How one can Plant and Develop Watermelons

Rising watermelons shouldn’t be the big endeavor you would possibly suppose it’s sure to be, although just a little backyard planning will assist.

I’ll cowl all the things you could find out about rising these juicy fruits in your personal backyard, and earlier than you realize it, you’ll be consuming homegrown watermelon by the slice at breakfast, at your summer time picnics, and blended into cocktails.

Right here’s what’s forward:

Cultivation and Historical past

Watermelon is understood for being not solely candy and juicy, but in addition extremely refreshing, maybe extra so than every other fruit.

A number of years in the past, once I was residing by means of a warmth wave with no air-con, a big serving of watermelon each afternoon was what pulled me by means of the worst of it.

Watermelons are 92% water – which ought to assist clarify why they’re so darn refreshing on a sizzling day.

And imagine it or not, this fruit’s skill to hydrate us is a crucial a part of its historical past, main us all the best way again to its first use by people.

Watermelons are native to Africa, the place they had been first used not a lot as a meals supply, however as a supply of water.

The thick rind allowed folks to retailer these melons for lengthy intervals of time, and transport them with out harm, utilizing them as a water supply in sizzling desert climates.

There are a lot of several types of wild melons rising in Africa which were thought-about to be the attainable ancestor of our cherished cultivated watermelon. These embrace the citron melon, from the Kalahari, and the egusi melon, native to West Africa.

Nevertheless, proof factors to northeastern Africa because the place of birth for contemporary watermelons, with its ancestor most probably being Citrullus lanatus var. colocynthoides.

In components of north Africa, these hydrating fruits nonetheless develop wild on drought-tolerant, vining crops.

This fruit has been cultivated for over 4,000 years. Watermelon seeds and work of watermelons had been present in King Tut’s tomb, in addition to in these of different historic Egyptian the Aristocracy.

This fruit ultimately unfold from Africa to the Mediterranean area, and was identified in historic Greece because the pepon.

Watermelons continued their journey into the remainder of Europe, and had been ultimately launched to the Americas by European colonists and enslaved African folks.

Within the US, it’s primarily the flesh of watermelons that’s consumed, however the seeds are a well-liked snack in different components of the world, and the rind can also be edible. Pickled watermelon rind, anybody?

Watermelons develop on sprawling vines – similar to their kin, honeydew and cantaloupe melons, squash, gourds, and cucumbers.

Whereas for many of us these fruits might conjure up visions of one thing hefty and rectangular with mild and darkish inexperienced stripes, watermelons are available in a variety of pores and skin patterns and sizes.

While you develop your personal at dwelling, you open up your choices to a surprising array of sorts. I’ll get to these just a little later.

First let’s speak about greatest rising practices. Now that we all know a bit about the place these melons come from, this data ought to assist us in deciding how and the place to develop them.

Propagation

Earlier than you run out to your backyard along with your seed packet in hand, ensure that to examine the variety of days required on your selection to achieve maturity.

Relying on how this quantity compares to the variety of days in your rising season, it’s possible you’ll wish to begin your crops indoors as an alternative of direct sowing.

These melons are most profitable when sown immediately within the backyard since their roots are pretty delicate – nevertheless, direct sowing might not work for all varieties and definitely doesn’t work for all climates.

Some varieties can take 100 days or extra to supply ripe fruit.

There’s nothing extra disappointing than watching a wholesome, vigorous plant run out of time to deliver its fruit to maturity due to an early fall frost.

Select a range that can mature inside your rising season or take into account beginning your seeds indoors and setting out transplants after your final spring frost.

I’ll cowl each strategies of propagation – however let’s begin with direct sowing.

Direct Sowing

Watermelons are warm-season crops that don’t tolerate chilly climate and can succumb to late frosts.

So ensure you train just a little persistence – the perfect time to plant your seeds is no less than two weeks after your common final spring frost date.

