Angular leaf spot, a bacterial disease, starts with water-soaked spots on leaves and stems; a bacterial ooze will follow on leaf undersides. Prune off infected leaves and stems; spray with copper to slow the spread of disease. Anthracnose, a fungal disease, can start as yellow water-soaked spots on melons; leaves turn brown.
Spraying with sulfur can help slow the spread of this disease. Alternaria blight, a fungal disease, causes concentric rings on melon leaves, leaves yellow an die. Remove leaves from infected plants; spray plants with a baking soda solution or compost tea.
These diseases can be slowed by irrigating at the base of plant stems, not overhead. Allow plant foliage to dry each day. If your plants die, you will want to thoroughly clean the greenhouse or planting bed; remove all crop debris to be rid of any remnants of the problem.
Plant so that there is plenty of air circulation around plants. Choose disease resistant seed or starts for planting. Vegetable gardening in hot summer regions calls for a shift of your growing season.
Grow your warm-season crops so that they come to maturity before average daytime temperatures exceed 90F. This will mean planting and growing your crops earlier and later to avoid the hottest time of the year—when vegetables can not grow.
You may want to choose cultivars that are quick maturing see the Quick-growing list in the Topics Index to get your crops in between very cool and very warm seasons. Also check the Hot Weather Garden topics index for articles on using shade, water, and mulch to grow vegetables in very hot weather. Hot region vegetable gardens can be grown in sunken beds—beds dug below the soil level; these beds will be cooler, closer to ground water and more easily shaded with shade cloth set over a frame.
Asante thank you — yako kuwakaribisha your welcome. Thanks for reading Harvest to Table! Watermelons and other melons do best in loose, rich soil. Add plenty of aged compost to the planting beds—before you plant and as a side dressing once plants are growing.
You can never add too much aged compost to a planting bed. If you want to use a store-bought fertilizer, choose an organic or natural fertilizer that is low in nitrogen and high in phosphorus and potassium.
Follow the directions on the label. Choose the strongest vines and allow two or three watermelons per vine to mature. Be sure to keep the soil consistently moist for uninterrupted growth. Watermelon—like other fruiting vegetables—is best fertilized with a low nitrogen—higher phosphorus and potassium fertilizer. Fertigation systems inject fertilizer into the irrigation lines—these systems use liquid fertiizers or water soluble powder fertilizers made into a liquid before placing into the fertigation system.
Fertigation systems commonly come with instruction sheets to help you set the flow of fertilizer into the system. Instruction sheets from each manufacturer should give you suggested mix and flow for each crop. First-timer question: How can I protect my growing watermelons from critters?
How much light and air does the actual melon need? Your watermelons will benefit from plenty of sunshine and good air circulation. Plant in full sun and, if possible, where there is a gentle breeze. You can also spray your vines with a garlic-based spray repellent. You can get an animal repellent at the garden shop or make your own: use several cloves of garlic in a quart of water, whirled in a blender, strain to remove solids, add a drop of liquid dish soap as a spreader-sticker, and spray the plants.
First time grower: My watermelon are planted in my pool area since water is always plentiful through the season and they are doing well. My question though: I have three vines that have made it to the concrete around my pool and are heading for the water. They have three fruits growing. Will the watermelon sustain on concrete that is daily too hot for my feet? You can direct the watermelon vines away from the concrete and back into the planting beds.
The vines themselves are simply growing—not actually heading for the pool. Keep the soil moist around the stem and roots of the plant while fruit is developing. Yes, the concrete may get so hot that the moisture in the melon—watermelons are 90 percent water—can heat up and crack the fruit. So best to let the melons develop in the garden—on top of a patch of straw. Grow to watermelons per acre. There will be to watermelon seed in grams.
Plant watermelon in well-drained soil. Keep the soil evenly moist. Excess water will dilute the flavor of watermelon. Thanks a lot. This method is not familiar. Perhaps some readers can help. Watermelons grow best in light, humus-rich soil that is deep and well-drained.
Add aged compost or commercial organic planting mix to at least 8 inches deep. Aged manure added several months in advance is also helpful. Add rock phosphate to the planting hole in spring. Harvest then the underside of the melon turns from white to yellow and at least three tendrils on each side of the melon are dead. Keep the soil evenly moist; do not let it dry out. The frequency of watering will depend on air and soil temperature. Young watermelon plants can also be bought from nurseries.
Plant these after there is no longer a chance of frost occurring; they are very tender. Watch the local forecast and err on the side of caution! Consider laying black plastic over your planting area in order to warm the soil even more. Tip: Starting with young plants can result in an earlier harvest usually up to 2 weeks earlier , so consider buying young plants particularly if you live in a cooler climate.
