Growing Watermelons From START TO FINISH - Tips and Tricks and Some Unusual Varieties

Join me to grow Watermelons from seed and follow the whole process of growing right through to harvesting and tasting the fruit we've grown together. I'll be growing heirloom varieties that are a little unusual and look pretty exotic, tropical and interesting. These unique watermelons can be grown in the same way as regular watermelons, so join me on this experiment and learn how to grow watermelon from start to finish. We will go through all of the watermelon growing stages, from seed to foliage to flowers to fruiting. I'll be talking about soil use, fertilizing melons and how to know when watermelons are ripe.
Today well be growing:
Watermelon - Moon and Stars; Georgia Rattlesnake; Gold on Gold; Golden Midget as well as a Banana Melon.
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The Kiwi Grower is a channel featuring all sorts of unusual of often tropical fruiting plants with tips of how to successfully grow them. I'm interested in all things gardening and love growing edibles. While I'm not in a tropical climate I like pushing limits of what I can grow and sharing experiments with you all. Come learn with me and Subscribe! I have animal videos too :).
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[@TheKiwiGrower]

Make sure you watch the 2nd video to see what the other interesting watermelon varieties looked like on the inside! kzbin.info/www/bejne/qYGaaZWLg6yFjtU Thanks for watching! 😁🍉

[@ahmedreda-iw2kh]

hahahaha

[@CLifemusic]

I'm in Houston, how you recommend I plant them if I don't have a tire to put them in? I have sugar baby watermelon seed? How should I start? Is it bad to just put them straight in the ground?

[@inubaye2030]

I'm watching your video for the first time and subscribed immediately. Please my question is why should I plant a seed for 3months before transferring to the tyre/pot when it's said it takes 80 to 90days to harvest? Kindly explain to me please as I'm about planting some variety for the first time in my 600sqm farm. I base in Nigeria Africa. I will highly appreciate your immediate response. Thanks

[@seanhoughton-hawksley8009]

@@ahmedreda-iw2kh Doubt you'd see this, but if you grow a fruit or veg that speards (ie. Watermelon, pumpkin, etc.) it's a good idea to check the spreads and see if they've grown roots. they need water too since it's another way for those fruits or veggies to obtain more nutrients to grow the fruits. It might be why the harvest is quite small, too.

[@everydayheroes436]

I've grown melons in the states my entire life, My grandparents grew them in abundance for the farmers market. I could tell at a glance that the plants were stressed. They should have been watered much more often, if drainage allowed. when doing so always water at the base to prevent vine rot with random water on the vines if you live in an arid environment without regular rainfall. For sweeter watermelons and cantaloupes when the plant starts vining and again when small 1-inch melons appear, spray the vines and then water with 6 1/2 tablespoons Epsom salts and 3 1/2 tablespoons borax in 5 gallons of water. (Epsom salt is NOT a salt actually, its magnesium) the split in what we locally (slang) call "yellow meated watermelons" is from dehydration. A great video though and a fantastic first attempt. If you need some seeds, let me know and I'll send you some varieties along with printed instructions of how we consistantly produce blue ribbon award melons upwards of 30+ lbs and super delicious! :)

[@NubianP6]

Great info! Thanks for posting!

[@ramseyebryant]

Is there any way i can get some of those seeds

[@ramseyebryant]

?

[@Mweedy420]

how much for a packet of 10? ill buy some next year...i already have mine in the garden for this year. but i would love to try some of yours! thank you! :)

[@everydayheroes436]

@@ramseyebryant when we harvest in a few weeks I'll message you back, that way you'll have some from this year's crop

[@keeperofthegood]

40+ years ago, the water melons all had seeds and had heavy rinds. Mom never complained, we ate the red as-is and pickled the white of the rind, and then ate the white as well minced as a relish on hot dogs.

[@TheKiwiGrower]

Wow that’s so interesting. Never thought about using the rind!

[@dianeprince1684]

My mother juices the rind. How do you pickle them?

[@keeperofthegood]

@@dianeprince1684 The are done many ways today but were done historically the way similar "winter" pickles were made. Vinegar Sugar Water is the base, cloves and cinnamon are the most often primary flavours, but can use any of the spices used in Mixed Spice (which is similar to pumpkin spice or cake spice). Pickle just the whites of the melon, the pink portions go funky. You can also pickle crab apples the same way in essentially the same pickling liquid (also a winter table pickle, and on vanilla ice cream really nice). Of the ways my mom did them we enjoyed them as a relish (minced) best but there are many options.

