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Annual Vegetable · 47 varieties

Watermelon

Citrullus lanatus

Cucurbitaceae — the same plant family as winter squash, cucumber, summer squash, melon and 7 more here. Relatives share pests and diseases, which is why rotation plans group by family.

Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) is an annual vegetable. It wants full sun and pH 6–7 soil, with about 1–2 in of water weekly. It matures in about 70–90 days from sowing, or 85–90 days from setting out a transplant. Watch for cucumber beetles and powdery mildew. Below: its full sourced profile from 9 extension sources, plus a planting calendar timed to your frost dates.

Sun Full sun
Water Moderate
Matures 85–90 days — from transplant from transplant
Mature size 4–8 in
Spacing 36–60 in
Soil pH 6–7
Frost Tender
When to plant watermelontypical · zone 6b
Your zone
…or your ZIP, for your real frost dates

Seedlings
Germinating
Growing
Flowering
Fruit set
Ripening
Harvest

Typical dates for zone 6b — set your zone or ZIP for yours. This calendar assumes the crop is started indoors. Timing is a guide from the crop's sourced growth stages; confirm with your local frost dates and extension before you sow.

Growing watermelonevery fact says where it came from

What we will not put a number on

We give watering as a depth per week rather than gallons per plant, because that is how it is actually measured and how the published figures are written. A gallons-per-plant number depends on your spacing, your soil and whether the plant is in a pot — so it would look more precise than it is.

Site & soil

Sun
Full sun
Soil pH
6–7
Soil texture
Sandy, Loam, Well drained
Frost tolerance
Tender
Suffers in days above
90 °F
Suffers in nights above
70 °F

No published figure for the temperature that would kill it, the coldest zone it survives and the warmest zone it takes. We looked — where a number is missing here it is missing from the research, not skipped. The crop’s frost and heat tolerance above still applies.

The plant

Mature height
4–8 in
Mature spread
5–10 ft
Growth rate
Moderateest
Spacing in row
36–60 in
Between rows
72–96 in
Planting depth
1–2 in
Container size
5–7 gal — low end is the minimum, high end is better
Support
Self-supporting
Grown from
Direct sow, Transplant

Water & feeding

Water needs
Moderate
Water per week
1–2 in/wk
Critical water
Fruit set
Feeding
Moderate

Timing & fruiting

Days to maturity
70–90 days from seed · 85–90 days from transplant
Harvest cues
Skin set, Fruit coloring
Chilling injury below
33 °F

Planted again for autumn

Set plants out by
late Jul typical · zone 6b

85 days to maturity from setting a plant out — that is what our sources measure for this crop, so this is a date for planting out and not a sowing date, counted back from the first frost above. Not published for anywhere in particular: it is your own frost date and this crop's own figure, which is why it works wherever you are. A days-to-maturity figure is a catalog number for a good season rather than a promise, and a cold month moves it.

Edible parts per source: fruit.

What tends to go wrongmost-cited first
PestsCucumber beetlesSquash bugsAphidsMitesSquash vine borerStink bugsCutwormsPickleworm
DiseasesPowdery mildewDowny mildewFusarium wiltBacterial wiltAnthracnoseCucurbit virus
Not illnessesBlossom end rot

The last row is nothing catching your plant. Those come from the growing conditions — water, feeding or sun — so they are fixed by changing what you do, not by spraying.

Compiled from the extensions cited below. Which ones actually show up depends on your region — your extension's local list is the last word.

Featured varieties47 with their own page
Ali Baba Picnic · 90d Allsweet Picnic · 90d Amarillo Seedless · 82d Baby Doll Icebox · 75d Black Diamond Picnic · 90d Blacktail Mountain Icebox · 70–75d Bush Sugar Baby Icebox · 75d Cal Sweet Bush Icebox · 85d Charleston Gray Picnic · 85–100d Chris Cross Picnic · 85–90d Congo Picnic · 85d Cream of Saskatchewan Icebox · 80–85d Crimson Sweet Virginia Select Picnic · 83d Crimson Sweet Picnic · 85d Desert King Picnic · 85d Dixie Queen Picnic · 80d Early Moonbeam Icebox · 78d Faerie Icebox · 60d Fascination Seedless · 83d Florida Giant Picnic · 90d Georgia Rattlesnake Picnic · 90d Golden Crown Icebox · 70d Golden Honey Picnic · 85–88d Golden Midget Icebox · 70d Harvest Moon Seedless · 85d Jubilee Picnic · 85d Kleckley's Sweet Picnic · 85d Klondike Blue Ribbon Striped Picnic · 77–80d Little Baby Flower Icebox · 70d Millionaire Seedless Seedless · 90d Moon and Stars Picnic · 100d Mountain Sweet Yellow Yellow Flesh · 95–100d Navajo Sweet Heirloom · 90d New Orchid Icebox · 80d Orangeglo Picnic · 90d Petite Yellow Icebox · 80d Sangria Picnic · 87d Stone Mountain Picnic · 80–95d Sugar Baby Icebox · 80d Sweet Beauty Icebox · 77–80d Sweet Siberian Picnic · 83d Tom Watson Picnic · 90d Triple Crown Seedless Seedless · 80d White Wonder Icebox · 80–90d Winter King and Queen Heirloom · 90–100d Yellow Crimson Yellow Flesh · 80–100d Yellow Doll Icebox · 68d

Open one and add it to your garden — it lights up here. The rest of the 47 are in the full list below.

