WHEN AND HOW TO REAP THE WATERMELON

Hello friend of the farm today we will know a general idea of ​​watermelon cultivation for anyone who wants to leave a hole in their garden for this cucurbit.
Watermelon, whose scientific name is Citrullus lanaus, is an annual herbaceous plant that belongs to the Cucurbit family. It is native to the Kalahari desert, in Africa, and there it grows wild.
The variety of watermelon with the classic black seeds is the most classic but few know that there are seedless varieties, which are differentiated by their skin, which does not have the classic stripes.
Watermelon, in terms of its morphology, is very similar to melon. It has a main root that can go deep enough, and its stems, which can extend between 2 and 3 meters long, are creeping and have hair.

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SOIL CHARACTERISTICS IN THE WATERMELON CULTIVATION
Watermelon grows very well on soils of medium or silty texture. In addition, the ground.
It must have good drainage capacity, because the plant is susceptible to ponding and to Fusarium.
The pH of development of the culture is slightly acidic and is comprised between 5 and 6.8.
Its resistance to salinity is classified as sensibly moderate. An excess of salt in the soil induces problems in the development and diminution of the caliber of its fruits.

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CULTIVATION WORK
Watermelon is very susceptible to the growth of weeds and does not receive very well the herbicide treatments.
Generally, black polyethylene padding is usually available, with its environmental drawbacks. In case it is grown in small quantities in the garden, weed cleaning can be done manually.
Pruning is not usually done. Deformed or rotten fruits are simply removed. In exceptional cases, if the branch extends outside the crop line, the tips are eliminated.
When paying, if you have prepared the watermelons in your garden, it is best to follow the foundations of organic farming. Organic and natural fertilizers such as compost or manure go very well to the crop if they are contributed one month before transplanting. That is why the deep bench works so well.

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THE SEED
You have two options when planting, or you plant the seeds indoors with controlled temperatures and later transplant when the seedling has at least several true leaves, or you sow directly in your garden. Everything will depend on the clear weather, but you have to take into account the following:
The seed of the watermelon does not have a very high germination power, although it will depend above all on the type of seed it is (the most modern ones have no problem).
The most advisable thing is that you introduce several seeds, around 3, for each planting hole. Do not worry if you then leave 1, 2 or 3, because you will already be in charge of making a ring (see the link if you do not know what it is about).
The advisable thing is to introduce them in a hole of not more than 3 centimeters of depth, in the definitive garden (if you protect it from the cold), or in seedbeds or preparatory containers with a mixture of earth, sand and compost.

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CLIMATIC NEEDS IN THE CROPS OF WATERMELON
Watermelon is a plant that requires high temperature conditions. To germinate, and do it well, the temperature of the environment in the watermelon crop must be between 21 and 35 º C (from 15 º C can start, or at least, is the theoretical minimum.).
Once it has germinated and is growing, the optimum development temperature is between 21 and 30 ºC. Beware of temperatures above 35 ºC, in which we will have to provide extra risks.
From these values ​​easily attainable in summer, the watermelon plant begins to perspire and loses a lot of water by evaporation, quickly entering a water stress that we will have to solve by providing irrigation water easily assimilable by its roots.
When the climatic conditions do not allow the watermelon to accumulate hours of heat, the crop is usually quilted or formed in greenhouses. Plastic padding is very common.

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TIPS FOR IRRIGATION IN THE CROPS OF WATERMELON
Watermelon can develop in dry land, but its ideal condition is irrigated. The greatest water needs are required from flowering until the end of the growth of its fruits.
Once this period ends, in the cultivation of watermelon it is very important to control the irrigation, which must be constant to avoid cracking or "cracking".
Some sources point out that a progressive reduction of the irrigation flow when the fruit growth ends increases the sugar content in the watermelon.
Every time there is less tendency to water to blanket, as it was done in the past. Although it is a good irrigation method that achieves great uniformity, it has a very high cost and so much water is wasted that today it can not be allowed. One of the most important substitutes is the automatic drip irrigation.
Before sowing or planting: just before planting our watermelon seedlings it is advisable to wet the soil in depth. This will reduce the stress of the transplant and keep moisture levels adequate. I said. Abundant watering is required.
After the transplant: once the transplant has been done, we can give a slight irrigation in order to settle the plant.
Maintain an adequate level of moisture in the soil, without puddling but always ensuring that water is available from the roots. This is not allowing the soil to stay dry or caked.
In short, to be able to harvest large and juicy watermelons it is essential that there is constant humidity throughout the plant's growth process, and once it has the size we want and is in the middle of the maturation process, regulate the risks and reduce them to increase the concentration of sugars.

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THE IMPORTANCE OF ANIMAL LIFE AROUND THE WATERMELON GARDEN
Any experimenting in the cultivation of watermelons will know the importance of the pollination of their flowers to obtain magnificent productions. Although we will not ask you to have your own hive, but you do take care of the environment that surrounds your garden.
The pollination of the watermelon can be done by different insects. The most common is that it is done by bees but also the bumblebees perform their function. In short, an environment with vegetation, a well-tended garden, with access to water (as it could be with the construction of a pond) will ensure a high density of beneficial insects and a successful pollination of your watermelons.

