Many people believe that watermelons require very painstaking care and special conditions for growing. This is not entirely correct. Let's take a closer look at how to grow a watermelon on your own summer cottage.
How to plant watermelons: choose a place and prepare the soil
The place for planting watermelon should be on the south side, away from bushes, trees and fences - this crop will not bear fruit if it grows in the shade.
Sandy loam soil is the most suitable option. It is very good if tomatoes, grain crops, corn or potatoes grew in this place the previous year.
As for the soil, it should be remembered that root system watermelon goes quite deep into the ground, so you need to add a large number of fertilizers of organic origin into the soil before planting watermelon, namely:
- Humus (about 2-3 kg per plant),
- Neutral peat (about 7 kg per 1 sq.m.).
Mineral fertilizers can also be used, the most commonly used are the following:
- Urea (30-40 g per 1 m2);
- Superphosphate (30 g per 1 m2);
- Potash fertilizers (20 g per 1 m2).
Exceeding the dosage of these substances will provoke abundant growth of greenery to the detriment of fetal growth, so you should strictly adhere to the recommended amount.
Choosing watermelon seeds
Watermelons are sorted into three types depending on the time of their ripening.
- Early ripening varieties such as Atlant, Au - producer, Borchansky, Borisfen, Gloria F1, Darunok, Crimson, Knyazhich, Ogonyok, Sugar Baby, Royal, Tulip, Orbiy f1 (usually in the form of seedlings).
- Mid-season varieties: Astrakhansky, Melitopolsky 60, New Year's, Ryasny, Snezhok, Sichelav, Tavriysky, Tselnolistny.
- Mid-late variety - Chill.
It is strongly recommended to warm the seeds well before planting. This can be done under artificial conditions: watermelon seeds are poured onto dry gauze and placed on a warm heating radiator, over 4 hours the temperature should gradually increase from plus 15 to 50 degrees. Celsius. It is very important to constantly stir the seeds so that they heat evenly.
Under natural conditions, you can warm up the seeds by placing them in the open sun for 7-10 days.
Next, you should soak the watermelon seeds in a slightly warm solution of potassium permanganate for 20 minutes and wash them 3-4 times with running water. The seeds are then placed in gauze and left in a warm place where temperature regime reaches plus 20-30 degrees. Celsius. We are waiting for the first seeds to begin to hatch.
How to plant a watermelon
Growing watermelon in open ground.
Sow watermelon seeds in open ground worth it when 10% of total number the seeds will hatch.
Do not rush too much; it is very important that the soil on the site warms up to plus 12-14 degrees. Celsius at a depth of 10 cm (usually mid-April - May).
If the seeds do fall into soil that has not yet been properly warmed up, they will easily lose their germination capacity.
As watermelons grow, they form lash-stems from one to 2 meters long, so they should be planted at an appropriate distance from each other. And in the rows make an indent of 60-80 cm, respectively.
If the soil is very dry, before planting, pour 2 liters of water into each hole (10-12 cm), then lightly sprinkle the hole with soil so that its depth reaches only 4 cm.
So, we planted watermelons. It is very important to place “beacons” in the form of sticks that mark the rows, so that long before the first shoots appear, you can cultivate the soil and do weeding.
During the period of abundant foliage growth, it is necessary to fertilize watermelons. For 10 sq m you will need the following solution:
- 10 liters of water,
- Ammonium nitrate or urea - 150 g,
- Granulated superphosphate - 60 g,
- Potassium salt - 50 gr.
Fertilizing should be done immediately after rains.
- Avoid fertilizers during fruit ripening to protect them from cracking and deterioration in transportability.
- If you want to speed up the ripening process and increase the amount of harvest, try covering the planted watermelons with agrofibre, and then making holes for the sprouted seeds. Agrofibre is left on the surface of the earth until the end of the plant’s growing season, then carefully removed.
- Watermelons should be watered strictly once every 7 days, so as not to provoke the formation of rot.
- Yellowed parts of the plant should be removed promptly.
An alternative way to grow watermelons
It also happens that climatic conditions and the area of dacha beds do not give us the opportunity to grow watermelon without preliminary preparation.
When to plant watermelon seedlings?
You can plant watermelons as seedlings, and after 20 days plant them in a greenhouse or open ground.
It is worth remembering that all pumpkin plants do not tolerate transplantation well, so they should be planted in fairly large containers so that they can be transplanted together with big amount land.
So, pots measuring 8*8*8 cm and other containers available on hand are quite suitable for seedlings.
We prepare a universal mixture for planting. Mix humus, peat and turf soil in a ratio of 2:1:1. Next, add 300 grams of superphosphate and 100 grams of wood ash to the resulting mixture per 10 kg of mixture. Divide the mixture into pots and water it 3 days before planting the seeds.
Watermelon seedlings should be planted at the end of April; in this case, after 20-25 days they will be ready for transplanting into a greenhouse or open ground.
We try to maintain the soil temperature in the pots at least 15 degrees; we also need good lighting, about 15 hours a day.
