How To Start A Watermelon Farming In Ghana

What do you know about watermelon cultivation and
watermelon production in Ghana ?
Here in the article
you will be able to find some information about
watermelon seeds and, in particular, see watermelon
farming guide.
There is no point in talking about the benefits of
watermelons, they are pretty obvious:
sweet juicy fruits
are recommended in curing diseases of heart and blood
vessels, kidney, liver, disorders of salt metabolism,
obesity and many other ailments.
It is the richest
source of potassium, magnesium, iron, folic acid,
vitamins, acids and pectin substances.
Watermelon farming or how to plant watermelon ?
Homeland of watermelons — is Kalahari desert in
South Africa.
Still there can occur wild watermelons
resembling a tennis ball in shape, weighing about 200
grams.
More than 4,000 years ago, watermelons began
to grow in Ancient Egypt.
The Egyptians placed
watermelons in the tombs of pharaohs as food source
for their afterlife existence.
Later, watermelons began
to be cultivated in Persia, Arabia, India and other
Asian countries with dry and hot climate.
Choosing of place for watermelon production in
Ghana
The best and the most suitable place for growing
watermelons is sandy soil or loamy soil.
If you have some area which has enough sun light,
especially if it is fertilized with humus it is just what
you need.
THE MAIN PECULARITY – you need to avoid the time of
rains.
Fruits planted just after plowing time can give
you better germination in comparison with doing this
on the next day.
Watermelon seeds
The quality of watermelon seeds can be checked by
dipping them in a 3-5% solution of salt.
Those that sink
can be prepared for sowing.
Seeds have a leathery shell and can’t give a sprout.
You can help them – just soak them in warm (30-35C)
water daily.
In order to make your plants more
resistant to diseases, warm the seeds under the sun for
seven to ten days.
Watermelon farming guide
Watermelon cultivation – Method 1
Sowing is carried out in a convenient method of
watermelon farming, for example, in a round hole with
a diameter of 1 m.
You need to dig the hole to a depth
of 30 cm and then make about 10 holes and drop some
seeds there.
Great shape varieties and hybrids seeds
are to be placed at a depth of 6-8 cm, and small seed
watermelons – 4-6 cm.
Watermelon farming – Method 2
In addition, you can use the most common and
ordinary method.
The rows for watermelon seeds
should be of 1.4-2.8 m, and the distance between crops
in a row is to be from 0.5 to 2 m.
After fertilizing your sewing with compost, pour your
seeds with heated by the sun water.
Expect
germination in about 10 days.
If you want to grow big and sweet watermelon
outdoors ― remember that in the hole should be only
one plant ― try to take notice – 1 square meter
shouldn’t have more than three plantings.
Needed care after watermelon seeds
Best organic fertilizer is humus. Fresh manure is
delaying the growing season and affects the taste
qualities of the fruit, weaken the resistance of plants to
diseases.
Phosphorus and potassium fertilizers affect
the good quality of the fruit and hasten ripening.
If the soil is insufficiently fertilized in the holes, put in
the hole for seeds one pound of compost and put 8-10
inches of soil on its top.
When planting it is necessary
to comply with the row-spacing width: for watermelon
– 1.8 meters.
When the seedling grows up, it is
uniformly distributed: one sprout to the right, the
second – to the left.
On the Central stem, a place of
fruit formation, you need to leave 3-4, and you have to
nip off the remaining part of the stem on the 6-7th
leaf.
Watering
You need to water watermelon once a week only at
early stages of its development.
Later, it will be able to
provide itself with moisture on its own, with its long
roots.
Therefore, when watermelons became mature,
you are to stop watering them.
To get the fruit as soon as possible – during their
flowering you can pollinate them on your own – we
find the female flowers (they are with a small round
berry) and pollinate it by touching with male flowers
(with previously disclosed petals), further natural
pollination is for bees.
Collecting watermelons is best after they are fully
ripened, otherwise staying out of the bush they get
ripen for a very long time.
Signs of maturing – drying
tendrils, uniform color, a dull sound when flapping the
fruit, and if pressured there you can here crackle of
rind.
So, in order to grow a good crop of watermelons, you
need to provide the plants with heat, limit the number
of fruits, give adequate nutrition.
Now, we hope that it is clear how to achieve success in
watermelon farming in Ghana.