[@dianeprince1684]

@@keeperofthegood Thank you! I am in the Caribbean and growing wateemelons for the first time. I will try pickling the rinds since I just throw them out if not saving them for my mother.

[@samanthagreergould]

@@keeperofthegood can you actually give me the exact amounts you would use to make this winter pickling mix for the rind and how long it takes to pickle

[@Bobithan]

Everyone here is some professional farmer and I'm just here wanting to grow a Mellon in my garden

[@lindsaywait8763]

You're not the only one! I'm growing my first melons in 5 gallon buckets (we have lead in the soil which makes my husband nervous) and have 2 about the size of his little "spicy" one. I'm excited to cut them open in a few weeks!

[@tennayaauana3151]

Same

[@user_-vv9og]

2ft deep drained well bucket with soft and loamy soil, fertilise every few months, water twice a day and you are all good

[@valeriesanchez3074]

I am growing mine in a mr stacky tower pot. I fertilize once a week with a water soluble plant food. I give 1/4 gallon water on mondays and thursdays. Also add some calcium so the fruits don't rot. Do this and you are good

[@chadsmith8779]

Same Here!

[@googletranslatesings9169]

What I find really enjoyable about this video is that you showed us through the entire journey and commented on the various things. Keep it up!!

[@np7809]

Translate pasta in bagùete

[@One-Hundred]

I love watching this mans videos, it's so wholesome seeing him excited to check on the harvested fruit and veggies he grows. This makes me want to start growing something aswell 😄😄

[@ronnalscammahorn8002]

A lesson learned about watering and leaf mildew , don't water the leaves , add water from below . A cup of Epsom salt per 5 gallons of water works wonders on root growth and overall plant health . Happy trails 👣

[@nopenottalib4366]

@First name Last name Epsom salt isn't a salt like what you're thinking of. It's a compound of magnesium and sulfur. (MgS04-7H2O) Table salt or sea salt on the other hand, is around 97% sodium chloride. (NaCl) Magnesium allows plants to better absorb nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus. It's best to have your soil tested for magnesium content before adding Epsom salt because there are many plants, like beans and leafy vegetables, that will happily grow and produce in soils with low levels of magnesium. Other plants like rose, tomatoes and peppers, require lots of magnesium, and therefore, are more commonly watered with Epsom salt.

[@everydayheroes436]

Absolutely correct. Watered vines depends upon the local rainfall amounts. If regular, no vine watering after the melons appear, if extremely arid, only mist the vines every 3rd it 4th watering

[@qweeknee4208]

How often to do the Epsom salt treatment? Is the five gallons per each plant?

[@dianeprince1684]

Is this for watermelons only or does it apply to all plants?

[@valeriesanchez3074]

I do 1/4 tsp per gallon of epsom salt.

[@Lumimyrsky]

Woah that Moon and Stars melon is BEAUTIFUL :O

[@cjmillar2201]

6:40 the moon star melon has the Southern Cross right on it how cool!!

[@TheKiwiGrower]

Haha so cool never noticed that

[@stayfresh06]

Thanks for showing us the whole process

[@line5815]

i find it really cute that the Moon And Stars melon actually looks like a dark night with yellow stars

[@Glic2000]

Amazing video! Felt like I was right there with you.

[@BlueberriiandFriends]

Awww Sky is so happy 🥰 You've just made my day!

[@TheKiwiGrower]

Haha thanks for the comment, yes she's very cute! :)

[@ladychinqianqian8510]

Thanks 🙏 loved watching

[@user-rq4kf6dr7t]

The way you cover the grassy groud to plant melons is so creative...

[@NK__NK__NK]

Awesome video! I was searching for one that showed the entire process from seed to fruit! Thanks!! :) Now I know how to plant my watermelons.

[@corvus_king3282]

Great video! After seeing this I'm definitly going to try using old tires for my Charentais and Madhu Ras melons. Thanks again

[@keymae6714]

Wow! Well done !

[@michaelsmith9629]

If you keeping teaching, I'll keep learnin'. Thanks....subbed

[@SwahiliSpicE]

Great vid. Subscribed. I had three watermelon plants in pots on the window sill that didn’t look like they would make it. So I took them outside and neglected them. My 11yr old being so excited to grow some said he’ll try and rescue them. So he put one in the ground just over a week ago and I thought nothing of it. To my surprise, I checked on it this morning and it was thriving with plenty of new growth. I have two tyres in my garden and you’ve given me an idea. I think I’ll go and plant the other two watermelons in the tyres tomorrow morning with him. That will put a huge smile on his face :-)

[@chiomascharm4596]

Nice video! Thanks for sharing!

