Growing Watermelon Tips

Growing Watermelon

Watermelon is a delicious fruit for hot summer days. It is best grown in southern climates due to the long growing season it requires. Watermelon will not tolerate frost so all danger of this occurring should be past before it is planted.

Find a spot with full sun for planting. When you grow watermelon the best temperatures are between 70 and 80 degrees in the daytime and 65 and 70 at night.

Since watermelon requires a long growing period it is best to plant watermelon seeds indoors and transplant them in about 3 weeks.

They can be planted in peat pellets and thinned before transplanting. If you start them indoors they will be ready to pick about 10 days earlier than the ones planted directly to the soil.

A growing watermelon has to have room to vine so the seedlings should be planted with at least 2 or 3 feet between them. The rows should be about 8 feet apart. Keep them weed free and make sure the soil is rich and drains well.

Grow Giant Watermelons

On hot summer day nothing is most satisfying than cutting into a giant, sweet and juicy watermelon. In fact, to grow a giant melon requires no more effort than other watermelon types, no need to be a professional farmer or experienced gardener.

What's most important in growing giant, sweet watermelons is seed selection. If your interested there's only one place to go from here: Giant Watermelon Seeds

How To Care Of Watermelon Plants

Growing watermelon does not require a lot of watering as long as it is not extremely dry. Water is needed more when the watermelon begins to form on the vine and up until it is about half the size it will ultimately be.

Watermelon does not require a lot of water when it is getting close to time for harvesting. This will cause the watermelon to lose the sweet flavor and sometimes causes the center to be hollow.

The best way to fertilize a growing watermelon is to use a starter solution when you first plant the seedlings. After that they will be fine unless there is a lot of rain. If this occurs you will want to add a fertilizer to the side.

Harvesting Watermelon

Watermelon is a little difficult to determine the time to pick. The signs are usually when the small coils of the vine close to where it attaches to the watermelon begin to turn brown.

Check to see if the skin is easy to break with your thumbnail. If not, this is an indication of being mature. The underside of the watermelon will turn to a yellow color. Another indication is the outside of the melon will get somewhat dull.

Many people use the thumping method to see if a watermelon is ripe. This is often not reliable because this can sound the same even if the watermelon is overripe.

Using the combination of signs as described above is a better indication that the watermelon is ready for harvesting.

Watermelon Pest And Disease

The most common pest for the watermelon is the cucumber beetle. They are a chewing beetle and will feed on many vegetables and fruits in the garden if not kept under control. They also spread two very serious diseases in the garden, especially vining crops.

Mosaic and bacterial wilt are deadly to plants and care should be taken to eradicate the cucumber beetle with the use of insecticides or by covering the plants with row covers. These can be left in place until the plants begin to blossom.

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