growing watermelons
I found a little info on the internet on watermelons, I have some starter pots with germinating potting soil, and I had 24 seeds I got in a pack and they were trays of 8, so I have 24 watermelon seeds I put in the pots yesterday. they are germinating indoors, I saw something on the internet that said water it once a week? They are inside in an atrium with a few other plants, but it's still much cooler than teh rest of Las Vegas, should I water it more than once a week? Also I have grass clippings in some of those big plastic bags turning into mulch, I have lots of room to plant as many seeds that actually germinate, so in a month when I transplant them like it says on the package what should I do with the mulch? Mix it in with the soil? Like how much mulch should I use? I'm counting on this to make the soil better, since it's basically yucky Las Vegas desert soil. And after that they will be outside and get plenty of sunlight, how often should I water them?
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opabinia51
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Watering of melons should be done such that the soil is kept moist and not alowed to dry out. I would think that in your climate, once a week would really be pushing it. In my climate, if I watered my melons once a week, they would not germinate or grow once germinated.
I tried starting melons this late in the season a few years ago and they sprouted just fine but, did not produce any fruit. Who knows, maybe down there in the South West the melon plants will produce fruit.
With regard to your grass clippings; I would add some high carbon material (aka browns) to them before using them as a soil . Grass clipping fall under the category of "Greens" which, means that they are high in Nitrogen. This means, that if they are left to compost on their own, they will start to smell and become slimey. Anyway, some leaf mulch would be good.
I tried starting melons this late in the season a few years ago and they sprouted just fine but, did not produce any fruit. Who knows, maybe down there in the South West the melon plants will produce fruit.
With regard to your grass clippings; I would add some high carbon material (aka browns) to them before using them as a soil . Grass clipping fall under the category of "Greens" which, means that they are high in Nitrogen. This means, that if they are left to compost on their own, they will start to smell and become slimey. Anyway, some leaf mulch would be good.
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The Helpful Gardener
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