Watermelon
Citrullus lanatus
In a typical UK garden, sow indoors late March to mid-April, sow outside early May to mid-May, plant out early May to early June, and harvest late July to late October.
When to sow, plant and harvest
Last frost around 20 April, first frost around 31 October.
- Sow indoors
- late March to mid-April
- Sow outdoors
- early May to mid-May
- Plant out
- early May to early June
- Harvest
- late July to late October
Growing facts
- Spacing
- 90 cm apart, rows 180 cm apart
- Square foot
- 1 per 2 squares (30 cm squares)
- Sowing depth
- 2.5 cm
- Ready in
- 70 to 90 days from planting out
- Grows to
- 40 cm
- Hardiness
- Tender: killed by any frost
- Sun
- Full sun
- Crops for
- About 3 weeks
Growing tip
In cool climates grow small, early 'icebox' types somewhere warm; it's ripe when the nearest tendril withers and the ground spot turns yellow.
Neighbours
Grows well with
Squashes are one crop rotation group. Try not to grow them where any of the family grew in the last two or three years. How crop rotation works
More squashes
Where these figures come from
Every crop in VegLog was checked against published growing advice. Dates are worked out from average frost dates, so they shift with your garden. For watermelon, we used:
Grow watermelon with VegLog
Add watermelon to a bed and VegLog reminds you when to sow, plant out and pick, timed to your own town's frost dates.
