5/7/2020. This is my 3rd year trying to grow watermelons on my own! It's been a losing battle for the past couple of years, but this year seems promising!! I am so excited. I have been studying what kills the plant... The biggest difference this year is how I water plants. I was using a sprinkler that shoots everywhere before, mulching the ground. I believe I was over watering them for the past couple of years. Water that was coming out from the sprinkler head was touching the leaves and once sunlight started get stronger, and the heat sets in, it scorches the leaves, and kills the plant. This year, I changed the watering method to 1/4 " drip irrigation tubing, below the leaves. Magic!
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5/15/2020. So happy that I am actually watching them grow instead of studying what's wrong! It's definitely winning this year!
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5/20/2020. It's getting bigger and bigger! We tried to grow green grass before. It did not happen! Need too much water and attention for nothing! I realized that with the same effort, I can grow a bunch of fruits and vegetables, and save water as well! I was inspired by one of the YouTube channels that talk about the man growing a food forest. It would've been better if I realized 4 years ago, but never too late! The worst thing you can do is to just dream about it and not doing anything about it!
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5/27/2020. I was talking to my husband yesterday. Instead of buying ground cover plants, grow watermelons! it grows so fast and covers the ground so fast, and looking delicious! Look at my baby watermelon! I just found this one yesterday! All the hard work in the middle of 100F weather, it pays off watching them grow!
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6/3/2020. Little watermelons are everywhere! It's hidden very well, so I feel like every day is a new discovery! Watermelon seems to love 100+ heat!
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6/10/2020. Those little watermelons are everywhere and getting bigger and bigger every day. My problem is... now I can't find the watermelon that I was tracking because plants got so wild and I can't walk in there without stepping on vines!
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6/17/2020. The watermelon patch is definitely blowing up! This is Crimson Sweet Watermelon. Expected to weight 15-25 lb. They got a long way to go!
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6/24/2020. You have to train the watermelon vines to go where you want them to go! So far so good! I am praying every day not to die! It's working!! I took this picture in the evening to avoid shade, so it looks different from the above pictures (I usually take pictures in the morning)
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7/1/2020. I was working on my garden and noticed there were a lot of wasps around this watermelon patch. More than usual. So I thought to look at it and see what's going on. Then I saw a watermelon in the middle of the patch cracked open and there were tons of ants and wasps eating my watermelon! It looked super read inside, so I was thinking, maybe... just maybe... I will gamble one of the biggest watermelons from the patch and see it for myself! So I looked around and found a big watermelon. I picked it up to see if it feels heavy. Yes, it was so heavy! and I knocked. It doesn't sound like air inside, it sounds really packed with juicy watermelon. Then I turned in around to see the bottom of the skin where the watermelon was sitting on the ground. It discolored yellowish, which means that this watermelon was sitting here ripening in the sun for the whole time! I checked to see if vines around this fruit are browning, or drying up. I didn't see the definite sign of that. But I was convinced enough to take my pruning shears to cut it off from the vine. I took it to my kitchen and called my family members. I wanted to share this moment with my family. I weighted this watermelon. It was 13 lb. I cut them in the half and this is what happened! I was so happy that it came out great. I tasted it. Still hot from outside, but it was so sweet, juicy, and perfect. I was eating and thanking God for this moment. All of the hard work was paid off! This spring, all I wanted to do was try to see if I can grow a watermelon this year. Every year, I tried, but I failed. I researched what I was doing wrong for the whole time. I was wondering is it too hot to grow watermelon here? Do I really need to build a shading structure? How many watermelon plants do I need to grow in this area to get a watermelon? How much do I need to water? How should I water, what time? How often? My questions were endless. I love science experiments, so that's what I was doing for the past 2 years I guess! I finally got it! So, here is my conclusion. Answer to my own questions, and I am sure some people can relate to this.
Question #1. Too much sun? - The answer is NO. They love the sun! I planted in the area they get full sun all day, every day in this desert. They are loving it. So, don't even waste your money and time trying to build a shading structure. This is not the cause of your plants' death!
Question #2. Spacing and how many plants to improve pollination and fruiting.- I don't want to go too much into biology, but I know that if you plant 1 watermelon plant and hoping that you may get one watermelon out, you are wrong. I tried that. I tried growing in raised bed, container, direct sow... You need to put them on the ground at least 3-foot spacing each direction. Last year, I read the instruction from a very well known seeding company that you need to plant in an increment of 3. So I planted 9 of them. Right now, I can count more than 20 big watermelons growing in the garden!