Watering is carried out at the request of the plant - when the soil is almost dry, otherwise there is a possibility that the seedlings will deteriorate due to increased humidity and the development of blackleg.
Feeding seedlings in pots
For 10 liters of water you will need:
- Ammonium nitrate - 20 g,
- Superphosphate - 35 g,
- Potassium sulfate or chloride - 30 gr.
Fertilizing is done 3-4 days before planting watermelons in the ground; we use 1 cup of fertilizer (250 ml) for each pot.
When average daily temperature air temperature has reached 11-12 degrees, we transplant the watermelons into a greenhouse or open ground.
- Carefully loosen the soil before planting.
- The distance between seedlings in rows is 30-40cm, between rows - 60-70cm.
- It is advisable to plant watermelons in the evening so that they do not dry out.
- The holes are pre-watered with water.
- After planting, it is recommended to tightly close the greenhouse, thereby increasing the chance of good seedling survival.
- If you planted watermelons in open ground, you can create a greenhouse effect using improvised means - cut in half plastic bottle and cover each part with 1 seedling.
- During the first week, you will have to water the seedlings every other day, pouring 0.5 liters of water under each plant. If it's very hot outside, try to water your watermelons daily.
- After 7-10 days, watermelons begin to grow quickly, it’s time to feed and reduce the amount of watering - 1-2 times a week is enough.
- Try to get rid of yellowed parts of the plant in a timely manner.
Caring for the ripening harvest
The harvest begins to ripen in August. It is very important to turn the watermelons over once a week with the bottom side facing the sun - this way they will ripen evenly.
If the weather is humid, try to place small planks under the watermelons to prevent the crop from rotting.
Stop watering the plants only 3-4 days before the expected harvest. The idea that watermelons will be tasteless due to excess moisture is a fiction. For a watermelon to be truly tasty and ripe, it needs a lot of sun and water!
Bottom line
Perhaps, we have considered all the main points that you should know about when growing watermelons in your dacha. Your efforts will definitely be rewarded, and you will certainly receive good harvest watermelons!
Do you have a lot of free land in your garden? Try planting the largest berry - watermelons. They are unpretentious and do not require much trouble.
Choosing seeds
First you need to decide on the seeds. It is better to select varieties of watermelons that do not ripen for long, but it is also better not to purchase varieties that ripen very quickly. For the garden the best option there will be varieties such as Sugar Baby or Ogonyok. When purchasing, also check where the seeds came from. If from the south, then it is not a fact that they will be adapted to natural conditions your lane. You can start growing watermelons in spring. The first step is to grow seedlings. After all, planting watermelons in the garden is dangerous due to the risk of sudden frosts. They can destroy the plantings. Pots for watermelon seedlings should be of medium diameter. Do not make any cuts on the seeds, supposedly for earlier germination! Before planting the seeds in the pot, you need to keep them in the pot for 10 minutes. warm water. Then deepen it into the ground 3-4 centimeters. It is necessary to monitor the temperature in the room where the pots with seeds are located. It should be between 18 and 23 degrees. And when the shoots appear, try to maintain a temperature of 18 degrees.
Watermelon seedlings: care
At the end of May - beginning of June, seedlings can begin to be planted in the ground. It would be better to cover the watermelons with some material after planting. A few days before planting watermelons in the ground, you should begin to harden the seedlings. Over the course of a week, you need to gradually extend the time the plant stays without shelter. If the temperature does not drop below 8 degrees at night, then you can try leaving the seedlings open overnight.
How to plant watermelons: choosing a location
The place must be sunny and warm. Most best option so that it is accessible to the sun from the south and closed from the cold winds from the north and west. It is better to make the holes from north to south in one row. The distance between them should be at least 60 centimeters. Holes are made approximately 50 cm deep; you need to add 2-3 buckets of compost or humus, one-third of a bucket of sand and a little superphosphate, preferably double, into them. Mix all contents thoroughly. You can mulch the soil, as a result there will be no need to constantly weed, and thanks to mulching, practically nothing will be created for the root system. ideal conditions. Holes are cut into the covering material into which the seedlings should be planted. You can also water over the material; it allows water to pass through well.
Top dressing
The watermelon seedlings have taken root and begun to grow, which means you need to start feeding them. Chicken droppings or mullein are good for the first feeding. Then, after 12 days, feed again, but this time mineral fertilizers, watermelons must be watered strictly warm water, especially if the weather is hot. Watering should be frequent, but from the beginning of August watering can be stopped.
Time to harvest
So, we figured out how to plant watermelons. Now let's see when you can harvest. If summer pleases with warm days, then the first watermelon can be ready for consumption as early as the twentieth of July. But the main harvest is usually harvested from mid-August. If the weather is still hot at this time, then do not rush to harvest, watermelons can still grow until September. So grow and enjoy the sweet results of your efforts. Now you know what you can plant in your garden. Every person can do this, since planting watermelons, much less growing and caring for them, is not at all difficult.
