Nothing says summer like a fresh watermelon! While many gardeners enjoy these tasty treats, many worry about their long, sprawling vines and intensive needs. Thankfully, it is possible to grow delicious melons in a small garden with a few simple tips.

Select Early, Smaller Varieties

Not all watermelons produce huge 25 pounds fruits. There are many smaller varieties that have more compact vines and produce earlier than their large counterparts, but they’re just as sweet! Here are a few of our favorite options:

• Blacktail Mountain Watermelon
• Golden Midget Watermelon
• Early Moonbeam Watermelon
• Sugar Baby Watermelon

Plant At Least Three Vines

Watermelons require pollination to set fruit. Try to grow at least three plants to ensure your watermelons receive adequate pollination.

Use Sturdy Trellises

Watermelons will climb trellises, allowing you to save tons of space in your small garden! Just beware: these long vines and heavy fruits demand sturdy structures. Metal cattle panels with metal T-posts work well.

As the fruits develop, they will need extra support to avoid damaging the vine. Use pieces of old t-shirts, nylon stockings, or other stretchy material to create a little sling or hammock under each watermelon.

Feed Your Watermelons Well

Watermelons are heavy feeders! To grow great melons, you need fertile soil. There’s no way around it. Especially in a small garden that sees a lot of use, it’s critical to provide extra nutrients. Start the season by adding several inches of finished compost to your beds.

Side-dress or fertilize your watermelons twice during the season. Once when the vines begin to run and again when they have just begun to set fruit. You can use an organic fertilizer or other amendment that’s rich in nitrogen.

Use Large Containers

As long as you have good trellises and can feed your plants, you can even grow watermelons in containers. Large containers like those made from upcycled totes or blue 55-gallon barrels work well. No matter what you use, ensure your container has drainage holes in the bottom.

Watermelon plants growing in containers will demand more attention than field-grown plants. You’ll need to water and fertilize more frequently.

Avoid Crowding Your Plants

Plant watermelons 12 to 18 inches apart. It can be tempting to squeeze as many plants in as possible, but this can weaken your plants and reduce your harvest. If you plant them too closely, your watermelons will compete for nutrients and space.

Watermelons are also highly susceptible to fungal diseases like Alternaria leaf spot, anthracnose, and gummy stem blight, especially in humid climates like the Southeast. Appropriate spacing will help ensure your plants get good airflow and reduce the risk of disease.

Keep Up with Weeding When Plants are Small

Weeds compete with young watermelon plants for nutrients, moisture, and light. They also restrict airflow, which can contribute to fungal diseases. As the plants begin to grow and sprawl, weeding without damaging the vines becomes tricky. Keeping up with weeds when the plants are small is key.

Watch for Pests

No matter how big or small your garden, you might find aphids and cucumber beetles. Encouraging beneficial insects and managing your garden well can help prevent these pests, but once you spot them, you’ll want to take immediate action.

If you have just a couple of plants, handpicking into a bucket of soapy water can be an option with cucumber beetles. For both the beetles and aphids, you can also spray the plants with soapy water. Do this in the evening to avoid burning the vines.

Learn more about cucumber beetles in our post Cucumber Beetle Management and Prevention. For more about aphids, visit the post Aphids, Scale Insects, and Mealy Bugs.

Water Watermelons Wisely

Watermelons thrive with consistently moist soil, but how you water matters. As discussed above, watermelon plants are sensitive to fungal diseases. Aim to keep your soil moist but not soggy. Use soaker hoses, irrigation, or hand watering to direct water directly to the plants’ roots. Avoid wetting the leaves as much as possible.

Manage the Blossoms Later in the Season

If you live in a northern climate or are growing late-season watermelons, your plants may continue producing blossoms as autumn approaches. It’s likely that these blooms won’t have the chance to reach maturity before frost.

If you notice new blossoms forming within 50 days of your average first frost, it’s best to pinch them off. This will ensure the remaining larger melons have plenty of energy to ripen before the frost.

 

Watermelons are one highlight of summer. With careful management, you can grow amazing watermelon vines even in a small garden.

Sunny porches dotted with a mismatched selection of containers filled with medicinal herbs, patios with large containers of tomatoes and hot peppers, or a balcony with window boxes bursting with salad greens are among the many ways to enjoy a container garden. Whether you live in a small apartment or on an extensive property, container gardens have a unique appeal. They add beauty, greenery, and productivity to otherwise plain spaces and can be exciting to tend.

