Water melon-Inter cultivation
Seeds are sown @ four to five per pit. Remove unhealthy and diseases plants and retain 2-3 healthy plants per pit after 2 weeks.
Conduct 2-3 weeding operations; the first being done at 20-25 days after sowing while subsequent weedings are done at an interval of one month. When the vines start spreading, weeding in between the rows, or ridges, becomes unnecessary since vine growth can smother the weeds.
The second dose of fertilizer has to be applied in vining stage. The third dose has to be applied at full blooming stage.
The fertilizers have to be applied around the plant after removing the weeds. While applying fertilizers, care should be taken to avoid fertilizer touching the vines. The fertilizer application should be followed with earthing up operations.
Mulching is also practiced in water melon to control weeds. Use organic or plastic mulch depending on availability. Mulch can be laid down before or after transplanting and after sowing.
Water melon is usually trailed on the ground. So spreading of dried twigs and coconut fronds on the ground is essential.
Water melon is a cross pollinated crop. Insects, especially bees, pollinate flowers. Introduction of bee-hives ensures good pollination.
To allow the side shoots to grow, remove apical shoots when the vines are 1m. This practice gives significantly higher fruit yield.
At the initial stages of fruit setting, malformed, diseased and damaged fruits are removed and only 2-3 fruits per vine are retained. This results in increased fruit size and yield.
During the initial stages of growth, irrigate the crop at 3-4 days interval, and alternate days during flowering/fruiting. During rainy season, drainage is essential for plant survival and growth.
Application of water should be restricted to the base of the plant or root zone to avoid wetting of the vines or vegetative parts, as it will promote diseases and rotting of fruits. Mulching will also help to reduce moisture loss.