Watermelon Growing Tips
If you want to grow watermelon, you will need to know some great tips. Knowing the growth requirements will allow you to ensure the health of your plant. Choose a sandy land area with plenty of sunlight and water.
If you can provide the vital elements, your watermelon farm will prosper.
If you want to start your own watermelon farm, you will need to choose the most suitable land space. Watermelon can occupy a lot of space and so having a large land space is ideal. The vines will surely spread out and will require considerable maintenance over time. With the basic knowledge in growing such fruit, you will surely succeed. Aside from the land, you will also need to have a steady supply of water. Chlorinated water is not advisable and it’s best to use well water instead. These are just some of the things you need to address if you want to grow healthy fruits.
Watermelon Farming Tips
Seeds can be planted when the temperature is at mid 70s to 80s. Don’t plant when the ground has snow because even the so called hybrid varieties won’t be able to tolerate the extreme cold. Watermelon will grow best in sandy soil. You also have to feed the plant with organic fertilizer or you can also use aged cow manure and chicken litter. The plant loves sunlight. Make sure that you plant the seeds on an area where there is direct sunlight. If you’re planting the non-disease resistant varieties, never plant them in shady areas since it can lead to disastrous effects.
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The more watermelons you plan to grow, the larger the land space and water supply you need. To ensure healthy varieties, you should get the disease resistant ones. Always check the package of the seeds just to be sure. You can visit the local nursery and the professionals can provide you with helpful tips. If you follow the growth requirements, each vine can have around two big fruits. When the land is leveled with ground water, you can be sure that the plant will get enough water.
The land area should be plowed before planting the seeds. Dig a hole that is 1.5ft wide and 1ft deep. Inside the hole, you need to place fertilizer or cow manure. You can cover it with sand. Place the seed on top of the sand and push it to about 0.5 inch deep. To ensure germination, the seeds should be covered. You need to dig out a ring around the hole until it looks like a volcano. This is important so that water will be directed to the plant. Water the vines early in the morning; just put enough water. When the vines bear fruit, you have to take good care of them and watch out for sigs of diseases.
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wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
@Carol, Dear Carol, for black cotton soil you can try improving it by adding lots of organic matter and manure to make it more friable - that is less sticky and free since water melons like loose soil. you do not need to add manure and organic matter to the entire farm, only to individual planting hills. Also make sure to raise the planting hill/ ridges to prevent water logging due to excess rain or irrigation, watermelons are sensitive to water logging. Good luck, Kangundo is a hot area and you should do well.
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
@festus, Dear Festus, Watermelons like a hot area without frost and with loose sandy loams, loams and even heavy soils that has been amended with organic matter or manure to loosen it. Water logging should be avoided. the crop takes about 3months from seed to harvesting. In case you are growing with rainfall try and time such that towards the last 2 or 3 weeks there is reduced rainfall to enable concentration of sweetness and prevention of bursting of fruits due to excess moisture. The most popular seeds in kenya are Sugar baby, charleston Grey and Crimson sweet varieties. There is also a good Hybrid called Sukari F1 that is now gaining popularity. You can get seed from local Agrovet shops or contact East African Seed company and ask for the local agents for all the above mentioned seeds.
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
@francis makokha, Dear Francis, Watermelons grow best in hot areas, if the area is too cold, fruiting may be hampered. Most definitely try your farming in the Busia area in the open. Its true a well conditioned greenhouse will improve the micro climatic conditions of the crop and result in high yields but only if you solve the challenge of ensuring you find a way of making lots of bees to be available during the flowering stage of the watermelons. Unlike tomatoes and other crops that do well in greenhouses, water melons do not have the male and female parts in the same flower but in separate male and female flowers. so simple shaking by light movements or winds cannot result in adequate pollination like in tomatoes. Insects are required to ensure proper pollination - honey bees are the primary insects we rely on for Watermelons.
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
@florence, Dear Florence, you have the following challenges to overcome:
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
@eftokia, Dear Eftokia, Kindly let me know the type of soil and the climatic conditions so as to be able to advise you on the way forward.
