Wondrous Watermelon

Each gardening season I like to challenge myself to grow something new and exotic. On a bit of a whim this year, I picked

up a watermelon plant at a local nursery. There are quite a few varieties of watermelons, from large and sprawling to

small and compact. To be completely honest, I have no idea what I ended up with which makes it not just a challenge,

but a bit of a mystery. Regardless, this plant came home with me to be put in a pot…that’s right, a container

watermelon! I tried growing a watermelon from seed quite a few years back and didn’t get past the blossoming stage.

This year, however, I’m on my way to a fully grown fruit.

I planted the watermelon start in a pot 15-inches in diameter and 12-inches in depth. After transplanting, the growth

took off and before I knew it there were blossoms with mini melons attached. As time went on, I noticed two fruit were

having accelerated growth over the others. Some of the stunted ones died off on their own and I went ahead and

snipped off any others. By the time the fruit were a couple inches in diameter, it was time to fertilize all my plants, so I

used a 5-7-7 all-vegetable fertilizer (I’ve read you can use 10-10-10 for watermelon). For those of you new to fertilizing,

the numbers represent the percentage by weight of nitrogen-phosphorous-potassium. Feeding plants is a whole topic

itself, but to make things simple just look for one that is good for your whole garden and fertilize according to directions.

In order for our plants to feed us, we periodically need to feed them.

Even when first developing, there are stripes on the blossoming watermelon.

A watermelon’s initial growth is amazing to observe. Over the course of four days, one of the fruit grew almost two

inches in diameter! Eventually one started to outgrow the other, which isn’t too much of a disappointment because my

whole goal is just to get a fully ripened fruit. Both are still being left to grow, but I think only one will make it to

completion.

Initial growth is quick. This watermelon will be too heavy to be suspended off the ground without support soon.

As watermelons are a vine, they need space to grow. The vines on mine didn’t grow more than 3 feet, but I still decided

to trellis them. I just used upside-down tomato cages next to the container. It’s fine to grow watermelon on the ground,

it’s just suggested to give the fruit some sort of protection underneath (cardboard for example) so they don’t yellow too

much and rot. Proper drainage around them is important for this. I have coconut-type mulch around my containers that

remains fairly dry and allows air flow, but I still wanted my largest melon off the ground which the vine alone couldn’t

support. So I grabbed a pair of pantyhose, cut off one of the legs, and made a hammock.

One way to keep a watermelon off the ground while it grows.

The large melon is growing well and now it’s just a matter of watching it and determining when it’s ripe. From doing

research, I’m going to be looking for a few things: little contrast between the stripes; cessation of growth; a “thump”

when I knock on it; a watermelon fragrance; and the vine closest to the melon starting to wither. This is a pretty exciting

adventure in the garden and, if anything, I’ve had some education on growing a watermelon. The best learning in the

garden is by pushing your growing boundaries and trial and error. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a juicy ripe

watermelon later in the season!