Striped Austrian Watermelon Seeds 10 Seeds

The Striped Austrian Watermelon is prized for its bold, dark-green stripes running across a lighter rind, giving it a striking picnic-table look that sets it apart from plain-skinned types. Inside, the crisp crimson flesh is sweet, juicy and deeply refreshing — perfect for slicing on a hot day, chilling for a summer dessert, or pressing into cooling juices. As a warm-season, sun-loving fruit, it thrives in heat and rewards a little patience with that classic ringing sweetness watermelon lovers chase.

Planting

This is a warm-season, very frost-sensitive crop, so timing matters. Direct-sow about one to two weeks after the last frost once the soil is warm — above roughly 21 C — or start transplants indoors about four to five weeks before setting them out. Sow seed around 1.3 to 2.5 cm deep, using closer to 2.5 cm when sowing directly into hills. Soil at 10 cm depth should be at least 16 to 18 C, with 21 to 32 C ideal for germination; emergence is very slow below 21 C, and at about 25 C seedlings appear in roughly five days. Give plants a hot, sunny spot with about 8 to 10 hours of direct sun. Allow plenty of room: rows about 1.8 to 2.4 m apart, with plants 0.9 to 1.8 m apart in the row — roughly 2.2 square metres per plant. In hills, plant several seeds per hill with hills 1.8 to 2.4 m apart.

Fertilizing

Work a complete fertilizer into the bed before planting — for example a 5-10-10 or a balanced 10-10-10 / 13-13-13 blend applied at about 1.5 kg per 10 square metres. Side-dress with nitrogen before the vines begin to run, then give a second feed after bloom when the fruit is developing. Go easy on nitrogen overall: too much delays fruiting and can cause hollow heart. When watering in young transplants, use a gentle starter or fish-emulsion solution that won't burn the tender roots.

Care

Keep the soil uniformly moist but never saturated, watering deeply and infrequently — about 2.5 to 5 cm per week, ideally through drip or a soaker hose. Moisture is most critical early on and during flowering and fruit set; in the final week before a melon ripens, reduce or stop watering, since overwatering dilutes the flavour. Thin direct-seeded hills to about two strong plants roughly a week after germination. Because watermelons resent root disturbance, start any transplants in cells or pots and set them out small with the rootball intact. Watch for cucumber beetles (striped and spotted), squash bugs, aphids, spider mites, thrips and caterpillars; cucumber beetles do the most harm at the seedling stage and can spread disease, so use floating row covers (removed at flowering for pollination) or an approved control such as pyrethrin. Rotate your beds — keep watermelon and related cucurbits off the same ground for at least three years to limit diseases like anthracnose, gummy stem blight, mildews and Fusarium wilt. Harvest when the curly tendril nearest the fruit turns brown and dries, the ground spot shifts from greenish-white to creamy yellow, the rind turns dull, and a thump gives a low, hollow sound. This is typically about 35 days from fruit set and roughly 70 to 90 days from planting, depending on variety.

Best time to plant in Egypt

Egypt's hot summers suit watermelon beautifully; the only real limit is the cool December–February window when the soil is too cold to germinate well. In the Nile Delta and Lower Egypt (Cairo, Alexandria), direct-sow or transplant from mid-February through April once the soil has warmed past about 18 C and frost risk has passed, for a May–July harvest; transplants can be started indoors in January to gain four to five weeks. In Upper Egypt (Minya, Asyut, Luxor, Aswan), warmth arrives earlier, so sowing can begin from late January through March for an April–June harvest before peak summer heat stresses fruit set, and a late-summer crop sown in August for an October–November harvest is also feasible in warm areas. Avoid sowing November–January in the Delta, where the soil is too cool and occasional frost can kill seedlings.