Watermelon's from Seeds

[aamirc]

Salam, I planted a couple of Watermelon seeds in an egg carton about 5 days ago and just today i've noticed that a seed has germinated. I didn't expect it to grow at all.

http://i39.tinypic.com/2w5rnrp.jpg

http://i40.tinypic.com/2ica687.jpg

I have now transplanted it to a polystyrene cup.

http://i39.tinypic.com/zxo0uc.jpg

http://i43.tinypic.com/2009yf6.jpg

I have read that watermelon plants require lots of space, lots of water and lots and lots of nutrients. I guess I'll have to do a bit of research on them. They grow on vines like the cucumber ones.

Watermelons are grown from seed. You may be tempted to use seed out of a melon you bought, but don't waste your time. It is almost guaranteed to be a hybrid.

Hybrid varieties are very special crosses that don't grow true to type. (You would end up growing what we call pig melons. A melon variety that's only good for feeding to the pigs...)

I don't expect any good watermelon to come out of it though. The information recommends you buy proper seeds not the stuff you got from your supermarket watermelon.

Watermelon seed germinates easily and quickly, within a few days. Watermelon plants outgrow the seedling stage very quickly, and they don't like transplanting. You don't save much time and you end up with a weaker plant.

So I guess my plant is going to be weak.

[Riz]

nice pics amir..

watermelon seeds are cheap, you should have bought a pack !?

[aamirc]

haha... yes I should of, but I enjoy growing things out of seeds I find myself, rather than the stuff you get from packets. It's just more fun and it doesn't feel like cheating, also you get a surprise when it grows to full maturity. It could be a pleasant feeling or a not so pleasant one. It will be fun to see what this plant produces. :D Packeted seeds are almost always perfect, strainwise, there's no sense of achievement at the end.

[aamirc]

Wow... these grow really quick... my one in one day is already taller than one and a half inches. i didn't expect it to grow so fast... Well I guess it is a vine. The main leaf bud has split into two.

I've had them under a lamp for 5 hours.

http://i44.tinypic.com/21mu5om.jpg

The one that sprouted this morning is growing really nicely.

http://i40.tinypic.com/ej75oj.jpg

A second seedling has also sprouted it seems to be growing faster than the first one.

http://i41.tinypic.com/6ozequ.jpg

The next picture I will post will hopefully have more leaves on the plant. Untill then Salam.

Is a 60 watt classic light bulb a good source of light? It's been really cloudy the past two days in Sydney, there's no natural sunlight.

[Kirsten]

Hey! Your homemade cloche with the clear cups is brilliant!!!

[aamirc]

Hey! Your homemade cloche with the clear cups is brilliant!!!

I merely stole them off the top of used Sundae cups. They are actually lids. It traps the moisture in and keeps the humidity level high which I don't know if its a good thing or not:rolleyes:.

[Riz]

you can take the lid of, once they have germinated :GreenThumbs:


If you would have bought the seeds from the store, it would have involved the same process ( germination etc.) but with the store seeds you will be guaranteed inshallah sweet tasting melons.. so you might as well get the seeds, or maybe grow both and this way you will know for sure which is the better one !!!/

[Riz]

Is a 60 watt classic light bulb a good source of light? It's been really cloudy the past two days in Sydney, there's no natural sunlight. NO.

incandescent bulbs don't have the right spectrum of light.

[aamirc]

you can take the lid of, once they have germinated :GreenThumbs:


If you would have bought the seeds from the store, it would have involved the same process ( germination etc.) but with the store seeds you will be guaranteed inshallah sweet tasting melons.. so you might as well get the seeds, or maybe grow both and this way you will know for sure which is the better one !!!/

I have taken the lid off... Thanks for the heads up. I will buy watermelon seeds when spring comes again in September, right now Australia is about to go into winter, there's no point in planting proper seeds now as they will probably die in the poor weather.

The watermelon plants now seem to be growing a new set of leaves. :butterfly3:

[~Obsidian~]

WaAlaykum AsSalaam

Do you know how long they'll take to fruit?

[aamirc]

WaAlaykum AsSalaam

Do you know how long they'll take to fruit?

