Watermelons for the first time...

My third strawberry bed didn't do so well, so I replanted with three nice little watermelon seedlings on a whim. I spaced them about four feet apart in a full sun zone on the western side of the house. They are in a slightly shallow raised bed and mulched with cedar mulch.

What do I need to know to grow these successfully? I can always add more dirt. It's right by the rain-barrel so watering should be fairly easy. I just don't know what I don't know.

You should be fine as long as the soil is not compacted. Watermelons need very little care, warm weather and a loose deep soil and that is about it. Here some nice ones frequently volunteer in fence rows. They are not heavy feeders and don't require a lot of water. less than most garden vegetables.

Farmerdill, you make it sound so easy. I too have planted watermelon seeds for the first time. Rumor is that I have built my house on a watermelon patch. So I will see. We have sand & compost here in Plantersville,Texas. I have planted them on the south side, on a slight slope going down toward the road. My water hose does not quite reach them, so I hope they can rely on rain for water. I did plant a few on the other side of the garden with a black plastic cover. I just cut out holes in the plastic & planted plants. I will see what happens.

Mine get by with rainfall>

I use rain barrels to water everything on the side yard. I need to make or buy more for the back yard. Part of the deal to have all my fruit trees was to do something to lower the potential water bill.

So, if I just water them as often as I do my roses and strawberries the watermelon plants should be fine? How deep is deep for the melons? They have about six inches above clay soil. I'm totally okay with not actually getting any melons this year, I just want to fill in the empty space with something green and if we get melons so much the better.

I wouldn't water them frequently and not from the top if you can help it. They only need about an inch or so of water once a week or every 4-5 days depending on the temps.

I wanted to plant cantaloupes in my garden bed after my broccoli is done. I usually water my whole bed with the hose so if melons don't need tons of water should I seperate them?

Cantaloupes are a whole different story than watermelons. They should be good for following broccoli if your season is long enough.

I am growing 2 crimson sweet watermelons for the first time and the vines are over 30 feet long with many flowers. I have 2 melons that are softball size right now and I know they will get much bigger. my question is how many of the flowers will produce a melon ? I am worried that to many will be overwelming. I live in michigan near a lake and the soil is 4 " and all sand underneath.Will I have a problem ? and can I make ajustments? The vines are invading my tomato and pepper plants..I am new at this..thank- you

Farmerdill: When was that picture taken of your watermelon patch? Was it last year? My watermelon plants are just now taking off, no flowers yet. Also, how many packages of seed did you use for that patch? I have a patch about that size & maybe I might beable to make it look like yours next year.

behillman-thats funny, my watermelon plants are also just starting to take off. I did get the seeds in late but not that late. Other then that I did everything the same, as far as I know. Its just a strange year.

That was last years. However my patch this year has come and gone. Plowed it down yesterday. Pretty bad dought this year, so I only got the late June, early July crop. In a good year I can get a second set but not this year. I typically have 50 to 75 hills (just 52 this year). I used 5 seed to the hill which are spaced at 10 ft intervals. so about 300 seeds per year on average. I have normally a number of varieties. This year: Sweet Princess, Peacock Striped, Wilson Sweet, Big Crimson, AU Producer, Charlene, Summer Flavor #710, Greystone, Lemon Krunch, Golden Honey, Gold Strike, Tendersweet.

So did you plant the seeds in March? or Feb., We didn't get our rains this year in Feb. I counted only l rain event on my garden this year. Yes, we did have a drought. No wonder I'm watering constantly. That means we will probally have a wet October . Or if it ever starts raining, the melons I have growing might get the benefit of the fall rains.

April 15.

For your amusement, I'm posting a couple photos of the watermelon patch. My watermelons took over in short order. ;)

There are even actual melons growing. What a surprise. ;P

It's funny how the melon vines worked out well to become part of the edible garden landscape. Overall, I'm quite happy with the little experiment. The trees are the experimental cherry trees. The big bush looking things are pomegranates. There are also strawberries and roses, but the passion fruit vine died.