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
frist of all ,I tell to you great thanks !I hope you are well or be young in your life ...
I am samir from india county , we cultivation as large scale since 2015 , in my farm house the groundwater in some salt ,or it not compare such as rain water ..
we growing local veraity of watermelon In jun or julai because in that day rainning start ,
but as I get some idea ,if I make ready fruits in hot summer .
so I have perchage suger baby watermelon seeds , how I germinate it before planting , if I take in water for up to 30 hours ???
here is now weather is 10 to 27 °C .
now I can planting outdoor directly or indoir because after one month temperature will it low 22 or high is 40
plz advise me because its very important for me , my whatsapp ++919649655002 thanks
thank you for your good guidance on how to plant watermelon.i want to have first trial of plant them
dear sir/madam
Am very much interested to start melon farming in sagana area kindly advice on how to go about it.
I've got the information I was searching for.I will try to do it as it's written here.Is my first time planting watemellon
I am blessed to have read this cos I love eatewatet melon alot.God bless u
how can I start watermelon farm
I want to be a watermelon farmer i need to be educated on it. Cos i planted on august & is raining too much what will be the possition of the watermelon
I started my seeds 1 month late. I put them in the sunniest spot.
Now that Finally Flowers appear Fall is upon us in the northeast US.
So, my question is,
Should I bother building a small hoop house around my mailbox?
I did one or 3 before.
Hi, Benjamin, Here's the thing: Nature knows. In other words, the watermelon plant is going to know that the season has passed. The temps are dropping, the hours of daylight are lessening, and the angle of the sunlight is weaker. The likelihood of your plant surviving and providing fruit under a hoop house is slim to none...and, as the saying goes, slim's out of town. So, should you bother building a hoop house? That's for you to decide (what happened when you did it one or three years ago?).
Whatever you decide, also start thinking about being ready to start the seeds at the proper time, indoors next year.
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Watermelons have male and female flowers. The male flowers have a stamen in the center with a sort of wavy anther at the top which holds the yellow powdery pollen. Female flowers have a center piece, the top of which is called a stigma; you should see a small swelling at the base of the flower where the fruit will form once pollinated (males do not have this--they have just plain straight stems). Select a male flower whose anther is full of mature yellow pollen. Dab a small, dry paintbrush (or a cotton swab) against the anther to get some pollen onto the brush. Then brush the paintbrush against the stigma of a female flower that is fully open and at peak. Some gardeners instead like to snip off the male flower, remove its petals (male only), and then dust pollen onto the female flower directly with the male flower; one male flower can pollinate about 3 or 4 female flowers. Keep in mind that male flowers sometimes open a little earlier in the growing season than female flowers. Also, each female flower is open for only one day, so you need to keep an eye out for them. Hand pollinate in the morning for best success. Good luck!