Hi Gardeners:
I have a question. I have some baby watermelons a growin' and I need to know when do you pinch off the flowers so that the energy goes into a select amount of melons? How many do you let grow per vine? I'm going to do some Internet research, but I wanted to ask the pro's as well! :)
watermelons....
Unless you are trying for a world's record size, the vine knows how many melons it can support. I never pinch anything. If you are trying to grow a 300 lb Carolina Cross, then select the best looking melon and remove the rest.
Do not pinch off the flowers. Like all curcurbits, watermelon vines prduce male flowers before the others. Let the plant balance itself. After some time, often a few weeks, depending on the variety, you will see flowers that have tiny fruit behind them. When these female blossoms are fertilized by pollen from the males (yes, you can help them along), the tiny fruit will rapidly enlarge and become a small melon. It takes about 45 days from pollination to a fruit ready to pick, YMMV.
Phil
Will picking off any of the young melons make others on the vine grow and ripen faster ?
No it will not make them ripen faster, you may gain some size, Particularly on the large cultivars. Many of the older cultivars will give you one 50 lb melon or two 30 lb melons. Most of the newer cultivars, won't go much over 30 lbs, regardless. The more popular melons today are "icebox" types where a 20 pounder is a giant.
I think I'd rather have 2 30 lb. moon and stars. I want to be able to lift it and not have to eat it out there in the garden :)
i like my 3-5 pounders!