Watering also depends on the zone you are in. I am in Arizona and it's been 112 to 117 degrees. I am in zone 9B. It is extremely dry and no rain. I water every 2 days. You gave great information and I did not know to stop watering once the tendril has dried. Thank you.
I knew you weren't supposed to water watermelons just before harvest, but no one ever explains how to know when that is. This video has just the information I was looking for! Thank you!
Here’s one of my videos that lists many signs to look for. What variety are you growing? Crimson Sweet Watermelon Ripening Signs! Harvest! 2018 ua-cam.com/video/VCbn0DpEX-I/v-deo.html
Last year my melons didn't do well. I watched this just in time for my last batch and thanks to your helpful content I had a way better batch this year. I abeyance have some more growing beings in in the south and we have a long growing season so I should have more soon.
Thx, I’ve learned more from you than Texas ag about melons, my melons have split before in spring, now I have second harvest and 24 melons on 4 plants, I’m sure a lot will abort but I’m excited to apply your wisdom. With our food supply interrupted by Corona v I started a garden this yr….I knew nothing about plants and my respect for people that grow food is overwhelming.
Thank you for this video. I think I messed up my melon crop. I didn't know I shouldn't be watering it as much at this point in its growth. The leafs are all starting to look bad and it poured down raining all day today.
I have crimson sweets and they are coming along nicely. Raised-garden and they spilled over the ends so I built a little 4 x 8 foot chicken wire fence (dogs) and mulched thick over the grass that was there. Two are getting pretty big. Lots of little ones also going good. It was very hard to untangle them before I thought of the fence. Leaves can break off easily and the tendrils are very strong. Fun plant to grow. Watering each vine in the box every day depending on the weather forecast. I guess it’s about a quart each a day with a hose. Very hot Summer so far in Georgia. They like that too. I planted seedlings May 1. They start slow, then go crazy. I also gave them a little plant food from miracle grow dry. Every time I water it feeds them a bit.
We have been having a very hot summer as well in Indiana. I have 4 melons that are at least 10 to 15 pounds and some that are smaller. I only planted 2 plants. What should my water schedule be? I was watering at night and in the morning but I was told that was too much. I have some melons that are big and some that are small whats my next move? I don’t want my big melons to split. How big will my melons get?
@Brendon Brooks I think water twice a day is too much. I actually quit watering them after we got a big rain and every week more sporadic rain. Some of my tomatoes split. Watermelons supposedly are more tasty when you ease off the watering towards the end. Now, I quit watering altogether and let the rain do the job. Mulch holds in the moisture pretty well. This is my first watermelon rodeo so I am going by stuff I have read only. Good luck.
Just a follow up, using a raised bed may not be the best way to grow watermelons. Too much rain week after week and we had about 6 that split because too much water and raised bed could not drain quickly enough. Also, I mulched over grass and it grew right back through it and surrounded the vines. Live and learn. Use those weed proof mats they sell on a roll or black plastic sheeting.
I learned a lot it’s my first time growing watermelons. I got some leaf miners on the leaves but put some soap and water and the plants seems to be doing great. I added some grass clippings and I have been watering every night. I live in San Antonio Texas so it’s pretty hot around 90-103 F. I started them late last month. I wanted to know how often to add fertilizer or any other plant food you may recommend. I read you use Jobes tomatoe fertilizer I have some, about how much should I add? My plant is about one month it looks great and healthy other than some leafs that got attacked by the leaf miners. Thank you so much for your video it was great and lots of info.
Fantastic video. Thank you so much for the detailed information passed here. Very quickly.....do I water the watermelon roots only or both roots, the vines and the fruits. Your response will be highly appreciated! Thank you once again.
Just the roots, they’re capable of pulling in hundreds of pounds of water by themselves. Watering the leaves can possibly lead to disease and watering the fruits is fruitless. The fruits only take in water and nutrients through the umbilical that connects it to the vine.
@@SGethersSeeds thanks so much, and I appreciate. I love watermelon so much and this my second time planting. I almost lose interest due to the little harvest I had previously until I discovered it requires some techniques I have learned from the videos like yours. I'm eager to have a good harvest this time around. Thanks once again.
I'm growing crimson sweets this year and have 5 close to ready. It's so hot here in Texas that I can't just not water. I am giving them significantly less tho. It's nice to hear it's OK to just give them less water. Everything ive read says to give them no water for 10 days. The leaves look soooo wilted if i dont give water. I dont want it to die. They are so big and pretty. Their tendrils are beginning to dry or become less green I hope I've done a good job and get some good ones. If not lessons learned for next year😂
pretty cool. I think you have the right sense of when to water.. I need to figure that out. so when it's brown, then stop.. otherwise, how much? every day?