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
@godwin manyengo, Dear Godwing, 50 x 100ft is about 1/8th of an acre that is about 30meter by 15meters so at a spacing of 1.5 by 1.5m you will have 200 plants. if you allow each plant to bear only 3 fruits to ensure large fruits you yield will be as follows for the following locally available varieties:
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
@HOPE ONDIEKI, Dear Hope, You have the challenge of overcoming the swampy conditions since watermelons does not tolerate flooding for long periods. Lets stay Hopeful and try the following:
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
@Tom, Dear Sir, Do plant without any fear since in Mombasa you have ready market and suitable climatic conditions - i am only a bit concerned about your irrigation water, i would advise that you send a sample to KARI - Narl center in Westlands Nairobi for irrigation water suitability analysis for Watermelons - it costs only 1000/=. About growing season, we have the best prices at Kongowea Market from October at 25 - 30sh per kg farmgate price so for one acre you can easily get 20 tonnes x 30sh = 600,000ksh in about 3 months time. In Mombasa you will never lack market only the price reduces other times of year but you can still be lucky depending on market forces of supply and demand. at lowest price 20 tons x 15ksh =300,000sh per acre still profitable!!!
@grace m. mulingwa, Dear Grace, Mwingi is a good area for Melons and the loam soil is ok. Try Sukari F1 hybrid seeds to get an average fruit size of 7kgs. Be careful to ensure there is no waterstress during flowering stage to prevent fruit abortion. Also plant on a large are for max yields spacing of about 1.5m by 2m is ok. The other seed you could try is Charleston grey - 9kgs per fruit (average) or Sugar baby and Crimson Sweet. Sukari F1 is the sweetest and largest, sugarbaby is also sweet but tiny at 3-4kgs average size. Limit maximum fruits per plant to 3 to enable them grow large and please ensure you add lots of manure per planting hill at least a shovel full of well decomposed animal waste or compost - avoid fresh animal waste as this is too hot and will burn crop.
@ibra, Best month to grow is August so that you harvest at october when we have best prices at Kongowea market. But you can grow though out the year since you are from coastal Kenya and there is good demand through out the year. i am assuming you are using irrigation also. Just try to farm as large as possible piece of land so that you have tens of tons to harvest so buyer will not be reluctant to come all the way to your farm because of good economies of scale. good luck bro
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
You can do trial planting for a few acres under a spacing of 1.5m crop to crop and 2m row to row. Add at least a shovel full of well decomposed manure per planting hole. Use a suitable nematicide such as Mocap from Bayer Crop Science and apply the powder per planting hole. Then add two tablespoonfuls of DAP fertilizer per planting hole and mix this ingredients thoroughly with lots of soil. You should then irrigate the planting holes and insert about 2-3 seeds per planting hole 1 inch deep, they should take about 6days to germinate. one week after germination you can now thin to remain with the strongest plant. Then you journey begins in getting hands on experience on how to grow melons in your own area. Good luck God bless
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
@sally, Dear Sally, Thanks for your interest in Watermelons, the best advise i can give you is that you buy seeds and start growing and develop your own success steps for your area. You may also want to do the following:
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
@Maureene, Dear Maureene, you can use the spacing of 1.5m from plant to plant and 2m from row to row. Concerning market that should be your first step, tour Kisumu Town and pose as a watermelon farmer and establish contacts with the dealers and wholesale buyers even before you invest in planting. you may also tour neighboring large towns and see the market conditions and prices and establish contacts. Then you can focus on production - once you produce and good crop in commercially viable quantities, buyer will be willing to come for crop at the farm. In you market analysis also be keen to establish periods of greatest demand and best prices. Also in production be very keen to avoid harvesting when there is lots of rains as lots of fruit will burst - so time your crop properly with the weather. But do not hesitate to grow Watermelons because of market uncertainty cause Kenyan Farmers do not produce enough to meet local demand. If you produce larger and larger quantities you will be able to sell far from your farm and still make a huge profit. Good luck.
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
@isoh, Dear Isoh, Kangundo is a very good place, you can get seed from local Agrovets or from Nairobi - East African Seed Company. Try Sukari F1 or Charleston grey - these produce large fruits. for smaller fruits try sugarbaby or crimson sweet. you can sell your crop at Nairobi Marikiti or even as far as Mombasa. Try to harvest especially from October to December and can easily get a farm price of 30shilling or more per Kilo.
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
@nyamawi, Try Sukari F1 hybrid available from EAst AFrican Seed Company - produces large fruits weighing 7-8kgs average if water and nutrients are adequate and you leave a max of 3 fruits per vine. The variety is even sweeter that sugarbaby variety and twice as big and stripped in colour.
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
@Abuya Dan, Dear Dan, Try growing such that in the last week or two there will be not rainfall to avoid bursting. Try Sukari F1 hybrid variety from East African seed co or Charleston grey if you want large fruits. For smaller faster maturing one try sugarbaby or crimson sweet varieties. Usually Water melons take 60 -110 days from seed to harvest. Be careful not to let the fruit stay on farm for too long when ready as will become marshy and liquid inside and loose value due to over-ripeness. Try a spacing of 1.5m by 2m. Good luck.
