WaterMelon Hills

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dems4me

Guest
Anyone know what they refer to when they talk about planting Watermelon on row/hills or watermelon hills? How big of a hill and why does it have to be a hill... I've been reading this all morning and some sites dont' say a hill at all... here's what I was referring to...

"Watermelons can grow in many kinds of soil, but prefer one of sandy loam. Likewise, they tolerate a wide range of pH levels, from 5.0 to 6.8, but do best in the upper ranges of over 6.0. As with many other “fruiting" garden plants, they enjoy a rich bed that has been well worked with compost, prior to planting. After your seedlings are in the ground, you can use side dressings of 1-2-3 fertilizer :blahblah: ( I wont even try to figure all that out - wouldn't even know where to begin :crazy: :crazy:)
Whether you are planting outside directly from seed, or using seedlings, rake up a mound along the row, or create individual hills. Which method you choose, can depend on whether you plant to use a black plastic cover for the row/hills, to help keep both moisture and heat in for the young plants. Pumpkins require a great deal of room, which means you’re looking at hills that are six feet apart, with eight feet between the rows. That can be a lot of plastic. The alternative is to do more work by staking squares of plastic over individual hills. " [What do they mean by these hills? How big of a hill? What do they mean Individual hills? How big?]
http://searchwarp.com/swa15793.htm

Thanks! :flowers:
 
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dems4me

Guest
aps45819 said:
small area rased a few inches above the surrounding soil
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Thanks! Somehow I was thinking I needed to make minihills of about a foot or two high or find a very large hill (as in a "lets go sledding down kind of hill"). I'm transplanting more watermelon this weekend and I guess want to see which technique works best. I already have them in flat ground but was wondering about the watermellon hill thing for my additional transplants. Thanks! :flowers:
 
Larry Gude

Larry Gude

Strung Out
Melons need...

...good drainage hence a hill or slope of some degree, no standing water...or they'll rot even easier than they do.
 
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dems4me

Guest
Larry Gude said:
...good drainage hence a hill or slope of some degree, no standing water...or they'll rot even easier than they do.
Click to expand...


So up off the ground a few inches and about 3 feet in width? so they can stay up off ground and then gradually slope it down the few inches? :confused: So I'm really making big hills afterall (speedbumps kind of??) Or maybe just put hills under the fruit so they arn't on teh gruond? BTW, check out this idea... pretty clever recipie for cookouts! :clap: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Vodka-Watermelon
 
Larry Gude

Larry Gude

Strung Out
it won't stop...

dems4me said:
See Larry, I'm not really understanding... sorry for the crude drawing... but I dont' understand how the hill will keep the heavy fruit from going to the ground and rotting eitheway :shrug:

http://artpad.art.com/?ji739o8k8ok
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...it from going to ground. The slope will keep water from puddling and, hence, the fruit won't be sitting in water.
 
D

dems4me

Guest
aps45819 said:
:crazy:
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I'll try putting it a few inches up, I just don't understand how it helps the fruit or anything :shrug: not unless its a big hill that will let the water run down and allow drainage :shrug: Have you really done this before?
 
D

dems4me

Guest
Larry Gude said:
...it from going to ground. The slope will keep water from puddling and, hence, the fruit won't be sitting in water.
Click to expand...


That puts me back to what I was thinking of... putting it on the side of a big a steep hill. Thanks! :huggy:
 
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