Growing Watermelon

Cucurbitaceae c. lanatus : Cucurbitaceae / the gourd family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec
      S S              
        T T            
        P P            

(Best months for growing Watermelon in USA - Zone 5a regions)

  • S = Plant undercover in seed trays
  • T = Plant out (transplant) seedlings
  • P = Sow seed
  • Grow in seed trays, and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed. Best planted at soil temperatures between 70°F and 95°F. (Show °C/cm)
  • Space plants: 24 - 30 inches apart
  • Harvest in 12-17 weeks.
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): Sweetcorn, Sunflowers
  • Avoid growing close to: Potatoes

Your comments and tips

14 Mar 10, neil fardell (Australia - tropical climate)
i have just picked a watermelon which was planted in october, the nearest leaf had died and it sounds hollow. however upon cutting it open i have found it to be yellow. it still tastes okay but is it ripe or over ripe? i've got two others that fit the bill of being ready but now i'm not sure. should i wait longer? they formed about a week or two after the one i just picked. also the first one i picked about a month ago had split and was mouldy inside when i cut it open....... confused.
18 Dec 10, stu (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
my father grew a variety of watermelon that was yellow fleshed when ripe he called them "champagne" mellons.
04 Mar 10, dene (Australia - temperate climate)
hi i dont the variety of hand but my watermellons are growing well to about football size but are splitting very badly. does anyone know why? they are on retic getting water every morning.
24 Feb 10, lisa rias (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
HI MY WATER MELONS ARE GROWING EVERYWHERE BUT THEY HAVENT PRODUCED ANY FRUIT ONLY SMALL ONES WHICH DIE. DO THEY NEED MORE WATER?
08 Jan 11, Robin (Australia - arid climate)
YES A BIG YES this comes from a grower once they start to set fruit they need water
21 Aug 10, Susan Chambers (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
You need to cut back your plant so you get less fruit and more growth to the fruit, this will give the plant a boost. the cutting back should be done when the flowers come on the vine.
23 Feb 10, susan (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
our plants are growing everywhere but now some leaves have gone lighter in colour. What does this mean?
20 Feb 10, Jo (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
I am growing a variety of watermelon called "red rocket". These are supposed to be, according to the tag, large oblong-shaped with a high yield, however, the only 2 fruit I have growing are just the size of small rockmelons and appear to have stopped growing. The oldest of these 2 is about 5 weeks now. Are my expectations of what is called large fruit and high yield too high, or do I need to do something to help them along. I have recently used Dynamic Lifter For Fruit and Citrus in the patch but am unsure if this will help. The other problem is that, although the plant is very vigorous and has plenty of flowers, it doesn't seem to fruit, even though I've used the brush trick to help pollinate. The only thing I can think of is that it doesn't get a lot of sun, but if this was the problem would that not also affect the quantity of flowers and health of the vine?
26 Sep 20, gordon lee (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
hello, last year 2019 i grew red rocket melons, i got melons up to 17 kg, grew in part shade up to full sun, they simply need full sun and heat, even under 30% shade cloth no good, heaps of flowers and melons, plus grow other plants that give you more flowers for pollination and bees, even ants will pollinate, happy growing
03 Feb 10, Natalie (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
When going seedless watermelon, you do need also a female variety such as sugar baby.I do have both variety and are growing well
Showing 311 - 320 of 353 comments

Most veges just need an all round fertiliser. Leafy veges a bit more N, fruity/root veges a bit more P/ K. Read up about what N P K does in the soil. that will determine what you put on. But it is impossible to go and buy 20 different fertilisers for 20 different plants. I buy the same fertiliser to fertilise all my vegetable, lawn and shrubs. Also look at crop rotation. A leafy crop will take the N out, so you might plant a root crop after. When plants are very small they need a light watering each day, as they grow you can water less often but put more water on. Plants half grown need watering each 2-3 days. The amount depends on how big that plant grows. You would water lettuce a lot less than 1.8m high tomatoes. I water 3 days a week.

- anon

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