It depends on the variety you’re growing. If it’s supposed to be a large fruited variety, you want to water it much more deeply than a smaller fruited variety. Watermelons are drought tolerant, so they’re able to also go long periods without water, but it’ll sacrifice the size and quantity of the fruits.
I have jubilee melon plant. The leaves are huge, green, and growing like crazy, but the only fruit I have are like an inch big and idk how to help them grow and not die off. Any advice?
I just use whatever green materials I can gather, like overgrown weeds without their roots and soak them into a container full of rain water for a few days. I’ll do a video on it tomorrow.
Here’s the video, I just finished uploading it! Toward the end I stick my hand into the tea and show how thick the coloring should be. I hope this helps! Honeynut Butternut Squash Transplant! How To Make Compost Tea That’s Filled With Nutrition & Color! ua-cam.com/video/ZHZerXk_ZJk/v-deo.html
Thank you! I have struggled with watermelons. I grew lemon drop and sugar baby last year for the first time. Knowing when to harvest was tricky. Could you show lemon drop one season? They are delicious if - you pick them at the right time And they don't split before you do.
In this video below, I show when to harvest when drop. If a watermelon splits while the tendril is green, it’s because the daily watering hasn’t been consistent or it’s receiving way to much water when it’s almost near ripening. Janosik & Lemon Drop Watermelon Harvest! How To Know When Any Home Grown Watermelon Is Ripe & Sweet! ua-cam.com/video/xjKK5_PrSI8/v-deo.html
My issue is I can’t control the rain and we’ve had a good bit this year so far, I have fruit set and the plants look great other than some yellowing on the oldest leaves, I would think it was a Nitrogen deficiency but I know that’s not the case because I fertilize every 14 days using a water soluable fertilizer mixture by Masterblend of 8-34-23, calcium nitrate 15.5-0-0, and Magnesium Sulfate(Epsom Salt). I’m thinking due to all the rain, with nitrogen being a mobile nutrient, meaning it can be moved around the plant where needed, I think the roots have shut down due to the rain, nutrient and water uptake is limited until it dries out a bit, so what growth happens, the nitrogen in the older leaves are being redirected to the newer growth… I’m hoping anyhow, I have varieties that are highly disease resistant. Anyhow, to any other watermelon growers who just love to grow watermelon, last year I tried growing a monster watermelon for the first time, so I purchased a few “Carolina Cross” seeds, 10 only because quality seeds for this variety can be pricey, and it’s the variety that people who participate in watermelon growing contest grow because they naturally reach large size and continue to grow even after ripening… anyhow, 1 out of the 10 seeds germinated, they are a low germinating variety due to it hybrid make up, usually only about 5% germination rate. I let the plant set it’s first 3 fruits and then chose the one that looked the healthiest and was visibly putting on the most growth, had just the one watermelon growing on the entire plant, slightly buried the leaf nodes so that they would send down more roots to nourish the plant and fruit (just take some soil and mound over the leaf nodes, this can be done with watermelon, vining squash(winter squash), and pumpkins)! This helps to anchor the vines as well and makes the plant less suns susceptible to storms or winds! Anyway, my first giant watermelon ended up growing to 237 lbs 12 oz! The world record is 350 lbs 8 oz so a ways off of the record, but it was fun and really entertaining to watch it grow so large. I suggest anyone who loves growing watermelon to give it a shot, just know that every watermelon variety will not grow this large, you have to use “Carolina Cross” watermelon, “Florida Giant” gets pretty large as well…
Forever maybe? They tend to kick the bucket when cold weather comes but in completely tropical weather without any pest pressure, I’m sure they should be able to survive for many years if you need them to.
If it’s cooler, water tends to stay in the soil longer than when it’s warmer. It’s up to you if you want to water or not. Depending on the variety, if it makes a bigger melon, the vines may be thirstier. So a little more water wouldn’t hurt.
Drip watering and surface watering are the same thing. The only difference is that drip is dripping the water instead of spilling it all at once. It’s up to you to decide how much you want to water them. If you’re in the south and can grow huge melons due to a long season, water a lot. If you’re in the north, you’ll be able to get away with much less watering since the melons won’t easily reach very large sizes.
