advice/info on watermelon and strawberries

[pastrycheffowler]

I have a strawberry plant that is currently fruiting right now, and a watermelon seedling that is expected to be mature in roughly 80 days, both were grown by me from seeds. me being someone who can never get too much info on these items would love to know how much sun/water I need to give these plants each days.

[rainbowgardener]

WHERE ARE YOU? Please put your location in your profile. You keep asking all these questions which cannot be answered without any knowledge of where in the world you are located. All gardening is local!

In general, strawberries and watermelons are sunlovers, unless you are in the deep south when they like almost everything else might benefit from a bit of protection from the afternoon sun.

Watering totally depends on your conditions. All I can say is water them (only) when they need it. In hot dry climates that will be a lot more often than in humid climates with summer rains.

Are these in containers or in the ground? That makes a big difference too.

Congratulations on starting plants from seeds!!

[pastrycheffowler]

being that I am in southern California, right now the temperature is high 70's-low 80's. I water them 1-2 times a day if the top soil seems very dry. also I read that my watermelon may not survive in a pot? the pot is huge so I figured it would be ok.

[rainbowgardener]

So you are in Orange County and the watermelon is in a "huge" container. Are the strawberries in containers too?

Whether or not you can grow a watermelon in a container depends partly on variety. There are a lot of dwarf varieties that do a lot better in containers: Sugar Baby, Moon and Stars, Golden Midget, etc. The container should be at least 5 gallon size, preferably more. It needs to be filled with potting soil, NOT garden soil/ top soil, and to have good drainage.

Water it when the soil has dried out a couple inches down, not just on top. In temps like you are having now, I wouldn't expect that to be every day. Later on when it is hotter, you will have to water daily or twice a day. When you do water, be sure you water thoroughly. Because you are running so much water through the soil, flushing out nutrients, you will also need to fertilize regularly.

[pastrycheffowler]

thank you very much for the info and the pot that it is in can easily hold 30+ gallons, it took more than a whole bag of soil to fill it( the large bags you can get from home improvement stores) and is specifically for potting herbs and veggies.

[applestar]

That should be big enough. The recommendation I usually see for one watermelon plant is 1/2 whiskey barrel, which I think is similar size.
Good luck and keep us posted.

[pastrycheffowler]

That should be big enough. The recommendation I usually see for one watermelon plant is 1/2 whiskey barrel, which I think is similar size.
Good luck and keep us posted.

this comparison helps alot, and this pot is bigger than half a whiskey barrel. thank you so much for the advice everyone, ill post pics once they grow a bit more.

[pastrycheffowler]

so the past couple days I noticed that my strawberry plant was turning yellow, well today there is a different development, the edges of the leaves are turning brow and dry. is this too little water? also my watermelon is sprouting up nicley, the newer leaves are a dark green where as the original stock is bright green and the original leaves are bright green, and all the leaves seem to have some small brown dots on them(what could be pests) but I see no signs of pests

[pastrycheffowler]

my strawberry plant, and its browning leaves


my crimson sweet watermelon seedling

[applestar]

I think in all cases from herbs (particularly parsley but dill also), peppers (not as much with tomato), and particularly with the watermelon here, we're looking t Nitrogen deficiency and most likely other major nutrients as well.

The strawberry leaves are dark green and I don't know what the brown leaf margin signifies.

I'm looking at the wood chip mulch with suspicion. Was that mixed into the soil? What kind of soil prep did you do -- assuming this is a new bed? Did you do things differently?

After the initial building of the garden bed (typicaly I use -- top soil, compost, sand, rock phosphate, green sand, dolomitic lime, unfinished compost, alfalfa meal, used coffeee grunds) I would have prepped differently for

Watermelon: nitrogen rich soil with plenty of compost.

Tomatoes, peppers, Dill, cilantro, and parsley: Compost.

Rosemary: Sandy well drained soil with extra lime. Less water.

Strawberry simply because it will have its own bed: Compost. A little more sand than tomatoes, etc.

[pastrycheffowler]

ok so I need to add compost on top of the soil? how do I add nitrogen to the watermelon, I am a complete novice and don't know exactly what I should do. is there a specific brand that is the best?

[applestar]

How did you prep your bed(s)? What's in there already?
If you went into some detail in another thread, post the link here as reference please.

[pastrycheffowler]

I had purchased a premixed organic mixed soil from a local nursery, they make it themselves and requested to know what was exactly in it. I have a bag of Supersoil Enriched planting soil for veggies. I'm wondering if this is organic or not because I'm looking for organic. I do know that the local nursery makes compost from old plant matter and scraps from their vegan cooking.

[pastrycheffowler]

I'm in a bit of a crisis when it comes to the watermelon plant, my strawberry plant is a goner, but the watermelon is still a lime green and the light brown spots on it have gotten bigger, someone online said that brown spots like mine could be anthracnose leaf disease, and that I need to use anti fungal spray to cure my plant.

[applestar]

We could really use a photo.
Does it look like ths? I searched for nutrient deficiency in watermelon:

https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/vege ... eficiency/

Pictures of other problems:
https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/vege ... disorders/

Does any of them look like what yours has?

[pastrycheffowler]

no its more of dots in the center of the leaf, I will try to get a picture tomorrow

[pastrycheffowler]

I have posted below a picture of what my problem is, I explained the light greenness of the plant and the fact that it has brown spots and was told by the same organic grower that I got my soil from that my plant has nutrient burn and needs more water, which kind of contradicts what I have been told so far.

[pastrycheffowler]

my watermelon plant is still small, in fact ide call it a seedling, should I place it back in a small container for the time being till it perks back up? or will it survive in its big pot?

[imafan26]

It looks like some kind of bacterial rot.

Your media looks like it holds a lot of water and the pot may be too big at this stage.

There are a few things that can affect watermelons at all stages.

https://plantdiseasehandbook.tamu.edu/fo ... atermelon/
https://gcrec.ifas.ufl.edu/watermelons/d ... seases.htm

[pastrycheffowler]

my straberry plant totally died but a smal green sproutnis pushingnoutmfrom where it was. the watermelon has pushednout some new leaves and they are allndark green.