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Growing Watermelons

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WooferHound:
I grew watermelons as a teenager in the 70's and had the plenty of the best watermelons that I have ever eaten. Now I'm all grown up and have been trying to grow watermelons for 10 years now with really poor results. They seem to start out really good and produce plenty of fruit but only a few of them grow up good enough to eat and the flavor is not wonderful.

Over the winter I talked to a coworker that is known as the Watermelon King and he is suggesting that I add Ammonium Chloride around the plants to get them to grow up healthy and sweet. I have mentioned in another thread that my soil is not the best but I've been working it for 7 years and it is getting better but still much like clay.

Are there any tricks you guys are using to get big juicy sweet watermelons ?

DBCollen:
Granite dust also helps with making sweet mellons.

A of J:
Potash

madlabs:
My recipe:

Grow on a mound, at least 12" high.
Lots of horse manure. Melons like friable soil. I use oyster shell due to my soil pH.
Plenty of water until fruit reach the size you want, then cut back.
Lots of nitrogen fert early, then cut back. I like chicken manure.
Thin out the fruit as soon as they set.
Use a hoop hut if you aren't in a warm enough area.

Good luck! I love a perfect melon.

Jonathan

WooferHound:
Thanks for the help guys  ! !
I tried to find Granite Dust at Home Depot but all I saw was Granite Soil. I have a good garden center near me and I'll go over there to try and find Granite Dust, Ammonium Chloride and Potash. I think I can find Potash anywhere that has pool supplies.

I decided to make big changes in the soil in the bed that I grow the Watermelons in. Yesterday I dug in 4 bags (2 cu. feet each) of Pine Bark Mulch. I tilled it in 3 times and now the dirt is real fluffy the 3x10 foot bed is raised up about 3 inches from before the addition of the mulch. I had already added more than 1 bag of mulch to that bed 2 weeks ago.

I'll give it a couple of weeks to settle in and then plant my seeds.

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