Grow Your Own Magazine

Hi there, a lil question about the watermelon seeds I'm trying to germinate.

Apart from a nice warm atmosphere, are there any special requirements for water melon seeds??

Many thankyous!!!

Jennifer

i have charleston grey,the first lot i put one seed per pot and left them in the green house,they are only just braking the surface after 2/3 weeks,i thought they had gone home,so as an experiment i chitted some more,along with butternut squash and gherkins,i put them on wet kithchen roll inside a tub with the lid on,on 4th,yesterday the gherkins got a little root,today with the extra heat from the sun the others got roots,much quicker than in the soil first,they are a heat and water loving plant,my next trick,is to get melons,she says living in hope.

thank you very much!!! ;-)

Jennifer

I've tried germinating them on damp kitchen towel and it's worked - I could see the first little shoots poking out today!! Ironically - the seeds i sowed about a week and a half before I sowed the ones onto kitchen towel have now shown their faces. It look like I'm going to have about 13 watermelon plants - this should be interesting!!

Jennifer

glad you have found success,i just hope we both get some to fruit after all this palarva,one good thing,we will be nearer the ball game next year.

Yeah, I'm hoping that with so many plants i might just get a couple of watermelons!! ;-) Either I'll get a scarce amount of fruit, or so many watermelons I'll have them coming out of my ears!! Let me know how yours get on!

Jennifer

with food haveing increaced so much in price,i bet you have no bother selling any surplus,

What you will need is plenty of space. I grow my 'ordinary' melons up frames but the watermelons need large amounts of space and water, loads and loads of water. Mine are in their own bed and I allow 1 sq meter per plant and even then they will overgrow the bed.

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TonyF, Dordogne 24220

Whoah - I definitely need an allotment now!!!!


I hadn't even thought about selling surplus..... hmm...... We do have a massive summer BBQ in august though - we're planning on 30-40 people and this year i reckon we'll be providing all salads, fruit and vegetables, everyone else just needs to bring stuff to go on the BBQ and drinks!!

Thanks for the help!!

Jennifer

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Whilst typing the above reply, I was probably supposed to be doing homework. My excuse: I'm hooked!

I'm growing watermelons in a large pot this year up canes and have already got 2 watermelons on the vine. One is larger than a tennis ball and the other is only just starting. As people have said, tons of water seems to be doing the trick! Am thinking of stopping the ends of the vines to just get two large ripe watermelons...