If you found this video helpful, please “Like” and share to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching 😊TIMESTAMPS for convenience: 0:00 How I Grew Watermelons In The Past 3:54 Growing Watermelons In Containers 5:13 Planting Watermelon In Ground Advantages 7:03 3 Watermelon Growing Tips For Success 9:37 Maximizing Production Of Your Melons 10:45 How To Hand Pollinate Watermelon Plants 12:45 Adventures With Dale
The best way to find out if your watermellon is ripe, look at the vine the mellon is attached to...across from the attachment point you will find a little tindrel ,when that tindrel dries out the mellon is ripe.
My Grandmother told me that her farming parents planted watermelons in bottom land by the river which means that they grew in sandy soil with part shade conditions, very similar to your experiment with planting beneath trees on a sterile above ground surface, only sand instead of landscape fabric. You are using an OLD proven method. I think that's AWESOME!
I'm growing mine in sandy soil up a trellis. The ground is pretty shaded now, both due to the watermelon growing up the trellis above, and due to neighbouring plants (ex tomatoes, trellised cucumbers) and trees creating some shade. The soil is sand mixed with peat moss, mushroom compost and lots of home-made compost. The plant stems are also only about 6 inches from the edge of my winecap bed, so the root system should definitely be able to tap into the mycelium network of those. Hopefully they turn out good, the plants look healthy for now, they're already reaching the top of my 8ft tall trellis, which seems pretty good considering I transplanted them only 7.5 weeks ago and daily highs averaged at only 76F during that time (I'm in Canada). I'm growing a small variety though given the trellis (Black Beauty). Hopefully it works well. Last year the fruits were tiny (like orange to grapefruit sized) due to being grown on the ground and crowded out by other plants (small garden problems).
So its literally like the song we were taught as kids! 🎶Down by the bay, where the watermelons grow! 🎶 Basically saying watermeloms do best by the water! Thats awesome!
That's funny. I fell backwards into this method. It wasn't really intended, but often the best inventions are discovered by accident. I'm glad I can at least spread it to others.
Have always heard if you want a super size melon of any type, once the first melon starts growing past fertilizing stage, cut the vine off just past the melon, so everything goes directly to it alone.
One possibility to try if you are growing them in a 20 gallon fabric bag is to put the bag in a kiddie pool with a few inches of water. Have drainage holes a few inches up the side of the pool. Keeping a few inches of water in the pool will allow the grow bag to stay moist on the bottom and the watermelon roots will never go dry.
I've been growing in weed barrier cloth for about 3 years now. We burn holes and drop seeds or burn a larger hole for larger plants. It sure beats pulling weeds. What comes up around the plant is minimal and if kept up with every day or so it's therapeutic. I will never garden without it. Total game changer. I am growing watermelons for the first time this year. Fingers crossed!!
This is what I do and it works. I don't think of it as ruining the bag even tho I put a hole in the bottom of it. It's a gateway for the roots to go to mother nature. I have enough weeds I have to keep out of the flower beds lol
This isn’t watermelon related but I have a recently learned tip for you. I’ve been going out in my garden in the mornings and evenings looking for squash bugs to spray with soapy water, thanks for that golden tip! I saw a tip today about using a piece of duct tape wrapped around your hand to pull off their eggs. Works like a charm! I hate squishing them and am loving the tape method. I have my tape and my soapy water, spray the hatched ones and adults and pull eggs off. I think I’m going to make a real dent in the population!
I actually really enjoy taking off the eggs with the duct tape 🤭 its kind of satisfying! I didnt like the squish either and this doesn't bruise and break the leaves
@@YOUR-WORD-IS-YOUR-BOND no. for some reason it doesnt stick to the leaves much at all. Just the eggs. You press it on to the eggs and they stay on the tape
First time watermelon grower here. I used a large 20 gallon grow bag and cut the bottom out of it. Place it on the soil I had dug up. I have plenty of leaves from last fall and I spread them out into my yard to help the vines have something to grow on. In addition I placed old window screens in front of the bags for part shade. Hope I’ve done something right. Comments welcome.
Easy way to grow watermelon is on a hillside.I have a inground pool and on the deep end the they had to build it up. I plant three seeds in the same amended hole every year and always get big watermelon.The key is to keep them water never let the plant search for water.I only plant crimson sweet.
I have a bit different of an approach to gardening. I put down about 6"-1' of wood chips and about an 1" of tea/coffee grounds over my entire yard(& cardboard of course). That gave me nearly a clean slate as far as weeds were concerned. I decided early on that I was going to pick my weeds, so when my lettuce bolted I let them all go to seed. Now ever few months a grab an old dry stalk and bet it and twist the little pods open and let them drop wherever as I walk around my yard. When I eat watermelon I do it outside and spit the seeds everywhere, etc. I'm a bit south of you so I've already eaten my first big beauty. Now I'm just waiting for the rest to ripen. I don't know if it would work or not, but you might try putting your grow bags into kitty pools and then drill a hole about 1" above the bottom, so it always holds just a little bit of water and fertilizer. Good luck and thanks again for the fruit fly video. That really helped.
My technique is similar to yours. There really aren't rows here. It's beds of all different plants mixed together. It's so fun to have everything growing in a big riot. My garden is a big mix up. When I go out to get food, it's a hunting and gathering adventure every time. Cheers
This is my first season growing watermelons. I don't normally grow them because my growing season can be a little short but I received some free watermelon seed from one of my seed companies and I thought I'd give it a try. I have them growing up my cattle panel tunnel as well as sprawling all over the weed barrier that surrounds my tunnel. So far they are doing very well and I have a couple of little baby melons. Whenever I see a female flower, I go full on pimp and remove a male flower to hand pollinate it. Thanks for the video!
Hey a little bit of advice. Get some thin cloths and cover the top side of you watermelon, it keeps the sun from scorching it and will help it get bigger. A lot of folks swear by it. Good luck and God bless.❤
I'm excited for you! Sometimes we ssf tumble onto something in gardening and have great success! Two years ago I grew watermelon for the first time but in an area where I didn't water much so they didn't do well. Last year I didn't plant it at all but seeds came up throughout my entire garden and didn't hurt anything, just covered the garden and kept the weeds at bay, I didn't use landscape cloth, they sprawled through my sweet potatoes and under my tomatoes and anywhere they wanted. I had squash bugs bad last year so I didn't grow one squash but I got about 60 large watermelons. I bought a freezer to store them and I am still enjoying watermelon smoothies.
On another note. My garden does have some kind of mulch covering like Woodchips last year, a combination of Woodchips and straw this year, so that could be why I did not get a bug infestation.
Great. I'm growing watermelon for the first time. Newbie here - it's in a raisedbed on top of landscape fabric. I have 1 probably about 9 inches in diameter and 1 baby one like you've shown. I'm gonna go try the pollination tip you showed in the morning. 🙂
Giant watermelon growers do the same thing. Like 300+ lbers. They put down a weed barrier for the vines to grow on. So your on to something there. They also grow 2 to 3 plants per hole/planting site. Something to think about. I did the same thing this year and had a good 11 melons and counting harvest! Good luck, good tips.
I'm probably going to experiment with growing watermelon in between my fig trees next year and letting them sprawl all over the vines. I may throw something like a pumpkin in there, too, because...why not? Maybe a butternut squash? Not sure just yet, but seeing how well they do, I'll be trying new things for sure.
As always you gave me a great idea! This year was my 1st year growing melons. I laid down a tarp at back of property and grew small varieties in 20gal grow bags along a chain link fence. Next year I'll pull the tarp 2 ft away from the fence and grow inground and add larger varieties as well. 👍🏻
I love hearing the videos are inspiring. That's why I love doing this - just to get the gears turning. Experimenting with new ways of growing is how we find the best ways to grow!
