It ’s improbable that you ’ve never tasted the luscious , sweet flavor of a giant Citrullus vulgaris during your puerility . These fruit are the epitome of summer , and some gardeners ca n’t ideate sample to grow them in their home garden . Though it seems challenging , learning how to plant watermelon and raise them to due date does n’t involve that much work .
If you do n’t know what you ’re doing , plant watermelon at the improper metre and not caring for them the right direction could fail . This statement is rightful for any fruit or veggie you need to raise , though . There are a few staple to follow to grow big watermelon plants . know how far asunder to plant watermelon , how much water is ask , and the proper watermelon vine industrial plant spacing are only some thing to consider .
It feel like a lot of information to take in , yet it is n’t anything you have n’t heard before . Even if you ’ve never establish a single yield in your life , abide by this usher to lead you to achiever .
What to Know before Planting Watermelon Seeds
Watermelon is belike the most refreshing intellectual nourishment usable . It consist of over 92 percent piddle , with other melons like cantaloupe come in a close mo .
When a heatwave range through summer , sometimes a big slice of watermelon is the best affair to pull you through . watermelon , also called Citrullus lanatus , are African native .
Researchers believe that instead of being a food seed , hoi polloi first used them for weewee . These yield have a thick rind that protect the watery flesh within .
To this mean solar day , Africa still has a few watermelon ancestors that grow in the wild from the Kalahari to the continent ’s western shores .
People have been growing watermelon for over 4,000 years . This fruit distribute from Africa to the Mediterranean over time . finally , this melon made its elbow room to Europe and then to the Americas .
The United States mostly consumes seedless varieties , but other culture embrace the seeds and rind and make delightful snacks from them .
Watermelons grow on foresightful vines like their relatives , include squash vine , gourd , and cucumbers . Citrullus vulgaris vines have quite a bit of weight , too .
The yield themselves are heavy and come in many dissimilar colors . If you ’re unsure which watermelon form to grow , take a facial expression at some of the most popular cultivar .
There are even little types that are suitable forgrowing watermelon vine in container on the patio or deck .
Sugar Baby
The Sugar Baby cultivar is an icebox character – little enough to fit inside your refrigerator . raiser love these modest fruit because they flourish in minimum outside quad and are utterly sweetened .
This cultivar is best for gardeners of all experience levels . They have a uncompromising rind that is n’t easily damage and build - in resistance to fungous disease .
Sugar Baby melons have glowering immature rinds and cherry flesh . Each one weighs about 12 pounds , and the mature plant accomplish up to 24 inches grandiloquent . Vines spread from six to eight feet recollective . They also resist cracking and sunburns .
Congo
Feeding an entire gang wo n’t be an topic if you farm the Congo watermelon . This award - winning cultivar is prized for its high dinero content .
The melon vine are an oblong shape with a lighter dark-green chromaticity than the Sugar Baby . As they mature , these melons grow up to 30 pounds . The rind is also the best option for making pickled watermelon rinds .
Use a sharp vegetable peeler to remove and throw out the outmost part of the rind until it is predominantly bloodless with a petty bit of pinko on one side . Cut the melon vine rinds into one - in cubes .
Pour the vinegar , weewee , sugar , salt , ginger , red Piper nigrum , star Pimpinella anisum , and allspice Charles Edward Berry into a 2 - dry quart pan . Turn the stove ’s oestrus to high and moil the table of contents for one minute before adding the rind pieces .
Let the grass ’s content total back to a furuncle before removing them from the range and allowing them to chill for about 30 bit . dress the pickle and the juice into a 2 - quart canning jar .
Cover the container with a lid and have it baby-sit at room temperature for one hr . Set the shock into the electric refrigerator overnight and eat for up to a month . Keep the pickles refrigerate when not in use .
Moon and Stars
This heirloom cultivar is one that you probably have n’t see at the grocery store memory board . Moon and Stars watermelons are beautiful with a dark green background and bright xanthous splotch that look like the moonshine and stars . Each fruit grows about 25 pounds when they reach full ripeness .
How to Plant Watermelon
The best mode to plant watermelon vine or theway to plant cantaloupeis to give them all the resourcefulness they need . thing like knowing how far apart to implant watermelon and how much water system they require per week are the little contingent that will make your fruit peak before your eyes .
Propagating Watermelon
determine whether to sow seed directly in the primer coat or study with transplants already growing . If using seeds , check the number of days it takes for the industrial plant to reach full maturity .
This number depart depending on how long your grow season is and when you plant them . Some gardener start seed indoors to get a head start on the growing time of year .
We conceive that melons succeed when sown right away into rich stain because they have very sensitive roots . Most varieties take about 100 days from sprouting to ripen . attempt to find fault types that will mature within the timeframe of your region ’s spring up time of year .
Sowing seeds directly into soil must happen after the last hoarfrost of spring . hold off two weeks after the frost is a bare way to check that they wo n’t be damaged or killed from the low temperature . Citrullus vulgaris seed evolve when the soil temperature is a minimum of 60 ° F .
wad and various squash vine varieties are great forwhat to develop with watermelonto deter unwanted glitch . fellow traveller planting is an effective natural insect repellant .
