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For watermelons, apply a fertilizer high in phosphorous, such as 10-10-10, at a rate of 4 pounds per 1,000 square feet (60 to 90 feet of row). Make a trench on the planting bed 4 to 6 inches deep and 2 inches from the side of the row. Cover the fertilizer and plant so seeds do not touch the fertilizer.
What’s the best fertilizer for watermelon?
When fertilizing watermelon plants, use nitrogen based fertilizer at the onset. Once the plant begins flowering, however, switch to feeding the watermelon a phosphorus and potassium based fertilizer. Watermelons require ample potassium and phosphorus for optimal melon production.
How do you increase watermelon fruit size?
To maximize the size of the melons, water the plants at the base in regular, deep-watering sessions that keep the soil moist. Side dress the watermelon plants with fertilizer designed for edible crops or compost tea to feed the plants. The fertilizer encourages growth to get larger melons.
How often should you fertilize watermelon plants?
Fertilize the watermelon plant once per week with liquid soluble fertilizer. Start with a 20-10-20 measurement of fertilizer until the flowers of the plant bloom. Then switch to a 20-20-20 fertilizer for the rest of the season.
How do I make my watermelon sweeter when growing?
8 Tips for Growing The Sweetest Melons Start with the Sweetest Varieties. Sow Seeds Early. Find Your Warmest Microclimate. Accentuate the Sun’s Rays. Don’t Crowd Your Melons. Sweetness Starts in the Soil. Water Heavily – But not During Ripening. Pick at the Pinnacle of Ripeness.
Is Epsom salt good for watermelon plants?
For sweeter watermelons and cantaloupes when the plant starts vining and again when small 1-inch melons appear, spray with 6 1/2 tablespoons Epsom salts and 3 1/2 tablespoons borax in 5 gallons of water. For more fruit on your pepper plants, fertilize the plant by burying an open one-half pack of book matches near it.
Can you use Miracle Grow on watermelons?
Feeding and Caring for Melons Then, feed your melon plants regularly through the growing season with a continuous-release plant food like Miracle-Gro® Performance Organic® Edibles Plant Nutrition Granules, which feeds the soil as well as your plants.
How many watermelons will one plant yield?
How Many Watermelons per Plant? Healthy watermelon vines produce 2-4 fruits per plant. The vines produce both male and female flowers. Both are needed to set fruit and there are fewer female flowers compared to male, about one female for every seven males.
Is fish fertilizer good for watermelons?
If watermelons are stressed for water or nutrients when they start to set fruit, they will be small and less flavorful. Feed watermelons with a dilute solution of fish emulsion fertilizer—1 tablespoon per gallon of water—weekly from the time the plant is a seedling until the first female flower appears.
Should you trim watermelon vines?
Pruning watermelons promotes healthier vines and increases fruit size. Look for irregular or rotting fruit to prune from the plant. Removing the less than perfect melons will enable the plant to focus energy towards growing bigger, healthier, juicier melons. Watermelons need both male and female flowers to set fruit.
Should I water my watermelon plants everyday?
While melon plants are growing, blooming, and setting fruit, they need 1 to 2 inches of water per week. Keep soil moist, but not waterlogged. Water at the vine’s base in the morning, and try to avoid wetting the leaves and avoid overhead watering. Dry weather produces the sweetest melon.
Where can I use 10-10-10 fertilizer?
If your plants are well established and you want to make sure that they have what they need to put out new growth in the spring, a balanced fertilizer such as a 10-10-10 is a common choice. Raspberries, strawberries, asparagus and even roses can benefit from an early spring feeding with 10-10-10.
Do you water watermelon everyday?
They require plentiful regular, even watering for quick growing. Give watermelons 1 to 2 inches (2.5. -5cm) of water every week (1 inch equals 16 gallons/60.5 liters.) Keep the soil moist until the fruit reaches full size then stop watering while the fruit ripens.
What nutrient makes watermelon sweet?
Boron for Watermelons An element called boron is known to help make watermelons sweeter. Boron for watermelons helps increase sweetness of the fruits when given as a dose of 1 tablespoon in 1 gallon of water. Spray this mixture on the foliage and the base of the plants, says Burpee.
What is the best mulch for watermelons?
Untreated grass clippings are one of the best mulches for the vegetable garden and your watermelon patch. Spread 1 inch of clippings over the soil each week. The clippings reduce weed growth and conserve moisture, while breaking down as nitrogen. You’re also using a free, readily available resource.
Do watermelon plants like coffee grounds?
Coffee Grinds as Melon Fertilizer? Old coffee grinds really do enhance the flavor of many crops, cantaloupe, tomatoes, melons. No study to prove it, but it is said you get bigger melons if you use coffee grinds. As they break down, the grinds will release nitrogen into the soil.
What do you feed melon plants?
Keep the plants well watered at all times, especially when flowering and fruiting, and feed weekly with a high potash liquid plant food once the first fruit has set. Pinch out the growing tips at the fifth leaf to encourage sideshoots, which will bear the flowers.
How do you use Epsom salt on watermelon plants?
For home garden use, use about 6 1/2 tablespoons of Epsom salts and 3 1/2 tablespoons of household borax, all added to five gallons of water. Spray the plants when the vines start to run and again when the fruits are between one and two inches in diameter. Weather can also affect flavor.
Can you plant zucchini next to watermelon?
Because other members of the Cucurbitae family are all attacked by cucumber beetles, planting watermelons next to these crops is not recommended: Cucumbers. Summer squash/zucchini.
