- Choosing the right seed
- Prepare the plants in good time
- The perfect location for a watermelon
- tips and tricks
The watermelon is a popular snack for low-calorie refreshment in midsummer. Due to their needs, the plants are usually grown in warmer countries, but with good care they can also bear fruit in this country.
Choosing the right seed
You can get the necessary seeds for growing watermelons in different ways. Of the many different varieties of watermelon, specialist retailers for garden supplies usually offer those that are also the most popular imported goods in supermarkets. These are usually the large-fruited Crimson Sweet and the smaller Sugar Baby. You can also use seeds from store-bought or home-grown watermelons to grow the plants. However, you then have to make sure that on the one hand it is not a hybrid variety and on the other hand that you remove any pulp from the seeds. If the pulp remains on the seeds, they can easily become moldy during the germination phase.
Prepare the plants in good time
When it comes to watermelons, imported goods in supermarkets usually come from the following southern European countries during the main season from May to September, where the heavy variety Crimson Sweet is then ripe:
- Spain
- Hungary
- Italy
- Turkey
Otherwise, watermelons such as the smaller Sugar Baby variety are imported year-round from countries such as Iran, Mexico and China. So that you can also harvest fully ripe fruit from a watermelon in our climatic latitudes, you have to bring the plants forward in good time. Sow your watermelons in pots from around mid-April so that you can plant the young plants outdoors or in a greenhouse in May when the weather is frost-free.
The perfect location for a watermelon
Even if you don't have a spacious greenhouse for your watermelons, you can still bring them to a good harvest in a warm spot in the garden. However, make sure that the soil is well drained and rich in nutrients and that the young plants are well protected from slugs.
tips and tricks
Watermelons thrive particularly well on a slope that is exposed to the sun. This can also be created by piling up a small heap of earth, which then also helps to prevent waterlogging.
WK