For watermelon seeds to germinate, the soil must be a minimal of 60°F. In the event you can wait on your soil to warmth as much as the 70-95°F vary, germination will probably be extra profitable and sooner.

The best soil temperature for watermelon seed germination is 95°F.

Upon getting ready your melon patch (as described beneath) and the soil is heat sufficient, you’re able to sow your seeds.

Soil that’s moist however not soggy is good, so both water your planting space a number of hours forward of time, or wait a number of hours after rainfall.

You’ll wish to plan on planting these seeds about 3/4 to 1 inch deep, so scrape about an inch of soil to the facet of your planting space.

Subsequent, easy the floor of the soil in your planting space in order that it’s even, then press three or 4 seeds flat into the floor of the soil.

Now use the soil you scraped to the facet to cowl the seeds. Pat the soil gently to make sure good contact with the seeds.

Gently water the seeds in with a watering wand or a watering can.

In my dry local weather, I water my freshly planted seeds as soon as a day till the seedlings have sprouted and have grown a few units of true leaves.

You could not must water fairly so typically in case your soil shouldn’t be liable to drying out, and when you get common rain showers.

Inside 5 to 10 days, your seedlings ought to germinate.

When your seedlings are a number of inches tall, with two or extra units of true leaves, skinny your crops.

Select the 2 greatest trying seedlings and snip the opposite ones off with a pair of scissors, leaving two crops per hill or crater. (Unsure what hills and craters are? We’ll get to that just a little later, so hold studying!)

How one can Develop

To develop your personal watermelons at dwelling, you’ll wish to ensure you present your crops with the very best rising situations for a scrumptious and beneficiant harvest.

However to start with, you’ll have to pick a superb web site on your crops, one which has the very best soil, copious solar publicity, and loads of room.

Website Choice

Watermelons are like every other veggie or fruit vine, in that they unfold out and take up as a lot house as you’ll give them.

Like pumpkins, they will additionally go outdoors of their boundaries, looping over fences and even wrapping round different crops.

You’ll wish to take this tendency to sprawl into consideration while you put together your watermelon patch.

To verify your melons have loads of room to develop (and to stop them from disturbing neighboring crops), it’s possible you’ll wish to choose a planting space far-off from the remainder of your backyard.

In case your backyard house is restricted and making a separate melon patch isn’t possible for you, take into account planting them on the fringe of your backyard and practice the vines to develop the place they aren’t in the best way.

Or you may even go vertical and check out your hand at rising your melons on a trellis – although the fruit will want help and the trellis will should be very sturdy.

Another caveat to contemplate is that it’s greatest to not plant watermelons the place you grew cucurbits – squash, cucumbers, gourds, or melons – in the previous three years, to scale back the danger of pest and illness points.

Preserving observe of crop rotations is pretty simple if you end up gardening in raised beds – particularly with the assistance of your backyard journal.

Solar

Upon getting a possible rising web site picked out that gives sufficient room for 10-foot vines, you’ll wish to ensure that it additionally will get loads of solar.

These crops require a full solar location, which suggests eight to 10 hours a day – or extra – of direct daylight.

You’ll additionally want loads of warmth, so when you stay someplace the place you need to placed on a sweater in the course of the day in midsummer, your greatest wager can be to develop these fruits in a greenhouse or chilly body.

When making ready your backyard beds, ensure that to go searching and establish any bushes that may shade your backyard as soon as they totally leaf out, and web site your melon patch away from any potential shade.

Bear in mind, at their origins these had been desert crops that grew underneath direct solar with solely the shade of their very own leaves for cover.

However, it’s additionally sensible to contemplate that these crops are descendants of these desert crops and have misplaced a few of their pure resilience to warmth by means of selective breeding.

The fruits of some varieties are liable to sunburn.

In the event you’re involved about this danger, choose a sunburn-resistant selection resembling ‘Charleston Gray,’ ‘Klondike Blue Ribbon Striped,’ or ‘Sugar Child.’

