How to Grow Melons

If you love cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew and other fruits of the melon family, you might want to consider growing them in your own garden. We will provide some general instructions on how to grow watermelons in a backyard garden.

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

They will need a lot of warmth along with that sunshine. It is best to grow them 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 seeds. The 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 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 them with black garden plastic. The plastic can be used to help lock in moisture.. 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 them 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 them 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 they have reached their fullest potential, you are ready to enjoy your harvest! Keep in mind that you should allow your watermelons to dry out some about a week or two before they are ready to harvest. This means you will not continue to water them during that time. But make certain they do not wilt and dry out too much.

For more great tips on gardening why not visit the authors site on Growing Your Own Vegetables.

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