What Can Be Planted With Watermelon?

Pollination

• Pollination is essential to fruit development and plant productivity. The first few blossoms that appear on your watermelon vine are male flowers and will not make fruit. The second set of flowers are female and will only fruit if they are pollinated. Honeybees transfer pollen from the anther, the male part, to the stamen, the female part. Once pollinated, fruit develops. To produce seedless watermelon, plant standard seeded watermelon plants alongside seedless varieties. This allows cross-pollination between the two plant types and will produce seedless fruit. If seedless watermelon plants are allowed to self-pollinate, they will produce fruit, but the fruit will be seeded.

Cross-Pollination

• Cross-pollination occurs when pollen from one plant is introduced to the female flower of a nearby plant. Sometimes, when the plants are within the same species, cross-pollination results in a fertile female flower and a fruit. Although cucurbits are in the same family, not all members belong to the same species. This is why cucumbers will not effectively pollinate watermelons, nor will gourds or squash. Planting these crops near watermelon will not result in strange fruits. Watermelon belongs to the genus Citrullus and will cross-pollinate. This is why seedless watermelon can fruit when pollinated with pollen from seeded melons.

Planting

• Watermelons are sprawling vines that require up to 10 feet of space to grow productively. The amount of space watermelon requires makes interplanting with other crops or plants inadvisable. Aside from their required surface area, watermelons also require soil depth. They are deep-rooted plants that must be watered to a depth of 6 to 8 inches. Planting shallow-rooted plants alongside watermelons will disrupt the water flow and rob the deep roots of needed moisture.

Seed Saving

• Cross-pollinated watermelons yield a harvest that is true to the parent plant. The seeds, however, contain genes from both parent plants. If you plan on saving seeds from year to year, be aware that cross-pollinated seeds will not yield predictable results.

Care and Maintenance

• Watermelon crops should be cultivated weekly during the active growing season. This activity prevents weed buildup. Weeds rob watermelon plants of nutrients and irrigation, resulting in low-quality crops and smaller yields.