This is a great video , I finally know why the best watermelon I ever grew did what it did, long story short, it was a happy accident, the plant was in the ground next to our asphalt driveway the fruit and vine loved it .. there's more to the storie, thank you so much! Now we know why it worked and why our other attempts failed
I planted a watermelon in a fire ring that my corn had burned up in from the heat. I have a tarp down beside it that I have other container plants in. The watermelon is growing over the side of the ring and down on the tarp. It's still too young to see what happens but maybe by accident I may have the same thing happen. Great tips on growing watermelon.
Wow, even in the plant kingdom we still see the differences between male and female. Both have a different yet important role. I just lost a small female fruit and did not realize it needed fertilized to produce. It actually died and fell off the plant and I was not sure why. Thanks for the great video!
Yep, it aborted due to lack of pollination. If you hand pollinate like this, you’ll never lose another fruit. This works on ALL cucurbits: cucumbers, squash, cantaloupe, pumpkins, gourds, watermelon, honeydew…they’re all in the same family.
@@TheMillennialGardener Thank you for letting us know. I appreciate hearing from you and others that had to learn the hard way. I will put to use what you are passing on.
@@TheMillennialGardener I learned that with zucchini as well. Also, that the flowers only open in the early morning hours for bees to pollinate. They have to go to a male flower and then the female flower to make the zucchini. I watched a video on how to prune back the plant to make it easy for the bees to pollinate and for the plant to continue to grow throughout the season producing zucchini. 😉This is my 2nd year doing watermelon, and I did the same with the weed barrier in the corner back of my yard. My watermelon plants are thriving! I have harvested 4 large melons and have at least 10 more about to be ready. 😁
You clearly have no idea 🤪! I just bought seeds for transsexual watermelons this year. Some of the females decided to be males and some males decided to be females. Now I don’t have many fruits, actually just one and it’s a Squash. So clearly the left over male and female plants decided to become squash. This is completely normal and should be encouraged by not watering too much (drought), spraying them with roundup to protect them from sunburn (the sun with give them diseases you can’t imagine).
This reminds me of my method for slightly different reasons. I have a raised bed about two feet wide between my driveway and a fence, so the vines sprawl over concrete. To maximize the space, I have a trellis against the fence for the vines to climb on. I just make sure to remove any melons growing on the trellis while the driveway provides a ready platform to support the melons. Since the vines are on the east side of the fence, they are shielded from the afternoon sun which creates a microclimate. I prepped the bed last winter by digging pits and burying all kinds of compost including meat and bones. I also make sure to keep the number of melons on each vine to only one or two otherwise they will be smaller. It is also a good idea to shield your melons from the sun as too much can slow down their growth. I grow only two vines in this space and harvested three 20 pounders from the vines last week that were over 15 inches in length. Not the biggest melons ever, but huge considering how compact the area actually is. Watermelons are technically a desert crop from the Sahara. They like hot days and cool nights and don't tolerate high humidity very well. What vegetable plant does for that matter? So while we have had record breaking heat and drought this summer and most of my garden is stressed, it has been great for the watermelons and the fig crop. I still have a couple of young melons on the vines, but I am not sure if the the vines are spent or can produce anymore monster melons. We'll see! EDIT: In case anyone is wondering, I practice seed saving, so these vines are from a late season melon that was small and didn't fully ripen last summer. It is the reason I always grow two vines next to each other, so I can maximize genetic diversity. The funny thing is even though these two vines are from seeds saved from a single melon, the melons are quite different in shape and color. It's part of the fun creating my own heirloom varieties that are perfectly adapted to my garden.
I have harvested 10 watermelons from 3 raised garden beds. Sadly, the plants became infested with aphids. :/ Yesterday, my plants received a serious pruning, cutting off all of the infested vines and essentially leaving only the base and good roots in place. I’m hoping that the established roots will continue to grow new, healthier vines. I also reseeded, just in case. Yesterday I also had weed barrier installed in my garden, so I’m really hoping for healthier plants, less insects, and at least as much production. 🤞 Thank you for sharing your experiences and ideas. I appreciate you.🍈🍉🥒
Yesss!! I love garden successes 👍🏼 This is my third year growing watermelons and I have had the same success. I have 2 plants in the ground in a 14 sq ft space. They are sprawling all over my thick straw mulch and they LOVE it. I have 2 giant watermelons on both plants 😋
Excellent. Any pests in the straw mulch? I've found straw to be pretty good to keep pests away - better than the hardwood mulch. I love straw mulch, but wish it were easier for me to get. This watermelon vine has 5 melons on it now. It's a total MONSTER.
@@TheMillennialGardener No problems at all with the straw mulch so far. This is my first year using it and other than the cost, it’s a winner in my book 👍🏼
I think i have an area in ground where i wanna put my smaller plants. I hate the area, the grass hardly grows there cause its sandy. So im gonna put down a weed barrier and grow them there. I think they'll do well there, plus the benefit of the water drainage spout from my roof hits near there, so theyll get plenty of water. Thanks for all the tips!
Thanks for sharing. It will save us all a lot of trial and error! You're a champ! (P.S. we're freezing here in Australia atm. Coldest winter in 10yrs!)
I’m in Victoria and for the first time in my life I’m over winter. We are racing to get vegetable gardens moved and filled to cut down on the grocery bill. $13 lettuces🤪
I did the same thing this year I grew all my fruits & vegetables on biodegradable mulch.I think the black mulch gets too hot for the bugs! Thank u for passing on all your knowledge!!
Nice watermelon...what variety is that? Watermelon is my absolute favorite food! 😋 I got my best results growing them in a straw bale. Thanks for the knowledge share.👍 You know a little pup ice cream would cheer Dale up.🐕
On watermelon plants which product would be best after fruit set…. Jacks all purpose or Blossom Booster. My watermelon are currently the size of cantaloupe and don’t seem to be growing anymore. I was using all organic up until now.
Thank you. I’m doing this next year and I have the perfect spot! Im currently growing Sugar Babies in a grow bag and they are growing vertically and they’re happy so far. I lost one due to non-pollination. Will hand pollinate now.
I did all these trials too, I settled on growing them in my apple orchard. I placed 3 watermelon per apple tree around the base of the trees. It helped mulch my apples and helped the watermelon too
This is another fantastic video, full of amazing information. Thank you so much. 😃 I've moved from Ballarat to Horsham, where I will have more heat and sunshine to hopefully grow amazing watermelons 🍉 like you. 👍 aaawwww big pats to poor sweet Dale 🐾
I'm glad the video was helpful! I'm not sure which country you're in, but when I lived in the state of Pennsylvania, I lived about 30 mins from a town called Horsham!
Thank you for the great video! I learned alot, and will maybe have better luck next year with watermelon growing. They are in containers this year - and produced a small melon.
Great video. I will be growing three types of watermelon this summer for the first time. I will give the fabric a try but I noticed some little crawlers on your vines. Where they ants
Great information, thanks! One more bit of information, if you are self pollinating, do this at least 4 to 6 times, once a day for 4 or 6 days. The reason, it takes a female melon 7 to 10 visits from bees to fully pollinate to get the fruit fully pollinated to set fruit. If you have plenty of bees, no worries but I use to hand pollinate only once and the fruit hardly ever set until I began doing it several times. Man, it has been a hot dry summer so far huh! I'm just up the road from you in Sneads Ferry. Appreciate you!
