How To Grow Melons

If you love cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew and other fruits of the melon family, you might want to consider growing melons in your own garden. We will provide some general instructions on how to grow watermelons in a backyard garden. You may even want to try growing the much sort after Japanese Square Melon

There are a few things to keep in mind if you want to successfully grow melons in your garden. It can be relatively simple to harvest healthy and delicious melons. When growing melons, you will need plenty of room for the vines to stretch and grow.

It is essential that your plant your melons in an area where they will receive a lot of sunlight. Your melons will require healthy soil and plenty of hydration to grow to their fullest potential.

Your melons will need a lot of warmth along with that sunshine. It is best to grow melons in temperatures of at least seventy degrees. Prepare some fertile and rich soil for planting by working compost or natural fertilizers into the soil.

You should then dig mounds of two or three inches to plant the melon seeds. The melon seeds only need to be planted about one inch down into the mounds. You can plant up to a dozen seeds in each mound. Do not allow too many melon plants to sprout in each hill. Too many plants in one spot will restrict the growth of the plants.

To further ensure that the melon vines will have enough room to grow, you should make certain each mound of seeds is planted four or more feet apart. Although you can plant your seeds directly in the soil, you might want to consider covering the ground where you will grow the melons with black garden plastic.

The plastic can be used to help lock in moisture for the melons. It also aids in maintaining an ideal temperature for their growth. Plastic can help to keep out weeds so that they do not overtake the garden. When you are ready to plant the seeds, you will simple make some small cuts in the plastic that are large enough to plant the seeds.

It can take awhile for your melons to grow. They will not typically be ready to harvest until they have been planted in the ground for three months or more. While you wait for your melons to grow, you will want to make certain they receive at least an inch of water every week.

If you see any unhealthy or poor vines starting to spout while growing your melons, you can remove those vines to allow more room for the growth of health vines. When your melons have reached their fullest potential, you are ready to enjoy your harvest!

Keep in mind that you should allow your melons to dry out some about a week or two before they are ready to harvest. This means you will not continue to water the melons during that time. But make certain your melons do not wilt and dry out too much. If you have problems growing melons then read up on Melon Pests And Diseases

By Richard Allen -