What do watermelon sprouts look like

Is there anything I need to do different for them? Yellow flesh in a watermelon is a natural mutation. Yellow-fleshed watermelons are grown the same as all other watermelons. Get the best gardening tips straight into your inbox! Email Address:. Join our gardening family to receive the latest tips.

Search Search for: Search. Watermelon seed can be started indoors 8 to 6 weeks before plants are set out. Facebook 0 Tweet 0 Pin 0. Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Vote Up 0 0 Vote Down 0.

I wish you would include tips for high tunnel growers. Great suggestion. I will put this on the list of posts to get out. Congratulations on a successful crop!! What variety watermelon are you growing this year? Where are you located, I need all your tips.. I am a watermelon junkie!! I live in mid-Michigan. What would be your tips for successfully growing watermelon here? Can water melons be grown in England? Thanks for reading Harvest to Table and Happy Gardening!

No need to remove the seed casings; they will eventually fall off naturally. My seedlings that I started indoors are falling over and wilting. What could be causing this?

Watermelon seeds commonly germinate in about 10 days. Please see my disclosure page for more information about cookies collected and our privacy policy. Or if you just have a mystery plant growing in your yard and want to know what it is. This guide will help you determine what a watermelon plant looks like and how to tell the difference between other cucurbits.

As I mentioned, in the seedling stage when cucurbits only have a couple of leaves cucumbers and watermelons looks pretty close to identical. You can usually tell squash apart because squash plants tend to be larger, have thicker stems, and grow faster. But once the true leaves emerge you will easily be able to tell the difference between these plants. As you can see, it has lobed leaves. These deep lobes are characteristic of all watermelon plants.

Just like the watermelon leaf can be compared to an oak, a cucumber leaf can be compared to a maple. This one is somewhere in between. When to Plant Watermelons In cool climates with short growing seasons, start seeds indoors 2 to 3 weeks before your last frost date. Young watermelon plants can also be bought from nurseries.

Plant these after there is no longer a chance of frost occurring; they are very tender. Watch the local forecast and err on the side of caution! Consider laying black plastic over your planting area in order to warm the soil even more. Tip: Starting with young plants can result in an earlier harvest usually up to 2 weeks earlier , so consider buying young plants particularly if you live in a cooler climate.

Watermelons are heavy feeders, meaning they need soil that is fertile and has a high nutrient level. Learn more about soil amendments and preparing soil for planting.

Watermelons do best in loamy, somewhat-sandy, well-drained soil. Watermelons prefer a soil pH between 6. Watermelons need A LOT of space—up to 20 square feet per plant. Plan to space the plants feet apart in a 5-foot-wide hill. Tip: To allow for more root growth, use larger starting pots than you would for most seeds. If direct seeding outdoors, sow 4 to 6 seeds per hill, eventually thinning to 2 to 3 seedlings. Transplanting Seedlings Handle watermelon seedlings with extreme care when you transplant.

Their roots are very fragile, so try not to disturb the soil when removing them from pots. After transplanting, cover the plants with row covers to keep pests at bay.

Remember to remove the row covers when you see both male and female flowers on the vine, as pollinators will need to access the flowers. Find even more tips for planting melons in your home garden. How to Grow Watermelons Watering Watering is very important—from planting until fruit begins to form.

While melon plants are growing, blooming, and setting fruit, they need 1 to 2 inches of water per week. Keep soil moist, but not waterlogged. Reduce watering once fruit are growing. Dry weather produces the sweetest melon. Fertilizing If you choose to fertilize and many do , make sure it delivers more nitrogen than phosphorus and potassium, as this will encourage leaf and vine growth.

However, after flowering begins, use a fertilizer with less nitrogen to instead encourage flowers and fruit. We like to use a seaweed-based fertilizer. Flowering and Fruiting Vines produce male and female flowers separately on the same plant.

They often begin producing male flowers several weeks before the females appear. Do not be concerned if the male flowers fall off. The female flowers which have a swollen bulb at the base will stay on the vine and bear fruit.

Blossoms require pollination to set fruit, so be kind to the bees! Learn how to support pollinators in your garden. As fruit is ripening, prevent rotting by gently lifting it and putting cardboard or straw between the fruit and the soil. General Care Tips Mulching with black plastic or straw around the plants will serve multiple purposes: it will warm the soil, hinder weed growth, and keep developing fruits off the soil.

When the plant is young, just cut off the end buds as they form before the side shoots become vines. Bill Rhodes, professor of horticulture at Clemson University, offers the following advice on how to tell when watermelons are ripe: Thump it. Look at the color on the top. The watermelon is ripe when there is little contrast between the stripes.

Look at the color on the bottom. An immature watermelon will have a white bottom; a ripe melon will have a cream- or yellow-colored bottom. Press on it. Check the tendril. Stems should be cut with a sharp knife close to the fruit. How to Store Watermelons Watermelons can be stored uncut for about 10 days.

If cut, they can last in the refrigerator for about 4 days. Wrap tightly in plastic. Produces pound melons with bright red flesh. This variety of smaller fruit can be planted just 4 feet apart. A All-America Selection. Bears 6-pound, oblong melons with red flesh. Bears petite, yellow-skinned 3-pound melons with pink flesh.