My garden is rather limited in size, be it ground space and vine space, so my personal best shot at growing my 1 watermelon plant is putting it next to the cucumbers, watering and fertilising a bunch and let the vines crawl around the mulched ground. Most of the rest of the garden has cucumbers, peppers, some herbs, and cabbage, most of the plants wouldnt mind having the melon crawl around on the ground i guess, since they all grow tall (with the exception of the cabbage ofc)
Thanks a million 🍉🍉, I've only had success-ish with sugar babies in a container so far (got a whole 2 melons from 1 plant)...and cantaloupe hales best variety...I like to think of myself as a cantaloupe farmer lol 🍈🍈🍈 as I think I mastered growing them in containers... watermelons not some much yet...but I'll keep trying. 🍉🍈 High Dale 🐕
Thanks for the tips! Growing sugar baby watermelons for the first time and I hope I get some fruits. Your video for me is real helpful and timely. Thanks again!
Hey bud . Before you pick the watermelon, take a piece broom straw out of a broom . Lay it cross way the melon . The piece of straw will start moving. If it stops straight up and down the melon it’s ready to pick . I went my the brown thing on a sugar baby. Put the straw on it and was amazed when it started moving ,, it stopped at about 5 to 10 after , 12 is where you want it . And sure enough the melon was beautiful red and smelled good but needed more time . So I’m taken the straw and check them before I pick next time . Try it see if it works for you .
That has got to be the strangest advice I have ever heard. Watermelons are ready to pick (not ripe) when the little, curly tendril growing from the vine where the melon attaches has completely dried up all the way back to the vine (not halfway or 9/10s of the way). And even then it is best to wait a few days before plucking off the vine. Then, once they are picked, it is best to leave the melon to ripen for a few days more before cutting it open. This allows the melon to dry up just enough to concentrate the sugars and flavor. You don't want an overly juicy melon that squirts out water when you cut into it. The bigger the melon the longer this ripening process will take. Patience is a virtue when it comes to growing monster melons that are sweet and flavorful!
I'll give it a try. Can't be any worse than the song and dance I already go through to test for ripeness. I'm like a major league pitcher going through all the motions before the pitch. 😄
I put 30 and 40 gallon bags in groups to conserve water, for sweet potatoes, potatoes and green beans, and 'i started strawberries in a smart pot too. I am letting the pumpkins go on the lawn, which i have done before...But i use beneficial nematodes on the lawn regularly so i hope it will work out. I plan to have shade cloth ready in case of hail.
It seems to help with squash bugs. I do not know about vine borers. I've been reluctant to grow squash plants on weed barrier, because they prevent the squash from rooting along the vine, so when the borer gets in, the plant will likely die since there are no other roots to help keep the plant alive. On watermelon vines, it doesn't matter since they don't root along the vine.
I have been eating the most wonderful melons this year. Cantaloupe, vine peach, kiku, tiger and kajari. We really have had a blast with it. We cut up our first watermelon today. Very good, but lots of seeds.
They are just AWFUL. For squash bug control, I recommend regularly spraying with pyrethrin at sunset. It'll keep the population down, but it's impossible to get rid of them all it seems. I'm growing my new squash plants under an insect netting to keep them off.
Watermelons are one of the few plants I have in the dirt this year, even my potatoes are in miracle grow soil mixed in the dirt. I have my container plants inside a greenhouse raised about 2 inches off the ground for drainage, the plants are growing fast but I dont know how well it'll fruit for a while. The idea in my head is they love water and all my tomatoes and stuff will drain into the dirt where the watermelon is planted, and it's working, but first year using this greenhouse... Quictent is highly reccommended, My ladybugs and mantis are keeping the pests at bay, screens keep birds from eating my berries... and hardware cloth keeps out critters.
I’m growing some melons indoors over the winter in my shed under some leds really excited!! Great videos man can’t wait for some more fig videos!!! I have around 350 fig seedlings right now sure to be some good new ones in the next couple years!
Why the cattle panel on the weed barrier? Are you suggesting that we use a cattle panel for the use of the watermelon vines to run on top of the cattle panel as the vines are growing? Thanks!
I have 4 raised beds and put that black fabric weed barrier over the beds then cut slits to put my seedlings in. I have 1 bed dedicated to only watermelons and I have 3 good size melons so far. no pests either or leaf damage. I do have an automatic irrigation system I had to put in from not getting alot of rain this yr. I cant wait til they are ready to harvest. I am hoping they will be good juicy sweet ones.
So you have your watermelon plants growing out of the weed barrier? I am just starting to get an area ready for planting and have drip irrigation with it. I was planning on covering the area with weed barrier and then opening up holes in the cloth to plant the watermelons. Do you see any problems?
I mound up compost/soil and like you I have weed barrier fabric over my entire garden/over the mound. Then I cut holes (about 10 inches square) and add a watering / fertilization funnel next to each plant. My two watermelon plants have explosive growth across the top of the fabric. As of 7/27/2023 in SW Michigan 6A I have two plants producing 7 total watermelons, three are quite large for this stage, and four more are growing nicely. I have been removing some along the way because I think 3-4 per plant is enough and some vines have been putting out multiple fruits. Late this fall I plan to peel back the fabric, put down new compost/soil, cover it over again and plant the same way next year. The only difference is I plan to put a WHITE tarp over the mound to keep it cooler. Overall, so far, no disease and no pests AT ALL this year! Besides the mound and the ground cover, I haven't done anything except water and fertilize normally.
I can't wait until you offer a calendar for gardeners of your best advice, monthly seed starting and planting recommendations, seasonal soil prep and measures to help plants flourish. Please include lots of colorful photos of you in your tank top...oops, I mean, of you in your beautiful garden. I love the hot weather in North Carolina. I live in Zone 10 in southern California. Lots more plant irrigation happening out this way. Your videos are great! Very useful info for me. Thanks for listing products that you use. Im delightfully surprised at the end of each episode to see your fur buddy up to something. Dogs rule! Thanks for your efforts to make these videos.
Thanks for these tips. I'm participating in a watermelon challenge who can grow the biggest heaviest watermelon and I need all the tips i can get. Thank you so much for sharing this. If you have anymore suggestions plz let me know? Tfs
@@TheMillennialGardener we have been getting massive amounts of rain across large parts of Australia. Lettuces reached $12 a head believe it or not and tomatoes are $12.99kg, broccoli $9.99kg, snow peas $32kg etc... i am definately going to try to grow more home produce. Thanks for your terrific channel.
I found this information very helpful. I’m growing an orange watermelon and moon and stars watermelon. I’m also growing honeydew melon. These are all in large containers. I’d be okay if I didn’t get huge fruit from this first attempt but I’m getting yellow leaves and I don’t think they’re going to make it. I have them climbing on a cattle panel…supported with little slings. Do you have any suggestions on how to get them healthy again?
Another good tip would be to use permanent (in place all season) irrigation so you can irrigate the plants with ease even as the vines spread out. A fertilizer injection system to go with that would also be helpful. You want to irrigate a wider area than just right next to the plant, as the vines have a wide root system. Not mentioned, at least not directly... Variety makes a difference on size. I had no issues growing a bigger melon than shown in the video the first time I ever grew watermelons, but the variety I grew (Crimson Sweet) tends to grow 20-25 pound watermelons and I had quite a few plants. It should be no surprise, with that in mind, that I got a few pretty big watermelons out of a few dozen fruits.
I grew watermelons for the first time. Grew about 50 as have unlimited space. Got heaps and heaps of watermelon at least double the size of yours. No disease, I thought they must be the easiest thing in the world to grow. I just put grass clippings around them. Must of got lucky.
