How many watermelons per acre?
Thousands of people around the world ask this question all the time.
And this post is going to give the answer.
When I first began growing watermelon I faced the same problem.
I did not know how much watermelons to expect in an acre.
So I did some online research to find the right answer,
Unfortunately, there was too much conflicting information about the number of melons per acre.
Some info put the figure at 20,000 fruits per acre, others 10,000 and others 7,500 fruits.
“So… which is the right answer?” I wondered.
It is then that I realized to find it, “I’ll have to grow my own watermelon.”
The good news is, I did just that successfully…
…and today, I am sharing with you the results of my experiments, and the philosophy behind it.
So that you too can get huge yields from watermelon farming.
Without wasting time—I will go straight to the point and answer the question.
“In one acre, you should have 2,500 watermelon plants.
When each plant produces 3 watermelons, you should have 7,500 watermelons per acre.
And for those guys who love calculating area in hectares, 1 hectare should have 18,375 watermelons.”
“How Did I arrive at that Number of Watermelons per Acre?” You May Ask
To arrive at this watermelon plant population and the number of fruits per acre, it boils down to four things:
- Spacing between the plants,
- Spacing between the rows,
- Number of vines allowed to grow on one plant,
- And number of fruits allowed to grow per vine.
Let me explain the impact of the four items above to plant population per acre and yields.
Spacing Between Watermelon Plants. What is the Right Spacing?
The objective of spacing the plants is too give them enough room to grow, but not excess space.
Based on my experience growing watermelon, 1 meter between plants is sufficient.
Any extra space beyond 1 meter leads to the wastage of space.
“Isn’t this space too small,” you may ask.
If you let your watermelons to grow without pruning, then this spacing is small.
On the other hand, if you prune your watermelon, 1-meter spacing between watermelons is sufficient.
Meanwhile, check out this post for more details about pruning watermelon.
Spacing Within the Rows of Watermelon.
This space is important because it will allow you to perform operations such as spraying, fertilizer application, weeding, pest and disease scouting and harvesting.
I found that a row spacing of 1.5 meters was sufficient.
Number of Vines One Watermelon Plant Should Have
In Kenya, customers like to buy big watermelons.
To grow such big watermelons, you have to limit the number of vines one plant should have.
The best practice is to ensure that one watermelon plant grows only 3 vines.
Doing so will allow the plant to concentrate all its energies in those 3 vines and thus give bigger fruits.
The Right Number of Watermelon Fruits Per Vine
The number of watermelons per vine is a big concern to farmers.
To say the truth, there’s no right answer to it.
It all depends on a farmer’s targets.
If your target is to have watermelon fruits that are 12+ kilos, one vine should have only one fruit.
On the other hand, if you want many smaller sized fruits, one vine should give a maximum of two fruits.
Conclusion and summary
I acre should give you 7,500 fruits.
What are your thoughts on this topic how many watermelons per acre?
Share them in the comments section below.
Related content:
