How to plant melons and watermelons

how to plant melons and watermelons

Surely if you have a home garden one of the most desired crops is usually melons and watermelons. Melons that are grown in home gardens tend to perform better and are more delicious than those sold in stores. This is because melons pack in sugar during the last days of growth. Because commercial melons are harvested when they are green for distribution, they do not have this process and therefore are not as sweet. How to plant melons and watermelons It can be quite simple if you know what the main cropping patterns are.

Therefore, we are going to dedicate this article to tell you how to plant melons and watermelons and what are the best tricks for it.

Varieties that we can grow

seeded melon

Most melons and watermelons need soil that is rich in nutrients. Therefore, it is interesting to know what humus is and how it can help you in the crops. One of the most important requirements of melons is the sun and that, at least, the area where you grow it has about 3-4 months of warm weather. This or melons can take up a lot of space, so it is more advisable to plant them vertically. To do this, you have to train them. It is important to take these tips, especially if your home garden does not have a large space.

You can use old stockings to support the weight of the fruit or. For growing in pots, the liters of substrate needed are about 30Although it is recommended to use a larger pot to plant flowers around it and to attract pollinating insects.

Among the varieties of melons and watermelons that we can grow in our gardens we have the following:

  • French melon: flavored with pumpkin. It is characterized by a shallow network of "veins" in its skin and pulp, ranging from salmon to green, although the pulp grown here is orange in color.
  • Toad skin melon: The fruit is large and oval, with soft, smooth or wrinkled skin, green with dark spots.
  • Watermelon: They belong to a different plant classification Citrullus lanatus, but they grow in the same conditions as melons. Here we can find two very famous varieties, Sugar Baby Watermelon and Crimson Sweet Watermelon.

How to plant melons and watermelons

mulching for the plantation

The melons They need a place that can be sunny and well ventilated, which will help them dry quickly after the rain and avoid illness. The roots of the melon usually extend 2 to 25 cm underground, but some varieties can reach a depth of 4 to 5 meters. We need a loose soil with good drainage.

The important thing about growing melons and watermelons is that the soil is not cold, which can damage the seedlings. Ideally, plant seeds in peat beds to avoid this problem. Seedlings should be transplanted 2 to 3 weeks after sowing, If the seedlings grow too large, it will be difficult to root them. Sow a few seeds in each peat bed and place them in a south-facing window or in a sunny location. A few days before transplanting, place the plants outdoors in a sunny spot during the day to adjust to the environment.

To plant seeds directly in our garden or urban garden, we must wait 2 weeks after the last frost. We recommend planting about 6 seeds per ridge to prevent plants from competing for nutrients during development.

In cold climates, you should spread black plastic or paper mulch a few weeks before planting or transplanting to warm the soil and keep the plants warm after they are in the soil.

Care during growth

how to plant melons and watermelons in a pot

If you are not using paper mulch, use organic mulch, as this mulch will help us eliminate weeds and keep the fruit clean and disease-free. Water a lot, especially after transplanting and when the fruit is developing.

Male flowers will appear first on leaf nodes, main stems, and large side branches. After a week, female flowers will appear, although there are many female flowers, each cluster can only produce three or four melons. Most young melons will grow to the size of an egg and will need to be fertilized again at this time so that the fruit develops smoothly.

Melon and watermelon clumps may appear firm, but they are actually very delicate, so they must be handled with care. In colder areas, we recommend picking smaller flowers and fruits from the bushes after mid-summer, because they do not have time to ripen before frost, wasting the energy and resources that ripe fruits can use.

Problems on how to plant melons and watermelons

Striped cucumber beetles can be serious pests and are more destructive to directly seeded plants than transplants. During the flowering season of the plant, its presence is greater. Spraying seedlings with kaolin can prevent beetles from feeding on the plants. As a last resort, we can collect them with a handheld vacuum cleaner.

The other harmful substances that we can find in watermelons and melons are melon aphids. To fight them ecologically and respect the environment we can use potassium soap or neem seed cake.

Mold is common on rainy days. Mold produces yellow spots on the surface of leaves, with purple areas underneath. To avoid mold, We will use propolis, nettle powder or neem seed cake.

Powdery mildew appears on leaves and stems with powdery white spots. This affects the sweetness of the melon because the fungus transfers sugar from the bush to promote its own growth. It is convenient cut and destroy all affected branches and apply propolis or neem seed cake.

Certain bacteria can cause leaves and stems to fall off and secrete a sticky white substance when cut. In this case, it is best to remove the infected plants. This bacterial wilt is closely related to cucumber beetles and aphids, if we control these two diseases, lhe chance of these bacteria infecting us will be reduced.

I hope that with this information you can learn more about how to plant melons and watermelons.


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