I know it has been a year, but my daughter asked for watermelon in our garden and I thought of your videos on this. Now I have the seeds set up to head right onto a nice weed barrier. But I'm wondering: what is the significance of the wire mesh? Is that deliberate? Do the vines need something to grab onto? I know you're busy with this great channel but if you have a moment I would love to know more. Thanks!
We have tried watermelon and cantelope for years. The best watermelon we grew was in a field where we cleared the area from small volunteer trees, grasses and really clay, rock solid ground. We put a shovel of compost and a few plants. Layed down some weed barrier and the neglect and extra heat just made them fruit like crazy. We live in Canada and watermelon season is short! In years after, we expanded our garden and I never brought back the weed barrier. We hardly ever got fruit and when we did it never ripened and had pitiful harvest. Our watermelon and cantelope have cross pollinated with cucumbers and squash. So I pretty much gave up on them and am kinda afraid to plant any of these close together. Even though I have one garden area. I guess we will be going back to clearing another area for my fruits!! I have had the exact experience as you have. Right now I am growing cantelope and have only 2 plants and these plants have grown like crazy and have taken over a good chunk of my garden. They are on soil and straw bedding. And no fruit. I will be going out tomorrow and pollinating them by hand! Thanks for the tips!
I did the same thing you're doing brother but step I cut the bottom out of my container so that the roots can tap into the ground trust me it works so good perfect and I only grow sugar babies God bless you and everything you do brother
I grow Lemon Drop watermelon (1 to 4 lbs) in open bottom 5 gallon containers, so like a raised bed, at the base of a cattle panel set up like an arch. I buy I box of cheap knee high pantyhose that I cut in half, and wash and reuse, so that my Melons rest in a hammock til ripe. They're delicious and very productive.
Just wondering if you have tried growing watermelon in a bigger grow bag other than a 20gallon? I know smart pots have bigger grow bags plus adding in a drip system to give more watering would help grow bigger watermelons… just got to find the right combination that works…may be more costly at first to set up but after not so much once set up. But awesome tip on weed barrier…I was thinking about that for the vines to lay on with maybe some mulch over the weed barrier but not sure if the mulch would cause a problem with pest or rodents…..what are your thoughts?
I loved this video! Sweet cute dog, love Dale! We have 2 dogs, an Aussie boy hyper Sullivan and a sweet Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever girl named Lady. I want one more dog, a lap dog, small size, with lots of fur and not a huge barker, no chihuahuas for me though. Something like a Maltese mix or cockapoo. I live your gardens and that was interesting about the watermelons. Ours are slow growing this year because we planted the p,ants kind of late, but we are ok with that. We get watmelons from our neighbors and near by farms. We also planted honey dew and cantelope.
I'm glad you like Dale. Dale's the best thing that ever happened to us. He's a rescue from a shelter that we volunteer with/donate to often. They're amazing. If you're looking for a third pup, check out the local shelters and rescues. There are so many good boys and girls out there that need a home. Watermelon plants take awhile at first, but once they get going, you start getting inundated. They're great producers.
They say when picking a watermelon at the store, to make sure that the green stripes are 2 fingers width apart from each other. I'm sure that also works when determining ripeness on the vine.
Thank you. That's very nice, but I just like experimenting. I'm more curious than a genius 😆 Containers are restrictive, plain and simple, and they change the way a root ball grow. They cause spiraling and weaving more than planting in earth. The bigger problem is the wild fluctuations in moisture and how quickly the bags dry out, the lack of soil microbiology, the way they wash out the nutrients every time it rains...containers are just inferior. I also put 2 melon plants in each bag, so that certainly didn't help things. By the size of my container garden, I clearly do like container gardening, but in-ground is almost always best. Containers just cause a lot of problems and deficiencies.
This is my first you're growing watermelon. I am trying to self pollinate because i am not seeing many bees and i dont want allot of DUDS like my zucchini plants are giving me. I am also growing them in containers so fingers crossed. My question is, what weed barrier do you use?
Interesting to see the bugs don't like a that weed barrier. I might get some and try it around my squash too. My squash get destroyed. IF the bugs hate the barrier, do you have problems with pollination?
I had something similar happen this year w/ a Pumpkin. I composted about 20 pumpkins last Fall, so had several Pumpkin Volunteers this year where the compost was spread. I top dressed a Red Plum w/ the compost and cow manure and a Pumpkin volunteer is taking off like a rocket. The 3 year old Plum also set fruit for the first time.
I’m just starting out and have been using 5 gallon buckets with a “self watering” section in its base to avoid drying out. I have moved them a few times with 6 ft length tendrils which is a big stresser and it’s killed a vine or two and diminished the plant in general. I have decided to put down mulch bark on my silver tarp which is a great weed barrier, but sooooo hot! Black weed barrier lets water through and absorbs the heat. My tarp reflects and I feel it bakes the vines. Ergo the mulch. I live in central Florida and hope to have some success soon. But I think I need to treat my fall like it’s spring. Any thoughts?
![Grow 200 LBS of Watermelon On ONE PLANT! [Complete Guide]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/BAqEzLuHy5s/mqdefault.jpg)
If you found this video helpful, please “Like” and share to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching 😊TIMESTAMPS for convenience:
0:00 How I Grew Watermelons In The Past
3:54 Growing Watermelons In Containers
5:13 Planting Watermelon In Ground Advantages
7:03 3 Watermelon Growing Tips For Success
9:37 Maximizing Production Of Your Melons
10:45 How To Hand Pollinate Watermelon Plants
12:45 Adventures With Dale
The best way to find out if your watermellon is ripe, look at the vine the mellon is attached to...across from the attachment point you will find a little tindrel ,when that tindrel dries out the mellon is ripe.
Can you write conscative details please? Thank you for yourteaching
❤ You are the best..Thank you
@@lifeisbeautiful_nz you're welcome!
My Grandmother told me that her farming parents planted watermelons in bottom land by the river which means that they grew in sandy soil with part shade conditions, very similar to your experiment with planting beneath trees on a sterile above ground surface, only sand instead of landscape fabric. You are using an OLD proven method. I think that's AWESOME!
I'm growing mine in sandy soil up a trellis. The ground is pretty shaded now, both due to the watermelon growing up the trellis above, and due to neighbouring plants (ex tomatoes, trellised cucumbers) and trees creating some shade. The soil is sand mixed with peat moss, mushroom compost and lots of home-made compost. The plant stems are also only about 6 inches from the edge of my winecap bed, so the root system should definitely be able to tap into the mycelium network of those. Hopefully they turn out good, the plants look healthy for now, they're already reaching the top of my 8ft tall trellis, which seems pretty good considering I transplanted them only 7.5 weeks ago and daily highs averaged at only 76F during that time (I'm in Canada). I'm growing a small variety though given the trellis (Black Beauty). Hopefully it works well. Last year the fruits were tiny (like orange to grapefruit sized) due to being grown on the ground and crowded out by other plants (small garden problems).
So its literally like the song we were taught as kids! 🎶Down by the bay, where the watermelons grow! 🎶 Basically saying watermeloms do best by the water! Thats awesome!
Thank you for this knowledge.
That's funny. I fell backwards into this method. It wasn't really intended, but often the best inventions are discovered by accident. I'm glad I can at least spread it to others.
My grandmother from Ghana, in Africa told me, they grew naturally in the wild, with none of this.
I planted mine in the ground and spread cardboard boxes wherever they run. The are doing great!
Excellent. The cardboard probably helps keep some pests off.
Have always heard if you want a super size melon of any type, once the first melon starts growing past fertilizing stage, cut the vine off just past the melon, so everything goes directly to it alone.