Hey dude thanks for the video. I just started growing. I have weeds like you and I'm concerned they're stealing energy from the melon. But you have a lot too. Do you think I should be concerned?
It’s not too much of a concern. Very large melon patches also tend to have lots of weeds and it doesn’t really effect the size of the melons. If you have snakes in your area, the only concern would be them hiding away under the melons or in the weeds.
Hey Sgethers, my crimson sweet has been acting up on me and as a first time watermelon grower I have no idea what to do. Plant has been flowering for a month now with no fruit sets. Every female flower it produces gets aborted no matter what (ive tried hand polinating it, pollinating with a brush, and leaving them alone, all with the same result.) The vines themselves are growing beautifully. They have huge green leaves and the plant appears very healthy. Any idea what's going wrong?
I had the same problem ( first time also) . It eventually produced 2 small melons ( cantaloupe size). Same type also. I bought some flowers and kept them by the vines to try to help. Mine was also in a pot.
Most information video, thank you for the information. What State are you in please? I'm in SC and trying to learn this climate here, I moved down from the North so it's more to learn!
It's time for me to fertilize my watermelon. But, It's 100 degrees outside and will be for who knows how long! Do I have to wait until it cool down before I feed them?
Minimal watering will do the trick when in the ripening stage. If you stop watering completely when one is ripe, then resume watering heavily again, you may risk popping the other watermelons on the vine. This happened to me when I had 7 watermelons growing on 1 Congo watermelon vine at onetime and I stopped watering just to sweeten one up. A couple of the others that were near the ripening phase started splitting because they went a couple of weeks without water and all of a sudden started getting floods of water daily.
What do you fertilize them with? Grandma telling me to use her 18-18-21 tomato miracle grow but I don't wanna mess em up. My plants have about 5-6 leaves right now.
So I have about 17 watermelons growing from ONE mother. They are all growing at different rates. One of the stems has dried up, if I stop watering in order to harvest the one that’s ready , will the other ones die? Please help
Not immediately. You have to check the umbilical for little brown spots to start showing. You don’t want the umbilical to completely dry, you just want to see some brown spots while the umbilical is still mostly green.
Good day love the video, I'm a beginner but I HAVE WATERMELON😜😜😜 bit im not sure if i should harvest because the stem won't break as easily as yours did, it hass the ridges and the hollow sound should i harvest or no...Thank you for the video very very helpful.❤
Although crimson can be harvested early, you’ll be disappointed to see that it isn’t ripe to the rind. So you should wait for the umbilical connecting to the melon to show brown marks, only then will the melon be ripe to the rind.
My watermelons are starting to pop up but the vibes are starting to die, I water them every evening. Are you saying to stop watering them? Same thing with my cantelopes
You don't need to water them every day ,that's too much water, I was overwatering my selfseed cantaloupe and since I cut down on the watering it's doing much better, the cantaloupe on the vines are getting bigger and bigger every day
@@SGethersSeeds Interesting. I seen in another video that someone was talking about having no more then 2 watermelons per vine, and cutting off the vine after the second melon which makes the melons grow larger by focusing their energy + nutrients on those melons, and one plant can have multiple vines and no more then 2 melons per vine. What do you think about that?
@@SGethersSeeds I definitely got to experiment. I am currently growing Blacktail Mountain Watermelons from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds at (Rareseeds.com) Here is the description for this watermelon. [70 days. One of the earliest watermelons we know; superb for the North, but it also grows well in heat and drought. The flesh is red and deliciously sweet. Fruit has a dark rind and weighs 8-12 lbs each. This excellent variety was developed by our friend Glenn Drowns, owner of the Sand Hill Preservation Center in Iowa. A favorite of many gardeners across the USA. One of the best we have ever tried!]
If you want to sell your fruit and maximize the size, that may be true. It won’t effect the sugar levels though. It also depends on the variety to, so you’d have to trial varieties to know which ones may need more pruning than others.
It’s honestly a personal choice. Whether you do or don’t won’t harm the quality, but if you want to eat nice cool watermelon fresh out of the field, you should grass it.
I felt you have some info that runs over each other.. water it but don’t water it and don’t fertilizer it but fertilize it… sorry don’t really understand… I water mine every couple days and feed it once a week
I didn’t word anything the way you’re portraying it, that may be the cause of your misunderstanding. Water it “if” the tendril is green and don’t water it “if” the tendril has dried, or continue giving minimal amounts of water if the tendril is dry and the vine still has other melons ripening on it. Not sure why you left those parts out, but I won’t think too deeply into it. I also never said don’t fertilize… Thank you for watching and I hope you enjoy your watermelon harvest this season.