[@kalerafruitfarms]

Very informative video

[@otaiko4806]

Great video

[@barringtonsmith9147]

Nice job, just straight forward and simple,

[@Carolynefit]

Wow, admire the patience to make this video. Amazing

[@sherylgallagher1299]

Love all your videos

[@mubarakmubooos]

Really amazing, thanks boss

[@jerelwilson7879]

Pretty interesting video and it was helpful as to planting the melon 🍉 in a tire.

[@talibahdivine]

This is amazing!! I've been wondering what to plant in the tires, and I have watermelon seedlings going already.. this whole field you have going is so inspiring 🍉🌱💛

[@donaldmachado4462]

Love this video

[@farrahcarolina2898]

That was the best thing I have ever seen before thanks for that video

[@jamiestewart7327]

Congrats on 150k subscribers. Love your videos👍🏼💚 Inspired me to start growing my own food :)

[@TheKiwiGrower]

Thanks Jamie and that’s so awesome to hear! 😁

[@JayJohnson-gz1fv]

You did a great job

[@stormhunter8931]

9:05 what a lovely sound when you cut the watermelon! 🙂😊😃🍉

[@curiousd6533]

Nice 👍 thanks for sharing have learned something

[@jbmwangi6681]

Very helpful video🙏🏾

[@wildchook745]

Good to see you. I love watermelon and will grow some next October.

[@SamsAdventures247]

Great idea with the tyres 👍☀️

[@danibryant9318]

Thank you! I am currently growing two different types of watermelon for my first time, California sunshine but I see I have to water more

[@siamihnamte8244]

So happy to see the cutting part,.. New subscriber here..

[@petrtshine7172]

Thank you so much for good video follow you for next .

[@amazonraw-she-uh4439]

Best watermelon video I’ve seen! Thanks

[@TheKiwiGrower]

Thanks so much :)

[@darrien28]

Hahahahahaha!!!!! I laughed so hard when I saw Carolines chunk of watermelon hit the table! In fact Im still laughing!! AWESome!!! 😂😂😂 Absolutely LOVE your work - definitely make it a team-thing on some vids, too! 😃😃😃

[@jamestropicals8262]

We planted 9 varieties of watermelon seeds for a garden this summer! We will have 54 melon plants which is quite a lot haha

[@CarlosDiaz-tk7gd]

Ou what kind?

[@candicane3985]

I'm growing. My watermelon in a tire as well! Cool!

[@deestuurman4815]

Video was awesome.. i love the details in growing watermelon because I am gonna try an grow some come this End July 2020 so they ready summer .. thanks guys

[@donnellpayne529]

Cool video.🖒

[@estherkaidza1618]

Thank you so much

[@Songbird36able]

It's a yellow belly melon. That's what my dad called them. Loved the video!!!

[@lavondarainey4515]

Great video and I Love watermelon. 🙂👍👍👍👍

[@boyaoli840]

Good job mate!

[@valroseharris2017]

Airsoft farmer and I never see nobody plant in any watermelon like that so you're the best best best Watermelon Man

[@arandompieceoffruit4017]

“Golden midget melon” Whoever came up with such a beautiful name.

[@sudipasnest50]

🍉 watermelons are very beautifully grown in your garden

[@AmbrociousXP]

Caleb, your one heck of a beautiful person! I'm a new subscriber yet I already feel like I love you!

[@TheKiwiGrower]

Oh you're too nice, thanks so much and welcome to the channel! :)

[@myhealthobs5290]

Great channel mate 👍

[@matit8360]

Thank you so much 👍👍👍👍

[@kolapyellow7631]

first time seeing yellow watermellon. .. Awesome!

[@TheKiwiGrower]

They’re so cool ay! Would definitely recommend having a go at growing them. So delicious 😋

[@Akren905]

Those are awesome looking mr kiwi needs to start a seed trading group. Id trade some seeds for some yellow melons or the odd one

[@johnnyzheng7691]

Good job

[@beckytaul4355]

Thank you

[@waltermelon5194]

Good video. 10/10.

[@MakerOfBricks]

never grown watermelon but i’ve always wanted to this will be useful

[@christianmburanumwe7452]

Thank you very much. .

