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.
More Like This
Thanks for your interesting article. I am interested in mechanised planting of watermelon, noting that manual planting is very tedious. Are there any cheap technology available for planting?
Thanks for your info.v
I request more notes on water melon farming
I have a great plant that's pretty much taking over most of my garden bed (I think it's sugar baby). I read that vines shouldn't be pruned so I snaked the new vines around to avoid them attaching to the other plants. I have 3 good size fruits (about 15 - 20 lbs) which are ripening great but all the other ones that were coming get about baseball size and then turn brown and squishy and die. I thought it might be because I never covered the soil under the vines and have lots of weeds inbetween.....any ideas?
Sometimes when a watermelon vine has 2 or 3 good-size fruit on it, that is all that it can handle, and it will abort any other developing fruit. That is my best guess as to what is happening on your plant. Stressed plants will also abort fruit -- check if the vines and leaves look healthy or show any signs of disease or infestation. Make sure that the plant has plenty of water and enough nutrients. Poor pollination can also cause fruit to drop before maturity.
I have the cutest picture of a watermelon shape on my pinterest, it is so easy to make them attracktive for the kids so they would eat them or to put them on the table if you have a party. Way more healthier than chips!
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/199073246008272536/
Pls wich insecticide can I used for my watermelon
We are growing a sugar baby watermelon and the fruit starts to grow, but dies soon after. The fruit grows to about 1-2 inches long. There is a lot of leaves and foliage, but we are just having issues with the fruit continuing to grow. Any suggestions?
What a disappointment! There could be a couple of reasons:
• the flower/s were not adequately pollinated or pollination failed; if your garden area lacks flowers that attract pollinators, hand pollinating (rubbing male/female flowers together)
• cool and/or cloudy weather; these need heat: try black plastic under to hold heat
• lack of moisture; these need lots of water
• too much nitrogen in your soil; use a fertilizer higher in phosphorus and potassium than in nitrogen
We hope this helps!
send farmers almanac to my sister. thank you, i am sharing, but better she get it thank you so much.
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