Here is the video I was talking about, and thanks for all the useful information about checking the watermelon for water intake with the tendril, etc. Nice to see likeminded individuals gardening. You are appreciated. ua-cam.com/video/_WxxRzEVaTc/v-deo.html What is your opinion about what he says. Any agreements or disagreements?
What he says is spot on and works for the variety that he’s organically growing, but I still don’t agree with the practice. I’ll never sacrifice the foliage of my melon vines since that’s where the sugar is developed. He seems to be growing a variety that can easily put out 10+ melons per plant, so he’s thinning each of the plants’ vines so the melons can still grow to a marketable size with just his organic manure fertilizer. I only have 2 varieties growing at the moment that produce flowers as wildly as his variety, so this pruning method is not something you commonly do or worry about unless you want to sacrifice the amount of fruits you have for a slightly larger and maybe slightly sweeter melon.
@@SGethersSeeds One more thing I wanted to say is that I definitely see why he thins out the vines because he wanted to reach a certain result for a marketable size as you said. I was thinking.. Wouldn't that man reach the same result or better by keeping all foliage + vines and just clipping off all additional melons + flowers growing instead? That is definitely an interesting speculation that I had when I thought about it. I also understand that he was growing for a marketable size, but what if it was not grown for marketable size and he never clipped off the additional vines, only the additional flowers and melons were clipped off, I bet he would have much larger or about the same size, but much more sugary sweeter melons with all the foliage kept intact.
Watering also depends on the zone you are in. I am in Arizona and it's been 112 to 117 degrees. I am in zone 9B. It is extremely dry and no rain. I water every 2 days.
You gave great information and I did not know to stop watering once the tendril has dried. Thank you.
I live in Arizona too and yeah it’s tough I water every day
Yes I’m in Tucson AZ and my eatery is getting big I have a drip and the pumpkin leaves shades it i just found that watermelon az is hot and dry
I knew you weren't supposed to water watermelons just before harvest, but no one ever explains how to know when that is. This video has just the information I was looking for! Thank you!
I've always picked mine when the main stem dries up, just like you said. Most people say pick them when the tendril dries up. Great video.
This is one of THE BEST videos on this subject. It made sense and answered my question. And that knew the watermelon is ready based on the tendril!
Excellent video man, my crimson sweets are growing nicely, wish your harvest well!
Thank you so much for the much needed info. I harvested my very first watermelon 🍉 too early! I was so sad to see mostly white when I cut it open ☹️
My wife did the same thing and it was edible but pink.
I'm only a year behind... Trying to figure out when to harvest my 1st one!
Here’s one of my videos that lists many signs to look for. What variety are you growing?
Crimson Sweet Watermelon Ripening Signs! Harvest! 2018
ua-cam.com/video/VCbn0DpEX-I/v-deo.html
That makes two of us, I'm still hurting from mine. Did get to blend what red was inside so it wasn't a total loss.
Last year my melons didn't do well. I watched this just in time for my last batch and thanks to your helpful content I had a way better batch this year. I abeyance have some more growing beings in in the south and we have a long growing season so I should have more soon.
Congratulations on your success! I bet they were real sweet, weren’t they?
Thx, I’ve learned more from you than Texas ag about melons, my melons have split before in spring, now I have second harvest and 24 melons on 4 plants, I’m sure a lot will abort but I’m excited to apply your wisdom. With our food supply interrupted by Corona v I started a garden this yr….I knew nothing about plants and my respect for people that grow food is overwhelming.
Hello.. please can you tell how many healthy fruits you were able to harvest on each of your 4 plants at the end of the day?
Thanks.
Thank you sir, very informative video.
Thank you, straight forward and to the point. Like you said there is tons of conflicting info out there, and most Dont mention the tendril
Great Vid, Im currently growing some in my garden and water it bout 4 times a week.
Thank you for this video. I think I messed up my melon crop. I didn't know I shouldn't be watering it as much at this point in its growth. The leafs are all starting to look bad and it poured down raining all day today.
I have crimson sweets and they are coming along nicely. Raised-garden and they spilled over the ends so I built a little 4 x 8 foot chicken wire fence (dogs) and mulched thick over the grass that was there. Two are getting pretty big. Lots of little ones also going good. It was very hard to untangle them before I thought of the fence. Leaves can break off easily and the tendrils are very strong. Fun plant to grow. Watering each vine in the box every day depending on the weather forecast. I guess it’s about a quart each a day with a hose. Very hot Summer so far in Georgia. They like that too.
