It has been for dream to be able to grow watermelon (my favorite) fruit on Vancouver island (my forever home). I have tried twice with little success (only getting the smallest watermelons on my vines quite late in the season (way to small to eat). Any suggestions for varieties of watermelon that grow well in this area? tips on growing watermelons here?
Previous good threads on this topic: http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=7382 and http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/forums/showthread.php?t=47810 The latter thread gives some suggestions on cultivars and what is necessary to get them to ripen. You'll need to go to a bit of effort, but it sounds possible from the latter thread.
Well...there's watermelons and melons: for watermelons, try Sugar Baby, Cream of Saskatchewan, or Blacktail Mountain. For melons, 'Collective Farm Woman' has been very productive for me. Lots of heat: if necessary, use black plastic on the bed to boost the temperature, and simple structures on top. Don't start them too early: 3-4 weeks before planting, too early and the taproot distorts/damages in the pot. Steady watering, and fertile soil, and the right variety should result in melons for you. I routinely harvest the smaller sorts annually, and have had "Blacktail Mountain" achieve respectable size, given our climate.
It was your posting on that latter thread that I picked up on as having watermelon cultivar suggestions ;-)
I'd forgotten. Nice to see I'm consistent. Or just very conservative when it comes to melons. Once you find one or two that work, once ceases looking I suppose. Gardenlady, you're welcome. Hope it helps. When you've eaten your first fresh, ripe home-grown melon, you'll be hooked. Just remember: heat, feed, water.
I've managed to grow sugar baby here in Vancouver if the weather cooperates but this year I'm trying something new, Yellow Doll Hybrid Watermelon that apparently only requires 68 days compared to Sugar Baby's 85 - I've ordered them from Henry Fields (and now I grow mine in a greenhouse) http://www.henryfields.ca/product/Yellow_Doll_Hybrid_Watermelon_Packet/Melon_Seed
Hi, I was able to grow some sweet watermelons last summer in the Comox Valley. I put them in black pots (2 plants per pot - diameter about 12 inches) and put them in the sunniest spot I had. They had about 10 hours of sunlight, I would guess. I filled the pots with horse manure and watered them every day (automatic watering system) Each plant produced 2 nice sized watermelons, about 8 inches in diameter - some slightly larger, some slightly smaller. This year I am thinking about making a mound of rocks and putting the pots in them, which I theorize would hold the heat better, but we'll see if I actually get around to that! I bought the seeds from West Coast Seeds, but I don't remember the variety. This year I bought Blacktail mountain and Sugar baby and will actually write down the results so that I don't have to guess next year. Hope this helps!
