GROWING WATERMELONS

PLANTING, GROWING, AND HARVESTING WATERMELONS

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email PrintFriendly

RATE THIS ARTICLE:

Everyone seems to love juicy watermelon in the summertime. Native to Africa, melons need warm temperatures (up to 80°F during the day) and a long growing season.

Gardeners in colder climates can still have success in growing watermelon vines by starting seeds indoors and choosing short-season varieties. Days to maturity range from 70 to 90, depending on the variety.

PLANTING

If you live in warmer climes, you can sow seeds directly outdoors, but wait until the soil temperature warms to at least 70°F to avoid poor germination.
Watermelon vines are very tender and should not be transplanted until all danger of frost has passed. (To be safe, wait at least two weeks past your last frost date.)
If you are in a cooler zone, start seeds indoors about a month before transplanting.
Amend soil with aged manure, seaweed, and/or compost before planting. Watermelons are heavy feeders. Learn more about soil amendments and preparing soil for planting.
Watermelons prefer a soil pHbetween 6 and 6.8.
Growing the vines in raised rows, known as hills, ensures good drainage and will hold the sun’s heat longer. Space the plants about 2 feet apart in a 5-foot-wide hill.
If you’re growing in rows, space 6 feet by 6 feet apart.
Watermelons like loamy, well-drained soil. Handle them gently when you transplant.
After you transplant, cover the plants with row covers to keep pests at bay. You’ll remove the row covers when you see both male and female flowers on the vine.
Find even more tips for planting watermelon in your home garden.

CARE

Mulching with black plastic will serve multiple purposes: it will warm the soil, hinder weed growth, and keep developing fruits clean.
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.
If you choose to fertilize (and many do), make sure it delivers more nitrogen than phosphorus and potassium. However, after flowering begins, use a fertilizer with less nitrogen. We like to use liquid seaweed.
Pruning isn’t necessary, 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).
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 fruit is ripening, prevent rotting by gently lifting it and putting cardboard or straw between the fruit and the soil.

PESTS/DISEASES

HARVEST/STORAGE

Watermelons don’t sweeten after they are picked, so harvest time is important. They generally ripen over two weeks so keep your eye on them.

Dr. Bill Rhodes, professor of horticulture at Clemson University, offers the following advice on how to tell if 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. A green 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. (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.
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? Watermelon is 90% water.

The pumpkin vine never bears watermelons.

August 3 is National Watermelon Day(U.S.)!

RECIPES

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO READ NEXT?

GROWING MELONS IN THE GARDEN

THE MORE YOU GROW, THE MORE YOU...

ASTILBE

PREPARING YOUR GARDEN FOR WINTER

HOW TO TELL IF A WATERMELON IS RIPE

TIPS AND TREATS

BLUEBERRIES: THE EASIEST FRUIT TO...

GROWING HOLLY BUSHES: POPULAR...

READER COMMENTS

TIMING OF MULTIPLE WATERMELONS ON THE SAME VINE GETTING RIPE

Hi there!

How do multiple watermelons on the same vine ripen? Do they all ripen at the same rate, or maybe does one ripen while the others just kind of hang out, waiting for their turn?

I grew Moon and Stars melons this year, and four melons started growing at right around the same time, but ripened at different times. After I picked the first two melons, another melon started growing. I just picked the last big melon yesterday (September 1st), and it was still not peak ripeness. But on the newer smallish melon, the tendril is completely brown. The little melon is only 3 weeks old! Is it possible that the little melon ripened before the big ones? And I should have picked the smaller melon before the bigger (older) ones?

Thank you so much!

TIME TO PLANT WATERMELON

We live in Louisiana, and never seem to know when to start planting watermelon.What time of the year do you plant in Louisiana? We have what we call "A Burn Pile" so for the last 2 years we have watermelon coming up in our burn pile from when we burned tree limbs. They are not planted there at all, but keep coming back year after year. We did manage to harvest 2 beauties tho. Black Diamond was the name of the seeds we bought but they were not planted anywhere near our Burn Pile. I just need to know when to plant seeds? Thank you.

WHEN TO PLANT WATERMELONS IN LOUISIANA

Watermelon seeds are typically planted between mid-March and mid-July in Louisiana (and surrounding states), depending on when you’d like to harvest the fruit. Different varieties will take different amounts of time to reach maturity, so be aware of the “Days to Maturity” listed on the seed packet. If you’d like to have multiple harvests in a growing season, you can plant successive batches of seeds through the summer.

SAUDI ARABIA - LOTS OF HEALTHY, FLOWERING VINES, BUT NO FRUIT

Hello,

About ninety days ago I planted watermelon seeds in a sandy bed here in Saudi Arabia. The vines have spread to cover a 100 square foot area and are covered in blooms. The plants have produced blossoms for over a month, but not a single piece of fruit has appeared yet.

Could it be too hot for watermelon plants to bear fruit? For the past two months the high temperatures have been above 110F and the night temperatures get down to the upper 80s. Thanks for your input!
Earl

WATERMELONS

Lots of blooms no melons

WATERMELON

yeah. you guess might be right, but consider maturity time, i do hope u kept 1to 2 inch water. furthermore bench the incident for next successful production. i was worried too.

HOW TO MAINTAIN FRUIT DROPING

Ensure sufficient water and put mulch to reduce water loss and keep moisture available for long time and make sure potash is sufficient availble.

WATERMELON SPLITTING OPEN

Some ! of my melon's are splitting open for no APARENT reason

what is the cause?

SPLITTING OF WATERMELON

Splitting of water melon may happen due to high temperature followed by abrapt low temperature it is like the hot electric bulb is exposed to rain, it will automatically split.