I planted seedlings May 1. They start slow, then go crazy. I also gave them a little plant food from miracle grow dry. Every time I water it feeds them a bit.
We have been having a very hot summer as well in Indiana. I have 4 melons that are at least 10 to 15 pounds and some that are smaller. I only planted 2 plants. What should my water schedule be? I was watering at night and in the morning but I was told that was too much. I have some melons that are big and some that are small whats my next move? I don’t want my big melons to split. How big will my melons get?
@Brendon Brooks
I think water twice a day is too much. I actually quit watering them after we got a big rain and every week more sporadic rain. Some of my tomatoes split. Watermelons supposedly are more tasty when you ease off the watering towards the end. Now, I quit watering altogether and let the rain do the job. Mulch holds in the moisture pretty well. This is my first watermelon rodeo so I am going by stuff I have read only. Good luck.
Just a follow up, using a raised bed may not be the best way to grow watermelons. Too much rain week after week and we had about 6 that split because too much water and raised bed could not drain quickly enough. Also, I mulched over grass and it grew right back through it and surrounded the vines. Live and learn. Use those weed proof mats they sell on a roll or black plastic sheeting.
I’m gonna try to grow a moon and stars variety thanks for the tips
Thanks for the tips. I'm growing some Sugar Baby right now and am so anxious to get it right!
Hopefully all goes well! 🙏🏾
@SGethersSeeds So far so good!
Geat video, very helpful
I learned a lot it’s my first time growing watermelons. I got some leaf miners on the leaves but put some soap and water and the plants seems to be doing great. I added some grass clippings and I have been watering every night. I live in San Antonio Texas so it’s pretty hot around 90-103 F. I started them late last month. I wanted to know how often to add fertilizer or any other plant food you may recommend. I read you use Jobes tomatoe fertilizer I have some, about how much should I add? My plant is about one month it looks great and healthy other than some leafs that got attacked by the leaf miners. Thank you so much for your video it was great and lots of info.
You should be able to add as much as you want. I normally use a couple of handfuls since it’s so weak.
I live in south san Antonio as well!!!!..i fertilize every week with jacks 20-20-20...all watermelons swelling and healthy
Fantastic video. Thank you so much for the detailed information passed here.
Very quickly.....do I water the watermelon roots only or both roots, the vines and the fruits. Your response will be highly appreciated!
Thank you once again.
Just the roots, they’re capable of pulling in hundreds of pounds of water by themselves. Watering the leaves can possibly lead to disease and watering the fruits is fruitless. The fruits only take in water and nutrients through the umbilical that connects it to the vine.
@@SGethersSeeds thanks so much, and I appreciate. I love watermelon so much and this my second time planting. I almost lose interest due to the little harvest I had previously until I discovered it requires some techniques I have learned from the videos like yours. I'm eager to have a good harvest this time around.
Thanks once again.
Interesting and informative 🇯🇲
I'm growing crimson sweets this year and have 5 close to ready. It's so hot here in Texas that I can't just not water. I am giving them significantly less tho. It's nice to hear it's OK to just give them less water. Everything ive read says to give them no water for 10 days. The leaves look soooo wilted if i dont give water. I dont want it to die. They are so big and pretty. Their tendrils are beginning to dry or become less green I hope I've done a good job and get some good ones. If not lessons learned for next year😂
Be sure to utilize my harvesting tips and you’ll have some excellent tasting Crimson Sweets
pretty cool. I think you have the right sense of when to water.. I need to figure that out. so when it's brown, then stop.. otherwise, how much? every day?
It depends on the variety you’re growing. If it’s supposed to be a large fruited variety, you want to water it much more deeply than a smaller fruited variety. Watermelons are drought tolerant, so they’re able to also go long periods without water, but it’ll sacrifice the size and quantity of the fruits.
I have jubilee melon plant. The leaves are huge, green, and growing like crazy, but the only fruit I have are like an inch big and idk how to help them grow and not die off. Any advice?
Are you seeing bees pollinate the flowers? If not, you should go hand-pollinate them so the plant can produce it’s fruits.
My watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew are struggling in this high heat.
My plants are loving it and thriving right now!
watermelon loves heat and humidity.
Did you ever mention how to create your “watermelon compost tea”? I keep searching through your videos☺️
I just use whatever green materials I can gather, like overgrown weeds without their roots and soak them into a container full of rain water for a few days. I’ll do a video on it tomorrow.