One possibility to try if you are growing them in a 20 gallon fabric bag is to put the bag in a kiddie pool with a few inches of water. Have drainage holes a few inches up the side of the pool. Keeping a few inches of water in the pool will allow the grow bag to stay moist on the bottom and the watermelon roots will never go dry.
I've been growing in weed barrier cloth for about 3 years now. We burn holes and drop seeds or burn a larger hole for larger plants. It sure beats pulling weeds. What comes up around the plant is minimal and if kept up with every day or so it's therapeutic. I will never garden without it. Total game changer. I am growing watermelons for the first time this year. Fingers crossed!!
This is what I do and it works. I don't think of it as ruining the bag even tho I put a hole in the bottom of it. It's a gateway for the roots to go to mother nature. I have enough weeds I have to keep out of the flower beds lol
This isn’t watermelon related but I have a recently learned tip for you. I’ve been going out in my garden in the mornings and evenings looking for squash bugs to spray with soapy water, thanks for that golden tip! I saw a tip today about using a piece of duct tape wrapped around your hand to pull off their eggs. Works like a charm! I hate squishing them and am loving the tape method. I have my tape and my soapy water, spray the hatched ones and adults and pull eggs off. I think I’m going to make a real dent in the population!
Spray with spinosad
It’s extremely poisonous though…
I actually really enjoy taking off the eggs with the duct tape 🤭 its kind of satisfying! I didnt like the squish either and this doesn't bruise and break the leaves
Does the duct tape not stick to the leaves?
@@YOUR-WORD-IS-YOUR-BOND no. for some reason it doesnt stick to the leaves much at all. Just the eggs. You press it on to the eggs and they stay on the tape
First time watermelon grower here. I used a large 20 gallon grow bag and cut the bottom out of it. Place it on the soil I had dug up. I have plenty of leaves from last fall and I spread them out into my yard to help the vines have something to grow on. In addition I placed old window screens in front of the bags for part shade. Hope I’ve done something right. Comments welcome.
Easy way to grow watermelon is on a hillside.I have a inground pool and on the deep end the they had to build it up. I plant three seeds in the same amended hole every year and always get big watermelon.The key is to keep them water never let the plant search for water.I only plant crimson sweet.
I have a bit different of an approach to gardening. I put down about 6"-1' of wood chips and about an 1" of tea/coffee grounds over my entire yard(& cardboard of course). That gave me nearly a clean slate as far as weeds were concerned. I decided early on that I was going to pick my weeds, so when my lettuce bolted I let them all go to seed. Now ever few months a grab an old dry stalk and bet it and twist the little pods open and let them drop wherever as I walk around my yard. When I eat watermelon I do it outside and spit the seeds everywhere, etc. I'm a bit south of you so I've already eaten my first big beauty. Now I'm just waiting for the rest to ripen.
I don't know if it would work or not, but you might try putting your grow bags into kitty pools and then drill a hole about 1" above the bottom, so it always holds just a little bit of water and fertilizer.
Good luck and thanks again for the fruit fly video. That really helped.
My technique is similar to yours. There really aren't rows here. It's beds of all different plants mixed together. It's so fun to have everything growing in a big riot. My garden is a big mix up. When I go out to get food, it's a hunting and gathering adventure every time. Cheers
This is my first season growing watermelons. I don't normally grow them because my growing season can be a little short but I received some free watermelon seed from one of my seed companies and I thought I'd give it a try. I have them growing up my cattle panel tunnel as well as sprawling all over the weed barrier that surrounds my tunnel. So far they are doing very well and I have a couple of little baby melons. Whenever I see a female flower, I go full on pimp and remove a male flower to hand pollinate it. Thanks for the video!
Hey a little bit of advice. Get some thin cloths and cover the top side of you watermelon, it keeps the sun from scorching it and will help it get bigger. A lot of folks swear by it. Good luck and God bless.❤
That weed barrier increases the heat for those vines. Great for melons!
Figs, too. I find things grow better in general on the weed barrier.
I'm excited for you! Sometimes we ssf tumble onto something in gardening and have great success! Two years ago I grew watermelon for the first time but in an area where I didn't water much so they didn't do well. Last year I didn't plant it at all but seeds came up throughout my entire garden and didn't hurt anything, just covered the garden and kept the weeds at bay, I didn't use landscape cloth, they sprawled through my sweet potatoes and under my tomatoes and anywhere they wanted. I had squash bugs bad last year so I didn't grow one squash but I got about 60 large watermelons. I bought a freezer to store them and I am still enjoying watermelon smoothies.
On another note. My garden does have some kind of mulch covering like Woodchips last year, a combination of Woodchips and straw this year, so that could be why I did not get a bug infestation.
Great. I'm growing watermelon for the first time. Newbie here - it's in a raisedbed on top of landscape fabric. I have 1 probably about 9 inches in diameter and 1 baby one like you've shown. I'm gonna go try the pollination tip you showed in the morning. 🙂
Giant watermelon growers do the same thing. Like 300+ lbers. They put down a weed barrier for the vines to grow on. So your on to something there. They also grow 2 to 3 plants per hole/planting site. Something to think about. I did the same thing this year and had a good 11 melons and counting harvest! Good luck, good tips.
I'm probably going to experiment with growing watermelon in between my fig trees next year and letting them sprawl all over the vines. I may throw something like a pumpkin in there, too, because...why not? Maybe a butternut squash? Not sure just yet, but seeing how well they do, I'll be trying new things for sure.
As always you gave me a great idea! This year was my 1st year growing melons. I laid down a tarp at back of property and grew small varieties in 20gal grow bags along a chain link fence. Next year I'll pull the tarp 2 ft away from the fence and grow inground and add larger varieties as well. 👍🏻
I love hearing the videos are inspiring. That's why I love doing this - just to get the gears turning. Experimenting with new ways of growing is how we find the best ways to grow!
I love learning from your garden adventures. Thanks! And hugs to doggie.
I’m glad the videos are helpful. Dale says hello 🐕
This is a great video , I finally know why the best watermelon I ever grew did what it did, long story short, it was a happy accident, the plant was in the ground next to our asphalt driveway the fruit and vine loved it .. there's more to the storie, thank you so much! Now we know why it worked and why our other attempts failed
I planted a watermelon in a fire ring that my corn had burned up in from the heat. I have a tarp down beside it that I have other container plants in. The watermelon is growing over the side of the ring and down on the tarp. It's still too young to see what happens but maybe by accident I may have the same thing happen. Great tips on growing watermelon.
Wow, even in the plant kingdom we still see the differences between male and female. Both have a different yet important role.
I just lost a small female fruit and did not realize it needed fertilized to produce. It actually died and fell off the plant and I was not sure why. Thanks for the great video!
Yep, it aborted due to lack of pollination. If you hand pollinate like this, you’ll never lose another fruit. This works on ALL cucurbits: cucumbers, squash, cantaloupe, pumpkins, gourds, watermelon, honeydew…they’re all in the same family.
@@TheMillennialGardener
Thank you for letting us know.
I appreciate hearing from you and others that had to learn the hard way. I will put to use what you are passing on.
@@TheMillennialGardener I learned that with zucchini as well. Also, that the flowers only open in the early morning hours for bees to pollinate. They have to go to a male flower and then the female flower to make the zucchini. I watched a video on how to prune back the plant to make it easy for the bees to pollinate and for the plant to continue to grow throughout the season producing zucchini. 😉This is my 2nd year doing watermelon, and I did the same with the weed barrier in the corner back of my yard. My watermelon plants are thriving! I have harvested 4 large melons and have at least 10 more about to be ready. 😁
You clearly have no idea 🤪! I just bought seeds for transsexual watermelons this year. Some of the females decided to be males and some males decided to be females. Now I don’t have many fruits, actually just one and it’s a Squash. So clearly the left over male and female plants decided to become squash. This is completely normal and should be encouraged by not watering too much (drought), spraying them with roundup to protect them from sunburn (the sun with give them diseases you can’t imagine).
