OT Watermellons

pat sublett · Jan 23, 2009

I know OT is not good but it is a farm question.
I am looking for advise on growing Watermellons. I have raised them off and on for 40 years but never been real succesful. Anybody got any tips. I know they require some trace minerals tht some other things don't. I am not sure what. Any tips would be appreciated.

Anonymous-0 · Jan 23, 2009

I think watermelons need a long growing season,
in well drained soil, and plenty of heat at ripening time. j

El Toro · Jan 23, 2009

This melon was grown over the Eastern shore of MD.
I've never grown them, but I know of a man in OH that grows them. I will send him an email to see if he will post on here. If he doesn't want to do that I'll see if he has any good tips on growing them. I know he has irrigation if its a dry season. Hal

pat sublett · Jan 23, 2009

Got plenty of heat and growing eason, live in central Texas.

Anonymous-0 · Jan 23, 2009

Contac your agriculture department they can advise on chemicals and moisture content required, for home use I cheat by sowing some of my different seed by up to 3wks early for my home garden I have found goat manure to be excellent put it on heavy, find someone out in the country for freshness. Happy gardening

glennster · Jan 23, 2009

i'd be interested too, i grew some last year, had quite a few from maybe 8 to 18 pounders. nice looking, pretty juicy, no flavor at all, not very sweet either.

RayP(MI) · Jan 23, 2009

Well, that explains why I could never grow any good ones here in Michigan!

kyplowboy · Jan 23, 2009

Grand dad always grew them in well drained sandy areas. He would plant them on a raised hill about a foot tall. His secret was he would dig a hole before he made the hill and he would bury about a half dried up cow pie under each hill along with about half a cup of 10-10-10.

If it turned off real dry late in the summer he would water them a little.

Good luck.

Dave

huntingreen2day · Jan 23, 2009

Just have to compete with the Morning Glories.

Vito · Jan 23, 2009

Now that is a melon!Use to pick alot of those in the summer.Ate a few too. Nothing better than a fresh one from the field.
Vito

Anonymous-0 · Jan 23, 2009

Ray, grow some Muskmellons/Cantilops. Had a great crop one year over east of you in Ontario.
One thing I noticed was when the mellons started coming out of the blossoms they just kept producing more and none grew bigger. I chopped the vine and stuck the end in the ground. Then they finished the mellons.
Later Bob

Andy In IL · Jan 23, 2009

There be a market for them this year. Or maybe not since the Whitehouse lawn going to have them in there yard?

gitrib · Jan 23, 2009

I have raised a bunch of them. Put out about one-acre. Going for early market. Started them in greenhouse in peat pots, when sure frost is over, I markout the row about five foot apart. Give the hired hand a two handled post hole digger, He digs a hole about eight inches deep and plants pot and all. We turn on the irrigation to settle them in. They take off gtowing and do not know they have been planted. Sanbur can be a problem,Extention department said to apply Treflan so we had no weeds. Kept irrigating rgular Not a weed in the field to shade the mellons. Asked Extenion Horticultul and he said give them a shot of nitrogen ferlizer and irrigate. Man they take off growing the folage would be knee high, We did not pick watermellon we hunted them. Haul them to Farmers Market and people stand in line to buy them. Always plant a lot of small ice box sized mellon. City folks do not have room in refrig for the big ones also seed less sell good but do not have the flavor. Mirage is a good varity.
gitrib

Old Ford Mechanic · Jan 23, 2009

Postmark your question to the UNITED STATES AGRICULTURE DEPARTMENT in Washington DC.A vast wealth of knowledge has been obtained there just this very week about how to grow watermellons.

Anonymous-0 · Jan 23, 2009

Try the Texas Black Diamond variety. They grow well in hot dry areas and are really sweet. We grew them in southeast NM. Some can really get big!

Anonymous-0 · Jan 23, 2009

Jackson County, IN, near Seymour, has some of the best melons in Indiana. I'm told that well-drained, sandy soil is the key...not sure what nutrients they need.

In the southern part of Harrison County, IN, I've seen folks farm for years growing mediocre corn in sandy soil that would probably be better suited for melons. Always wondered why they did that, but I guess it's easier to machine harvest corn.

Anonymous-0 · Jan 23, 2009

bodid1998 · Jan 24, 2009

Thanks idiot you give everyone from Illinois a bad image we are all not racist pigs !!

Dustin

El Toro · Jan 24, 2009

I think the man in OH that grows them uses hog manure since he has plenty of it. Hal

Anonymous-0 · Jan 24, 2009

We always grew 'em in mounds, you dig down in well drained, sandy loam soil, add a bucket full of fresh hog manure if you have it, or cow manure, as second best, then mound up the soil 3-5 inches over the manure, plant 5 seeds, thin to 3 vines. Variety we used to plant was "Congo", long melon with wide stripes. Here that there is a big demand coming this year!

El Toro · Jan 24, 2009

He grew up on Pineapples. Some of us white boys like watermelons. My grand-dad raised them back in the early 1900's. With 13 kids they helped pick, plant and eat them. Hal

Chris in MO · Jan 24, 2009

We used to do okay with watermelons. We started feeding hay to sheep in the areas where we were going to grow vine crops like cukes or melons. Early spring tilled the manure and spoiled hay into the ground deeply, ran a subsoiler through to break up any compaction, scraped some up into raised beds and planted presprouted seeds there. They have done excellently since we started doing this. Weeds can sometimes be a problem, but we put down mulch after the soil is good and warmed up. Very few bug problems this way, even with cucumbers.

Christopher

jhilyer · Jan 24, 2009

I'm actually proud of you guys - only one racist remark amongst several good comments.

OT Watermellons

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