Tips for growing Watermelons.

All about growing watermelons.

The information contained in this article is information I have obtained from growing watermelons myself, so if you try this and fail miserably- I’m sorry, but you should have followed my instructions better, ha, ha, ha, haaaa!

In 2007 I got an idea that I would grow watermelons and sell them to produce stands, restaurants, and local people in the neighborhood to try and make some extra spending money. I called this venture watermelon world. I was lucky enough to have about three acres of land to grow the watermelons, and plenty of water.
The Big Five

Land is the first thing any prospective watermelon grower needs. Some of my watermelon vines were probably twenty feet across spanning in all directions. You should plan for your watermelon vines to be this big. It is better to have too much space than not enough for the vines to spread out. Even one plant will appear to be taking over your garden if cared for properly.
Secondly, you need a good supply of water. I have two wells and one creek on my property. This may sound excessive, but not if you are planning on growing three hundred plants like I did. I used well water, so I do not know what effects chlorinated water has on watermelons. I am an organic grower, so my advice is to use water with no chemicals in it just to be safe.

Thirdly, I recommend planting watermelon seeds when the temperature is in the mid seventies to mid eighties. If there is snow on the ground, do not plant watermelon seeds!That is unless you have some special hybrid variety that will grow in extreme cold. I can not say for sure with modern day scientific agriculture that these varieties do not exist.

Next you need sand and organic fertilizer. You can grow watermelons using artificial fertilizer but I prefer natural, organic fertilizer like cow manure, and aged chicken litter. The reason you will need sand is because watermelons grow best in sandy soil that allows water to be absorbed easily by the watermelon vine.

Last but not least, you need sunlight. Do not plant your watermelons in the shade. Watermelons will grow in the shade but this could have disastrous affects on non -diseases resistant varieties. I will explain disease resistance in more detail later.

Without these five big elements you should forget about growing watermelons. If you plan to grow only a few, then less land and water will be needed, but sunlight and the correct temperatures are a must have.
What Type of Seeds?

My advice when you buy watermelon seed, is to look on the seed package to see if the watermelon vines will be disease resistant. It is my opinion that you will have much better success with disease resistant plants. If the seed package does not say the seeds will mature into disease resistant plants, ask store personnel who might know, or do research online before you buy them. A little research will go a long way!

Once you have selected a disease resistant variety of watermelon, you need to decide how many watermelons you want to grow. From my experience you can plan for each watermelon vine to have at least one to two big melons on it if you follow these instructions carefully.

Go to your garden or growing area and try to find a spot in the sun that naturally has sandy soil. Where I live most of the soil is red clay which is terrible for growing watermelons without sand and organic matter added to it.

I will explain how to plant your watermelon seeds in naturally sandy soil instead of red clay for this article. You will need a tiller or tractor to plow up the ground. You will also need a shovel and other basic gardening tools.
Very Important

Plant your watermelons on flat level ground. If your watermelons are not on level ground water may run downhill instead of being absorbed by the plants.

Plow the ground thoroughly and remove most if not all of the grass and other vegetation from your planting area.

Next dig a circular hole about one foot deep and one and a half feet wide. Pour cow manure into the hole until a layer about one inch deep is formed. Now pour sand on top filling the entire hole completely.

Now take one watermelon seed place it on top of the sand, in the center of the circular sand filled hole, and press down with your finger until the seed is about a half inch deep in the sand. Take some sand and gently cover the watermelon seed. Pack the sand over the seed lightly with your finger to make sure the seed is covered completely. It is very important that the seed be covered in order for it to germinate.

Take your shovel and build a ring of dirt four to five inches high around the perimeter of the hole so it looks like a mini volcano. This ring of dirt will help channel water to the plant. Do not cover the sand with dirt. Clear any dirt off of the sands’ surface.
Caution

Before you move ahead be sure your watermelons are located in an area with no shade, plenty of sunlight, and a nearby water source! Also remember to plant your seeds when the temperature is in the mid seventies to mid eighties. The warmer the better. Watch the news to make sure that the temperature will be favorable for at least twelve days into the future.

