Grow PNW Watermelon
​You want to grow your own watermelon and live in the Pacific Northwest? Great! You came to the right place. This page with walk you through step by step how to Grow PNW Watermelon (this should likely help you in every other growing area as well!). It is easier than you have been told, especially in a grow bag!
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Before we go too much farther, I will speak to the elephant in the room. Yes, the primary focus of this website is RC, primarily in the form of RC Flight and the steps I recommend so folks can manage the step learning curve. That is why I have this website. However, after my daughter was born a couple years ago, I decided I needed to be able to grow a variety of food for my family on my porch. That is what lead me to experiment enough to crack the code for Growing Watermelon in Lynden, Washington. If you have never been, it is southwest of Vancouver, BC, on the US side of the border a couple of miles south in Whatcom County.
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Now the we have that out of the way, let's talk about how to get you a successful PNW watermelon harvest.
How To Start Your Watermelon Growing Journey
To start you watermelon growing journey, you need some basic gardening supplies. These include seeds, seed starting containers, worm castings, fertilizer, and in this case, fabric grow bags along with organic potting mix to put into the growing container.
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Before you get there, at least in the Pacific Northwest, you need to start your seeds indoors. Since watermelon seeds are quite large and their tap roots are sensitive, I highly recommend the MIXC 4" clear nursery pots with silicone base for easy transplant, shown in the picture above. This makes your success rate with transplants significantly higher than with standard nursery pots for seedlings. If the roots are disturbed, the plant is likely to die and you will not get any tasty fruit.
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I started the seed starting process in early May and transplanted them outside on June 22nd. Had the ​weather been warmer earlier, I would have put them into the ground much earlier. June 1st is my target date for this year to grow even bigger Bush Sugar Baby Watermelon.
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Note: Even is the weather is cooler, I will likely use a Mini High Tunnel and/or Garden Cloches to warm up the soil sooner and get more growing time for the plants.
The Right Soil For Your Fabric Grow Bag
The soil that you choose really matters. You can amend cheap soil with a lot of soil amendments, but they require rich and fertile soil that drains well. This is due to them being heavy feeders and being prone to root rot. The last thing you want to be dealing with a short season garden is nutrient deficient soil and root rot.
In a perfect world, you would get a reputable organic potting mix like Pro Mix or Black Gold (My current favorites) and add some nutrient dense compost on the top after adding in some granular fertilizer prior to planting. I only did part of that last year, as I will explain in detail below.
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This upcoming year I will benefit from the Organic Perlite I recently added to the soil. The soil brand I used were Organic Miracle Grow and Organic Black Gold. Those were sifted and added to some of the cheapest and dustiest potting soil I have ever purchased. It was truly terrible, but I made it work work amendments. I used, but I have ​
Watermelon Companion Plants
Since watermelon in places it is know to grow well is prone to pests and disease, we have to be particularly thoughtful with how we approach pest management. My solution last year was Watermelon Companion Plants. The good news is there is a very long list of plants that work well and are easy to grow in our climate.
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Here are the ones I used (Pictured above):
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Marigolds
Nasturtiums
Mint (Spearmint)
Thyme
Sage
Rosemary
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I have added links to purchase seeds for these above or you can pick these common plants up at your local nursery for easier planting.
Prevent Watermelon End Rot
As the image above shows, adding cardboard or something you should add below your watermelon to create a barrier between it and the dirt. Here in the Pacific Northwest, this is even more important with our moist maritime air, especially to morning air.
The Final Harvest
This is the end result after applying what I laid out above. I expect things to go even better this upcoming year while adding my final notes to this upcoming Watermelon Season..
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​Final Notes:
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I plan to add as much organic material to the soil as possible in the future before growing them this year.
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Organic Perlite that was added to the soil will to increase drainage and reduce compaction later in the season.
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Chicken Manure Pellets, Azomite, and Worm Castings were added to amend the soil.
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This year I will plant in a zig-zag pattern if I plant three plants again in this same pot. I am leaning towards two positioned diagonally to give them both plenty of room to stretch out roots and top growth.
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I will create a big of a hill for each plant with a volcano top to get even more soil for them to utilize and to make watering easier.
Click here to get your Organic Soil Amendments
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