Watermelons - how it's done over here.

[BVGardener]

I noticed they were planting in those fields pictured in my first post this morning. I guess I need to get mine planted. I'll try and get an updated photo posted this week.

Jay

[feldon30]

I wonder if watering them with fish and seaweed emulsion as the fruit are getting big would be beneficial? Also heard of mulching around fruit tree with compost. Maybe make up a batch of compost tea?

[Ruth_10]

My soil is anything but sandy. The melon patch is clay amended with llama poop and horse manure. I cover it with black plastic mulch to keep the weeds and grass out. I punched small holes in the plastic to let in air and moisture.
From my reading, melons like very fertile soil, plenty of moisture but not wet feet, warmth, and little moisture the last couple of weeks before picking to concentrate the flavor and sweetness. BVG, I'd do a "hole-reverse-hole method" watermelons--I'd dig a big hole dump a big pile of compost or composted manure in so that it was heaped up to form a hill and plant in that. It's hard to get too much organic material in your soil for watermelons.

From 2007:
DSC_7247 melon patch.jpgDSC_7290 melon patch with Orangeglos.jpg

My understanding is the the yellow patch on the bottom should turn ivory when the melon is ripe. I try to use both that and the curly-cue dying back as signs of ripeness. Last year I grew Orangeglo (pictured above), Ali Baba, and Blacktail Mountain and will probably grow them again this year.

[GIZZARDFARM]

Ruth..now thats what Im talkin about nice melon patch...

Gizzard

[amideutch]

When I lived in Crete the locals would grow watermelons in my area. The ground was rocky,volcanic red soil that could pass for the landscape on Mars. It looked like it couldn't support growing a weed. They would dig "V" trenches and run drip lines along the bottom of the trench, plant their seedlings and cover with plastic. After the weather stabilized and warmed up the plastic was removed and the plants emerged from the trenches and covered the field. There was no leveling the ground or making it look pretty or applications of fertilizer (that cost money), all the greeks cared about was the end result. "Watermelons", and they got a ton of them! They would go down town in a dilapidated old pickup truck full of melons to a traffic circle in front of a supermarket no less and park on the traffic circle and sell the melons for 75 cents apiece to people driving by. Supermarket owner wasn't to happy but there was nothing he could do. Ami

[BVGardener]

WOW, that is a nice melon patch you have Ruth. I'll be growing Moon and Stars this year along with one other variety of which I can't recall the exact name at the moment.

Jay

[coronabarb]

"...I can't participate as my mother spent years reminding me not to spit so I'm not very good at it..."



I'm hoping to get in some Curtis Showell White Flesh melons, Blacktail Mountain,and Moon and Stars if I still have seeds for that one. I've got lots of cantaloupe seeds I should plant too, as they did well for me a few years back. Thanks for all the tips, guys.

[feldon30]

In for a penny, in for a pound.

I bought the necessary wood, landscaper's mix, and 2 bags of Black Kow to grow some Sugar Baby melons. We'll see if I can keep them contained within a 4' x 8' bed AND get some decent melons.

This bed will be cleared out so I can plant 24 Quinault strawberry plants in October.

[BVGardener]

Here is how the watermelon fields now look:

[feldon30]

Well, since that's not watermelons... I'm confused

[coronabarb]

The watermelons are coming up through the plastic. I'm wondering what the other crop is...cover crop?

[BVGardener]

Barb, the tall green stuff is a windbreak / green manure. They poke holes through the plastic and then plant the seedlings. A tractor will drive down the rows with three or four guys sitting on back and plant while the tractor drives along. They space their plants really close together - something like 1' apart.

Jay

[feldon30]

Just finished building my watermelon/strawberry bed. It's 4' x 8'.

Soil mix is:
3 cu ft Soil Conditioner (mostly shredded pine bark)
8 cu ft Landscaper's Mix (mostly shredded pine bark)
3 cu ft Black Cow 100% composted cow manure (arranged mostly down the middle)

I dug down and broke up the existing clay (which is actually pretty sandy clay -- a good sign!). Then I added the Soil Conditioner and mixed that in. Then I added the Landscaper's Mix, leaving a void in the center. Finally I added the Black Kow compost in the middle and mounded about 2" of the Landscaper's Mix on top of it. So the seedlings will be planted in that Landscaper's Mix and almost immediately hit the compost.

Already got my mulch down. Will add more mulch once the seedlings are transplanted.

Not sure on slow release fertilizer. Probably some TomatoTone.


I've got Sugar Baby seeds started inside. They're the only compact watermelon seeds really available to me. Might start seeds of Allsweet with the intention of pruning the vines back to fit in the bed and keeping the # of fruit per vine to 3.

In mid-September, I will pull up the watermelon vines and prepare the bed for Quinault strawberry plants (which will go in the bed October 1st).

[Lomatia]

Must have a long season over there. In southern Australia the summers are not long enough for watermelon.
Maybe it is all about the manure because I remember I put some jam melon seeds in the middle of the paddock where my father-in-law dumped all the stable manure and straw. Didn't water or look at them all season and had an incredible yield.

[feldon30]

I think people underestimate the amount of manure needed to grow melons. If tomatoes do great with 10-20%, I'm thinking melons like 40-60%. I'm giving one cluster of plants 2 full bags of Black Kow. Hoping for the best...

Anyone grown Sugar Baby? Is it decent? I know it probably won't taste as good as, say Moon and Stars or Crimson Sweet or especially OrangeGlo, but is it good enough to be worth growing?