how often should I water my watermelons?

[whiterecluse89]

I have 8 healthy vine sprouts in an old bath tub. I was wondering hpw often they need to be watered? What would be considered over watering? Thanks!

[rainbowgardener]

Does the old bathtub have a lot of drainage holes drilled in the bottom? How deep is the soil?

If no drainage holes and especially if you don't have more than 6-8" of soil in the bathtub, you will need to be very careful with watering.

Watermelons need a lot of water (as the name suggests), but nothing much likes to stay wet or soggy all the time. If you don't have much drainage it's difficult to avoid the soggy all the time.

That makes it particularly difficult to suggest how often to water. Also you said sprouts. Like seedlings? Seedlings need never to dry out. More established plants you do want the top few inches of soil to dry out a bit before you water again.

[Gustav]

Just make sure the soil is moist, not wet. When the plant gets bigger & bears fruit, you can increase the watering. I agree with regards to the drainage. Make sure of that to prevent water logging.

[whiterecluse89]

Oh yes, I drilled 4-5 holes in the bottom about the size of a quarter before I began planting. What worries me is they seem kind of small. I know they take a while to grow, but my plants are 6 weeks or so and only 6-7 inches tall. And they are already leaning over. Still green and leafy, but is thi ls normal?

[rainbowgardener]

Sounds pretty normal. And they are supposed to lean over. They are vines, they crawl along the ground.

[whiterecluse89]

Thanks I know I sound crazy, but this is my first time at gardening and I love it. I just want everything to go right.