Watermelon - outdoors? in the uk?

[potato]

Whilst browsing through a certain seed catalogue at the weekend something new caught my eye that I had never really considered as suitable for our UK climate... watermelon? We always grab them while we can when available from the local supermarket and thought maybe we should give it a go on the plot...

Has anyone here successfully grown watermelons outdoors? Would be great to hear of any successes (or otherwise), tips etc, (or simply a "don't bother").

Would imagine that a greenhouse or poly tunnel would help but we don't have the luxury of either.

[veggiechicken]

Hi and welcome to the Vine.
I'm a failure at growing melons of any sort, in a greenhouse or outdoors!! This thread may help you though https://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gr...-uk_96962.html

[ameno]

Gardening Which have successfully grown watermelons outdoors in the UK in a trial.
Small-fruited varieties are apparently your best bet, as large ones are less likely to ripen.
I'll be trying to grow some outside at my allotment this year (assuming the few seeds I have germinate).

[greenishfing]

Where do you live? Your location can make a big difference to what you can grow outdoors in the UK.
Up here in "sunny" Yorkshire most Mediterranean type crops need a greenhouse whereas further south some can cope outdoors.

[Jungle Jane]

I grew watermelon sugar baby once,they didn’t like being planted in the ground (with a straw mulch I don’t have a greenhouse) it must’ve been the cold nights they were growing well by my patio door,I’d only grow them undercover from what I saw,in a hotbed with a cold frame over the top or in my lounge. Is there a new special outdoor variety?

[cptncrackoff]

Hi Potato and welcome..

I'm going to be trying to grow Watermelons outdoors with no greenhouse this year.. I'm sure it wont be easy and will probably fail, but I'm in possibly the part of the UK with the most chance if any.. and I beleive in never saying never!

[Can the Man]

Hi Potato, welcome to the vine, sorry I’ve no experience on growing melons of any kind to pass on.

[Teds Mum]

Melons are difficult - I can get them to grow but never get any usable fruit, unripe marble sized melons at best. I think they might do better in a poly tunnel or greenhouse. However, I don’t really like melon so probably not trying hard enough.

[Mamzie]

I found this video last night while watching gardening videos and thought of this thread

https://youtu.be/0fVBJL4Zu6g

[LondonAl]

Watermelon tips

Here is a pair of watermelon that I grew on the shed roof last year. Not the biggest but very tasty and quite refreshing. 2018 was also a great year for them but it was very difficult to keep up with the watering so they were a little dry that year. Here are some things I've learnt:

- Icebox(smaller) varieties are more reliable in the UK because they're faster to ripen.

- Start indoors a few weeks early to get your plants up a head start.

- Don't start to soon. They can get root bound quickly. You will have to wait till the soil warms up a little before you can plant out. Around May for me, so try to start them 4 weeks before then.

- I had some success grafting them on squash rootstock, they did better in cooler conditions and lasted longer in autumn. Also suffered less from transplanting. But it is difficult to do, I lost a lot of plants.

[cptncrackoff]

Apologies, I'm digging up old threads, although they could become relevant soon.. the best effort I had last summer..