SPLITTING OF WATERMELON

Splitting of water melon may happen due to high temperature followed by abrapt low temperature it is like the hot electric bulb is exposed to rain, it will automatically split.

WATERMELON SPLITTING OPEN

Splitting watermelon cause by excess water it cannot hold water that cause cracking of fruit

WATERMELON

what type of soluble NPK is the best for watermelons and how much to feed per hectar per week Thanks for your information.

LOTS OF FLOWERS, NO FRUITS

Hi, I have lots of healthy flowers on my vines (and happy bees), but no "fruit bumps" on my female flowers. Is there a way to force fruiting by paring back some of the vines?

FRUITING WOES

Since you have plenty of flowers, it sounds like it is more of a pollination issue. First, make sure that the flowers you see are indeed female. The male flowers (with thin stems behind the flower, no knob) will often form about a week before the female flowers start. The female flowers will always have a little knob at the base of the petals, even before they are pollinated. If you don’t see that, then likely you have just male flowers–the females should come along in time. If, however, you have female flowers, with the little knobs at the base, but fruit is not forming, it might possibly be due to other pollination troubles. In this case, you might hand-pollinate–using a small artist’s paintbrush or similar, transfer pollen from the male flower to the stigma of the female flower. Sometimes there aren’t enough bees or other pollinators to do a good job (but sounds like you have plenty). Other times, it could be due to growing/weather conditions that cause problems. Or, if you have a seedless type of watermelon, you will need to plant a seeded type nearby for pollination, or fruit will not develop. The pollen from male flowers on seedless watermelons are not reliably viable–you’ll need to gather some from a seeded type (perhaps another gardener can help, if you don’t already have some growing in your garden). Hope this helps!

MAY BE YOUR PLANT IS

May be your plant is 'seedless watermelon' bro?

PEST CONTROL

Am in Tanzania insect pest are more distractive to melons, what are the best pesticides can i use to control?
Also i like so much agriculture that is why am taking bachelar of science in agriculture general but i don't know where to start after my study
No capital so your advice please!

INSECT PESTICIDES

Locally use Fresh goat dropping, mix with garlic ( 0.25kg of garlic +1kg of goat dropping in powder form) mix together in 20ltr empty edible oil gallon /'dumu'.mix with fresh water, Close tightly and live it for a 5 days and then spray to your crop. No this mix can also control cattle and goats Fri eating your crops. Thanks.

HOW TO MAKE FLOWERS STICK ON THE PLANT AND NOT DIE

Apply sufficient water and ensure there is sufficient potash

PLANTING PERIOD

Pls I have a portion of land on which I want to plant watermelon, but I don't know the proper planting time. I live in the Eastern part of Nigeria, West Africa. Thanks.

PLS I HAVE A PORTION OF LAND ON WHICH I WANT TO PLANT WATERMELON

Pls I have a portion of land on which I want to plant watermelon, but I don't know the proper planting time. I live in the Eastern part of Nigeria,

WATERMELON GROWING

I have a five acre land in Kiambu low lands I am planning to start farming.When is the best month to plant and the watermelon type suitable for the climate?

BEST PLANTING TIME FOR WATERMELON

What is important to understand is that, watermelon is a drought resistant crop and prefer hot weather so where ever you are put in mind about fevourable weather as the fruit can be easily affected by snow

WATERMELON RIND SOFT

I've planted Black Diamond watermelons for the first time. Melons have set & they are growing, however I noticed that they are a bit soft to the touch yesterday. Is this normal? They are far from mature, so I don't think that they are overripe.

IN RESPONSE TO 'WATERMELON RIND SOFT'

Hi Lauren,

I know how bad you feel about the new development on you watermelon farm. According to you, the fruits are not ripe yet, but the rinds are becoming soft.

Well, soft rind may occur as a result of many reasons but let me share some here

1. Your watermelon may be infected with gummy stem blight disease. This is a fungal disease that causes softening, and circular lesions on watermelon. Spraying fungicide will help curb the spread of the disease

2. Calcium deficiency in the soil can cause the blossom end to rot. This rot goes on to leave a black spot on the fruit. However, you can improve the calcium content of the soul be spraying lime in your farm and watering adequately so that the plants can absorb the nutrients.

3. Another reason for rot comes from abrasions and cuttings on the fruit during weeding with how's or other mechanical equipment. In this case, adequate care must be take to prevent hurting the fruits.

Here is a related article to what we have here. Just copy, paste and edit in browser.

http: //www. agro4africa .com/watermelon-cultivation-guide/

I wish you success in you farm.
Together, we feed the world!!

WATERMELONS SOFT

For mine are the same . I'm growing OrangeGlo watermelon this year . I've noticed that the fruit are soft when I touch the skin. Is the problem solved for you ? thanks

I AM INDONESIA.EVERY MONTH,I

I am indonesia.Every month,i can plan watermelon and get the good fruits.

I AM IN INDONESIA.EVERY MONTH

I am in indonesia.Every month,i can plan watermelon and get the good fruits.

I AM IN INDONESIA.EVERY MONTH

I am in indonesia.Every month,i can plant watermelon and get the good fruits.

MELONS

Is it good to grow watermelons and cantaloupes together? If not, how far apart should they be?

PLANTING MELONS TOGTHER

Sure, you can grow them together! They aren’t capable of cross-pollinating with each other. Cantaloupes may cross-pollinate with other muskmelons, but watermelons typically only cross-pollinate with other watermelon varieties.

Even if they did cross-pollinate, the melons you get this year won’t show any signs of it. However, if you were to plant the seeds of those melons, you would get hybrids.