Watermelons LOVE heat. They grow more melons in El Centro California (hotter than the Devil's sweat lodge!!!) than any other place in California. I don't know the answer to this but I wonder if melons, like tomatoes, need that night time temp to be at least 60 or warmer in order to set fruit? I never had a single problem with fruit set in Wyoming. We also had scads of bees as the Bee Keeper kept 15 hives near our alfalfa fields. I know I had limited nights above 60 (I counted one year and only had 65 nights above 60 degrees...) All I know is that using "THE HOLE" method (
) I grew the best watermelons I have ever grown.
I use a soaker hose and soak them over-night 2X per week. The soil in Wyoming, even heavily amended, dried out pretty quick (and the infernal wind did not help either.) They grow GREAT in Mexico and as I said in another thread, the watermelon extravaganza is in full swing here. All those seedless (bleeehhh tasting) watermelons in your grocery store are coming out of Mexico. Truckload after truckload goes by every day.
I forgot to add that at the end of a season, I dug up one watermelon plant carefully and that tap root was LONG...It also had laterals going out 2 feet off of the main root. And it is really true that when I set them out, they set there and "veg out" for a couple of weeks and just when you are ready to abandon hope, they take off.
Alright, I am off on vacation. Hope everyone has a wonderful season. I finished 60 quarts of marinara sauce and 48 quarts of Salsa Verde this weekend and that was the end of my canning (lots are going home with my son in October...)
I have dusted off my huaraches, bought a new sun hat and loaded up on SPF 35 (Lupus...sun is bad...) And I also funded Amazon for a full year downloading books for my Kindle (LOVE the Kindle!!! If you don't have one, GET ONE. Thought I would hate it because nothing beats a book for me but boy, it really exceeded my expectations.) Hasta la vista mis Amigos!