You canstart watermelon seed indoorsand follow theway to turn watermelon vine in a potor add the seedlings to the garden . Handle transplants cautiously , as they are frail . If potential , wait to sow seeds alfresco until it is between 70 ° F and 95 ° F .
proficient drain is crucial to planting seeds . Wait a few hours after a rainfall if forged atmospheric condition is in the forecast . Sow seeds about one inch deep and then apply spare soil to hide them .
Gently water the arena every day until they germinate , which usually occurs within five to ten days . Thin your plants once they are a few inches tall with at least two sets of true leaves . The same rule apply when you growmuskmelon or cantaloupe .
Transplanting watermelon is n’t idealistic because of the shallow antecedent organization , but it ’s not impossible and comes in handy if you have a unforesightful time frame to shape with .
await two weeks after your last rime to dig a mess in prepared beds . Cover the melon vine ’s root ball with territory and water every day for the next few years to forestall them from going into shock .
How Far Apart to Plant Watermelon
watermelon vine plant spacing helps keep each one far enough aside to keep competition for resources . Sow seeds at least four animal foot from one another . Keep each row in the garden at least six feet apart . Keep transplants about 18 column inch away from one another .
Caring for Watermelon Plants
Watermelon vine spread far distances and might need a trellis . Install all supports before institute seed to keep from disturbing the root . Give the plant lots of room to distribute and grow without disturbing other plants nearby . If space is modified , plant them on the outer bound of the garden .
Once you find a web site , assure it has full Dominicus with eight to ten hours of unmediated light every day . If you go in inhuman regions , regard using a inhuman frame or nursery to keep the plants affectionate .
Adding lots of thick mulch or a black plastic bag helps to keep the temperature in high spirits and prevent grass from competing with them .
Fruits produce well in loose , arenaceous grime with lots of drainage . It is always wise to conduct a beginning - of - the - season soil test to ensure that pH levels are exact and determine what type of fertiliser you necessitate .
The soil should be between a 6.0 and 7.5 pH tier . If it is n’t fertile , amend it with organic subject like older manure . Learn the bestway to fertilize watermelonsto ensure they get the nutrient they postulate without damage the crop .
make a tall mound around your flora as they grow to foreclose water system from pool near the stem . The goal is to keep the earth soil moist without drown them and welcome powdery mildew , anthracnose , and other disease that pass from squiffy term .
set up a drip irrigation system is commonly best ; however , it is n’t necessary . For fruits that bear a whole lot of water system , they have to have unbendable amounts of it . Give Citrullus vulgaris plants one to two inches of urine every week .
The amount of sentence you spend watering might convert if the time of year is in particular rainy . Underwatering melons only very slimly creates more lettuce concentration . Watering at priming coat level maintain the leave-taking ironic and forbid burning the foliage and spreading disease .
Pollinating Watermelon Plants
Most cucurbit works do an excellent job of growing both male flowers and distaff flowers . Unfortunately , sometimes pollination is n’t successful , and your plants grow without producing fruit .
If this happens to your watermelon vines , use a cotton swob and softly rub it on the manlike prime before doing the same to the female flowers . Both manlike and female flowers are yellow .
The female are seize to the part of the plant that see like a small watermelon . The male person are connected directly to the stems . Consider fellow traveller planting coneflower or sunflowers nearby to aid pull in bee and increase pollenation in the future .
Watermelon Pests
You are n’t the only one who enjoys snack on these juicy fruit . Watermelons receive an miscellanea of insects . Some of the most common insect problems on your vine are aphids and cucumber mallet .
These are both reasonably dim-witted problem to handle . Either spray the bug off with a hosiery or install floating rowing covers to protect from all pest flying around your garden beds .
Harvesting Watermelons
Wait until your melons are full ripe beforeharvesting watermelon vine , as these juicy melon do not persist in to mature after they are blame from the vine . Large sizing are a in force indicant that the melons are ready .
If you ’re unsure , enumerate the number of solar day it has been since they germinated . Another secure reading they are ready is if they have a curly tendril .
The tendril should be teetotal and yellow or turning brown before you pick it . you’re able to also check the underside of the melon vine to see if it is creamy or sluttish green . The skin will also look dull or else of shiny .
Storing Watermelons
If your fruits have split or crack up during your harvest , use them the right way away . Fruits that are still intact ordinarily last about seven to ten days at way temperature . If you have a cool cellar or small root cellar , some melon stay tonic for up to three weeks .
The fridge is n’t an ideal way to store Citrullus vulgaris because their temperatures are too low and injure the fruits . For more prolonged storage , the temperature must be between 52 ° F and 60 ° fluorine with 85 percent to 90 per centum humidness .
If you already cut your melon vine into chunk , thebest elbow room to store watermelonis in an airtight container for up to five whole days in the fridge . Always clean the outside rind before slice into it to preclude bacterium such as E. coli from transmit to the pink human body .
If you ’re looking for prospicient storage methods , take dehydrating your melon into watermelon vine jerky . Neatly slice the melon into half - inch - thick cut and dry up them at 135 ° F for 20 hour .
Summer does n’t feel the same if we do n’t have at least one gash of super sweetened , implausibly naughty watermelon . Even though these full-grown melon seem like a lot to take on , there is n’t an unearthly amount of dedication that goes into tending to them .
Citrullus vulgaris are fairly fuss - innocent and pay back whoever is willing to prep their bed ahead of time and give them room to flourish .
If following our advice on how to plant watermelon has given you the sweet melons of your biography , share this scout on planting watermelon on Facebook and Pinterest .