@@SGethersSeeds oh yes I’ll keep a look out! I was intrigued and interested 😌🌻
Here’s the video, I just finished uploading it! Toward the end I stick my hand into the tea and show how thick the coloring should be. I hope this helps!
Honeynut Butternut Squash Transplant! How To Make Compost Tea That’s Filled With Nutrition & Color!
ua-cam.com/video/ZHZerXk_ZJk/v-deo.html
@@SGethersSeeds Ase’ King!!
Thank you! I have struggled with watermelons. I grew lemon drop and sugar baby last year for the first time. Knowing when to harvest was tricky. Could you show lemon drop one season? They are delicious if - you pick them at the right time And they don't split before you do.
I've had them split when the tendril was green.
In this video below, I show when to harvest when drop. If a watermelon splits while the tendril is green, it’s because the daily watering hasn’t been consistent or it’s receiving way to much water when it’s almost near ripening.
Janosik & Lemon Drop Watermelon Harvest! How To Know When Any Home Grown Watermelon Is Ripe & Sweet!
ua-cam.com/video/xjKK5_PrSI8/v-deo.html
My issue is I can’t control the rain and we’ve had a good bit this year so far, I have fruit set and the plants look great other than some yellowing on the oldest leaves, I would think it was a Nitrogen deficiency but I know that’s not the case because I fertilize every 14 days using a water soluable fertilizer mixture by Masterblend of 8-34-23, calcium nitrate 15.5-0-0, and Magnesium Sulfate(Epsom Salt). I’m thinking due to all the rain, with nitrogen being a mobile nutrient, meaning it can be moved around the plant where needed, I think the roots have shut down due to the rain, nutrient and water uptake is limited until it dries out a bit, so what growth happens, the nitrogen in the older leaves are being redirected to the newer growth… I’m hoping anyhow, I have varieties that are highly disease resistant. Anyhow, to any other watermelon growers who just love to grow watermelon, last year I tried growing a monster watermelon for the first time, so I purchased a few “Carolina Cross” seeds, 10 only because quality seeds for this variety can be pricey, and it’s the variety that people who participate in watermelon growing contest grow because they naturally reach large size and continue to grow even after ripening… anyhow, 1 out of the 10 seeds germinated, they are a low germinating variety due to it hybrid make up, usually only about 5% germination rate. I let the plant set it’s first 3 fruits and then chose the one that looked the healthiest and was visibly putting on the most growth, had just the one watermelon growing on the entire plant, slightly buried the leaf nodes so that they would send down more roots to nourish the plant and fruit (just take some soil and mound over the leaf nodes, this can be done with watermelon, vining squash(winter squash), and pumpkins)! This helps to anchor the vines as well and makes the plant less suns susceptible to storms or winds! Anyway, my first giant watermelon ended up growing to 237 lbs 12 oz! The world record is 350 lbs 8 oz so a ways off of the record, but it was fun and really entertaining to watch it grow so large. I suggest anyone who loves growing watermelon to give it a shot, just know that every watermelon variety will not grow this large, you have to use “Carolina Cross” watermelon, “Florida Giant” gets pretty large as well…
Wow, congrats on growing such a large watermelon!!! 237 pounds is amazing!
How long will a vine live if it’s in good weather like the tropics
Forever maybe? They tend to kick the bucket when cold weather comes but in completely tropical weather without any pest pressure, I’m sure they should be able to survive for many years if you need them to.
@@SGethersSeeds I've been having to guard mine cause the possums here in Texas love them, I've shot 3 possums already rummaging in them.
What should you do concerning watering when the lows hit 49 at night?
If it’s cooler, water tends to stay in the soil longer than when it’s warmer. It’s up to you if you want to water or not. Depending on the variety, if it makes a bigger melon, the vines may be thirstier. So a little more water wouldn’t hurt.
One of the best discrlptions ever
should I drip water, or just water on the surface, and how long and how deep?
Drip watering and surface watering are the same thing. The only difference is that drip is dripping the water instead of spilling it all at once. It’s up to you to decide how much you want to water them. If you’re in the south and can grow huge melons due to a long season, water a lot. If you’re in the north, you’ll be able to get away with much less watering since the melons won’t easily reach very large sizes.
Hey dude thanks for the video. I just started growing. I have weeds like you and I'm concerned they're stealing energy from the melon. But you have a lot too. Do you think I should be concerned?