What about trans fruit?
This reminds me of my method for slightly different reasons. I have a raised bed about two feet wide between my driveway and a fence, so the vines sprawl over concrete. To maximize the space, I have a trellis against the fence for the vines to climb on. I just make sure to remove any melons growing on the trellis while the driveway provides a ready platform to support the melons. Since the vines are on the east side of the fence, they are shielded from the afternoon sun which creates a microclimate. I prepped the bed last winter by digging pits and burying all kinds of compost including meat and bones. I also make sure to keep the number of melons on each vine to only one or two otherwise they will be smaller. It is also a good idea to shield your melons from the sun as too much can slow down their growth. I grow only two vines in this space and harvested three 20 pounders from the vines last week that were over 15 inches in length. Not the biggest melons ever, but huge considering how compact the area actually is. Watermelons are technically a desert crop from the Sahara. They like hot days and cool nights and don't tolerate high humidity very well. What vegetable plant does for that matter? So while we have had record breaking heat and drought this summer and most of my garden is stressed, it has been great for the watermelons and the fig crop. I still have a couple of young melons on the vines, but I am not sure if the the vines are spent or can produce anymore monster melons. We'll see!
EDIT: In case anyone is wondering, I practice seed saving, so these vines are from a late season melon that was small and didn't fully ripen last summer. It is the reason I always grow two vines next to each other, so I can maximize genetic diversity. The funny thing is even though these two vines are from seeds saved from a single melon, the melons are quite different in shape and color. It's part of the fun creating my own heirloom varieties that are perfectly adapted to my garden.
I have harvested 10 watermelons from 3 raised garden beds. Sadly, the plants became infested with aphids. :/ Yesterday, my plants received a serious pruning, cutting off all of the infested vines and essentially leaving only the base and good roots in place. I’m hoping that the established roots will continue to grow new, healthier vines. I also reseeded, just in case. Yesterday I also had weed barrier installed in my garden, so I’m really hoping for healthier plants, less insects, and at least as much production. 🤞
Thank you for sharing your experiences and ideas. I appreciate you.🍈🍉🥒
Yesss!! I love garden successes 👍🏼 This is my third year growing watermelons and I have had the same success. I have 2 plants in the ground in a 14 sq ft space. They are sprawling all over my thick straw mulch and they LOVE it. I have 2 giant watermelons on both plants 😋
Excellent. Any pests in the straw mulch? I've found straw to be pretty good to keep pests away - better than the hardwood mulch. I love straw mulch, but wish it were easier for me to get. This watermelon vine has 5 melons on it now. It's a total MONSTER.
@@TheMillennialGardener No problems at all with the straw mulch so far. This is my first year using it and other than the cost, it’s a winner in my book 👍🏼
@@amyk6028 are you buying straw from a nursery or feed store?
I know not everyone has access but farmers will sell it for 1/3 price that nurseries do.
Excellent video!!!! Thank you so much for sharing this.
Thank you! Thanks so much for watching it. Watermelons have been a challenge to get right. I’m getting closer.
I think i have an area in ground where i wanna put my smaller plants. I hate the area, the grass hardly grows there cause its sandy. So im gonna put down a weed barrier and grow them there. I think they'll do well there, plus the benefit of the water drainage spout from my roof hits near there, so theyll get plenty of water. Thanks for all the tips!
Thanks for sharing. It will save us all a lot of trial and error! You're a champ! (P.S. we're freezing here in Australia atm. Coldest winter in 10yrs!)
I’m in Victoria and for the first time in my life I’m over winter. We are racing to get vegetable gardens moved and filled to cut down on the grocery bill. $13 lettuces🤪
I did the same thing this year I grew all my fruits & vegetables on biodegradable mulch.I think the black mulch gets too hot for the bugs! Thank u for passing on all your knowledge!!
Nice watermelon...what variety is that? Watermelon is my absolute favorite food! 😋 I got my best results growing them in a straw bale. Thanks for the knowledge share.👍
You know a little pup ice cream would cheer Dale up.🐕
On watermelon plants which product would be best after fruit set…. Jacks all purpose or Blossom Booster. My watermelon are currently the size of cantaloupe and don’t seem to be growing anymore. I was using all organic up until now.
Thank you. I’m doing this next year and I have the perfect spot! Im currently growing Sugar Babies in a grow bag and they are growing vertically and they’re happy so far. I lost one due to non-pollination. Will hand pollinate now.
I did all these trials too, I settled on growing them in my apple orchard. I placed 3 watermelon per apple tree around the base of the trees. It helped mulch my apples and helped the watermelon too
Thank you MG! It’s always great info and always helpful! 😊👍
You're welcome! I'm glad the video was helpful. Thanks for watching as always.
Another great idea, thanks
You’re welcome! Thank you for watching!
I'm so glad I found this! This helps me so much! I tried to grow watermelon last year, big fail. Super excited now!
Good video, congrats on the huge melon, I particularly liked hearing about some of the failures along the way
Thank you. They aren't failures - they are simply lessons learned. The only way you can fail is to give up!
This is another fantastic video, full of amazing information. Thank you so much. 😃 I've moved from Ballarat to Horsham, where I will have more heat and sunshine to hopefully grow amazing watermelons 🍉 like you. 👍 aaawwww big pats to poor sweet Dale 🐾
I'm glad the video was helpful! I'm not sure which country you're in, but when I lived in the state of Pennsylvania, I lived about 30 mins from a town called Horsham!
@@TheMillennialGardener Hi, I'm in Victoria, Australia. I love your videos.
I've always struggled with watermelon, i often tried different ways and i always got little melons and you figured it out great job 👍
Great info!! I love your videos they are very informative!! Thx for helping all the new & older gardeners!!😊
You're welcome! I'm glad to hear the videos are helping.
Thank you for the great video! I learned alot, and will maybe have better luck next year with watermelon growing. They are in containers this year - and produced a small melon.
You're welcome! It may not be too late to start new seed. They produce sooner than you think, especially smaller varieties.
Great video. I will be growing three types of watermelon this summer for the first time. I will give the fabric a try but I noticed some little crawlers on your vines. Where they ants
Great information, thanks! One more bit of information, if you are self pollinating, do this at least 4 to 6 times, once a day for 4 or 6 days. The reason, it takes a female melon 7 to 10 visits from bees to fully pollinate to get the fruit fully pollinated to set fruit. If you have plenty of bees, no worries but I use to hand pollinate only once and the fruit hardly ever set until I began doing it several times. Man, it has been a hot dry summer so far huh! I'm just up the road from you in Sneads Ferry. Appreciate you!
My garden is rather limited in size, be it ground space and vine space, so my personal best shot at growing my 1 watermelon plant is putting it next to the cucumbers, watering and fertilising a bunch and let the vines crawl around the mulched ground. Most of the rest of the garden has cucumbers, peppers, some herbs, and cabbage, most of the plants wouldnt mind having the melon crawl around on the ground i guess, since they all grow tall (with the exception of the cabbage ofc)
New subscriber from the North Ga mountains. Thank you for the great tips! I love your dog and hope I see more of him.
Thank you for subscribing! We feature Dale at the end of every video, and sometimes in between. He’s the real star ⭐️
Thank you for sharing great tips, God bless you👍
You’re welcome! Thank you for watching!