Soil

Watermelons develop greatest in free, effectively drained, sandy soil. In the event you’re not sure what kind of soil you’ve gotten, it’s a good suggestion to conduct a soil take a look at.

This gives you an understanding of your soil, its pH, and what kind of fertilizer, if any, you’ll want.

In the event you get your soil take a look at outcomes again and study that you’ve sandy loam, you’re good to go. If not, you’ll wish to combine some sand into your backyard soil while you put together your melon patch.

There’s an exception to this – if you’re working with clay soil, including sand may cause the soil to show right into a cement-like substance.

For gardeners with clay, first work on making a lighter texture by amending it with compost.

Within the meantime, your greatest wager could also be to develop your melons in raised beds with a mix of backyard soil and sand.

Your soil take a look at will even present details about the soil pH. Watermelons develop greatest in soil with a pH between 6.0-7.5.

Whether or not you plant in raised beds or within the floor, work compost into the soil on the fee of 50-100 kilos per 1000 sq. toes to enhance soil construction – and you’ll want to fertilize.

I’ll get to that half shortly.

To maintain your soil free, keep away from strolling on or in any other case compacting your planting space.

You could wish to take into account no-till model gardening, however do ensure you loosen up the soil earlier than planting.

Creating Your Melon Patch

Until you reside in an arid local weather like I do, you’ll must mound up small hills to plant your melons on.

This offers just a little further room for the vines to sprawl over and in addition prevents water from pooling round the primary stem.

For these of us in arid climates, I like to recommend a shallow “crater” reasonably than a hill to preserve moisture.

To create such a crater, dig a gap about two to 3 toes throughout and 6 inches deep. Take the soil you take away and mound it across the rim.

The depth of those “craters” will assist to stop water from evaporating, and the upper rims will present your vines with just a little further room to meander down.

rule of thumb is to create your mounds or craters about three to 6 toes aside in rows which are six to 18 toes aside.

These measurements are versatile – simply remember that the vines can simply attain 10 toes in size, and plan accordingly.

In humid climates it’s possible you’ll wish to go for the extra beneficiant spacing, to assist with air circulation and cut back the danger of illness.

Smaller varieties may be planted nearer collectively. Verify the unfold of your chosen cultivar in your seed packet.

Fertilizer

Upon getting ready your melon patch and earlier than planting, add some fertilizer to your soil.

Earlier than deciding on what kind of fertilizer to make use of and the way a lot, it’s greatest to check with the outcomes of your soil take a look at.

These outcomes will warn you to any nutrient deficiencies and supply suggestions for the suitable kind and quantity of fertilizer to make use of on your specific backyard soil.

Care and Upkeep

Whereas your watermelons develop, there are a number of methods you’ll must look after them to make sure the very best harvest.

Watering

Water is vital for the expansion and growth of watermelon crops, so that you’ll wish to ensure you present your crops with sufficient water – however not too a lot.

Whereas seeds are germinating and when seedlings are younger, in my arid local weather, I like to ensure to water day-after-day if the soil has dried about.

I stick my finger within the soil about an inch deep to check it. If it’s dry, I give the crops a drink.

As soon as crops are established, water deeply and persistently, however much less steadily – these crops require one to 2 inches of water per week, so it’s possible you’ll not must irrigate on weeks while you get rain.

As fruits ripen, even watering is necessary, to stop fruits from cracking. Since watermelons maintain a lot water, they will cut up or crack whereas ripening if watering is erratic.

Some varieties are immune to cracking, resembling ‘Sugar Child,’ ‘Mini Love,’ and ‘Gold in Gold.’

When the fruit are per week or so from maturity – you’ll have the ability to calculate this based mostly in your planting date and the range’s common variety of days to maturity – withhold water to make sure that your fruits are as candy as attainable.

Rather less water will create extra concentrated sugars in your melons.

