Watermelon Plant Aborting Fruit

15 years ago

I've been trying to grow two kinds of yellow fleshed watermelon. One is the spotted Moon and stars the other is from some seeds I saved from last year's harvest (Which I planted from seeds I saved from a Watermelon I bough from Pecos NM the year before that).

Anyway, the non-spotted plant seems to be 'aborting' its fruit: The watermelon will begin to grow on the vine but will shrivel up, turn black and fall off the vine by the next day. The fruit never gets bigger than .5 to .75 inches before dying.

The plant appears to be healthy; it has to be about 10 to 12 feet in diameter now (at its widest point) and it's a healthy green (no leaf deformities or damage). I estimate that I give it about an inch of water a day (It get's hot down here in S. New Mexico.).

About three weeks ago, when the plant was maybe a couple feet in length, we went out of town for a week. The person overlooking our garden neglected to water the plants for the last half of the week. The plant was in poor condition when we got back. This is the only reason I can think of why this could be happening. Last year I never had this problem. Any ideas?

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Comment (1)

fruitnut Z7 4500ft SW TX
15 years ago
Sounds to me like your fruit are not getting pollinated. I am pollinating mine now by hand because the honeybees haven't found the vines yet. This is normal at my location. After there are more blossoms, the bees show up and I let them take over. Do you see any bees flying around the plants?

I pollinate in the morning as soon as the flowers open with a small artist brush. Move pollen from the male to the female flowers.

One inch of water a day is too much. Watering every day is too often. Even on a very poor soil, one inch twice a week would be closer to correct. Too much water can cause disease or lower fruit quality. I try to apply two inches once a week. If I go longer than that the vines wilt midday. On a good soil you should be able to go two weeks or longer between waterings.

I few days without water should not cause the fruit to abort, certainly not after you resume watering.

The Fruitnut
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Watermelon Plant Aborting Fruit

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fruitnut Z7 4500ft SW TX

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