[@user-fn9yv7ve3q]

WOW you teached me how to plant watermelon

[@missmeyon]

Thank you! I'm growing a few of my own.🍉

[@TheKiwiGrower]

Awesome good luck with them :)

[@johnwilliams2711]

Love your videos mate. Especially seeing your plants grow from seed to feed. BTW, that was a nice looking monstera in the background of your final shot.

[@TheKiwiGrower]

Thanks for the comment :). I found the monstera in a local park backed onto someone’s property as a piece of cut off stalk chucked out from someone’s property. A year later and it’s a beautiful plant :)

[@johnwilliams2711]

@@TheKiwiGrower Don't know if monstera fruits in your part of the world. It's delicious, but a bit tricky. ☺🖒

[@TheKiwiGrower]

Yup it does fruit. Have seen it fruiting elsewhere. I just like the plant but if I get the fruit that’s a bonus!

[@johnwilliams2711]

@@TheKiwiGrower Good luck then! It doesn't ripen all at once, only eat the parts where the skin falls away easily. If it's under-ripe it's like getting prickles in your tongue. We usd a fork to eat it. Cheers!

[@TheKiwiGrower]

Good to know, thanks!

[@sudhirmehta2639]

Nice 👍

[@Creativeworld_079]

Thank You so much

[@lorainemugebe1046]

This is great

[@PrincessFidelma]

This is really encouraging. My little cousin is obsessed with watermelon 🍉 and I'd love to be able to grow some and plonk a big ol fruit fresh from the garden in her arms, but so far I haven't had much luck with them or melons, I've tried several times to grow Moon & Stars watermelon, all I manage is their beautiful freckled leaves ☹️ another year I grew a 5 inch ball (can't remember variety) which started to go soft so I harvested it, and it was all pith apart from a cm of pink 😭

[@johngregcerezo7994]

thank you very much im beginner here planting watermelon

[@namysparkle]

Great. Nice to see you are enjoying the new place. Might just plant my watermelon in the compost patch.🤫😄

[@TheKiwiGrower]

Worth a go! :)

[@TEACHER.CLEOPHAS]

Inspiring.

[@qweeknee4208]

Perfect timing as I have 13 watermelon starts I was wondering where to plant! I have lots of tires. Thank you.

[@andimoreno8963]

Don't use newspaper on the bottom, Just skip that step altogether. If there is grass there rip it up.

[@andimoreno8963]

Two years ago....hahah

[@qweeknee4208]

@@andimoreno8963 KZbin is always ready! Haha I have more watermelon this year. Hasn't really worked well but I keep trying.

[@andimoreno8963]

@@qweeknee4208 I planted mine right into the ground under a garden chair. I'm hoping they will climb the chair and live there under the shade. So many ways ...plants don't care 😘

[@ddubois1970]

The brownish lines on the outside of the rain is actually from the sugar in the watermelon. The more of those lines you have the sweeter the watermelon is. I learned this from an elderly gentleman in our area who would grown watermelon for over 60 years. He had several acres of watermelon each year that he would grow. Many varieties but my favorite was the golden

[@farmerfarmerja]

Great video! Keep it up... I am actually gonna plant watermelons now🙌🙌

[@TheKiwiGrower]

Awesome good luck!

[@valeriewalkerwhite9525]

great idea w the tires...

[@fabianaraya636]

The split inside the melon is possibly what's called "hollow heart", it occurs when pollination is inadequate. Not sure though, I'm a layman. :)

[@amyrios5548]

I've also heard that.

[@johnthomas5844]

It means it’s over ripe

[@valeriesanchez3074]

Too much water during stress

[@lyonheart84]

Great job with all those varieties of melon, wish we had your climate here in the UK so we could try watermelon growing 👍

[@veganchiefwarrior6444]

a cool temperate climate? i thought thats exactly what the uks climate was?

[@cirrocumulus1948]

BetterYouBetterWorld V Here in the UK the weather is unpredictable one minute it’s sunny the next minute it’s snowing the next minute it’s hailing the next minute it’s raining.

[@krane15]

@@veganchiefwarrior6444 Too cold for watermelons there, they like it hot (70-80s). Unless greenhouse?

[@ren_elyn]

I love these kind of videos! More to come soon, hopefully

[@thisfool89]

Do watermelon usually only produce one melon per plant?

[@johnwilliamson2276]

I will be trying the tire planting this Spring for cantaloupe.