Watermelons are heavy feeders, meaning they need soil that is fertile and has a high nutrient level. Learn more about soil amendments and preparing soil for planting. Watermelons do best in loamy, somewhat-sandy, well-drained soil. Watermelons prefer a soil pH between 6.
Watermelons need A LOT of space—up to 20 square feet per plant. Plan to space the plants feet apart in a 5-foot-wide hill. Tip: To allow for more root growth, use larger starting pots than you would for most seeds. If direct seeding outdoors, sow 4 to 6 seeds per hill, eventually thinning to 2 to 3 seedlings.
Transplanting Seedlings Handle watermelon seedlings with extreme care when you transplant. Their roots are very fragile, so try not to disturb the soil when removing them from pots. After transplanting, cover the plants with row covers to keep pests at bay. Remember to remove the row covers when you see both male and female flowers on the vine, as pollinators will need to access the flowers.
Find even more tips for planting melons in your home garden. How to Grow Watermelons Watering Watering is very important—from planting until fruit begins to form. While melon plants are growing, blooming, and setting fruit, they need 1 to 2 inches of water per week.
Keep soil moist, but not waterlogged. Reduce watering once fruit are growing. Dry weather produces the sweetest melon. Fertilizing If you choose to fertilize and many do , make sure it delivers more nitrogen than phosphorus and potassium, as this will encourage leaf and vine growth.
However, after flowering begins, use a fertilizer with less nitrogen to instead encourage flowers and fruit. We like to use a seaweed-based fertilizer.
Flowering and Fruiting Vines produce male and female flowers separately on the same plant. They often begin producing male flowers several weeks before the females appear. Do not be concerned if the male flowers fall off. The female flowers which have a swollen bulb at the base will stay on the vine and bear fruit.
Blossoms require pollination to set fruit, so be kind to the bees! Learn how to support pollinators in your garden. As fruit is ripening, prevent rotting by gently lifting it and putting cardboard or straw between the fruit and the soil. General Care Tips Mulching with black plastic or straw around the plants will serve multiple purposes: it will warm the soil, hinder weed growth, and keep developing fruits off the soil.
When the plant is young, just cut off the end buds as they form before the side shoots become vines. Bill Rhodes, professor of horticulture at Clemson University, offers the following advice on how to tell when watermelons are ripe: Thump it. Look at the color on the top. The watermelon is ripe when there is little contrast between the stripes. Look at the color on the bottom. You can even incorporate these plants into your crop rotation system so that your garden can be ready for watermelons for the next growing season.
How to grow parsley, indoors or outside. How to cut a watermelon in one minute. Five amazing watermelon hacks. Get your mag delivered! How do watermelons grow? Rhys McKay. Get more from Better Homes and Gardens. If they start to smother other things you can remind them about sticking to their area by gently moving the tips of the vines, so they grow into the right direction.
The smaller male flowers appear first. The female flowers are larger and you can already see the tiny melon beginning to form at the base of the flower.
If you don't see female flowers it could have several reasons: too hot, too cold, not enough water, not enough nutrients In any way, it means the watermelon plant isn't happy. If the plant does produce female flowers but the little fruit at the base of it shrivels up and dies, then the flowers are not getting pollinated. Watermelon flowers are insect pollinated. If you suspect the insects aren't doing their job, you can do it yourself, just to be sure.
Hand pollination is best done early in the morning. Pull off several male flowers and remove the flower petals. Then brush the pollen laden stamen against the stigma in the centre of the female flower, so the pollen sticks to it.
To grow them as large as possible you can pinch out the tip of the branch after several fruits have set i. The first sign to look for is the curly tendril at the stem. Once it is dry, as in, totally dry not just starting to dry off, once it is totally dry, your watermelon may be ready.
Another sign is the light coloured patch on the bottom of the fruit. It is initially greenish, but as the melon ripens the green tinge disappears and it becomes yellowish. The skin overall becomes duller and tougher. But the most popular way to tell if watermelons are ripe is the sound. Knock them with your knuckles and listen for a dull, hollow sound. The unripe melons have a higher pitched sound.
Keep thumping lots of them and comparing until you can tell the difference. Eventually you'll have to take a chance on one The biggest watermelon pests are the leaf eating beetles they damage the flowers, too like spotted and striped cucumber beetles, pumpkin beetles with or without dots, whatever you want to call them.
They all look similar and all do the same: they chomp away on your watermelon plants. A healthy watermelon in a balanced environment and in good soil should not attract too many beetles.
Also, a watermelon should grow fast enough to cope with a few beetles. In other words, you should spend more time worrying about providing your plants with enough enough sun, water and the right nutrients than you should spend worrying about the beetles.
The other main problem with growing watermelons is mildew, a fungus that makes the leaves look as if they were coated with white powder. The fungus thrives in damp, humid conditions. The best you can do to avoid mildew is to avoid getting the leaves wet.
0コメント