Watermelons have a repute for needing sprawling rows of open floor. Normal varieties can ship vines 10 ft or extra in each course, which doesn’t precisely match a tidy raised mattress setup.
However when you select the appropriate varieties and plan for the vines, raised beds generally is a good surroundings for watermelons. The soil warms up sooner, drainage is healthier, and you’ve got extra management over fertility than you’d in a typical backyard plot.
You’re in all probability not going to develop a 30-pound melon in a tiny mattress. However a compact selection that produces personal-sized fruit is fully doable, and the standard may be simply nearly as good. Listed below are the guidelines you could develop watermelon in raised beds.
Select the Proper Selection
Normal watermelons want extra room than most raised beds can provide. Compact varieties, then again, have shorter vines and produce smaller fruit that matures sooner, which is precisely what you need in a contained area.
‘Sugar Child‘ is without doubt one of the most generally grown compact watermelons. The vines keep round three to 4 ft lengthy, and the fruit matures at about eight to 10 kilos with a darkish inexperienced rind and candy, brilliant pink flesh. It’s additionally early-maturing (about 80 days), which is useful in case your rising season is brief.
Different compact choices embody ‘Golden Midget,’ which produces a small yellow-fleshed melon on quick vines. These are perfect to develop watermelon in raised beds.
Put together the Mattress
Watermelons are heavy feeders with deep roots, so the mattress must be at the very least 12 inches deep. Extra space is healthier when you can handle it, particularly since watermelon roots will push deeper than most vegetable crops. Shallow beds are likely to dry out shortly in summer time warmth, which is an issue for a crop that wants constant moisture throughout vine development and fruit improvement.
Fill the mattress with a wealthy, well-draining combine amended with compost. Watermelons desire a barely acidic to impartial pH (round 6.0 to six.8), however they’re not notably fussy about soil sort so long as drainage is nice. Heavy, waterlogged soil encourages root rot, which may take out a plant shortly as soon as the fruit begins setting.
Watermelons gained’t germinate or develop effectively in chilly floor. Black plastic mulch laid over the mattress every week or two earlier than planting raises the soil temperature considerably and retains that heat by way of cool spring nights. It additionally suppresses weeds and conserves moisture, which reduces the quantity of labor you’ll must do later.
Plant
Wait till the soil temperature is at the very least 70°F (21°C) earlier than sowing or transplanting. Placing them out too early ends in stunted, yellowing vegetation which will by no means totally get well.
In heat climates, direct sow seeds an inch deep, two to a few per spot, and skinny to the strongest seedling as soon as the primary true leaves seem. In cooler areas the place the rising season is shorter, begin seeds indoors two to 4 weeks earlier than your transplant date. Use biodegradable pots as a result of watermelon roots are delicate to disturbance. Transplant rigorously and water instantly.
The vines will unfold past the sides of the mattress, and that’s positive. Allow them to path over the perimeters and onto the bottom, a pathway, or a mulched space. Attempting to include them fully throughout the mattress often results in crowding and poor air circulation, which invitations illness.
Prepare and Assist the Vines
As soon as the vines begin operating, you might have two choices: allow them to sprawl or prepare them vertically. In a raised mattress, vertical rising saves area and retains the fruit off the soil, which reduces the chance of rot and makes it simpler to identify ripe melons.
A sturdy trellis or A-frame connected to or adjoining to the mattress works for compact varieties. Because the fruit develops, assist every melon with a material sling (an previous t-shirt works) tied to the trellis. With out assist, the load of even a small watermelon can snap the vine or pull the fruit off earlier than it’s ripe.
For those who let the vines sprawl as a substitute, place a chunk of straw or a small board underneath every growing melon to raise it off damp soil. This prevents the underside from rotting and retains slugs and different pests from transferring in.
Water and Feed
Watermelons want constant moisture throughout vine development and fruit set, roughly one to 2 inches per week. In a raised mattress, the soil tends to dry out sooner than in-ground plantings, so examine moisture ranges recurrently, particularly throughout sizzling climate. Drip irrigation or a soaker hose alongside the bottom of the vegetation is more practical than overhead watering, which wets the foliage and encourages fungal ailments like powdery mildew.
As soon as the vines start to flower and set fruit, fertilize with a formulation increased in phosphorus and potassium, which helps fruit improvement. Keep away from heavy nitrogen at this stage.
Cut back watering because the melons method maturity, roughly every week or two earlier than you count on to reap. This concentrates the sugars within the fruit and improves taste. For those who hold watering closely proper as much as harvest, the flesh tends to be watery and bland.
Harvest
Realizing when a watermelon is ripe takes some apply, as a result of you’ll be able to’t squeeze it like a peach or odor it like a cantaloupe. There are a number of dependable indicators to search for.
The tendril closest to the place the fruit attaches to the vine dries out and turns brown. The spot the place the melon rests on the bottom (or within the sling) shifts from white to a creamy yellow. And the pores and skin develops a uninteresting, matte end somewhat than the shiny look it has whereas nonetheless rising.
Tapping works, although it takes some expertise to listen to. A ripe watermelon produces a deep, hole sound. An unripe one sounds extra strong and metallic. For those who’re not assured within the thump take a look at, the tendril and floor spot are extra reliable indicators.
Minimize the fruit from the vine with a pointy knife somewhat than pulling or twisting, which may harm the stem and the remaining vine. Most compact varieties produce two to a few melons per plant, so there ought to be extra on the best way after the primary harvest.