Well a watermelon takes about a 80-100 days to mature, so add that to the number of days it takes to flower, which shouldn't be too long i think seeing as it is a vine. Hence I would probably say about half an year. But I guess that depends on perfect conditions. Australia is currently going into winter, so I don't expect it to grow any substantial fruit. But it might survive untill summer then I might get some fruit next year, however I didn't use proper seeds so the fruit may possibly be useless. From what I've read on the net you should buy packeted seeds to grow good fruit.

The good thing about watermelon vines is that both the male and female flowers grow on the same vine, so one vine is good enough to grow a watermelon.

[aamirc]

Just an update on the seedlings, I have transplanted it to a massive pot, the tap root grows so fast It hit the bottom of the cup so quickly. I put it in a pine bark potting mix with lot's of microscopic bacteria in it. I will post pictures of it tomorrow. It has a partially developed set of new leaves now. The leaves look like mini water melons, which is ub3r coo. My little brother thought that there were watermelons growing on it already, lol.

[aamirc]

I planted so many of those watermelon seeds that all of them germinated, I don't know what to do with them... They feel like a pest now. lol

[edibles]

nice aamirc. i was going to sow my watermelon seeds 'til my dad decided he wanted to do it,which was fine until he left them outdoors exposed to rain/wind etc never germinated.

[aamirc]

nice aamirc. i was going to sow my watermelon seeds 'til my dad decided he wanted to do it,which was fine until he left them outdoors exposed to rain/wind etc never germinated.

I've read on the net that the minimum temperature the seeds germinate at is 18 degrees celsius. Germinate them indoors then plant outdoors in the summer that's probably the best way..

[edibles]

Despite the fact that these were sown in late February when everything was colder, and even frosty, the watermelon seeds have germinated with great vigor
as of today

[~Obsidian~]

Wuhoo! do you expect them to fruit here edibles?

[edibles]

yeah, hopefully by late august, mostly september

[~Obsidian~]

In the UK? Are you keeping them outdoors or in a cold frame or something? And are the seeds from an ordinary watermelon or are they a strain from a packet that'll cope with our weather?

[Nife180]

I Think I have been quiet about my seedling...Too quiet perhaps? :rolleyes:

This has been started from a seed pack. At the time I had 7 seedlings, I lost 3, now this is my biggest one. I haven't been noticing how much growth this thing is putting. It's starting to vine now as you can see by the tiny hook thing (Anyone know what it is called?)

Edit: Found out, It's called a tendril

I think I'm getting the hang of this macro mode thing too :)

Picture 1: Whole Seedling
Picture 2: A Tendril
Picture 3: One of the Vines
Picture 4: Under the Leaves

[aamirc]

nice pictures, nife180 and edibles. Make sure you are planting these at the start of spring and not at the start of winter like me. You have to make sure the season is right. My ones are neither dead nor alive. They are not growing or dieing. However, my rockmelon plant was planted at the same time and it is only about 10 cm tall and it already has like 4 flowers growing off it already. It's amazing nife that your plant hasn't begun to flower yet. :D

[Nife180]

It's kinda to early for it to flower, The packet says "Ready for harvest about 80 days after seeding", It's been just about 20 days to one month for it. But I once planted a watermelon from the supermarket when I was 12, It produced one watermelon only and It was the size of two fists, I don't remember the taste. But It produced small vines too.

Compare these two:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/phoebewanders/1204395544/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bkng/75823586/

I've got a seedling older than this one and It just got It's first true leave, so the soil needs fertilizing.

[Nife180]

I decided to transplant the watermelon to it's final place, a 12 liter bucket (3.2 Gallons).

I put some rocks at the bottom then potting soil, and sprinkled some used tea sacks, then put more potting soil and tossed in some bananas. Then I put more soil and transferred the watermelon to the pot.

I've learned several things, one of them is moist potting soil = fly breeding ground, so I used some pebbles as mulch, I'm not a fan of organic mulch because of the fungus it attracts, but I had to wash the pebbles. As they are covered with fine lime and sand.

