Sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a seeded watermelon. Icebox varieties fit a small yard. Jubilee needs room.
The winter shipper
Florida is a leading watermelon state, and it is the only state that produces watermelon from December to April. The winter grocery melon is often a Florida field. UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions is the source for that December-to-April fact. Other states cannot fill that window. Read the sticker in July, because summer grocery fruit may be from somewhere else. In a Central Florida yard the planting window opens in January and runs through March. North Florida waits until March and April. South Florida gets a second shot in December. The Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide carries the vegetable planting tables if you want the statewide version.
Watermelon grows best when daytime temperatures sit between 70°F and 85°F. Florida sand is not a problem. The paper says watermelon is not fussy about soil type as long as it drains. That is the local advantage. Wet feet are the local failure.
Sand, sun, and eighteen square feet
Space is the real constraint. Growing watermelon takes in excess of 18 to 24 square feet per plant. A good rule of thumb where the seed packet is silent is 36 inches between plants, in rows 7 to 8 feet apart. A large variety can drop several 15 to 20 pound melons at once. Fruit size runs 6 to 50 pounds depending on cultivar.
The answer for a small yard is an icebox variety. They are smaller, easier to harvest, easier to store, and they got the name because they fit in a refrigerator. UF/IFAS names Sugar Baby and Mickeylee for icebox size, and Jubilee, also called Florida Giant, plus Crimson Sweet and Charleston Grey 133 for the large end. Cantaloupe is a separate seed. Do not buy it thinking it is a small watermelon. Seedless plantings need a seeded neighbor for pollen.
A pot does not solve this crop. The vine is an annual that has to run. Full sun either way. Watermelons take 80 to 100 days to mature. Ripeness is not a thump. Look at the bottom where the melon sat on the ground: cream or bright yellow means ripe, white or pale green means wait. Then find the curled tendril closest to the melon. When that tendril turns brown and shrivels, the melon should be ready. Use both checks. A harvested melon lasts a little over a week at room temperature, or about two weeks refrigerated.
The fridge magnet is a wedge with Orlando on a stripe. If you want fruit in January, look for Florida on the sticker. If you want a vine, plant in January on drained ground and give it room.
What stays off the die
Sugar stays a seeded watermelon slice with a rind visor. A person face stays off the die. Cantaloupe is a separate seed. Icebox varieties fit a small yard. Jubilee needs room.
