Watermelons are a sweet, popular fruit during the summer seasons. The fruit contains fine-grained flesh which can be red, white, or yellow in color, depending on the variety.
The flesh of a ripe watermelon contains 90% water and healthy antioxidants, hence, its refreshing characteristic.
Since watermelons are vines, they require plenty of space to grow. Luckily, there’s a compact variety called “sugar baby watermelon” which you can grow in your limited garden space. You can even train tomatoes in cages or in a trellis to make it a bush sugar baby watermelon.
Keep reading and learn how to grow and care for sugar baby watermelon.
What is Sugar Baby Watermelon
Sugar baby watermelon is also known as icebox watermelon or picnic watermelon because of its small size. Full-sized watermelons produced by the sugar baby will have an average weight of 8 to 10 lbs (3.6 to 4.5 kg) and a diameter of 6 to 8 inches.
The outer skin of the sugar baby watermelon is dark green. When the melon is ripe, the flesh turns bright red. This variety is considered one of the sweet fruits among watermelon varieties given that it has a brix measurement of 10.2.
Choosing Sugar Baby Watermelon Seeds
Picking the best quality watermelon seeds is the first step in successfully growing watermelon plants. Purchase your sugar babe watermelon seeds from the most trustworthy sources only. There are certain qualities to look for to determine that the seeds are of superb quality.
They should be physically clean, free from impurities and damage, full in size, and uniform in shape. As much as possible, choose certified sugar baby watermelon seeds because they are of high quality and genetically pure. They typically have a high germination rate and seedling vigor.
Sugar Baby Watermelon Care
Soil
An important factor in growing healthy and sweet watermelons is choosing the correct planting site. We suggest that you look for an area that has well-draining soil and that has plenty of organic matter. The preferred soil pH is between 6.5 to 7.5.
Soil temperature is also equally important. Once the soil temperature reaches below 50°F (10°C), the growth of your sugar-baby watermelon will slow down. Some gardeners use plastic mulch to speed up soil warming and protect the young watermelon vines.
Light
Full sun exposure is necessary to maximize the growth potential of your sugar babies. The plants should receive a minimum of six to eight hours of sunlight daily. If there are obstructions to light, you should remove them to provide better light penetration.
Water
While the watermelons are growing vegetatively, they’ll need plenty of water. You must keep the soil moist but not soggy. Depending on the weather conditions, you may have to water daily or every other day. Your sugar baby watermelon isn’t drought-tolerant and you should avoid letting the soil dry during the growing season.
Once the fruits reach the size of a tennis ball, reduce the frequency of watering. In such a case, you can let the soil go dry in between waterings. Proper watering will help produce the sweetest watermelons so make sure to be cautious.
Temperature and Humidity
To grow sugar baby watermelons, you need warm and dry temperatures with moderate humidity. Extreme heat may cause stunted growth as well as well as a cool temperature below 60°F (16°C). A mild frost can severely injure the crops, leaving an unsightly appearance on your watermelon patch.
Proper temperatures will help watermelons to produce the sweetest sugar babies.
Fertilizing Tomatoes
Sugar baby needs plenty of nutrition that’s why you have to amend the soil with organic materials such as composted manure before you plant watermelon seeds. Compost is a rich source of macro and micronutrients that will benefit your growing icebox watermelons.
Continue to supplement the growing sugar baby watermelons with proper nutrients by feeding the soil with general-purpose fertilizers such as 5-5-5 or 10-10-10. These nutrients will encourage more vegetative growth. Once flowering starts, shift to using fertilizer high in phosphorus and potassium and less in nitrogen.
One important tip for the sugar baby watermelons to easily absorb the nutrients is to water the soil well after the application of fertilizer.
Pruning
If you’re growing your watermelon plants in a trellis, pruning will be an important practice to implement. Pruning some lateral branches will ensure an equal number of vines and fruits that the plants can carry. It will also improve air circulation, preventing the occurrence of pests and diseases.
Here are tips for pruning:
Look for the main stem first as well as the top lateral branch. You should leave these parts behind and never prune them.
Identify the eight-leaf node. Prune all the lateral branches in between the eight-leaf node and the top lateral branch. Be careful not to prune any branch below the eight-leaf node.
Remember to sanitize the pruner before and after use to prevent infecting the wounds with pathogens that may be potentially present.
Regularly check the icebox watermelons for damaged and diseased parts. You’ll need to prune those parts as well to keep the watermelon plants healthy.
Propagation
The use of good-quality watermelon seeds is the best way to grow sugar babies. Planting time is best done in Spring and Summer because sugar baby watermelons grow best around this period. The process is simple:
Buy seeds from reputable sources only to ensure that they’re of the best quality and are disease-free.
Start your sugar-baby watermelon seeds indoors. Sow two to three seeds in a pot at a depth of 1/4 inch. Do this at least six to eight weeks before the actual planting time outdoors.
Keep the soil moist to ease the germination of sugar baby watermelon seeds. The use of a heat mat will also help increase the germination rate to keep the soil temperatures between 80 to 90°F (27 to 32°C). Seeds should germinate between 3 to 10 days.
After germination, remove the heat mat and decrease watering for about a week or two. Thin out the other seedlings and retain only the most vigorous watermelon.
Once the first true set of leaves develops, harden off the seedlings by gradually exposing them to outdoor conditions.
Transplant the seedlings to their permanent site in late Spring, after the last frost has passed. Keep a distance of 4 to 6 inches between each seedling of icebox watermelon.
Identifying and Managing Pests and Diseases
There are various pests and diseases that you may encounter when you grow sugar baby watermelons. Among them are anthracnose, bacterial fruit blotch, Cercospora leaf spot, downy mildew, fusarium wilt, gummy stem blight, powdery mildew, virus diseases, and nematodes among others.
More than the management of the disease, prevention is the best method to avoid such problems. Choosing resistant varieties will help prevent the occurrence of particular diseases such as fusarium wilt, and anthracnose. It’s also crucial that you start with pathogen-free watermelon seeds and transplants so they won’t spread the disease in your garden.
Maintaining good air circulation through proper plant spacing and pruning will also help. When watering, drip irrigation is much preferred over sprinklers because it reduces the chances of water splashing which could spread spores of fungi.
Chemical control is the last resort for managing pests and diseases. But you need to carefully apply them so you won’t hurt the beneficial insects.
Frequently Asked Questions
When growing sugar baby watermelons, ensure that the location has access to full sun, highly fertile soil, and plenty of water.
From germination, sugar baby watermelon will take about four weeks to grow vegetatively. After that, it’ll be ready to produce flowers. Once pollinated, it’ll take another four to six months for the baby watermelon to ripen.
Sugar baby watermelons don’t necessarily need a trellis because they can crawl on the ground. However, you can also install a trellis to give support to the main vine, and allow the growing sugar baby melons to hang. It depends on your personal preferences.
Check the curly tendril closest to the watermelon fruit, if it’s already brown and shriveled, it means the melon is ripe. You can check the bottom of the fruit as well to see if it’s cream-colored or bright yellow. It’s another indication that the melon is ready for harvest.
A sugar baby watermelon will only take 75 days to become fully mature. Unlike the other watermelon varieties, the sugar baby is an early producer.
There are many causes why the developing fruit isn’t getting bigger, which are most likely related to a lack of ideal growing conditions. The soil must be lacking nutrients, or you fail to provide consistent moisture. Another possibility would be a lack of light or even pest and disease incidence.
Whether you want to buy, sell, or simply reach out to other plant enthusiasts, Plantly is the right place to be!