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MORE CULTIVATED VARIETIES
Watermelon cultivation seeks vigorous plant varieties, large fruit, thick crust and pink flesh. That meet these characteristics we have the following varieties:
Crimson Sweet: it is the most cultivated. It has less tendency to hollowed out than other varieties. The fruits are usually large (7-9 kg and oblong.
Meridian F1: this variety is quite productive but smaller than the previous variety.
Imperial F1: it is very productive, medium fruits and less thick crust than the previous ones. More elongated.
Passion F1: vigorous variety and medium-sized fruit.
Fresh water F1: less vigorous than Pasión F1 of dark skin, medium fruit and thin rind.
Queen of hearts F1: has a uniform behavior, the fruit is round and medium in size.

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DISEASES AND COMMON PESTS IN WATERMELON

CATERPILLARS (Helicoverpa spp., Spodoptera spp., Autographa gamma, Chrysodeixis chalcites, etc.): We have considerable perforations where, sometimes, we can see the caterpillar gobble our fruit. You can also observe gnawing on leaves, flowers, fruits and tender shoots, usually with excrement and WITHOUT BABA (it gives us the clue that it is not a snail or slug)

PULGONES (Myzus persicae, Aphis gossypii): Aphids produce a curling and wrinkling of leaves downwards. In addition, you can see colonies of these small insects of dark or greenish color, especially in the tender shoots of the plant in development. Another clue is the presence of molasses (sugary and sticky substance) and ants around it defending them

WHITE FLY (Trialeurodes vaporarium, Bermisia tabaci): We can see some mosquitoes (which are not really flies) white with a characteristic erratic flight to shake the plant. Also, like aphids, they release molasses. They are usually arranged on the underside of the leaves

RED SPIDER (Tetranychus urticae): The red spider is a mite leaves leaves discolored with small stipples and silks. If it affects significantly can cause drying and defoliation of the plant.

MINING FLOUR (LIRIOMIZA SPP.): Makes clear and sinuous galleries in the leaves.

TRIPS OF THE FLOWERS (Frankliniella occidentalis): The damaged plants have leaves with small irregular silver spots, which correspond to lesions on the underside.

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COMMON DISEASES IN THE WATERMELON

MILDIU (Pseudoperonospora cubensis): This fungus causes light green spots to appear on the leaves that turn yellow and round. On the underside, the spots correspond to a gray-violet felt due to the formation of the spores of the fungus. Later, the leaves are necrotic taking on a parchment appearance and the petioles stay green holding the leaves completely dry.

OÍDIO OR ASH (Sphaerotheca fuliginea and Erysiphe cichoracearum): They produce whitish, rounded and powdery spots on both sides of the leaf, as if they were snowflakes. The spots increase until covering the leaves, which get to dry, yellow and fall

GRAY PODREDUMBRE (Botrytis cinerea): The fruits have apical soft rots coated with gray mold. In addition, necrosis can occur in flowers.

NECK AND ROOT ROD (Phytophtora spp. Pythium sp., Rhizoctonia sp., Fusarium sp.): Young plants wilt, presenting strangulation and rot on the neck (the lowest part of the stem bordering the substrate) and / or estate.

WHITE NECK ROD (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and Sclerotinia minor): This fungus gives rise to soft and moist rot in the neck area showing a cottony appearance, white and accompanied by dark structures similar to peppercorns. In addition the plant presents generalized withering.

NEMATODES (Meloidogyne spp.): Plants infected by nematodes show weak growth, wilting, chlorosis and roots with deformations and galls (nodules). Distribution in stands (plants forming more or less circular areas) or following irrigation lines.

CHANGE GUMMY OF THE STEM (Didymella bryoniae): In seedlings it mainly affects the cotyledons in which it produces rounded brownish spots, in which black and brown spots are observed distributed in the form of concentric rings. The most frequent symptoms are those of "gummy chancre of the stem" that are characterized by a beige lesion on the stem, covered with pycnidia and / or peritecas (fungal structures), and gummy exudations often occur near the lesion. In the aerial part causes wilting and death of the plant.

VIROSES: Leaf mosaics, dwarfing, chlorotic rings (yellow), curling and curling of leaves, deformations of fruits with wavy spots or rings.

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HARVESTING IN THE WATERMELON CULTIVATION
Watermelon is usually collected 80-100 days after planting.
The collection takes place when certain characteristics appear:
Detachment of the skin easily with the nail, etc.
Basal stain (the part that is in contact with the ground) that changes from white to cream.
It is covered by a whitish powder, similar to wax.
The peduncle (the stem that joins it to the mother plant) is dry.
When hitting the shell you hear a thud, like the hollow sound of the fruit.
Now that we know when we can catch it, it's time to find out how we can separate it from the mother plant. For that I recommend taking a saw knife previously disinfected with a few drops of dishwasher, and cut the peduncle. Then, it will only be necessary to pass a dry cloth to the watermelon to remove any traces of dirt that may have, and put it in the refrigerator.

I hope the article has helped identify the pests and diseases that may be affecting your watermelon plant.

SOURCE:
https://www.agromatica.es/cultivo-de-sandia/
https://www.jardineriaon.com/el-cultivo-de-sandia.html
https://www.phytoma.com/sanidad-vegetal/avisos-de-plagas/sandia-plagas-y-enfermedades-mayo-2017