All 47 varietiesthe ones with their own page are linked
Variety Type DaysColorDiseaseWhat it is known for
Ali Baba Heirloom Picnic 90 Red
Allsweet Picnic 90 Red
Amarillo F1 Seedless 82 Yellow Johnny's Selected Seeds describes this asno seeds
Baby Doll F1 Icebox 75 Yellow
Black Diamond Heirloom Picnic 90 Red
Blacktail Mountain Heirloom Icebox 70–75 Red Wind River Greens describes this astakes the cold
Bush Sugar Baby Icebox 75 Red Urban Farmer describes this ashappy in a pot
Cal Sweet Bush F1 Icebox 85 Red Urban Farmer describes this ashappy in a pot
Charleston Gray Heirloom Picnic 85–100 Red FUSARIUM_WILT ANTHRACNOSE
Chris Cross Heirloom Picnic 85–90 Red
Congo Heirloom Picnic 85 Red
Cream of Saskatchewan Heirloom Icebox 80–85 White
Crimson Sweet Virginia Select Heirloom Picnic 83 Red ANTHRACNOSE DOWNY_MILDEW
Crimson Sweet Heirloom Picnic 85 Red ANTHRACNOSE FUSARIUM_WILT
Desert King Heirloom Picnic 85 Yellow Farm Direct Seed describes this asgets by on less water
Dixie Queen Heirloom Picnic 80 Red
Early Moonbeam Icebox 78 Yellow
Faerie F1 Icebox 60 Pink, Red Known-You Seed America describes this asan unusual color
Fascination F1 Seedless 83 Red FUSARIUM_WILT ANTHRACNOSE Harris Seeds describes this asno seeds
Florida Giant Heirloom Picnic 90 Red
Georgia Rattlesnake Heirloom Picnic 90 Red Sow True Seed describes this askeeps a long time after picking
Golden Crown F1 Icebox 70 Red POWDERY_MILDEW ANTHRACNOSE
Golden Honey Heirloom Picnic 85–88 Yellow
Golden Midget Heirloom Icebox 70 Pink
Harvest Moon F1 Seedless 85 Red Urban Farmer describes this asno seeds · an unusual color
Jubilee Picnic 85 Red FUSARIUM_WILT ANTHRACNOSE
Kleckley's Sweet Heirloom Picnic 85 Red
Klondike Blue Ribbon Striped Heirloom Picnic 77–80 Red
Little Baby Flower F1 Icebox 70 Pink
Millionaire Seedless F1 Seedless 90 Red ANTHRACNOSE FUSARIUM_WILT Harris Seeds describes this asno seeds
Moon and Stars Heirloom Picnic 100 Red
Mountain Sweet Yellow Heirloom Yellow Flesh 95–100 Yellow
Navajo Sweet Heirloom Heirloom 90 Pink High Desert Seed + Gardens describes this askeeps a long time after picking
New Orchid F1 Icebox 80 Orange
Orangeglo Heirloom Picnic 90 Orange
Petite Yellow Icebox 80 Yellow
Sangria F1 Picnic 87 Red ANTHRACNOSE FUSARIUM_WILT
Stone Mountain Heirloom Picnic 80–95 Red
Sugar Baby Heirloom Icebox 80 Red
Sweet Beauty F1 Icebox 77–80 Red
Sweet Siberian Heirloom Picnic 83 Orange
Tom Watson Heirloom Picnic 90 Red
Triple Crown Seedless F1 Seedless 80 Red Urban Farmer Seeds describes this asno seeds
White Wonder Heirloom Icebox 80–90 White
Winter King and Queen Heirloom Heirloom 90–100 Pink, Red Adaptive Seeds describes this askeeps a long time after picking
Yellow Crimson Heirloom Yellow Flesh 80–100 Yellow
Yellow Doll F1 Icebox 68 Yellow
Sources9 cited · 7 organizations
  • Alabama Cooperative Extension System
  • Clemson Cooperative Extension HGIC
  • Iowa State University Extension
  • NC State Extension
  • University of Georgia Extension
  • University of Minnesota Extension
  • Utah State University Extension

We compile bare facts from these university-extension and horticultural sources, never copied prose. 21 of the 22 values on this page carry a citation. The rest are marked est; hover one and it says why — either nobody publishes a figure we could point at, or a person set it and attached no source. Figures vary with climate and seed source; confirm with your local extension before you buy.

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