|
| I am posting on Tenn. and GA. forums becoz ya'll have a more active forum. I'm actually in north MS hope you don't mind.
I have an area (a side yard or right of way) full of watermelon vines. The vines are quite healthy and there are several watermelon in various sizes. And the vines are absolutely full of flowers. I do not believe that these vines could support making watermelons from all of these flowers. So my question is should I thin out the vines to concentrate on the watermelons already there, or just let them be and see what amount of melons I get before a frost in late october or early november.??? What would you do or have you done if experienced.? |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
| Watermelon vines often thin themselves to some degree, but in many cases, removing excess fruit can result in a better crop. If the vines flower early, before they produce significant foliage (if I understand your post, this doesn't sound like your vine's problem), you can remove those early flowers to delay fruit set and encourage extra growth (needed to support the fruit later on). Once the vines start producing fruit, wait until the fruit is about golfball size before removing it. Removing smaller fruit (before the vine aborts what it considers excess fruit) may be counter-productive. The number of melons a vine can support will vary with cultivar, weather, etc. So, leave your vine alone for a little while until it sets fruit and the fruit gets golfball size. Then, remove some fruit if you think there are too many melons. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Tennessee Gardening Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.