By Obiabin Onukwugha
Water melon, botanically called pepo, is a berry with a hard rind and no internal divisions. The sweet, juicy flesh is usually deep red to pink, with many black seeds, although seedless varieties exist.
This delightsome fruit can enrich your table and diets and make you enjoy your meals to the fullest.
Native to tropical Africa and cultivated around the world, watermelon contains vitamin A and some vitamin C and is usually eaten raw. Planting them in your gardens therefore can make you have more for you and your family.
Research has found that the nutrients in watermelon reduce blood pressure and improve circulation to support heart health. Watermelon also helps reduce muscle soreness, manage weight, aid digestion, and protect your skin. Eating the fruit may also protect you against chronic diseases.
Planting watermelons
Watermelons grow best in sunny locations and in fertile, well-drained soils. To achieve good harvest, incorporate organic matter and a complete fertilizer into the area before planting. Plant 4-6 watermelon seeds directly in the garden when soils are 65°F to achieve great yield. Seeds should also be planted 1-2 inches deep, in mounds 4 feet apart. Remember to thin the mounds after emergence to two plants.
In case you want early maturity, transplant watermelon 2 feet apart through black plastics. Use row covers or hot caps to protect the plants when planting before the frost-free period. After the vines develop runners, side dress with additional nitrogen fertilizer. Irrigation should be deep and infrequent where it is used.
You can chose to plant them in containers as plastic and organic mulches help conserve water and reduce weeding.
It is important you regularly check out on your watermelon plants as they grow so as to control insects and diseases throughout the year. Harvest your watermelon when the tendril is dry, the ground spot is yellow, and skin is dull colored.
Excellent varieties of watermelon include Crimson Sweet, MickyLee, and Yellow Baby. What we have in most parts of Nigeria are the Crimson Sweet specie.
Note that watermelons prefer organic, rich, well-drained, sandy soils for best growth. Most soils will grow watermelons provided they are well-drained. So if your garden is not in this category of soil, you can source for it and plant them in plastic bags. Whichever way, you will achieve the same harvest provided you keep to the planting rules.
For those in rain forest communities, the dry season between December and February is best time for planting this awesome fruit.
Before planting, you can determine fertilizer needs with a soil test and then follow the recommendations given with the test report. If fertilizer applications are warranted, work the fertilizer into the top 6 inches of soil. If you fertilize with compost, apply no more than 1 inch of well-composted organic matter per 100 square feet of garden area.
As children spend their holidays jumping around or attending lesson classes, you can make the a helping hand for tending, harvesting and applying fertilizers. This will inculcate in them the zeal for gardening.