Wonderful flavour in a personal sized watermelon. Crisp, juicy melons with dark, striped, firm skin over rich red flesh. Black Beauty Mini... Read More
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Wonderful flavour in a personal sized watermelon. Crisp, juicy melons with dark, striped, firm skin over rich red flesh. Black Beauty Mini Watermelon seeds grow nice and compact plants with excellent flavour. Fruits grow 2 to 2.5kg (4-5.5 lbs). Picking watermelons from the vine, when they are at peak ripeness, is really amazing. The fruit is at its maximum sweetness, and the flavour is intense. This is not like store-bought melons at all. To check for maturity, watch the tendril nearest the stem that leads to the fruit. As soon as it withers, the fruit has reached its top ripeness.
Matures in 80 days. (Hybrid seeds)
Latin
Latin
Cantaloupes (musk melons) & Honeydews: Cucurbita melo
Watermelons: Citrullus lanatus
Family: Cucurbitaceae
Difficulty
Difficulty
Easy in a greenhouse or cloche, or outdoors in long, warm summers. Difficult without these conditions.
We Recommend:
We Recommend: Halona Cantaloupe (ML500). The fruits are incredibly sweet, with a flavour that is out of this world. Plants are relatively productive, even without special growing conditions. Try Halona in a raised bed with lots of rich soil.
Season & Zone
Season & Zone
Season: Warm season
Exposure: Full-sun
Zone: 4-10
Timing
Timing
It is essential to start seeds indoors or in a greenhouse mid to late April. Transplant at the end of May or first week of June, when the plants are 5 weeks old. Optimal soil temperature for germination: 20-25°C (68-77°F). Seeds should sprout in 5-10 days.
Starting
Starting
Sow seeds 1cm (½”) deep. Set transplants 60-90cm (24-36″) apart in rows 1.5-2m (5-6′) apart.
Growing
Growing
Ideal pH: 6.0-6.8. Choose a warm, well-drained soil. Add dolomite lime and compost or well-rotted manure to the bed and ½-1 cup of complete organic fertilizer beneath each transplant. Melons need really warm growing conditions. Use black plastic mulch, cloches, or floating row covers. Success may improve in raised beds. Melons plants require 8-10 weeks of good, hot growing weather from the middle of June to the end of August. During that time, a melon vine must grow 5-9 leaves before starting to flower, then set 4 or more male flowers before making its first female flower, and then ripen its fruit before cool, damp weather sets in. Melons do not ripen off the vine. During the entire growing season, make sure to provide ample water.
Harvest
Harvest
Fruit will ripen in late August to early September. Ripe cantaloupe will easily detach from the vine when light finger pressure is applied to the stem. Watermelon is ripe when the tendril nearest to the fruit withers and dries up.
Seed Info
Seed Info
In ideal conditions at least 60% of seeds will germinate. Usual seed life: 3 years. Per 100′ row: 60 seeds, per acre: 5.2M seeds.
Companion Planting
Companion Planting
Melons are great companions for corn, marigolds, nasturtiums, pumpkin, radish, squash, and sunflowers. Avoid planting near potatoes. Melon leaves are full of calcium, so they’re good for the compost heap.
More on Companion Planting.