The Benefits of Container Gardens

Container gardens aren’t ideal for everyone, but they offer a few unique benefits whether you’re starting a container flower garden or want to harvest herbs and vegetables.

Perfect for Early Starts

Starting a traditional garden in spring can feel like an exercise in patience. Is the soil warm enough yet? It’s hot today, but we still haven’t reached our expected last spring frost date. Will it frost again? You get the idea.

Container gardeners can take away some of the risk of early planting. The soil in containers warms up early. Plus, if you use portable containers, you can always drag them inside on a night that’s calling for frost.

More Accessible

Container gardens may be more accessible for some gardeners, like those with mobility issues. You can set up your container garden right outside your door so it’s easy to access.

Placing pots on a sturdy table or shelf will alleviate the need for kneeling or bending. You can also design tabletop container gardens at heights and spacing appropriate for wheelchair access.

Less Weeding

If weeding is your least favorite task, you’re not alone. Container gardening limits the need for weeding and may create a much more joyful garden experience for you. You can also use mulch in containers just as you would in a traditional garden bed.

Ideal for Making the Most of Tricky Spaces

Generally, we see container gardens recommended for folks who don’t have any access to a yard, like those with apartment balconies or tiled patios. However, container gardens can be helpful in other situations, too.

If you live on a small lot and have already maxed out your backyard growing area, you can sneak in a few more plants on your porch or in any unused parking space.

Container gardens are also ideal in areas with poor soil. Newer homes and lots often have poor, rocky soil thanks to topsoil removal, compaction, and the use of fill dirt during the construction process. To create a traditional garden, you’d need to invest in a large amount of finished compost or garden soil, or slowly build up organic matter. In the meantime, a container garden will quickly flourish.

You can also set up containers in areas with contaminated soil, whether the ground is contaminated with heavy metals or fuel from industry or herbicides. Just ensure the roots don’t escape the container into the soil beneath.

You may also choose to use containers if your yard doesn’t receive adequate sunlight. A container garden on a sunny front porch may perform better than a traditional garden in a shady backyard.

Limited Care

Container gardens are arguably easy and faster to tend. If you’re in a busy stage of life or have little energy, container gardens can help you enjoy growing and produce a harvest on a tight schedule.

The Disadvantages of Container Gardens

Like with any gardening technique, there are a few trade-offs when choosing container gardening.

Limited Space

The obvious drawback of container gardens is that they offer limited space. Even if you purchase large containers, this system will limit space-intensive crops like large vining pumpkins and sweet corn. While it’s still possible to grow these crops with a bit of ingenuity, you’ll likely see a smaller harvest than in a traditional garden bed.

Want growing ideas? Check out our post, 12 Varieties Perfect for Container Growing.

Less Affordable

Depending on what you need to purchase for your container garden, it can be quite costly. Upcycling containers can help mitigate the expense, but you’ll still need to buy potting soil and amendments.

That’s not to say that traditional gardens are always cheaper. Many people find they need to purchase large amounts of compost or other amendments for good production.

More Watering

Containers will dry out much more quickly than traditional beds. Especially in hot, sunny climates, you’ll need to stay on top of watering. Using light-colored containers and mulch can help some, but plants will still suffer quickly if you forget to water or leave for vacation without a garden-sitter.

Additional Nutrients or Fertilizer Required

In a traditional bed, your plant’s roots will move further into the soil as they grow, accessing more nutrients. Ideally, you’ve also worked to build nutrients and organic matter in the soil over time through methods like composting, cover cropping, and mulching.

In a container of potting soil, plants have access to a limited supply of nutrients. During the season, you’ll need to offer your plants a boost if you want good production. Liquid fertilizers like fish emulsion or liquid kelp are great easy to apply, organic options. You can also mix finished compost with your potting soil at the start of the season to create a more nutrient-rich blend.

How often you’ll need to fertilize will depend on the plant. A slicing tomato that fruits heavily will use a lot more nutrients than a pot of lavender. Fertilize whenever you see signs of nutrient deficiencies, like yellowing leaves, or when the plants begin to flower.

Container gardening isn’t the perfect solution for everyone. Like any gardening technique, it comes with a unique set of benefits and drawbacks. Weighing these considerations can help you decide if it’s the right choice for your garden.

Think container gardens might be the right choice for you? Check out our post Grow Anywhere: Tips for Container Gardening.