Thanks a million 🍉🍉, I've only had success-ish with sugar babies in a container so far (got a whole 2 melons from 1 plant)...and cantaloupe hales best variety...I like to think of myself as a cantaloupe farmer lol 🍈🍈🍈 as I think I mastered growing them in containers... watermelons not some much yet...but I'll keep trying. 🍉🍈 High Dale 🐕
Fantastic!
Thank you!
@@TheMillennialGardener Do you have a preferred brand of Weed Blocking Fabric?
Love it. Very clean and permaculture/foot forest like.
Thank you!
Hey TMG, thanks for the great idea! Can't seem to find this in the comment feed .. why the metal fencing on the weed guard?
Thanks for the tips! Growing sugar baby watermelons for the first time and I hope I get some fruits. Your video for me is real helpful and timely. Thanks again!
Hey bud . Before you pick the watermelon, take a piece broom straw out of a broom . Lay it cross way the melon . The piece of straw will start moving. If it stops straight up and down the melon it’s ready to pick . I went my the brown thing on a sugar baby. Put the straw on it and was amazed when it started moving ,, it stopped at about 5 to 10 after , 12 is where you want it . And sure enough the melon was beautiful red and smelled good but needed more time . So I’m taken the straw and check them before I pick next time . Try it see if it works for you .
That has got to be the strangest advice I have ever heard. Watermelons are ready to pick (not ripe) when the little, curly tendril growing from the vine where the melon attaches has completely dried up all the way back to the vine (not halfway or 9/10s of the way). And even then it is best to wait a few days before plucking off the vine. Then, once they are picked, it is best to leave the melon to ripen for a few days more before cutting it open. This allows the melon to dry up just enough to concentrate the sugars and flavor. You don't want an overly juicy melon that squirts out water when you cut into it. The bigger the melon the longer this ripening process will take. Patience is a virtue when it comes to growing monster melons that are sweet and flavorful!
I'll give it a try. Can't be any worse than the song and dance I already go through to test for ripeness. I'm like a major league pitcher going through all the motions before the pitch. 😄
Old old trick❤❤
I put 30 and 40 gallon bags in groups to conserve water, for sweet potatoes, potatoes and green beans, and 'i started strawberries in a smart pot too. I am letting the pumpkins go on the lawn, which i have done before...But i use beneficial nematodes on the lawn regularly so i hope it will work out. I plan to have shade cloth ready in case of hail.
Excellent information. Thank you!
You’re welcome!
Last year was my first successful year growing watermelon. But I think I can do better this year. Thank you.
You’re welcome! Every year, mine get better as I tweak things. There are always small improvements to be made.
Thanks so much! I'm going to try that. No more squishing squash bugs! I hope this works for vine borer as well.
It seems to help with squash bugs. I do not know about vine borers. I've been reluctant to grow squash plants on weed barrier, because they prevent the squash from rooting along the vine, so when the borer gets in, the plant will likely die since there are no other roots to help keep the plant alive. On watermelon vines, it doesn't matter since they don't root along the vine.
I have been eating the most wonderful melons this year. Cantaloupe, vine peach, kiku, tiger and kajari. We really have had a blast with it.
We cut up our first watermelon today. Very good, but lots of seeds.
I'm growing vine peach also. They are said to make excellent preserves.
@@kdavis4910 - UA-cam videos had me expecting them to be plain and boring. But ours are tart and tasty.
Kajari melons are great. So underrated and little known. I may try seedless melons next year for fun.
@@TheMillennialGardener - me too!
This is great! Had to remove all my pumpkin and butternut squash plants due to squash bugs. Can't wait to try this!
They are just AWFUL. For squash bug control, I recommend regularly spraying with pyrethrin at sunset. It'll keep the population down, but it's impossible to get rid of them all it seems. I'm growing my new squash plants under an insect netting to keep them off.
Watermelons are one of the few plants I have in the dirt this year, even my potatoes are in miracle grow soil mixed in the dirt.
I have my container plants inside a greenhouse raised about 2 inches off the ground for drainage, the plants are growing fast but I dont know how well it'll fruit for a while.
The idea in my head is they love water and all my tomatoes and stuff will drain into the dirt where the watermelon is planted, and it's working, but first year using this greenhouse... Quictent is highly reccommended, My ladybugs and mantis are keeping the pests at bay, screens keep birds from eating my berries... and hardware cloth keeps out critters.
I’m growing some melons indoors over the winter in my shed under some leds really excited!! Great videos man can’t wait for some more fig videos!!! I have around 350 fig seedlings right now sure to be some good new ones in the next couple years!
Set up a water reservoir and float valve
@themillennialgardner whats the purpose of the wire fencing on top of the weed barrier?
Why the cattle panel on the weed barrier? Are you suggesting that we use a cattle panel for the use of the watermelon vines to run on top of the cattle panel as the vines are growing? Thanks!
Wow this was great. Thanks!
You're welcome! Glad it was helpful!
I have 4 raised beds and put that black fabric weed barrier over the beds then cut slits to put my seedlings in. I have 1 bed dedicated to only watermelons and I have 3 good size melons so far. no pests either or leaf damage. I do have an automatic irrigation system I had to put in from not getting alot of rain this yr. I cant wait til they are ready to harvest. I am hoping they will be good juicy sweet ones.
So you have your watermelon plants growing out of the weed barrier? I am just starting to get an area ready for planting and have drip irrigation with it. I was planning on covering the area with weed barrier and then opening up holes in the cloth to plant the watermelons. Do you see any problems?
Love your explanations. Very clear and logical. Thanks
I mound up compost/soil and like you I have weed barrier fabric over my entire garden/over the mound. Then I cut holes (about 10 inches square) and add a watering / fertilization funnel next to each plant. My two watermelon plants have explosive growth across the top of the fabric. As of 7/27/2023 in SW Michigan 6A I have two plants producing 7 total watermelons, three are quite large for this stage, and four more are growing nicely. I have been removing some along the way because I think 3-4 per plant is enough and some vines have been putting out multiple fruits.
Late this fall I plan to peel back the fabric, put down new compost/soil, cover it over again and plant the same way next year. The only difference is I plan to put a WHITE tarp over the mound to keep it cooler. Overall, so far, no disease and no pests AT ALL this year! Besides the mound and the ground cover, I haven't done anything except water and fertilize normally.
Thanks We are growing watermelon this year. We have 2 small watermelon on one vine .Will try the weed barrier. We live in S W Florida
I can't wait until you offer a calendar for gardeners of your best advice, monthly seed starting and planting recommendations, seasonal soil prep and measures to help plants flourish. Please include lots of colorful photos of you in your tank top...oops, I mean, of you in your beautiful garden. I love the hot weather in North Carolina. I live in Zone 10 in southern California. Lots more plant irrigation happening out this way. Your videos are great! Very useful info for me. Thanks for listing products that you use. Im delightfully surprised at the end of each episode to see your fur buddy up to something. Dogs rule! Thanks for your efforts to make these videos.
Grow bags put black plastic down on dirt pop holes and plant tuck the plastic between the soil and bag .. holds moisture.
🍉 watermelon is my favorite, so I'm going to try this out for sure... I'd love to have fresh watermelon from my garden....TFS 👍...ME in AZ...🌺
Thanks for these tips. I'm participating in a watermelon challenge who can grow the biggest heaviest watermelon and I need all the tips i can get. Thank you so much for sharing this. If you have anymore suggestions plz let me know? Tfs
I love how much you love your dog.❤
He's the best boy!
So well informed. Thank you for all of your hard work!
Great video. I will give this a go for our Aussie summer (if it ever stops raining).
