Anyone in FL growing watermelon this summer? Thinking about planting some out, but not sure which type to get.
It was my experience that the summer here was too hot for them. I grew some indoors last year, along with honeydew and cantaloupe. All flowered, but I got tired of pollinating all the flowers myself so after I got one successful pollination, I moved everything outdoors to let the insects do it. The sun was way too harsh, so I ended up moving them to full shade. But the heat was still too much for them, so they withered enough to succumb to an outbreak of spider mites I had. It was very sad, my one little melon was growing well at that point. I now think that winter into Spring would be a better time. I did not try it this year however due to being busy with other things. I might try again in the next few weeks in the shade, although it is already warming up here.
Anyone who has found successful cultivars for the SFL heat though, I would be happy to hear about! Maybe it is just my experience, but it is not really a tropical fruit. Our winter conditions are a lot closer to summer conditions up North.