And yet one more factor to recollect while you irrigate: attempt to water at floor stage to keep away from splashing water on the foliage, which might unfold illness.

Mulch

So that each one your cautious watering doesn’t go to waste, mulch round your crops to stop the soil from drying out and to maintain weeds down.

If weeds do pop up round your seedlings, take away them, however take care to not disturb the seedlings’ roots.

One other benefit of mulching is that when positioned underneath ripening fruits, mulch will assist forestall the fruits from rotting.

It’s also possible to use mulch to regulate the temperature round your crops.

As talked about, watermelons are heat season crops, and so they develop greatest in sizzling climate.

As soon as seeds sprout, crops want temperatures starting from 70-90°F in the course of the day and 60-70°F at night time.

So if temperatures in your space are hotter than that, strive utilizing straw mulch underneath your crops to maintain the soil cool.

The sunshine coloration will keep cooler than darker coloured mulch.

And in case your temperatures are on the cooler facet? As a substitute of straw, use a darkish coloured mulch.

I exploit darkish compost as a mulch in my high-altitude location the place the nights are cool. The darkish mulch absorbs warmth in the course of the day and releases it at night time, maintaining the soil hotter.

Rising Suggestions

• Plant with loads of room for lengthy vines to sprawl.
• Present a full solar location.
• Be certain crops obtain one to 2 inches of water per week.

Managing Pests and Illness

When you’ve chosen your varieties, planted your seeds, and are patiently ready to reap your crop, you’ll should be looking out for harm attributable to pests and illness.

This a part of gardening is an element and parcel of the method – and may even be fairly satisfying when you’ve gained a little bit of expertise with it.

Be certain to apply built-in pest administration, a technique that takes a longer-term strategy to the well being of your backyard.

Herbivores

It appears everybody’s a fan of watermelons – and that features a few of our neighboring wildlife.

Deer are keen on this fruit and can wreck your ripening crop when you haven’t deer-proofed your backyard.

To maintain these four-legged buddies out of your melon patch, fencing is vital.

Take a look at our article on the greatest deer fencing to study extra.

Maybe surprisingly, coyotes additionally love this tasty and refreshing yard fruit.

Fencing is an efficient technique to hold coyotes out of your backyard, however you’ll require a barely totally different model than what you’ll use for deer.

Russel Hyperlink, wildlife biologist with the Maine Division of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, explains that coyotes don’t soar over tall fences in a single sure. As a substitute, they climb them.

To stop coyotes from entering into your backyard, you’ll must construct a fence they will’t climb over – or dig underneath.

Hyperlink recommends beginning with five-foot-tall fencing. Then he suggests including outward-tilting 15-inch extenders to the highest of the fence to stop the canines from climbing over.

And to stop them from digging underneath, lengthen the fence underground about eight inches, utilizing wire mesh.

Alternatively, create an “apron” on the bottom that extends 15 inches on the skin of the fence.

Bugs

For a lot of gardeners, bugs could also be extra problematic than the furry, four-legged kind of backyard pest.

To stop harm, it’s useful to know which varieties of bugs plague your backyard, what they appear like, and forestall them from destroying your crop.

Preserving bugs underneath management is necessary not solely as a result of these pests can chew up your crops, however as a result of they will additionally unfold illness.

Melon aphids and spider mites can colonize leaf undersides and leaf ideas, interfering with photosynthesis. In the event you discover both of those in your crops, take away them with a powerful jet of water out of your hose.

One other pest to be looking out for is the striped cucumber beetle. Stop harm from these cucurbit pests through the use of floating row covers up till flowering – and with common inspection of your crops.

In the event you discover pests, choose them off and destroy them.

Study extra about these and different bugs that may bug your crops in our article on watermelon pests. (coming quickly!)

Illness

Similar to different backyard crops, watermelons can also succumb to illness on occasion.

