I planted 15 hills of watermelon and 10 hills of cantaloupe this weekend. The are calling for rain of and on for the next 3-4 days, so I took advantage of the dry spell.

Just an FYI I planted: Golden Midget, Yellow Doll, New Queen, Black Diamond yellow belly strain (bought the wrong seeds, I thought it was the yellow fleshed variety oops!), Orangeglo, Moon and Starts, Sierra Gold and Athena cantaloupe.

My question is about starting the seedless watermelon, Yellow Tiger and Solitare, I have grown them for 3 years now. I have had mixed results as far as germination. I know they are hard to get started. I have kept the temperature and moisture in acceptable ranges, and I only get 40-50% germination last year. The year before was better at around 60-65%.

I plant at the correct angle, I provide heat at 80-90 and the soil is moist, not wet.

Can I presprout and then plant? What methods work the best for you.

Thanks,

Jay