Tips for Blueberry and Watermelon

[gardenman22]

Getting started gardening in Dallas Texas. I have a 10 SY patch of old corn growing land that I want to grow some fruits on. The first step is going to be germination.

Can I get recommendations on the following seeds and the best practices for each including plant season, fertilizer and watering approach and if the seeds are good or bad.

Thanks.

Blue berries
https://www.seedsnow.com/products/blueberry-1?rfsn=538833.e3d053

Watermelons
https://www.seedsnow.com/collections/shop-watermelon-seeds/products/watermelon-crimson-sweet

Any helps and tips are appreciated.

 

[Becky]

Welcome to the forum!

@Chuck is in Texas, so hopefully he may have some tips or advice for you

 

[Chuck]

Getting started gardening in Dallas Texas. I have a 10 SY patch of old corn growing land that I want to grow some fruits on. The first step is going to be germination.

Can I get recommendations on the following seeds and the best practices for each including plant season, fertilizer and watering approach and if the seeds are good or bad.

Thanks.

Blue berries
https://www.seedsnow.com/products/blueberry-1?rfsn=538833.e3d053

Watermelons
https://www.seedsnow.com/collections/shop-watermelon-seeds/products/watermelon-crimson-sweet

Any helps and tips are appreciated.

About 95% of the soil in North Central Texas is called Blackland Prairie Clay. It is very alkaline. Blue Berries are an acidic loving plant and are just about impossible to grow in Texas except in containers full of peat and in the East Texas Piney Woods. Watermelons don't like clay soil either. They much prefer sandy type soils which is found in deep south Texas and in west Texas. Watermelons will grow in clay soils but they are always smallish and have little commercial value. The best melons for clayish soils are cantaloupes.

Most seed companys will have a rate of germination listed on the seed packs. Don't mean to rain on your parade but that's just Texas.

Growing blueberries from seed is a very lengthy process taking several years from sowing the seed to having a crop. You must stratify the seeds and then keep the seedlings closely monitored for at least a year. It is much easier to leave this to experts and buy the already almost producing plants.

Watermelon seeds are easy to germinate as long as the soil is warm, 70F-90F. Just plant about 1/4"-1/2" and keep moist.

 

[Tjohn]

I bought some blueberry seeds from that site. They say it could take as long as 3 months for them to germinate! Blueberries are a long-range project. If anything grows, I will let you know....

 

[nhraziano7]

I would recommend just buying blueberry plants, like a previous poster mentioned. I LOVE growing things from seeds but for that it will add a couple years onto the time it will take you to get a crop of them. For some things buying the plants is just more time effective. You could probably add enough stuff to your soil if it's clay to get watermelons but it'd be hard to make your soil acidic enough to plant blueberries but a lot of varieties grow great in pots (like a half whiskey barrel or bigger).