Question #3. Watering - I am using 1/4 in. x 100 ft. Drip-line with 12 in. Emitter Spacing. (Please see the picture of this product below) I planted in April when the soil is still cold, so I only set the irrigation time to come on once a day for 5 minutes in the morning. and around mid-may, I increased to every 12 hours for 5 minutes. In June, when the outdoor temperature started to hit above 90F, Plants will start to show a little stressed out. Then I increased to 10 minutes each time. The most important thing that I have learned in this desert climate (Zone 8a & 8b) is NEVER water from above. Once you water the leaves, it's game over. Sun will scorch the leaves and it will burn the plants and kill them. This is not just watermelon. I found out that the majority of vegetables and flowers will have the same problem. People in a cooler climate might be able to get away with the irrigation that shoots 60ft away, but not around here! I learned the hard way in the last couple of years! So NO garden hose spraying water from your waistline! Just let it drip!
Question #4. Soil Amendment - If I spend hundreds of dollars to harvest 1 watermelon, I am doing it wrong. Am I wrong or am I right? I can just go get one at the grocery store! My theory is to let nature take care of it. I did not use any fertilizer for watermelon. This is how I prepped the soil for this garden. I was trying to grow grass there. But it failed. I watered and watered, but I guess it was not enough! Then I realized. I am wasting so much water trying to grow grass that requires mowing every couple of weeks... what am I doing? I could just grow this to be a food forest! So I and my husband tilled the entire plot and let it rest. When I originally tried to grow grass, we amended the native soil (which is clay, poof dirt, and some gravel) with organic compost materials, topsoil, and horse manure. So when we tilled the soil, all got mixed in, plus dead grass. Then let it rest for a couple of months and ready to go! When I planted, I put a little sprinkle of worm casting on the bottom of the hole before I planted. That's all! Check it daily, remove weeds, and a few months later, beautiful watermelons everywhere! Now you know how I did it!! Good luck to all of you! If I can do it, you can do it too!! Keep trying! You have nothing to lose! Don't spend so much money! Let them do their thang!
Question #1. Too much sun? - The answer is NO. They love the sun! I planted in the area they get full sun all day, every day in this desert. They are loving it. So, don't even waste your money and time trying to build a shading structure. This is not the cause of your plants' death!
Question #2. Spacing and how many plants to improve pollination and fruiting.- I don't want to go too much into biology, but I know that if you plant 1 watermelon plant and hoping that you may get one watermelon out, you are wrong. I tried that. I tried growing in raised bed, container, direct sow... You need to put them on the ground at least 3-foot spacing each direction. Last year, I read the instruction from a very well known seeding company that you need to plant in an increment of 3. So I planted 9 of them. Right now, I can count more than 20 big watermelons growing in the garden!
Question #3. Watering - I am using 1/4 in. x 100 ft. Drip-line with 12 in. Emitter Spacing. (Please see the picture of this product below) I planted in April when the soil is still cold, so I only set the irrigation time to come on once a day for 5 minutes in the morning. and around mid-may, I increased to every 12 hours for 5 minutes. In June, when the outdoor temperature started to hit above 90F, Plants will start to show a little stressed out. Then I increased to 10 minutes each time. The most important thing that I have learned in this desert climate (Zone 8a & 8b) is NEVER water from above. Once you water the leaves, it's game over. Sun will scorch the leaves and it will burn the plants and kill them. This is not just watermelon. I found out that the majority of vegetables and flowers will have the same problem. People in a cooler climate might be able to get away with the irrigation that shoots 60ft away, but not around here! I learned the hard way in the last couple of years! So NO garden hose spraying water from your waistline! Just let it drip!
Question #4. Soil Amendment - If I spend hundreds of dollars to harvest 1 watermelon, I am doing it wrong. Am I wrong or am I right? I can just go get one at the grocery store! My theory is to let nature take care of it. I did not use any fertilizer for watermelon. This is how I prepped the soil for this garden. I was trying to grow grass there. But it failed. I watered and watered, but I guess it was not enough! Then I realized. I am wasting so much water trying to grow grass that requires mowing every couple of weeks... what am I doing? I could just grow this to be a food forest! So I and my husband tilled the entire plot and let it rest. When I originally tried to grow grass, we amended the native soil (which is clay, poof dirt, and some gravel) with organic compost materials, topsoil, and horse manure. So when we tilled the soil, all got mixed in, plus dead grass. Then let it rest for a couple of months and ready to go! When I planted, I put a little sprinkle of worm casting on the bottom of the hole before I planted. That's all! Check it daily, remove weeds, and a few months later, beautiful watermelons everywhere! Now you know how I did it!! Good luck to all of you! If I can do it, you can do it too!! Keep trying! You have nothing to lose! Don't spend so much money! Let them do their thang!
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Poof Dirt Farms: 2471 Gally Rd. Pahrump, NV
Phone: 702-412-6397 Email: poofdirtfarming@gmail.com
Phone: 702-412-6397 Email: poofdirtfarming@gmail.com
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The National Wildlife Federation (NWF), America's largest wildlife conservation and education organization, is pleased that Kozue Maye at Poof Dirt Farms in Pahrump, NV has successfully created a certified Wildlife Habitat through its garden for "Wildlife" movement.
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