If you plan on planting more than one seed space each watermelon hole three to four feet apart so each plant will not be competing for water. This is very important!

Now it is time to water your seed. I would advise watering your seed early in the morning so the sun can warm the seed while it is being soaked by the water. This is were things can get tricky. Be careful not to wash the sand off of your seed. If you see the seed cover the seed again with sand. Do not push the seed deeper into the sand!

Put enough water onto the watermelon seed so that the sand is wet at least five inches deep. Do not create a mud puddle. If too much water is used your seed could decay and turn into mush. If you feel the seed has been soaked properly stop watering.

Leave the watermelon seed alone and carefully monitor the weather for the next week and a half. If your seed does not come up within two weeks you should take a look at the seed by scratching a little sand from above the seed until it comes into view. From my experience you must monitor the weather. There has to be consistent temperatures for the seed to sprout.
Do not be disappointed

In the end your seed may not have been good from the start. In that case there was nothing you could have done. You will just have to replant using a different seed and repeat theses steps.

If everything goes well you should see a small sprout popping through the surface of the sand. As soon as you do, check to see if the sand is moist. The sand should never be allowed to dry out!

If the sand is not moist add about four cups of water. It is very important that you check the moisture of the sand often while the plant is just starting to appear. If the temperature outside is in the high nineties or above you need to check the soil moisture everyday and water accordingly.

Once the plant is about a foot long I recommend putting about two cups of cow manure about one inch from the base of the plant.

Now that your plant is one foot long you need to establish a watering schedule. I watered my plants on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Use common sense when following a schedule like this. If it rains two inches on Monday then you might not want to water your plants on Monday. If the rain was substantial enough you should wait several days before watering again. You have to go by observation and understand how much water your plant can or can not take at one time. The larger the plant the more water it can handle.

There is one way to know if your plant is getting enough water. Once the plant is a foot long you should water the plant until water stands slightly on the surface of the sand and then is absorbed a few seconds later. This indicates that the sand can not hold any more water. Stop watering! Earlier I said do not make water stand around your seed but a large plant requires more water. Still you do not want water to stand around your plant for more than a minute!

Do not water your plant again until you feel the soil has dried out enough for more watering.

After several weeks your watermelon vine should be several feet across and have little blooms. The blooms are the first sign that you are about to have some watermelons.

After several more days have passed you should begin to see tiny watermelons appearing. Keep in mind that only about one or two of these will become big melons.
Very Important! Very Important

Watering consistently is the key to growing big watermelons! Think about how much water is in a fifty pound watermelon. In my opinion big water means big melons. If you do not water your watermelons with a consistent supply of water you will get tiny softball sized watermelons, or no watermelons at all!

At this point you should go all out. Once the cow manure you previously placed around your plant has dissolved into the sand add the same amount again. Be sure and add the manure only after the previous manure has dissolved. Too much manure could kill your plant.

Stick to your watering schedule. Do not water your plants directly after huge rain storms.

In about eighty to one hundred days you should have at least one or two big watermelons. Be careful and do not step on the plant because your watermelons could die.

The Unknown!

You may have heard countless ways to tell if a watermelon is ripe. I have! Many people have been perplexed when after months of hard work they pick an unripe watermelon. My best advice is to look at the main stem of the watermelon. This is the stem you will have to cut or break in order to lift the watermelon and carry it. There should be several small stems that curl all along this stem, find the one closest to the watermelon. If this little curly stem has turned completely brown and appears dead then the watermelon is completely ripe. This holds true for many watermelons but not all. Before you buy your seeds do research on your specific type of watermelon or ask someone who is a self proclaimed watermelon know it all!

Hopefully you have found this article to be very informative. If you follow these steps I am confident you will grow a big watermelon like I did. There is definitely more than one way but I think mine is the best! It would be great for somebody to prove me wrong by growing a truly monstrous watermelon in a completely different way. My advice is to try different growing methods that is what I did.