Watermelons for trade in Europe are mostly imported from countries such as Spain, Hungary or Turkey. The warmer climate of these growing regions can also be simulated in the home greenhouse.
How to grow watermelons in a greenhouse?
To grow watermelons in the greenhouse, you should grow the seeds on the windowsill 4 weeks before planting in the greenhouse, provide climbing aids and ensure even moisture. Grafting may possibly contribute to higher yields and disease resistance.
Preferring young plants
So that you can harvest fresh and juicy watermelons from your own greenhouse, you must plant the seeds in the ground in good time in the spring. So that the plants can be planted in the greenhouse around mid-May, the seeds must be sown on the windowsill about four weeks in advance. Make sure to place the melon seeds individually in a small pot or in a peat soaking pot (€28.00 on Amazon). This saves early pricking and protects the very sensitive roots of the young melon plants.
Refine the watermelons for even better yields
You don't necessarily have to refine the watermelons, but this gardening sophistication can bring you higher harvest yields and protect you from various melon diseases. A young fig leaf pumpkin plant is usually used as a base for grafting. The two plants are carefully connected to each other using an ablation with a countertongue. After a few days, the top part can be removed from the fig leaf squash. After a little more time, you can then separate the original melon root so that pathogens can no longer penetrate the plant. The biggest advantage of this procedure is not only the better water and nutrient supply to the grafted plant, but also effective protection against root diseases.
Give the watermelon room to climb in the greenhouse
The shoots of a watermelon like to grow in the direction of light and warmth. In the greenhouse you therefore need a trellis, which you can build yourself from the following materials:
- Metal scaffolding
- Wooden slats
- thick cords with a rough surface
Build a sufficiently stable trellis for the watermelons that can support the increasingly heavy fruits until they are fully ripe. If necessary, you can also place small tables or wooden pegs under the fruits hanging on the vines as a shelf.
Tips & Tricks
Watermelons not only like it warm, but also evenly moist. In the greenhouse, the soil substrate can be kept moist more easily in a pot than in the open field.