I have never grown watermelon plants earlier. But this year suddenly I decided to grow this wonderful fruit in our rooftop garden. Yes, I am growing this in our rooftop garden. So I had to grow this in a big size container. That is why I chose a plastic bag to grow this plastic bag which is big enough and at the same time lightweight too. It helps me to observe watermelon growth stages every day.
I used to think that it would be very difficult to grow this plant and particularly it is impossible to grow it on the roof. But it proved that I was wrong. Yes anybody can grow this fruit in their backyard and even on the roof.
Watermelon fruit is always my favorite. I love this wonderful juicy & sweet fruit. That is why I often various delicious drinks (mojito smoothie recipe, summer special mocktail recipe) & dessert (ice cream recipe) with that juicy fruit.
I watched many videos related to watermelon growing. I read several articles to understand whether it is possible to grow watermelon successfully in West Bengal or not. So this year I decided to grow this fruit.
Watermelon growth stages (My personal experiences)
Seeding stage
- From 8th May 2019 to 15th May 2019
I sowed seeds on 6th of May 2019 and observe a few tiny plants on 8th May 2019. I was so happy to see those seedlings. It reached a height of 2 to 2.5 inch within 8 to 9 days. I realized the growth of those plants would be rapid. There were around 10 plants within that plastic bag what is 20 inch in height and 10 inches in diameter. So that plastic bag was not enough for those plants.
Generally, I do not care about fertilizers and all those stuff. Rather I prepare my universal potting mix and apply that for all plants.
So my strategy always keeps me away from all those technical things and I only get happiness from gardening and growing own organic fruits & vegetables.
Rapid growth stage
- From 16th May 2019 to 28th May 2019
I repotted/replanted 2 seedlings from that plastic bag to 8-inch clay pot. But due to monster birds, those seedlings died early, oops.
Then during this stage, I did nothing. I only observed its growth and expected a lot of fruits from it. Ohh, yes I applied 2 or 3 times mustard cake liquid fertilizer what I apply to every plant during its growth stage.
Flowering stage
- From 29th May 2019 to continue
I never expected flowers so early. I mean it was not even 4 weeks passed and flowers started blooming. I came to know that it would be flowering after 6 weeks. But it started blooming just after 3 weeks.
OMG!!! Life has such a strong power.
Initially, male flowers started blooming. I expected female flowers would start blooming after one week. But again it proved me wrong because I noticed female flowers on the third day of flowering started.
Fruiting stage
- From 5th June 2019 to continue
It is the most important watermelon growth stage. I noticed first pollinated fruit on 5th June on my watermelon plant. But unfortunately after 3 days that fruit stopped growing & then dried up. But another fruit what was set on 7 June 2019 is growing and reaches at a size that I can expect that fruit will reach expected size and I will be able to harvest it.
FINGER CROSSED!!
Harvesting stage
It is another one of the most important watermelon growth stages.
Still waiting for the first fruits.
Conclusion
The time does not come till now to conclude this post. So please revisit this post again for seeing all watermelon growth stages.
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