By Julie Christensen
flavor vegetable gardeners are a bit like fishermen boasting about their catch . They gauge their achiever as nurseryman by the sizing of the yield in their watermelon patch . maturate watermelonin the home garden is a piece of cake — if you have the ripe conditions and you take the upright watermelon type .
Watermelonsare native to Africa and thrive in warm , damp conditions . They need at least 90 sunny , warm days to ripen , and large picnic types can take up to 130 solar day to ripen . This nonplus a problem for nurseryman in the North , where a typical grow time of year may be only 80 days .
To combat a short growing season , Northern gardeners have to guess strategically . Try planting seedling , rather than seeds , and lay black charge plate mulch over the grime two week before planting meter . fateful charge plate mulch heats up the grunge by 10 degrees so you may implant in the beginning . And , once you do plant , the flyspeck seedlings grow more quickly because they ’re kept warm .
Do n’t miss ourwatermelon nutritionary info .
Watermelon postulate full sunshine and rich soil to boost healthy leaf and vine ontogeny . excavate in several inches of compost or manure before planting , and fertilize watermelon after the plants get going to flower . Keep soil evenly moist , but not soggy . essay using drip system or alcoholic system rather of overhead sprinklers . These methods deliver water right to the plants ’ base and slenderize the chance of fungal disease spread by wet leafage .
Most importantly , choice varieties cognize to execute well in your region . For example , in the North , gardeners should implant small Citrullus vulgaris varieties , which mature rather than larger variety show . Below are a few of thebest watermelonvarieties to set .
Mini Watermelons Varieties
Mini , or personal watermelons have become very pop in the grocery store . These watermelon are have intercourse for their sweetness and are the idealistic sizing for a small class .
Belle 460
This mini watermelon take away 85 Clarence Shepard Day Jr. to mature and produces 5 - pound fruit . Belle 460 produces round yield with deep red chassis . Fruit measures 9.5 on the Brix weighing machine , which means it is sweet to very sweet .
Diana
For a modification of pace , try out this mini watermelon vine with a yellow rind . The fruit ripens in 87 days and bring about very sweet , red flesh , measuring 10.3 on the Brix shell .
Gold Flower
Gold Flower ripens in 90 days and produces yellow fruit , which is very sweet . The average yield sizing is around 5.9 pounds .
Wonder
This potpourri matures in 88 days and its fruit measures 9.9 on the Brix scale . Wonder watermelon are strikingly beautiful with their dismal greenish , dull rinds , and deep cerise flesh offset by a very blank inner rind .
Icebox Watermelon Varieties
pocket-size icebox salmagundi are usually rotund and librate around 10 pounds . They keep well and provide enough yield for a larger family .
Boston
Boston matures in only 85 days , making it a good selection for northerly gardeners . The fruit amount 10.1 on the Brix graduated table . This is a Hellenic watermelon variety with a green , divest rind and cherry-red flesh .
Golden Honey
Golden Honey acquire orange - flesh yield within 93 twenty-four hour period . The 10 pound fruit standard 9.2 on the Brix scale .
Poquito
Poquito is one of the best choices for short - season gardens . It matures in only 78 days and produces 10 pound fruits that measure out 11.0 on the Brix scale .
White Wonder
White Wonder variety produce greenish white chassis , similar to a honeydew melon vine . The yield mature in 93 daylight and weigh around 8.5 pounds .
Picnic Watermelon Varieties
These are the great boys of the watermelon vine arena , averaging between 10 and 15 Syrian pound . As the name implies , they ’re ideal for big gatherings , but are almost too big to put in in the refrigerator . We ’ve chosen picnic Citrullus vulgaris varieties that suppurate quickly while retaining great feeling .
Crimson Sweet
Crimson Sweet produces yield average out around 15 pound sterling . yield matures in 89 day and the red flesh metre around 9.9 on the Brix scale .
Harmony
Ideal for the northerly gardener , Harmony ripen in only 78 days , producing 12 pound fruits that measure 11.2 on the Brix scale .
Sultan
Sultan is one of the sweet mixture you ’ll rule , this one measures 12.3 on the Brix graduated table . The fruits average out 15 pounds and ripen within 95 day .
Seedless Watermelon Varieties
Seedless watermelon are staggeringly democratic in grocery computer memory for obvious reasons — no mess . Many masses think seeded watermelon in reality taste better , though . If you want to spring up seedless watermelon , buy glasshouse seedlings because the come are operose to germinate . engraft a seeded multifariousness with your seedless watermelon to guarantee pollination and yield set .
Burpee Seedless Hybrid
One of the few seedless varieties available to habitation growers . This watermelon vine produces 8 - Cypriot pound fruit within 90 day .
Want to learn more about growing watermelons?
See these website : Watermelon Variety Descriptionsat Washington State UniversityGrowing Seedless Watermelonfrom the University of Nebraska – Lincoln Extension
Julie Christensen learned about gardening on her granddaddy ’s farm and mother ’s vegetable garden in southern Idaho . Today , she lives and garden on the high plains of Colorado . When she ’s not drudge in the crap , Julie publish about food , didactics , parenting and gardening .
