How to Grow Watermelons

Watermelon (scientific name Citrullus lanatus ) is a climbing plant with large, wrinkled leaves. They are heat-loving species, once they have passed the young plant stage, they will easily grow without much care. This article will guide you on how to grow and care for watermelon plants.

Table of Contents

Preparing for Planting

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Choose the variety of melon you want to grow. Watermelons are very diverse in size, from about 1.3 kg to 32 kg, the flesh of the melon can be red or yellow. Jubilee, Charleston Gray, and Congo melons are large, oval-shaped, while Sugar Baby and Ice Box have smaller, spherical fruits.

Decide whether you will plant seeds or graft shoots. ^{[1] X Research Source} Watermelon seeds can only germinate where the temperature is above 21 degrees Celsius. If you live in a cold climate, it is better to incubate the seeds indoors a few weeks in advance. at the end of the frost season, so that the seeds can germinate into seedlings in time for the melon growing season. Otherwise, sow the seeds straight into the ground after the cold season has passed, when the temperature has stabilized above 21 degrees Celsius.
Watermelon seeds and shoots are available at nurseries in early spring.

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Choose a planting location. Watermelon plants need at least 6 hours of sun exposure per day. They grow into large, overgrown vines that take up a lot of space; calculate planting each tree in an area with sides of 1.2 m and 1.8 m, unless you want to grow tiny melons.

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Plow. Use a plow to dig up the entire layer of soil and crush large chunks of soil. Pull out the weeds or bury them deep in the ground.

Watermelon plants prefer loamy, fertile, well-drained soil. To see if your soil is well drained, take a look at the soil after a heavy rain. If you see a lot of puddles on the surface, it means the soil isn’t draining well enough.
To enrich the soil, fertilize the topsoil. ^{[2] X Research Source}
Watermelon grows best when grown in soil with a pH between 6.0 and 6.8. Test the pH of your soil and see if it is suitable for growing watermelons. If not suitable, you can change the concentration by applying a variety of compounds available at the nursery.

Planting Watermelon Trees

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Create soil tissues. Using a tractor or hoe, create mounds (like hills) to plant seeds. The distance between the mounds is from 1.2 m to 1.8 m, depending on the amount of land you have. Upgrading each mound will ensure that the soil is loose enough to help the roots grow, provide enough oxygen for each plant, and avoid waterlogging on the roots. This also helps maintain moisture in dry weather.

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Drills. Create a flat, slightly concave surface at the top of the mound, and use your fingers or a tool to poke three to four holes into the soil, each about 2.5 cm deep. Sow one to four seeds in each hole, then rake back the soil, and lightly press the ground so that the seeds are well coated and prevent moisture from escaping around the seeds.

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Notice the sprouts of melons. Seeds will usually germinate and reach young plants within 7-10 days, depending on soil temperature and seeding depth. Keep the soil around the seeds moist during germination; Water so that the water can penetrate the small roots that are forming.

When the seedlings have grown, keep only the two strongest plants, to give the strong plants space to grow.
Do not let the soil dry out; You should water at least once a day.

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Fill each mound with suitable material when the sapling has reached a height of about 10 cm. You can choose pine straw, linen, or fertilizer. Try to mulch as close to the stem as possible to prevent weeds, keep moisture, and prevent the soil around the young roots from overheating in the sun.

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Reduce watering when plants are flowering. After flowering, water the plant every three days if it feels dry. However, do not over-water, as watermelon plants have low water requirements.

Keep leaves and fruit dry. You can place the watermelon on a clean piece of wood, slick rock, brick, etc.
On hot days, leaves can wilt even though the soil is still moist. If you see leaves wilting in the evening after a hot day, water them deep into the ground.
Increase the sweetness of melons by not watering for a week before harvest. However, do not do this if the vines are wilted. Once the fruit is harvested, return to the original watering for a favorable second crop.

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Clean the lawn regularly. Be sure to remove weeds around the base of the tree, along and in front of the vines.

Harvest Watermelon

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Make sure the melon is ripe. Under perfect growing conditions, watermelons will grow to absolute sweetness within four months of warm weather. Harvesting melons before they are ripe will make them less tasty.

To tell the ripeness of a melon, tap it. A dull sound means the melon is ripe. Also, flip the skin underneath – the melon is ripe when the bottom has turned white or light yellow.
Dry tendrils near the stalks of melons are also a sign that the melons are ready to be harvested. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

Advice

Each vines will produce two to five melons.

Warning

Watch out for the melon beetles; This insect is very fond of melons. Some other harmful insects include aphids and mites.
Do not delay harvesting for too long as the melons will be overripe.
Late blight and powdery mildew can damage watermelons. Note that melon beetles often carry bacteria that cause bacterial wilt, keep things under control.
Watermelon plants are very susceptible to frost damage.
Do not sow seeds until the temperature has stabilized to at least 15.5°C. The suitable soil temperature is about 24ºC. You can sow the seeds in the pot first if needed.
Watermelon is very sensitive to fertilizer burn; Mix chemical fertilizers carefully before applying and use only in moderation.

Things you need

Equiment to doing garden
Watermelon seeds or sprouts if sown indoors

Steps