This was our first attempt at growing watermelons.
My planting method went like this: "Oh, that was a good watermelon that we got from the farmer's market. I'll just toss some of these seeds onto the unplanted garden area and see what happens."
My husband's planting method was more sophisticated: "I'll plant some of these seeds that Aunt Polly gave us a few years ago. I'm even going to weed the area first, and plant in mounds. But I'm not going to use any fertilizer, because this dirt is so good. It's all a matter of mind control, anyway."
You might be surprised to learn that we did actually manage to grow a few excellent watermelons.
They were very tasty! We had a two or three week window between the first ripe melon and the first hard frost (around the first of November).
Did you know that melons can suffer from blossom end rot? It's a common problem with tomatoes, but for melons I get the impression that you really have to be trying. Oops. I blamed it on not fertilizing this end of the garden at all. Hubby blamed it on not watering enough (and improper mind control). It was probably the result of both. (I don't subscribe to the mind control theory of gardening.)
8 comments:
Pretty watermelons! I'm not sure about the mind control part either!!
I've never heard of the mind control theory of gardening. What exactly does the mind control?
Nice watermelons.
I think my veggie garden would benefit from mind control. Too bad going out there every so often and willing things to GROW DARNIT hasn't seemed to be enough.
I don't think blossom end rot has anything to do with fertilizing, if that's some consolation. More about sporadic watering, I think.
I like watermelon. Did you catch these on your critter cam..
"I'll plant some of these seeds that Aunt Polly gave us a few years ago..."
Did he actually say that or did he implant that thought into your head telepathically?
Were his lips moving?
We grew some tasty cantaloupes from a similar method. We put them out for the birds and soon found a strange vine growing under the feeder. (Birds didn't like the seeds either.) But when we tried to grow watermelon, all we got was a few leaves.
Hubby has this idea that a positive attitude is the main thing that's necessary for a good garden. Sometimes I believe he thinks that it can replace fertilizer. ;)
I've read that it's a lack of calcium that causes blossom end rot. So, this can happen in several ways. Either not enough calcium in the soil, or not enough water to bring up the calcium that is there, or several other things. It can be complicated!
Congrats on the melons! I have a friend who was eating a piece of watermelon on her front yard here in Boston and the next thing she knew, she was growing watermelon! It got to be an OK size, but not the size you see in a supermarket.
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