Summer Plants: How to Grow Watermelons

Summer Plants: How to Grow Watermelons

Watermelon is the quintessential summer fruit. Though it’s not at precisely the same genus as other melons, its growing conditions are nearly identical, just on a bigger scale. Watermelons usually need even more distance than melons — which may be a daunting thought. The fantastic news is that the increasing amount of varieties means that you may discover a watermelon that can work in your area. Check out seed catalogs and nurseries and you’ll discover seedless watermelons, “private” watermelons just the ideal size for a single person to consume, orange watermelons, bush watermelons, heritage watermelons — enough options that you could dedicate a garden just to watermelons.

In case you opt to have watermelons in your summer garden plan, be aware that in addition to maybe using a fantastic portion of your garden area, you will need plenty of long, hot, sunny days and to wait for two to three months to crop.

Venegas and Company

When to plant: In spring, once all danger of frost has passed and the soil has reached 75 degrees Fahrenheit (24 degrees Celsius) — at least 2 weeks following the last frost date. Or begin inside about three weeks to a month prior to that date.
Days to maturity: 68 to 95
moderate requirement: Full sun
Water requirement: Frequent
Favorites: Bush Sugar Baby, Crimson Sweet, Glory, Ice Box, Moon and Stars, New Queen, Orange Crisp, Orange Sweet, Petite Treat, PureHeart Seedless, Rattlesnake, Ruby, Seedless, Sugar Baby, Sweet Beauty, White to Yellow Cut, Yellow Doll
Notice: Seedless watermelons will need a seeded range nearby to set fruit.

Troy Rhone Garden Design

Planting: search for a warm spot in full sun with quite rich, well-drained soil. Amend the soil with compost prior to planting. Provide plenty of room for the vines to stretch out; they can take 100 feet up.

Plant in raised hills, the favored method, or mounded rows surrounded by flushing furrows or basins. Make hills 3 to 4 inches high and approximately 4 to 6 ft in diameter, setting them 8 ft apart. Rows should be 4 feet wide and 8 feet apart. Sow seeds 1 inch deep, with four or five seeds per hill or 2 seeds every foot across the row.

Thin to 2 plants per hill or a single plant every 4 feet. Establish transplants at those distances too. Put in any supports in this moment.

In case you don’t have a great deal of space, consider growing a miniature or compact kind. These need as little as 2 to 4 ft of space and may be grown in a large container. Follow the planting thickness recommendations provided previously.

Care: Water deeply and often to keep the soil moist but not soaking wet; watering basins and furrows will keep water off the foliage and fruit, and prevent ailments.

Feed with a complete fertilizer every six weeks. Put a brick or piece of wood or foam beneath each fruit as it develops to keep it off the ground. If you’re growing watermelons on supports, use netting or stockings to make a twist to support them once the fruits reach about two inches.

Watermelons face lots of the same pests and diseases as melons. Pests include aphids, cucumber beetles and squash vine borers. Row covers may protect seedlings; eliminate them when the plants blossom. Mildew, rust and wilt might also be an issue.

Rikki Snyder

Harvest: Scholarly dissertations and funny pieces likewise have been written on how to tell when a watermelon is ripe. It’s important information; watermelons will not continue to ripen after they are picked.

The best means is to thump the melon and pay attention to the “thunk.” For extra insurance, the tendrils near the stem should have begun to wither and turn dark, and the underside of the fruit should be changing to a yellowish color. Cut, do not tug, the stem from the blossom.

More: Guides to developing the top summer crops

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