Last updated on October 23rd, 2023 at 08:16 pm
With our instructions you can soon harvest your own mini watermelons!
Mini watermelons are wonderful! The bright red flesh and the squeaky green color make a good mood and spread summer feeling. The fruits are super tasty, juicy-sweet and full of vitamins. And best of all, you can even grow them on your balcony! We’ll tell you how to care for your mini watermelon so that it produces lots of fruit.
One sun, please!
Originally, the watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) comes from tropical areas of Africa, but today it is also successfully cultivated in other areas, if its conditions of sufficient warmth are met.
Both the fruits and the plant itself are quite large in classic watermelons. Therefore, there are now cultivars that are much smaller. Their fruits reach a manageable size of about 15 cm and are super sweet. In return, there are significantly more fruits than in the large watermelons. The plants themselves do not grow quite as large and can also be cultivated in tubs. Our Bloomify watermelon Werner is also such a mini watermelon.
Contents
Care mini watermelon: location & soil.
The watermelon is an annual, herbaceous climber, but it can also “climb horizontally” with its tendrils, crawling around close to the ground. It has this in common with one of its siblings, the pumpkin. Just like it, it belongs to the cucurbit family along with zucchini and cucumbers. Since mini watermelons do not tolerate frost, they can be planted out around mid or late May.
Lots of sun, little rain
A warm and sheltered location is important for our mini watermelon. The cooler it is, the leaner the harvest will be. Ideally, your mini watermelon gets a place in the greenhouse. But a south-facing, sunny house wall is also super suitable. Note that the leaves should remain dry; a lot of rain and humidity favor the spread of powdery mildew.
The soil: Always keep it loose
The mini watermelon needs humus and nutrient-rich, loose soil. In no case should the soil be heavy and clayey. Such a soil must be loosened with humus-rich soil and a little sand before planting. When cultivating in a pot, a drainage layer is necessary at the bottom of the pot, which you can create from coarse gravel, clay granules or even stones. This way the melon will not get wet feet due to waterlogging. Nutrient-rich potting soil is suitable for growing in a tub.
Mini watermelon care: watering & fertilizing
Watering: Watering the mini watermelon
Watermelons, as their name suggests, need a lot of water! Especially in summer, when the fruits are growing, the water requirement is particularly high and the mini watermelon is happy about regular watering, at high temperatures quite once a day. The water should also penetrate into deeper layers of soil. Watermelons that grow in tubs naturally need more water than those grown in greenhouses or outdoors. Make sure that the leaves remain dry, as this makes it more difficult for pathogens to spread.
Satisfy hunger: Fertilize mini watermelons
Just like other cucurbits, mini watermelons are heavy feeders and require a lot of nutrients. Provide them with sufficient organic slow-release fertilizer and/or compost right at planting. In addition, it is happy to receive further regular fertilizer applications. Self-generated liquid fertilizer, for example from a Bokashi bucket, but also nettle manure are well suited for growing in pots. In the bed, you can occasionally spread compost around the plant and work it into the soil a little.
From August, the mini watermelon is no longer fertilized, so that the plant does not continue to grow, but instead the fruits ripen.