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North Of The Border

I want wondering about when to start the watermelons, in days after/before last frost. Also wanted to know what temperatures to wait for before planting them outside. Help is, as always, appreciated. THANKS!

3/25/2020 7:22:41 AM

formerly RGG

A lot depends on your location & the date of the weigh off you want to enter. Growing indoors depends a lot on how much light you are able to deliver to your plants. And how large are you prepared to grow your plants before transplanting into your garden ? Even one season to the next can be extremely variable making it impossible to determine the best starting date. The idea is to have the largest healthiest plants possible ready to plant at the perfect time for optimum growth to yield the biggest most mature melon possible right at the time of your contest. The specific answer to the perfect germination time is different for every grower and situation. But I would think there is a good chance you should be starting very soon. And maybe consider keeping a few plants coming along for replacements in case you somehow run into a big bump along the road.

3/29/2020 10:30:22 PM

Omaha, Nebraska

I second the idea of keeping replacement plants. Twice in the past 3 years I've held off on planting long enough to avoid frost, but then had hail damage or kill plants. My biggest melon last year was on a replacement plant (only 170 lbs -- it was a cold, wet summer).

4/2/2020 10:35:24 AM