Help with Watermelons 2

[phkc070408]

Hi - I was watching the original "Help with Watermelons" thread, to see if it helped. I'm also having an issue with small watermelons that won't get any larger, however I noticed spots on the leaves the other day. I can't find anything similar online. Any suggestions?

Also, if it makes a difference, mine are in large 20-gallon pots. I live in Zone 7A so the pots are along the edge of the driveway - for heat, while the vines spread out into the grass, so the melons don't lay on the driveway.

 

[oneeye]

Your melons are suffering from being in a controlled environment. Using potting mix in containers does not grow the best melons. They do much better in the ground soil and not soil-less substrate in a pot.

Using tap water to water your melons in containers can buffer the nutrients and not allow some nutrients to be available. Also, water management is difficult with a potting mix in containers. You can water in the morning and by night time your potting mix will be dry. Or it may be the other way, you can water before the center of the pot dries out and causes a mild case of root rot.

All that being said when issues arise like the above the nutrient sequence will be broken and the plant will have a deficiency or lockout.

 

[phkc070408]

Ugh!!! I was beginning to think that way. Thanks for the info. Unfortunately I don't have a 6 x 6 garden to commit to 4 watermelon plants.

 

[oneeye]

Ugh!!! I was beginning to think that way. Thanks for the info. Unfortunately I don't have a 6 x 6 garden to commit to 4 watermelon plants.

You can try pruning all the branches and condensing the growing area to give the melons more vigor. Remove the excess foliage so all the water and nutrients will only go to the melons. When you shut off the flowering the plants can put all their productivity into the single melon instead of being divide between the melons or making flowers.

To grow a 6X6 bed you would have to dedicate at least a 20X20 area.

 

[phkc070408]

Recommendation taken. I cut back most of the vine that the watermelon is growing on, beyond the watermelon, as well as one half of another vine on each plant. I also removed a few of the larger leaves remaining, took each plant down to 1 melon, and removed any blossoms.

As info, here are some comparison measurements, in inches, taken from where the stem attaches to the farthest point in any direction from the stem.

06-Aug-23

1 - Ultra Cool Hybrid 3.5 and 3.5
2 - Dead
3 - Crimson Sweet 4.5
4 - Crimson Sweet - None
5 - Crimson Sweet 4.75
6 - Congo 4
7 - Congo 5 and 2.75
8 - Congo - None

19-Aug-23

1 - Ultra Cool Hybrid 3.5
2 - Dead
3 - Crimson Sweet 4.75
4 - Crimson Sweet - 3.0
5 - Crimson Sweet 5.25
6 - Congo 5.0
7 - Congo 5.25
8 - Congo - 1.0

 

[MiniOrchardDude]

The yellow leaves look like a nitrogen, iron or magnesium deficiency to me. Deficiencies are hard to tell which one.

MOD

 

[phkc070408]

Yea. It's pretty much a bust for the year. Thanks all