I feel your pain. Yesterday was the first day all July it didn’t rain, but it made up for it today with TWO separate storms 😣
@@TheMillennialGardener we have been getting massive amounts of rain across large parts of Australia. Lettuces reached $12 a head believe it or not and tomatoes are $12.99kg, broccoli $9.99kg, snow peas $32kg etc... i am definately going to try to grow more home produce. Thanks for your terrific channel.
Wow, this is the most watermelon informative video ive seen thus far. You got a new subscriber!
Very nice! Thank you for this information❗️👍
You’re welcome!
I found this information very helpful. I’m growing an orange watermelon and moon and stars watermelon. I’m also growing honeydew melon. These are all in large containers. I’d be okay if I didn’t get huge fruit from this first attempt but I’m getting yellow leaves and I don’t think they’re going to make it. I have them climbing on a cattle panel…supported with little slings. Do you have any suggestions on how to get them healthy again?
I am really enjoying your teachings, again many thanx
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!
Another good tip would be to use permanent (in place all season) irrigation so you can irrigate the plants with ease even as the vines spread out. A fertilizer injection system to go with that would also be helpful. You want to irrigate a wider area than just right next to the plant, as the vines have a wide root system. Not mentioned, at least not directly... Variety makes a difference on size. I had no issues growing a bigger melon than shown in the video the first time I ever grew watermelons, but the variety I grew (Crimson Sweet) tends to grow 20-25 pound watermelons and I had quite a few plants. It should be no surprise, with that in mind, that I got a few pretty big watermelons out of a few dozen fruits.
I grew watermelons for the first time. Grew about 50 as have unlimited space. Got heaps and heaps of watermelon at least double the size of yours. No disease, I thought they must be the easiest thing in the world to grow. I just put grass clippings around them. Must of got lucky.
This was a lot of good information, thank you.
Thank you very much for sharing. Is that a cattle panel underneath the watermelon vines? What does that do?
Great tips! Awesome video! 💚
Thank you!
@@TheMillennialGardener You’re welcome!
I know it has been a year, but my daughter asked for watermelon in our garden and I thought of your videos on this. Now I have the seeds set up to head right onto a nice weed barrier. But I'm wondering: what is the significance of the wire mesh? Is that deliberate? Do the vines need something to grab onto? I know you're busy with this great channel but if you have a moment I would love to know more. Thanks!
You tapped into the natural energy of the earth to grow your watermelons.
Is that sections of fencing laid down on top of the weed barrier? Does that little bit of separation help with air flow?
No. They’re cattle panel I didn’t get around to install. They’re just sitting there in a pile. They serve no function.
We have tried watermelon and cantelope for years. The best watermelon we grew was in a field where we cleared the area from small volunteer trees, grasses and really clay, rock solid ground. We put a shovel of compost and a few plants. Layed down some weed barrier and the neglect and extra heat just made them fruit like crazy. We live in Canada and watermelon season is short!
In years after, we expanded our garden and I never brought back the weed barrier. We hardly ever got fruit and when we did it never ripened and had pitiful harvest. Our watermelon and cantelope have cross pollinated with cucumbers and squash. So I pretty much gave up on them and am kinda afraid to plant any of these close together. Even though I have one garden area.
I guess we will be going back to clearing another area for my fruits!! I have had the exact experience as you have.
Right now I am growing cantelope and have only 2 plants and these plants have grown like crazy and have taken over a good chunk of my garden. They are on soil and straw bedding. And no fruit. I will be going out tomorrow and pollinating them by hand! Thanks for the tips!
I did the same thing you're doing brother but step I cut the bottom out of my container so that the roots can tap into the ground trust me it works so good perfect and I only grow sugar babies God bless you and everything you do brother
I grow Lemon Drop watermelon (1 to 4 lbs) in open bottom 5 gallon containers, so like a raised bed, at the base of a cattle panel set up like an arch. I buy I box of cheap knee high pantyhose that I cut in half, and wash and reuse, so that my Melons rest in a hammock til ripe. They're delicious and very productive.
Great video!! Thank you, what are you using for fertilizer and how often? 🍉
Jack’s 20-20-20 and fish emulsion in a watering can with a sprinkle of organic 5-5-5 twice a month.
Just wondering if you have tried growing watermelon in a bigger grow bag other than a 20gallon? I know smart pots have bigger grow bags plus adding in a drip system to give more watering would help grow bigger watermelons… just got to find the right combination that works…may be more costly at first to set up but after not so much once set up. But awesome tip on weed barrier…I was thinking about that for the vines to lay on with maybe some mulch over the weed barrier but not sure if the mulch would cause a problem with pest or rodents…..what are your thoughts?
Very helpful video!
Can you use the weed barrier on the ground for tomato plants?
I loved this video! Sweet cute dog, love Dale! We have 2 dogs, an Aussie boy hyper Sullivan and a sweet Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever girl named Lady. I want one more dog, a lap dog, small size, with lots of fur and not a huge barker, no chihuahuas for me though. Something like a Maltese mix or cockapoo. I live your gardens and that was interesting about the watermelons. Ours are slow growing this year because we planted the p,ants kind of late, but we are ok with that. We get watmelons from our neighbors and near by farms. We also planted honey dew and cantelope.
I'm glad you like Dale. Dale's the best thing that ever happened to us. He's a rescue from a shelter that we volunteer with/donate to often. They're amazing. If you're looking for a third pup, check out the local shelters and rescues. There are so many good boys and girls out there that need a home. Watermelon plants take awhile at first, but once they get going, you start getting inundated. They're great producers.
They say when picking a watermelon at the store, to make sure that the green stripes are 2 fingers width apart from each other. I'm sure that also works when determining ripeness on the vine.
You are a gardening genius. Why would a 20 gal bag restrict the root ball? The roots never seemed that deep.. I love this plan though..makes sense
True, his problem is the water evaporates very quickly in his 20 gal bags and the roots may get too warm too.
Thank you. That's very nice, but I just like experimenting. I'm more curious than a genius 😆 Containers are restrictive, plain and simple, and they change the way a root ball grow. They cause spiraling and weaving more than planting in earth. The bigger problem is the wild fluctuations in moisture and how quickly the bags dry out, the lack of soil microbiology, the way they wash out the nutrients every time it rains...containers are just inferior. I also put 2 melon plants in each bag, so that certainly didn't help things. By the size of my container garden, I clearly do like container gardening, but in-ground is almost always best. Containers just cause a lot of problems and deficiencies.
@@TheMillennialGardener thank you!
This is my first you're growing watermelon. I am trying to self pollinate because i am not seeing many bees and i dont want allot of DUDS like my zucchini plants are giving me.
I am also growing them in containers so fingers crossed.
My question is, what weed barrier do you use?
Interesting to see the bugs don't like a that weed barrier. I might get some and try it around my squash too. My squash get destroyed. IF the bugs hate the barrier, do you have problems with pollination?
I had something similar happen this year w/ a Pumpkin. I composted about 20 pumpkins last Fall, so had several Pumpkin Volunteers this year where the compost was spread. I top dressed a Red Plum w/ the compost and cow manure and a Pumpkin volunteer is taking off like a rocket. The 3 year old Plum also set fruit for the first time.
I’m just starting out and have been using 5 gallon buckets with a “self watering” section in its base to avoid drying out. I have moved them a few times with 6 ft length tendrils which is a big stresser and it’s killed a vine or two and diminished the plant in general. I have decided to put down mulch bark on my silver tarp which is a great weed barrier, but sooooo hot! Black weed barrier lets water through and absorbs the heat. My tarp reflects and I feel it bakes the vines. Ergo the mulch. I live in central Florida and hope to have some success soon. But I think I need to treat my fall like it’s spring. Any thoughts?