Prevention is your greatest line of protection. Listed here are some good preventive measures to take:

• Be certain to supply your seeds or crops from respected distributors. Unwitting seed savers might unintentionally cross on illness from contaminated crops.
• Rotate your crops by crop households. Watermelons are members of the Cucurbitaceae household, together with cucumbers, squash, and different melons. Wait three years earlier than planting from the identical household in the identical spot in your backyard.
• Splashing water can unfold illness, so irrigate on the base of crops with a watering wand or drip irrigation – don’t use a sprinkler!
• Keep away from dealing with crops when they’re moist, since that is a straightforward method to unfold illness from plant to plant.
• To stop illness from harboring in your soil, by no means compost or until underneath contaminated crops.

Now that you simply’ve familiarized your self with these efficient methods for watermelon illness prevention, hold a watch out for brown lesions and holes in plant leaves, an indication of anthracnose.

In the event you discover vine ideas wilting, fusarium wilt will be the offender. There are resistant varieties to every of those fungal illnesses, and beginning off with these will give your crops a bonus over different cultivars.

Even be looking out for blossom-end rot, a nutrient deficiency which additionally impacts tomatoes.

Study extra about these and different frequent issues in our information to combating watermelon illness. (coming quickly!)

Harvesting

It’s necessary to attend till your watermelons are totally ripe earlier than you choose them. That is one fruit, in contrast to apricots or avocados, that can not proceed to ripen after harvest.

Nevertheless, watermelons can go from unripe to spoiled in only a few days, so be vigilant about checking them as they strategy maturity.

While you see the fruit beginning to develop giant, it’s time to examine every day for ripeness.

While you plant your seeds, it’s a good suggestion to rely forward the variety of days to maturity and mark this date in your calendar or in your gardening journal.

That approach, when your fruit is approaching full ripeness, you can begin keeping track of it and can quickly be able to take pleasure in a candy, juicy slice of watermelon.

If the fruit has separated from the vine, or the vine is lifeless, go forward and choose the fruit. It gained’t ripen any additional as soon as it’s off the vine.

If the fruit remains to be connected to the vine, and the vine is alive, there are a number of totally different tips you should use to determine whether or not a watermelon is ripe or not.

You could wish to check out every – or all – of those strategies and determine what appears to work greatest for you:

• Search for the curly tendril closest to the stem the place the melon is connected. If it’s brown and dry, the melon is ripe.
• The leaf closest to that tendril also needs to be yellow or turning brown.
• Verify the underside of the melon, which turns from mild inexperienced or white to cream coloured or yellow when ripe.
• Watch for the pores and skin of your melon to flip from shiny to boring.
• The blossom finish of the melon will soften when ripe.

What? No thumping?

“Thumping” can also be a standard method to choose whether or not a watermelon is ripe, however sadly this methodology is unreliable.

A boring thud is meant to point that the fruit is ripe, however it’s not the case with all varieties.

Within the case of some cultivars, a boring thud may even point out that the fruit is overripe.

One other questionable testing methodology is the fingernail take a look at, during which you scratch the rind with a fingernail to find out whether or not the fruit is ripe.

The issue with this methodology is that any harm to the rind serves as a channel for micro organism to enter, which might velocity up the rotting course of.

In the event you scratch your melon and determine it’s not ripe, you’re opening the fruit as much as the opportunity of illness.

To reap a ripe watermelon, use a pointy knife to chop the fruit off of the vine, leaving a two-inch-long piece of stem on the fruit.

You will have different melons persevering with to ripen on that very same vine, so be mild as you narrow.

As soon as the fruit is faraway from the vine, deal with it gently to keep away from bruising or harm to the rind.

Discover extra recommendations on figuring out watermelon ripeness right here.

Storage

After you’ve gotten picked your melons, examine to see if any have cut up or cracked throughout harvest – if that’s the case, these fruits needs to be used instantly.

Intact fruits can deal with some storage. Freshly harvested melons will final seven to 10 days when saved indoors at room temperature within the 68-72°F vary.

