"I suppose that they can suck the vigor out of each other if they are planted too closely together. Two plants can grow in a hill if there is plenty of room around them before the next plant." Thank you for your response! The reason I ask about the watermelon proximity to one another is that I have another garden in which I started some seeds about a month ago. I put two per hill, with the intention of thinning them out to one plant per hill. However, after I went out of town and returned, I found that in one of the hills, both of the plants are looking very healthy. They are about three inches apart though. I'm not worried about room for the vines to run, but once it comes time for fruit, will the fruit of one plant be choked by the other plant trying to get nutrients for its fruit? Should I go ahead and just take one of the plants out or maybe try and transplant one to another area of the garden? Thank you!

I planted 3 watermelon plants a month and a half to two months ago. The sugar baby has had probably 10-15 male flowers and only 3 female flowers. Of the 3 females, I hand pollinated all of them, only one of them is growing (it's bigger than a softball at this point), the other two have died off. The charleston gray I planted has had probably 6-10 male blooms with no female blooms in sight yet. The crimson sweet has had about the same amount of male blooms, also no female blooms. The sugar baby is probably three times as large as the other two plants because it gets a little better sunlight. I don't have any helpful tips for you, just letting you know it's normal.

Bluelytes, While someone here might have such seeds, you'd probably have much better luck in the Seed Exchange Forum or possibly even in the Vegetable Gardening Exchange Forum (although it is a little slow right now and you are talking about a fruit rather than a vegetable). If you don't find someone in the exchange forums, you can always purchase the seeds from one of the many companies offering them online such as Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company (excellent rating) or Sand Hill Preservation Center (excellent rating). Reimer Seeds also sells them, but has a terrible reputation, so I wouldn't recommend them. Always check Garden Watchdog before ordering. Good luck, Brandon7

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