[@Eowynkit]

I’ve found that when the melon starts to split in the middle it’s usually over ripe at least in my experience, if they are left too much longer after they start to get grainy and lose their flavor. I’ve never had a golden melon before so it could just be the variety. We tried ghost melons this year, I only got two off the plant but they were huge and really rather tasty thought the flavor was pretty mild compared to the other melon we planted which was a smaller and I got about 10 off that plant can’t for the life of me remember the variety though lol I’ll have to go pull the tags up before I plow it under for the season.

[@mygardenchannel]

nice video keep up the amazing content💚

[@orlandogardener]

🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉🍉

[@thumbalina1568]

Wow! 🌻💯

[@garyhoneybuss6965]

That's really helpful I needed to see this great job

[@TheKiwiGrower]

Glad I could help :)

[@Howto-uy7vo]

Yay, I finally succeeded growing watermelon after watching this. I did gold on gold, and have eaten 2 so far. Feels like forever waiting for them to ripen lol its so easy for such a high value crop, I'm gonna do it every year now

[@TheKiwiGrower]

That's awesome to hear!

[@antoniokauele3141]

Nice harvest of water melon keep working u shall better

[@rrichards1210]

Just discovered your channel and have loved your videos. Being a kiwi myself, and living in an area with late (and early) frosts, the information is great. I will attempt once again to grow melons this year (love your idea of using tires) as I have Moon and Star seeds and pie melon seeds. I have never been successful in the past, but this might be the year!

[@TheKiwiGrower]

Thanks heaps. Hope it goes well for you and hopefully we get a nice hot Summer for them to thrive

[@Valerie72]

going into autumn in april;) love from switzerland - we go into spring in april😉

[@TheTubeDude]

That was fun. Outside of Tucumcari, New Mexico In the mid 50's we always planted Texas Yellow Watermelon. Usually around 40# sometimes bigger. To check the crop my uncle would cut spears out of the test subject. Thank you for your wonderful video.

[@cheongyei]

Fun channel!

[@awesmax8010]

alot of effort and time was put in this awesome video

[@pemelamlambo6786]

Thanky soso murch

[@FrankLassowski]

I did grow melons this year for the first time, and they turned out great even after I disturbed their root balls very much after replanting them into the soil. (Didn't know about their sensitivity t that time). After planting they stoppped growing for almost six weeks, partly because of the roots partly because the weather was very cold. But I harvested 4 to 5 melons from each of the 2 plants, and they tasted good enough to try it out again next year. Definitly will seed them earlier and bring them out later :-) And maybe with a little more sun they will be as excellent as yours.

[@TheKiwiGrower]

Nice one, glad you still got a nice harvest from them!

[@audreyfastuca5960]

It's really lovely that you chose to share the harvesting and opening of the melons with your viewers. I can only imagine how you felt, waiting to slice them open and instead of just opening one for the camera, you shared several- thanks! Just one question: since tires are made with chemicals are metals (along with rubber of course), are you worried that those might not break down into your soil overtime?

[@TheKiwiGrower]

Hi, thanks for the comment :) Good question about the tyres, I’ve looked into this recently and yes they can leech overtime but it’s a very very slow process. The tyres release the chemicals when they’re burnt - the sun does this to tyres too, however like I said it happens really slowly. There are mixed opinions on the matter I believe, and unfortunately no scientific studies have been done on it. So I feel ok about using them short term considering it’s such a long process for them to break down. I think though if someone’s not comfortable with it then don’t do it, as there are plenty of other alternatives :)

[@andimoreno8963]

@@TheKiwiGrower You would not use new tires. That's all. IF the tire is more than a year old you are fine.

[@shanksslayers1716]

Nice I like watermelons :)

[@ihopeugrow]

I just watched another guy cut off a tennis ball-size watermelon cause it’s not a perfect round. I was speechless. Thanks for not being a weirdo. Hit like & subbed as soon as I saw your pup’s happy face 🐶

[@jamestropicals8262]

We planted 4 banana melon plants close to each other in the garden and they took off and they are growing absolutely crazy big haha but I do see a couple tiny banana melons starting to form!

[@khaleelmershad6107]

King of planting

[@bubbles7398]

I live in the US. I just planted 3 seeds outside today. It’s been so hot it’s probably gonna be pretty hot into September and even possibly October. Last year there was multiple 90 degree days in September and a few heat waves. I’m just hoping it’s the same this year so they grow and I can pick them before it gets cold.

[@TheKiwiGrower]

Nice one. Hope it all goes well for you! :)