Last year we had more watermelon than we knew what to do with. I only planted (4) Crimson Sweet watermelon seedlings--which I got for free!--but by the end of the summer, we had over 30 watermelons. I don't know what the final number was (I stopped counting around 30), but it was a lot. A LOT.
Here's what happened....
Two years ago, I planted some Sugar Baby Watermelon seeds in the back corner of our garden. It was a nice, out of the way spot where I thought the watermelons could spread wherever they wanted and it wouldn't affect anything else in the garden. But, being in the back corner of the garden (and behind a pretty big mulch pile), they also got neglected. Very neglected. They didn't grow well, they were puny--they didn't even flower.
It was sad.
The next spring (last year), I noticed a watermelon seedling growing next to one of our mulch piles. I hadn't planted it and we hadn't gotten any fruit from our watermelon the year before, so that little seed must have stuck it out for a full year before sprouting. It was a Sugar Baby Watermelon and it slowly but surely took over the mulch pile.
Then, in about mid-June I was in our local garden center and they were giving away the vegetable seedlings that they hadn't sold. Being the sucker that I am, I couldn't resist and brought home 4 little Crimson Sweet watermelons. After seeing the success of the Sugar Baby Watermelon growing on a mulch pile (it had completely taken over a whole mulch pile by this time and was covered with tiny fruit!), we planted the 4 Crimson Sweet Watermelons around the base of another mulch pile. They took off too.
It was crazy!
Here is a photo taken pretty late in the summer of the Crimson Sweet Watermelons growing on the mulch pile.
We didn't give the watermelon any special care. We watered them like the rest of the garden, but for some reason, they REALLY liked growing up and around the mulch piles.
We ate what we could, made some watermelon wine out of some, and gave some away. In the end, we had more than we could use, so we just left the remaining fruit where they had grown. Birds and other critters ate them and what wasn't eaten rotted on or near those piles of mulch.
Forward to this year ... we have TONS of little watermelon seedlings sprouting up everywhere!
I didn't start any watermelon seeds because I had a (VERY STRONG) feeling we would have lots of babies popping up from last year's melons. And that, we do!
I dug up 12 seedlings from the different areas where the Sugar Baby and the Crimson Sweet Watermelons had grown last year and will plant them in a few weeks. Hopefully, I have 6 of each kind, but won't know that until they start to fruit.
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