In accordance with Jim Shrefler and colleagues on the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension, watermelons can really enhance in taste and coloration when saved at room temperature for as much as per week.

Watermelons will hold for 2 to 3 weeks in a location with a temperature of 52-60°F and 85-90 p.c relative humidity. This could possibly be your basement or root cellar.

What concerning the fridge? Chilling harm can happen when the fruit is saved at temperatures beneath 50°F.

As soon as the fruit has been reduce, it should hold within the fridge for as much as 5 days in an hermetic container.

After all, it’s possible you’ll want to eat your melon as quickly as you harvest it.

Some folks want it contemporary from the backyard, whereas others (this author included) get pleasure from it extra after it has been chilled within the fridge.

Nevertheless you favor your melon, simply ensure you completely clear the rind earlier than slicing it open, since micro organism resembling E. coli may be transferred from unwashed rinds to the flesh when it’s sliced.

Preserving

There are a number of methods to protect this excellent summer time fruit so that you could get pleasure from it even within the depths of winter.

Drying

Drying or dehydrating is one method to save this fruit for later enjoyment.

Dried watermelon isn’t precisely commonplace in North America, however maybe it’s able to grow to be the subsequent large factor.

This dried deal with can also be referred to as “watermelon jerky,” which ought to offer you an concept of its leathery texture.

Drying fruit ends in a extra concentrated package deal of sugars and taste, and watermelon isn’t any totally different.

If you’re utilizing a dehydrator, check with the producer’s suggestions on how lengthy to dry the fruit.

For watermelon, slicing it into 1/2-inch-thick slices and drying for round 20 hours at 135°F is an efficient rule of thumb.

In the event you’d wish to study extra concerning the course of in better element, take a look at this information to dehydrating fruits and veggies on our sister web site, Foodal.

In Asia, watermelon seeds are eaten very like sunflower seeds.

You may strive making your personal savory seeds for a wholesome snack. Put together them such as you would pumpkin seeds – you may learn to do it on Foodal.

Freezing

In the event you want your watermelon contemporary however have a bumper crop you could’t eat suddenly, you may freeze a few of it.

You may study the perfect methods for freezing fruit on our sister web site, Foodal.

Freezing does change the feel a bit, so it’s greatest used the place the flavour can shine however the texture now not issues, resembling in smoothies or slushies.

Or as an alternative of freezing it in chunks, you might work some culinary magic on it first. Doesn’t watermelon sorbet sound scrumptious?

You may learn to make sorbet out of any kind of fruit on Foodal.

Canning

Watermelon may be canned within the type of pickles, jam, juice, or wine.

Since this fruit is a low-acid meals, you’ll must pickle it if you wish to can it with a sizzling water bathtub, or use a stress canner for non-acidic preparations.

Able to be guided by means of the canning course of? There’s an entire information to canning meals at dwelling additionally on Foodal.

Recipes and Cooking Concepts

Watermelon is so good to eat by the slice that many people in all probability don’t take into consideration including it as an ingredient to our meals.

But when your thumbs are each vivid inexperienced and you find yourself with a large crop of homegrown watermelons, you may be open to some new concepts.

Right here’s a thought – strive utilizing it as a salad ingredient. Personally, I really like how the flavour of watermelon mixes with feta cheese and contemporary mint leaves.

Watermelon offers taste and texture in fruit salads, however to shake issues up a bit, how about utilizing a cookie cutter to chop shapes out of watermelon slices as an alternative of going with customary chunks or balls?

And whereas star-shaped watermelon items would possibly thrill the children (or your interior baby), how about one thing for the adults?

This scrumptious recipe for watermelon daiquiris over at Foodal mixes mild rum with candy, frozen watermelon and contemporary squeezed lime juice for a drink that’s doubly refreshing.

Or go away the rum out and make virgin daiquiris as an alternative.