It’s not too much of a concern. Very large melon patches also tend to have lots of weeds and it doesn’t really effect the size of the melons. If you have snakes in your area, the only concern would be them hiding away under the melons or in the weeds.
Hey Sgethers, my crimson sweet has been acting up on me and as a first time watermelon grower I have no idea what to do. Plant has been flowering for a month now with no fruit sets. Every female flower it produces gets aborted no matter what (ive tried hand polinating it, pollinating with a brush, and leaving them alone, all with the same result.) The vines themselves are growing beautifully. They have huge green leaves and the plant appears very healthy. Any idea what's going wrong?
Sometimes the first flowers don’t set fruit. Keep hand-pollinating until they begin to swell if you don’t see bees visiting the flowers.
I had the same problem ( first time also) . It eventually produced 2 small melons ( cantaloupe size). Same type also. I bought some flowers and kept them by the vines to try to help. Mine was also in a pot.
Most information video, thank you for the information. What State are you in please? I'm in SC and trying to learn this climate here, I moved down from the North so it's more to learn!
I’m in Louisiana zone 9b. Congrats on extending your growing season by moving to a warmer climate. 😉
@@SGethersSeeds oh thank you, and best wishes on your new endeavors.💛
It's time for me to fertilize my watermelon. But, It's 100 degrees outside and will be for who knows how long! Do I have to wait until it cool down before I feed them?
No, feed them now. If it’s an organic fertilizer, try to limit its exposure to the sun.
I guess my confusion is how to stop watering when one watermelon is ripe but another on the same vine is not?
Minimal watering will do the trick when in the ripening stage. If you stop watering completely when one is ripe, then resume watering heavily again, you may risk popping the other watermelons on the vine. This happened to me when I had 7 watermelons growing on 1 Congo watermelon vine at onetime and I stopped watering just to sweeten one up. A couple of the others that were near the ripening phase started splitting because they went a couple of weeks without water and all of a sudden started getting floods of water daily.
Why has my watermelon vine stopped growing?? It’s only like a 1.5 ft long and baring only one watermelon. It’s a sugar baby watermelon variety.
Sugar baby is a short vine variety.
What do you fertilize them with? Grandma telling me to use her 18-18-21 tomato miracle grow but I don't wanna mess em up. My plants have about 5-6 leaves right now.
If grandma says it works, I wouldn’t argue her. I use jobes organic tomato fertilizer though.
So I have about 17 watermelons growing from ONE mother. They are all growing at different rates. One of the stems has dried up, if I stop watering in order to harvest the one that’s ready , will the other ones die? Please help
They’ll just grow more slowly and end up smaller, but the flavor will be better.
Thanks ! Should I stop watering altogether for a few days so that I can harvest the one watermelon?
Yes, if you don’t mind sacrificing the size of the future fruits. You also don’t want your first melon to burst from overwatering either.
Should you not pick the watermelon if the tenndral is brown?
Not immediately. You have to check the umbilical for little brown spots to start showing. You don’t want the umbilical to completely dry, you just want to see some brown spots while the umbilical is still mostly green.
Even if mines just coming out the grown i follow the same, plenty water?
Plenty water until fruits start ripening.
Yes but do i water every day tho? Mines about 5-6in tall
Do you prune your plants?
I don’t see a need to.
Is that the circle thing?
What do you mean circle thing?
just planted my watermelon, is there a certain schedule i have to do?
Not necessarily. It really depends on where you live and the type of conditions your climate is providing.
@@SGethersSeeds ah ok, my climates really cold so i wasnt sure if they could survive.
Good day love the video, I'm a beginner but I HAVE WATERMELON😜😜😜 bit im not sure if i should harvest because the stem won't break as easily as yours did, it hass the ridges and the hollow sound should i harvest or no...Thank you for the video very very helpful.❤
The stem needs to show dry marks and then the melon will be ripe. Are you growing crimson sweet?
@@SGethersSeeds yes Im growing crimson sweet..no real dryness on stem i broke the tendril off( didn't know) bottom is dry tho
@@SGethersSeeds maybe let it go a little longer??
Although crimson can be harvested early, you’ll be disappointed to see that it isn’t ripe to the rind. So you should wait for the umbilical connecting to the melon to show brown marks, only then will the melon be ripe to the rind.
@@SGethersSeeds Thank you, I'll wait☺
My watermelons are starting to pop up but the vibes are starting to die, I water them every evening. Are you saying to stop watering them? Same thing with my cantelopes
Stop watering once they start ripening.
