Watermelon – Cal Sweet
An oblong, blocky watermelon with firm, bright-red sweet flesh with small black seeds. Plants are productive with large fruit weighing 20 to 25 pounds with distinctive, light and dark green stripes. Keeps well.  Can be grown outside in a warm, sheltered and sunny location, but for the most reliable crops under glass is best.
Cultivation advice Watermelon – Cal Sweet
- Type: Annual
- Temperature Required: 20 – 25 c
- Time to Germinate: 5 -10 Days
- Days to Maturity: 60-90 Days
- Position/ Light: Full Sun and sheltered Location
- Prepare soil by digging and incorporating liberal amounts of well-rotted compost or farmyard manure over-winter.  Watermelons thrive in a sunny, warm location
- Sow April to May 1cm (½in) deep, in 7cm (3.5in) pots of free-draining seed sowing mix.   Place in a (propagator, airing cupboard) and keep at a temperature of around 20-25C (68-77F) until after germination, usually 5-7 days.
- When first true leaves develop, transplant into 13cm (5in) pots for a few weeks.
- Plant out 24 inches apart after carefully hardening off after all risk of frost in a warm sheltered position in full sun or for a more reliable crop under glass.
- Water regularly and feed with liquid fertilizer every 14 days.
- Pinch out growing point at the 4 leaf stage and train the laterals (side-shoots) along the row. Hand pollinate if required.
- At harvest time, tap the watermelon with your knuckles, and if it sounds hollow, it’s ripe.