You can see the vine is putting out lots of growth :eek:, But I expect the plant to get transplant shock for two days maybe and then continue. Excuse the top photo's. Photographing at night is not my thing. :p

[aamirc]

those pebles look like the pebbles they put on roads... :D .... Well I transplanted my half dead watermelon plants straight into the ground, I don't really care if they die now, I will plant proper packeted seeds when summer comes around in 4 months

[Nife180]

those pebles look like the pebbles they put on roads... :D .... Well I transplanted my half dead watermelon plants straight into the ground, I don't really care if they die now, I will plant proper packeted seeds when summer comes around in 4 months
Lol, they are Construction pebbles. We had some left overs so I figured why not :p. The Melon is wilting, as expected it looks like trasplant shock. should clear up in a few days though.

[Tania]

They look good :) i like so much the water melons but here i don't have enough conditions to obtain a yield. According with the agriculture book.

[Nife180]

Yeah they like Hot or Warm weather, I've never had that much luck In growing anything, but who knows :p

This variety is Crimson Sweet, so I hope I can get away with the 12 liters container as long as I water generously, If I do it won't develop a thick taproot as far as research says.

Hope you don't mind. Just out of curiosity, what's your summer weather like?

[edibles]

In the UK? Are you keeping them outdoors or in a cold frame or something? And are the seeds from an ordinary watermelon or are they a strain from a packet that'll cope with our weather?

they are being grown from a packet varities and are growing quickly, can see the start of the vines

also gonna starts some kiwis soon

[Nife180]

they are being grown from a packet varities and are growing quickly, can see the start of the vines

also gonna starts some kiwis soon
Speaking of Kiwi's I got some to germinate in a wet tissue, (Could see the roots), but I potted them and I see no sprouts yet.

What Variety are you growing?

[edibles]

not sure about your climate, kiwi is very temperate, and not a fan of heat or wind, also needs winter before it sets fruit.
Personally I am unsure, they need 240 frost free days before they become hardy(hardy to 10f/-12c) also gonna need male + female plants, may just do it for fun with supermarket type(generally uniform from seed

[Tania]

In summer we have between 18 and 40 celsius degrees. I sow this year only what the book approved (and i can't complain until now). May be next year :)

[~Obsidian~]

By the book eh, well at least you'll gain some experience and confidence this year so that next year you can plant alot more, easily.

[aamirc]

OK, advice to anyone I read on the net that transplanting watermelon plants results in weaker plants. They say should sow watermelons straight into their final resting place.

[Nife180]

Yeah I read that thing a few days ago, but It bounced back to it's former state. It's now growing nicley. This is the first time so I'm hoping all goes well.

[Nife180]

It's starting to put out some vines, I put an old mattress frame for it, the tendrils have coiled on the frame just 10 minutes after I re-routed the vine. I'll do this to all vines I think, overall it's awesome. I may plant some black eyed peas as companions, as I read they give them the nitrogen they are hungry for.

[ze leetle elper]

My daughter has been eating lots of watermelon now they are in season, so a coupel of weeks ago she decided to 'plant' the seeds lol...I gave her a couple of small pots and she stuk them and and waters them everyday with her watering can :p I was thinking in a few days I was going to secretely put in a flower seedling or something so she thought it grew...but to my surprise I went to look at it today and it has sprouted 2 leaves lol! she was over the moon! :D

[~Obsidian~]

Any updates Nife?

MashaAllah Zee, too cute :D

[zishaan]

Salaam. I said I was gonna put pics of my watermelon plants up and then completely forgot. Anyway, here they are. They've flowered, and just today I looked very closely and saw what I believe is the start of a fruit. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[rubmanhayat]

Oh yes that's gonna be a watermelon Inshallah. Did you hand pollinate that?

[zishaan]

Nope. I just water it and let it do its thing.

[Foreveryoung]

http://i41.tinypic.com/6ozequ.jpg

This is such a classic pic , the most exciting stage . Loved it.


We have Watermelon season here in Pakistan and instead of throwing the seeds in a trash bin, i used to feed birds in one empty pot and next day when i would go to throw more seeds in that pot, it was already empty and i was always delightd to know sparrows were eating them. Then there was some gap in this practice and one day when i came back from my job, the first thing I noticed was seedlings sprouting in the same pot......... So manyyyyyyyy. I literally jumped with excitement as it wasnt a planned growing. But I hope that these would bear some fruit too iA.... Time will tel.