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
@Glory Alice Muriu, Dear Alice, I think your area is hot and so you will get good sweet melons, please do add lots of well rot manure to your soil and ensure adequate cultivation of soil before planting. i hope your water is not too salty for Melons, if in doubt please take sample to KARI for irrigation water suitability test, will cost you only 1k, if you are willing pay another K and get a professional fertilizer recommendation based on analysis done on your topsoil. The biggest plus for you is that you are near market!! Good luck
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
@peter njoroge, Dear Njoro, Exact places are many and have the following characteristics:
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
@alex malei, nks Alex for appreciation, sad to hear you've been sitting on a waterwell!! Goodluck on your plans, looking forward to showcasing your farming success.....lets produce so much and start exporting also.
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
@Denzel, Denzel, thx for book-one can never know enough these days. I agree number of plant analysis is more predictable than per acre yield analysis since we do not necessarily know which spacing has been adopted per acre. BUT ONE SHOULD USE ONLY FOR THEORETICAL PLANNING .ON THE GROUND DEPENDS ON SO SO MANY FACTORS;like are the plants getting optimum water and nutrients, is there enough micronutrients required for proper flowering and fruiting, are there enough bees for pollination, is there too much Nitrogen during flowering and fruit setting, is the spacing too squeezed or enough for leaves to get proper sunlight
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
@francis ndungu, Francis, i also planted a Melon variety and results were also bad!.......i still plant the same variety today and the results are superb.....! ...........before u decide to jump from variety to another make sure your management is good......check all tiny details like do you have enough bees in your area for pollination........u need to fully understand why your results were bad....dont be in a hurry ....if u like please do experiment with lots of varieties, but im suspicious something went wrong rather than the variety is wrong...............
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
@janet chari, ky u the Problem is an insect........so many insecticides in market.....try Polytrin and use it as recommended........try avoid killing bees during flowering. prune the plant, just limit/prune extra fruits so that u are left with 3. If you cut the leaves u are reducing the very kitchen where the food stored in the melons is cooked thru photosynthesis!
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
@francis ndungu, Welcome, if you need plant sample to be examined at lab you can take several whole plant samples To KARI NARL opposite ABC place Waiyaki way westlands.........charges are reasonable ......good luck
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
@Ugwuegbu angela, r Angela, it is better to visit agrovet and buy chemical treated seeds. in soil we have many pathogens and harmful organisms to young melons. its even less tiresome buying you may even find disease resistant hybrids and high yielding types. Good luck
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
@Francis Osure, Francis. Tell us more about Gem, the climate, soil, mode of Irrigation if applicable so we can have basis for discussion
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
emusvutisa@gmail.com || Watermelon Farming Expert
You can correct this by mixing lime (calcium carbonate) in the soil some weeks before planting, be sure to mix thoroughly as lime is not Mobile in soil unlike other fertilizers. If you have already planted the best option will be to use foliar calcium sprays on leaves. this can be mixed with your regular fungicides. Be careful as with all new foliar sprays to test on a small sample and leave overnight to see results before extrapolating to the entire crop. The other source of calcium when you have already planted is top dressing with CAN(calcium ammonium nitrate) fertilizer pellets. this has however been tricky for me as i have ended up having excess nitrogen that can burn the crop. Blossom end rot is made worse if we have excesses of water in soil.....too dry or too wet...affects the uptake of calcium. Proper Drainage / mulching/ Irrigation management will also be important. ALL THIS HIGHLIGHTS THE IMPORTANCE OF SOIL FERTILITY ANALYSIS....ONLY 1000/- AT KARI.
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
@cyrus mwangi, please see comment 47 on melons and cold areas, let me know in case of further questions.
@cathy, get water, get seeds, test soil for fertility and get started.
@maina, please do try high yielding varieties with large fruits since you only have one acre. You can start exploring Nakuru market way in advance...dont worry you are in good proximity to Nairobi .....please go ahead. God bless you.
@ezekiel massek m., nk you thankyou Ezekiel, God bless you.
I install DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEMS FOR WATERMELON
@Effort Msvutisa, nks Thank you brother, lets all get empowered and empower our continent and later the world when Africa becomes a leading exporter of high quality Watermelons. God bless you.
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant
wanyoz@gmail.com, +254 725812827 || Watermelon Farming Consultant