You don't need to water them every day ,that's too much water, I was overwatering my selfseed cantaloupe and since I cut down on the watering it's doing much better, the cantaloupe on the vines are getting bigger and bigger every day
Do you ever prune the vines?
No, I only turn them inward toward each other so they can continue to circle the bed.
@@SGethersSeeds Interesting. I seen in another video that someone was talking about having no more then 2 watermelons per vine, and cutting off the vine after the second melon which makes the melons grow larger by focusing their energy + nutrients on those melons, and one plant can have multiple vines and no more then 2 melons per vine. What do you think about that?
@@SGethersSeeds I definitely got to experiment. I am currently growing Blacktail Mountain Watermelons from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds at (Rareseeds.com) Here is the description for this watermelon.
[70 days. One of the earliest watermelons we know; superb for the North, but it also grows well in heat and drought. The flesh is red and deliciously sweet. Fruit has a dark rind and weighs 8-12 lbs each. This excellent variety was developed by our friend Glenn Drowns, owner of the Sand Hill Preservation Center in Iowa. A favorite of many gardeners across the USA. One of the best we have ever tried!]
How many fruit per vine will you allow to grow?
As many as possible. Some Charleston grey plants have produced up to 9 fruits per vine for me.
@@SGethersSeeds but I heard other w/m growers said its best to let one per vine to not jeopardize the quality of the fruit
If you want to sell your fruit and maximize the size, that may be true. It won’t effect the sugar levels though. It also depends on the variety to, so you’d have to trial varieties to know which ones may need more pruning than others.
@@SGethersSeeds for reference Im growing it in a 10L bucket up to a trellis.. dyo still recommend many fruits as possible?
Also its not for selling
In my experience, watermelons perform poorly in a grow bag or bucket. They won’t set many fruits, if any at all, inside of a grow bag or bucket.
Should I grass the water melon ????
It’s honestly a personal choice. Whether you do or don’t won’t harm the quality, but if you want to eat nice cool watermelon fresh out of the field, you should grass it.
Did you call that watermelon cream of Saskatchewan
Yes.
So what's that mean? Every other day 3 times a week?
Watering every other day is fine. Pull back on the watering once the tendril starts drying though.
@@SGethersSeeds thanks
Nice informative video ,thanks🌱
I felt you have some info that runs over each other.. water it but don’t water it and don’t fertilizer it but fertilize it… sorry don’t really understand… I water mine every couple days and feed it once a week
I didn’t word anything the way you’re portraying it, that may be the cause of your misunderstanding.
Water it “if” the tendril is green and don’t water it “if” the tendril has dried, or continue giving minimal amounts of water if the tendril is dry and the vine still has other melons ripening on it. Not sure why you left those parts out, but I won’t think too deeply into it.
I also never said don’t fertilize…
Thank you for watching and I hope you enjoy your watermelon harvest this season.
i lost 2 and i knew it was too much water but everyone saying not enough now I can show them whatsup thanks
Here is the video I was talking about, and thanks for all the useful information
about checking the watermelon for water intake with the tendril, etc.
Nice to see likeminded individuals gardening. You are appreciated.
ua-cam.com/video/_WxxRzEVaTc/v-deo.html
What is your opinion about what he says.
Any agreements or disagreements?
What he says is spot on and works for the variety that he’s organically growing, but I still don’t agree with the practice. I’ll never sacrifice the foliage of my melon vines since that’s where the sugar is developed.
He seems to be growing a variety that can easily put out 10+ melons per plant, so he’s thinning each of the plants’ vines so the melons can still grow to a marketable size with just his organic manure fertilizer.
I only have 2 varieties growing at the moment that produce flowers as wildly as his variety, so this pruning method is not something you commonly do or worry about unless you want to sacrifice the amount of fruits you have for a slightly larger and maybe slightly sweeter melon.
@@SGethersSeeds One more thing I wanted to say is that I definitely see why he thins out the vines because he wanted to reach a certain result for a marketable size as you said. I was thinking.. Wouldn't that man reach the same result or better by keeping all foliage + vines and just clipping off all additional melons + flowers growing instead? That is definitely an interesting speculation that I had when I thought about it. I also understand that he was growing for a marketable size, but what if it was not grown for marketable size and he never clipped off the additional vines, only the additional flowers and melons were clipped off, I bet he would have much larger or about the same size, but much more sugary sweeter melons with all the foliage kept intact.
You can't grow watermelon next to gras . It will take all the food and power.
Yes you can and no it doesn’t.