Watermelon Seeds

The classic red watermelon is the taste of an Egyptian summer: a heavy, round-to-oval fruit with a smooth rind and deep, sweet, juicy crimson flesh that practically melts in the mouth. Cut into thick wedges and served ice-cold, it is the most refreshing fruit on a hot day, and the sweet flesh is just as good blended into juice or sorbets. As a warm-season, sun-loving crop, it thrives in the heat that defines this region, making it one of the most rewarding fruits to grow from seed.

Planting

Watermelon is a warm-season fruit and very frost-sensitive, so timing follows the warmth of the soil. Direct-seed about 1 to 2 weeks after the last frost once the soil is warm — above roughly 21 C / 70 F — or start transplants indoors around 4 to 5 weeks before setting them out. Only transplant after all frost danger has passed and the soil reaches 18 to 21 C. Sow the seed about 1.3 to 2.5 cm deep, going closer to 2.5 cm when direct-seeding into hills. Soil at 10 cm depth should be at least 16 to 18 C, with the best germination at 21 to 32 C; at about 25 C seedlings push through in roughly 5 days, while germination is very slow below 21 C. Give plants plenty of room: space rows about 1.8 to 2.4 m apart, and set plants about 0.9 to 1.8 m apart in the row, allowing roughly 2.2 m² per plant. If sowing in hills, drop 4 to 5 seeds per hill with the hills 1.8 to 2.4 m apart. Pick a hot, sunny location offering about 8 to 10 hours of direct sun each day.

Fertilizing

Feed the bed before planting with a complete fertilizer — for example 5-10-10 at about 1.5 kg per 100 m², or a 10-10-10 / 13-13-13 blend at about 1.5 kg per 10 m². Before the vines start to run, side-dress with nitrogen, such as 34-0-0 or calcium nitrate (15.5-0-0), then give a second feed after bloom while the fruit is developing. Go easy on nitrogen overall: too much delays fruiting and can cause hollow heart inside the melons.

Care

Keep the soil uniformly moist but never saturated, watering deeply and infrequently — about 2.5 to 5 cm per week, ideally through a drip line or soaker hose. Good moisture matters most early on and during flowering and fruit set; then reduce or stop watering in the final week before the fruit ripens, since overwatering dilutes the sweetness. Thin direct-seeded hills to about 2 strong plants per hill 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, watering them in with a gentle starter or fish-emulsion solution that won't burn tender roots. Watch for cucumber beetles (striped and spotted), squash bugs, aphids, spider mites, thrips and caterpillars such as rind worms and cutworms; cucumber beetles do the most harm at the seedling stage and also spread disease, so floating row covers help early on (remove them at flowering so bees can pollinate), or use an approved treatment like pyrethrin. Common diseases include anthracnose, gummy stem blight, powdery and downy mildew, Fusarium wilt, cucurbit viruses and root-knot nematodes — rotate so watermelon and related cucurbits don't return to the same ground for at least 3 years. Harvest when the curly tendril nearest the fruit stem turns brown and dries, the ground spot shifts from greenish-white to creamy yellow or orange, the rind loses its gloss and turns dull, and a thump gives a dull, hollow sound rather than a high ring — typically about 35 days from fruit set and roughly 70 to 90 days from planting depending on variety. In Egypt the heat suits this crop well: in the Nile Delta and Lower Egypt direct-sow or transplant from mid-February to April once the soil passes about 18 C, for a May-to-July harvest, and start transplants indoors in January to gain a few weeks. In warmer Upper Egypt sowing can begin from late January to March for an April-to-June harvest, with a late-summer crop (sown in August for an October-to-November harvest) also possible in warm areas. Avoid sowing from November to January in the Delta, when the soil is too cool and occasional frost can kill seedlings.