How to Grow Sunshine Watermelons

Purchase Sunshine watermelon seeds. Seed catalogs, both mail order and online, offer greater variety selection. Additional recommended varieties include Charleston Gray, Sunny’s Pride, Parker, Sweet Favorite, Cotton Candy, Nova and Tiffany.

Prepare a sunny spot in the yard or garden. Allow ample room for the watermelon vines to spread. Work the soil until it becomes loose and well draining. Watermelons do best in sandy, loam soil, but the use of black plastic film as mulch is useful when growing them in clay soil. The black film warms the ground when growing watermelon in cooler climates as well as protecting against cold spells.

Create raised hills in soil spaced at least 7 feet apart before sowing seeds. Sow seeds 1 inch deep, spacing them 6 feet apart. Water the seeds frequently until seedlings appear. Do not plant watermelon seeds until daytime temperatures average 70 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit or they do not germinate. Watermelon is tender to frost and should be grown from transplants instead of from seed in cold climates.

Remove weeds as they appear by pulling roots and regularly hoeing the soil. Insecticide controls cucumber beetles, aphids or mites.

Harvest the melons once they ripen. Test for ripeness by attempting to penetrate with a fingernail. If the skin is resistant, the melon is likely ripe. Look for the watermelon’s bottom to turn from green to yellow and for the tendrils at the stem, to become brown and dry. Harvest dates vary depending on weather conditions, but sunshine watermelons are typically ready for harvest within 75 days.