How to Grow Watermelon

Growing watermelon

How to grow watermelon is a not difficult thing to learn and homegrown watermelon is delicious. Watermelon has a fresh, sweet flavor and is great alone or in fruit salads. You can buy watermelon seedlings at a nursery. Watermelon prefers hot or warm, humid climates and does not do so well in cold weather. Night temperatures under 50�F will causes deterioration in the fruit.

Watermelon Varieties

Golden Crown Hybrid produces juicy, golden colored flesh. Sugar Baby has thin rinds and red flesh. Bush Sugar Baby grows on a compact bush and produces sweet fruit. Redball Seedless has a red flesh and white seeds. Park's Lemon ice is a seedless yellow variety. Sweet Beauty is large and elongated. All of these varieties can be harvested in 80 days except the Sugar Baby which takes 75 days and the Sweet Beauty which takes between 77 and 80 days.

Standard watermelons weigh between 20 and 30 lbs and are rectangular shaped. Bush or baby varieties are a lot smaller and round. They weigh between 2 and 10 lbs. This is important to know if you want to learn how to grow watermelon, since you need a large space in your garden if you plan to grow large varieties.

How to Plant Watermelon

You should plant your seedlings somewhere away from cold wind and in the sunniest spot you can find. Dig quite a lot of organic matter into the soil. Watermelons prefer a near natural pH but can grow in soil as acidic as 5.5. You should plant the watermelon seedlings when the soil and air temperatures have both reached 65�F. This is usually a couple of weeks after the last frost. If you want to use seeds instead, you can plant these directly. As long as you have a long growing season, this method can give the best results. You shouldn't transplant watermelons.

Even if you have added plenty of organic matter earlier, make sure the soil is well prepared when you are ready to plant. Dig a hole for each plant, which is a foot deep and 2 feet wide. Add a shovelful or 2 of well-cured manure or compost. Also add a couple of trowels of bone meal. Sow seeds an inch deep in hills or set transplants into the ground at a depth matching their depth in the pots. Allow 3 feet between small bush types of watermelon or 12 feet between giant rambling types.

How to Tend Watermelon

You should water young plants with an inch of water each week. To hold in moisture, keep the watermelons clean and deter weeds, you should apply a thick organic mulch or a black plastic mulch with slits made for the plants. This is great for holding in warmth and keeping pest away from the watermelon roots. Cover the plants with floating row covers to keep the air warm enough.

When the flowers start to show on the watermelon plants, remove the covers to allow insects to pollinate them. Use compost to fertilize them every 3 weeks. The watermelons should be ready for harvesting when their vine tendrils turn brown. This happens between 35 and 40 days after their full bloom. Anyone who knows how to grow watermelon can tell you that it is well worth it. Homegrown watermelon tastes beautiful and, as long as you have the right climactic conditions, they aren't hard to grow.

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