acres of watermelon can be able to get a good market were i can sale at once.

Are Carlina cross sweet

Are Carlina cross sweet melon.? 1st time farmer

Carolina Cross is a giant

Carolina Cross is a giant watermelon. You can see an example on www.burpee.com/

I live here in South Florida,

I live here in South Florida, Zone 10,
I planted watermelon 1 month ago, March, I have a nice vine growing now. How much direct sun should this plant get? Should I have it grow on the ground or set up a trellis?

Watermelons grow in full Sun

Watermelons grow in full Sun and love hot, humid weather and light, moist, fertile, well-draining soil. During harvest, watermelons must be shaded from burning sunlight to minimize heating and sunburn. The dense leaves help provide that shade.
Many people just grow the melons on the ground, however trellising would improve air circulation and reduce disease problems. If growing melons on a trellis, support fruit with slings made from netting, fabric, or pantyhose. Choose a smaller-fruited variety for trellising.

I have planted water melons

I have planted water melons at the Kenyan coast.They're turning yellow before even growing fruits.What can i do to remedy this?

Newbie here. Have started

Newbie here. Have started seedlings indoors and done built our raised boxes. Live outside of Houston Texas. We have 4 4x4 boxes, and We did kind of a wrap around box that is 8 ft on left and right and 24 feet in the back but 2 ft wide. Wanting to know best place to plant what where. I am doing watermelon and cantaloupe. was hoping the long 24 ft but 2 feet wide with maybe a trellises on the back would be enough room but doubting myself. Cucumbers I thought would go in its own 4x4 box. And then we also have tomatoes, onions, broccoli, carrots, green beans. I am maybe wanting to do another box of undecided size for strawberries, and maybe blueberries if they grow well here. My boyfriend, wants to get the miracle grow soil, and I want reassurance that is enough fertilizer and whatever is needed to use for soil and I am digging up the ground beneath the boxes to get rocks,grass and roots out. And we are going to use newspaper and cardboard to line in between. Anything you see that I shouldn't do or make any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks in advance. :)

You can use trellises for the

You can use trellises for the vining melons and the cucumbers. Just be aware that the melons may need extra support when the fruit starts developing. Cucumbers will do well on a trellis. Mix compost and/or aged manure into the soil in the raised beds. Make sure that the soil drains well. During the growing season you can add more compost or use fertilizers for the specific needs of the different veggies and berries. Note that blueberries need acidic soil.
almanac.com/content/raised-garden-beds-how-build has more information about raised bed gardening.

I grow using raised square

I grow using raised square foot gardening methods as well. I use 1 melon per foot. I do clip side vines and try to keep to 2 vines max per plant. I made some adjustments to my beds. My melon beds have an 8 foot tall trellis made with three 2x4s and chicken wire. A cattle panel would work well too. The net fell last year due to weight of the melons. The 2 foot bed will be fine. I wrap my vine up, over, down, then back up again tying the vine gently every few inches for support. A cattle panel would probably allow you to wind the vine in and out, but I used what I had. I get better results with the stronger trellis. I wouldn't go more than 4 feet without a 2x4. We helped our friends put together their square foot garden beds and they bent the cattle panels over from one bed to another in an arch and planted shade loving veggies under it. Works well. Slanting it would help support fruit too. Hope this gives you some ideas.

What is the best soil for

What is the best soil for growing watermelons? I hear sandy type soil, but I never heard anyone mention the names of the soil, and where it can be purchased? Example, can you give me an example of sandy type soil? What other minerals need to be added?

Thanks.

Hi Matt, Watermelons like

Hi Matt,

Watermelons like rich soil that drains well. Amend the soil with aged manure or compost before planting. If you have clay soil you can mix some sand into it. Watermelons are heavy feeders and prefer a soil pH between 6 and 6.8.

I live in kenya, coast

I live in kenya, coast province, specifically kilifi. I want to plant watermelon. when is the right time to do that

the right time would be just

the right time would be just before the end of the short rains to allow for germination and early vegetative growth using available rainwater .
For more info contact me at siyulesi@gmail.com. Am in Kitale Kenya working as an agronomist.

approximadetly how many

approximadetly how many watermelon plants can you grow in 1 acre of land how many fruits does each plant harvest ,thank you

The fruit size of a

The fruit size of a watermelon varies from 5 to 30 pounds, depending on variety. See this page for more information about producing watermelons for market:
http://extension.psu.edu/busin...

I am presently in Nigeria and

I am presently in Nigeria and about to start watermelon for the first time. Is this the right time for me to start planting. Here we have two seasons(Rainy season and Dry Season). We are presently in the dry season when we have much sunlight and higher temperature. is it compulsory I have to raise them in the nursery before transplanting them?