Here are the pics.

http://i577.photobucket.com/albums/ss217/AyeshaUK2009/Gardening/DSCN7609.jpg


http://i577.photobucket.com/albums/ss217/AyeshaUK2009/Gardening/DSCN7608.jpg


Tiny seedlings can also be seen.

http://i577.photobucket.com/albums/ss217/AyeshaUK2009/Gardening/DSCN8124.jpg

[Foreveryoung]

They are growing healthy mahsllah. Time to transfer them from the pot i guess ?

http://i577.photobucket.com/albums/ss217/AyeshaUK2009/Gardening/DSCN8122.jpg


Now i have some space where i sowed some more seeds just to experiment. The pot was kept in the sunlight where as these are growing under the thick shade of our Mango tree. But doing well so far Alhamdulillah.
lol This mango fell from the tree when I was capturing the pic, so I took the pic as it is :) Doubled the joy .......


http://i577.photobucket.com/albums/ss217/AyeshaUK2009/Gardening/DSCN8121.jpg


Now I hope to see some good resuts iA. Why I doubt is the shape of leaves which are sort of different from watermelon plant of the thread opener ? So i hope that my excitement doesnt go vein and its not something else thats growing over th ere :unsure:

Oh well, as I said earlier, only time will tell iA.

[Tania]

After the size of seedlings i would move them in a more sunny place :o

[pwr_wrx]

when using fresh seeds...do you need to let them dry before planting?

[~Obsidian~]

Now I hope to see some good resuts iA. Why I doubt is the shape of leaves which are sort of different from watermelon plant of the thread opener ? So i hope that my excitement doesnt go vein and its not something else thats growing over th ere :unsure:

Oh well, as I said earlier, only time will tell iA.

Masha'Allah! Such high germination rates, and vigorous seedlings! Don't be in doubt though, not when you've deliberately sown seeds somewhere else and gotten the same results. It might be a different variety of melon that you're growing over there from the one that the OP grew, or that the leaves have yet to reach full size.

Masha'Allah at the mango! Ah man, I really want some fresh pakistani mangoes over here :(

[Foreveryoung]

when using fresh seeds...do you need to let them dry before planting?


No, you dont need to dry them at all. Fresh seeds are ready to be used. I myself have used seeds out of a melon I just bought, so don't waste your time. It is almost guaranteed to give you desirable results iA. But i have learnt from my experience tht we shud sow seeds in the ground, right where they are supposed to grow as now i have to thin them out and seedlings seem to be really very delicate and am not sure if they would survive after transplanting . its seeds germinates easily and quickly, within a few days really.

[Foreveryoung]

Masha'Allah! Such high germination rates, and vigorous seedlings! Don't be in doubt though, not when you've deliberately sown seeds somewhere else and gotten the same results. It might be a different variety of melon that you're growing over there from the one that the OP grew, or that the leaves have yet to reach full size.

Masha'Allah at the mango! Ah man, I really want some fresh pakistani mangoes over here :(
Jazakallah Obsidian. You are right. Its just a different type and that's all because no other veggie or even flower showed me such response and its seedlings are really growing healthier every day.

lol . You are most welcome to have my mangoes but still they wont be fresh when u'll get them .You need to come to Pakistan to taste fresh , juicy Pakistani mangoes. :)

[~Obsidian~]

Ah don't rub it in! I've got to make some solid plans to go there one day, maybe autumn 2012 insha'Allah :D in the meantime, I'll get the ones I just saw a local shop selling (:eek:).

Keep us updated on the progress insha'Allah! :GreenThumbs:

[noora]

Masha'Allah

[Foreveryoung]

Keep us updated on the progress insha'Allah! :GreenThumbs:
Here you go

Alhamdulillah for this miracle =) Home grown water melon.

http://i577.photobucket.com/albums/ss217/AyeshaUK2009/Gardening/DSCN8452.jpg


http://i577.photobucket.com/albums/ss217/AyeshaUK2009/Gardening/DSCN8451.jpg


http://i577.photobucket.com/albums/ss217/AyeshaUK2009/Gardening/DSCN8450.jpg

[Tania]

Congratulation. you can harvest and eat the watermelon:)

[Foreveryoung]

^ Thank you so much Tania :) :ty:

[Tania]

Welcome. I will try next year too.:)

[~Obsidian~]

Masha'Allah!!!