1. Types of watermelon
- Light watermelon well-known as ?Sugar Baby?. It is round with dark green skin. Ready for harvest 65 days after sprouting.
- Heavy watermelon which is called Charleston gray watermelon. It is oval with light greenish gray skin. Ready for harvest 85 days after sprouting.
- Yellow watermelon. It is round with light green skin. Flesh is yellow and ready for harvest 70?75 days.
2.?Soil and soil preparation
- Watermelon are deep rooted, over 100 cm. and need rich and well-drained soil, so the loosen soil is need for planting watermelon. Building the soil up at individual planting locations helps assure that the soil is loose enough for the roots to grow, allows oxygen and water to each them with ease, and lets excess moisture drain away from direct contact with the roots of your plants. If you have to plant watermelon in the rainy season, you may have to plant them in the loosen soil but if you have heavy soil, you may need to dig or plough in the deep soil.
3.?Planting
- For sugar baby seeds need about 40-50 grams per rai (1,600 square meters) and for Chaleston gray and yellow watermelon seeds need about 250-500 grams per rai. Plant in rows and allow 90 cm. per row. For each row, watermelon vines require considerable space about 2-3 meters. Then poke in the loosen soil with a tool, about 50×50 cm. and 15 cm. deep but for the heavy soil need only 10 cm. deep. Leave holes for one day and then start placing 5 seeds for each hole. Then water the holes to keep them moisture. When the seeds sprout (2-3 leaves above the ground), thin to the two or three strongest, to give the strong one room to grow.
Fertilizer??
It is very important to fertilize watermelon because it will help increasing organic matter in soil at the same time decreasing opportunity of using chemical fertilizer.
To fertilize
- To fertilize #1 ? When there are 5 watermelon leaves, mix Cyto formula 1 (pink) with urea fertilizer (46-0-0) in ratio 5:1. Using 1 sack of Cyto formula 1 with urea fertilizer 10 kg. Mix together and apply about 1-2 tea spoons for each plant.
- ?To fertilize #2 -? When vines spread out about 1 foot, mix Cyto formula 1 (pink) with urea fertilizer and chemical formula 13-13-21 in ratio 2:1:2. Then apply about 2-3 teaspoons for each plant.
- To fertilize #3 ? When vines spread out about 7 feet, mix Cyto formula 1 (pink) with chemical formula 13-13-21 in ratio 2:1 and apply about 2-3 tea spoons for each plant.
To fertilize through leaf
- Mix plant supplements and natural plant hormones together about 100 cc. per 20 liters of water. Spraying on leaves when there are about 4-5 watermelon leaves every 10-15 days continuously. This way all the squash bugs, cucumber beetles, and aphids are chased away. At the same time that plants will full of blooming flowers.
Watering ?
- Watermelons need a lot of water especially while they are setting and growing fruit. So the soil should dry slightly between each watering. Once the fruit set, increase watering so that the soil does not dry out at all, but rather is kept consistently moist. Water only from the base of the plants to keep the leaves and fruit dry.
Vine Caring ??
- When the vines are about two meters long, you should make them roam in the same way and remove some vines out: left 4 vines for each plants are the better.
These are just simple tips and tricks for growing such healthy watermelons and you will have lovely and juicy watermelons in no time.
