How to Grow Black Beauty Watermelon? Latest Cultivation Techniques and Methods Tutorial

Black Beauty watermelon is a new high-quality watermelon variety that has recently appeared on the market. The single fruit weighs 1.5-3.5 kg, and the fruit is oblong-elliptical, with the characteristics of high sugar content, excellent flavor, and superior quality. It is resistant to storage and transportation, highly marketable, and of high economic value. By adopting early-maturing techniques such as film seedling raising and plastic mulch covering to cultivate Black Beauty watermelon, not only can the yield be increased by 30%-50%, but the fruit can also mature and reach the market 20-25 days earlier, with very significant economic benefits.

Sowing and Seedling Raising

1. Preparing nutrient soil: Use nutrient cups for seedling raising. Each mu requires 150-180 kg of nutrient soil. The nutrient soil is made by mixing 70% pond mud, 20% decomposed organic fertilizer, and 10% pure red mud that has been sieved fine. Each bag weighs about 0.5 kg, and 6-7 granules of compound fertilizer are placed in the middle of each nutrient bag. The raw materials for preparing the nutrient soil must not use soil that has previously been used to grow watermelons.

2. Germination and sowing: Soak the seeds in a 500-fold dilution of 50% carbendazim for 30 minutes for disinfection, then soak in clean water for 4 hours. Remove and germinate until 70% of the seeds show white sprouts, then they are ready for sowing. When sowing, first drench the nutrient soil thoroughly with a 500-fold dilution of carbendazim. Place the seeds flat, about 1 cm deep, with the sprout facing downward. After sowing, cover with nylon film to keep warm for seedling raising, and keep the nutrient soil moist. Generally, seedlings emerge 5-7 days after sowing. After emergence, the seed shells should be removed manually to encourage the cotyledons to unfold as quickly as possible.

3. Cultivating strong seedlings: Spray the seedlings once every 7-10 days with a 800-fold dilution of 50% dimethoate and a 500-fold dilution of 50% carbendazim. When the first true leaf grows out, begin watering with decomposed human urine diluted 10 times with water, applying once every other day. On sunny early mornings, the film can be opened for hardening off the seedlings, and it should be re-covered in the evening. When the seedlings grow to 2-3 true leaves, they are ready for transplanting.

Land Preparation and Transplanting

1. Site selection and land preparation: Choose a sandy plot with sufficient sunlight, convenient drainage and irrigation, and deep, loose soil to build beds for planting. The bed width is 3 m, the ditch width is 0.5 m, and the bed surface is slightly arched. During land preparation, evenly spread 50 kg of quicklime per mu, which both disinfects and neutralizes soil acidity. Apply 1000-1500 kg of decomposed pig and cattle manure, 20-25 kg of superphosphate, 30 kg of compound fertilizer, and 10 kg of potassium sulfate per mu as base fertilizer, placing them into the planting holes and mixing well with the soil.

2. Transplanting: Transplant when the seedlings grow to 2-3 true leaves, with a plant spacing of 0.5 m and 300-330 plants per mu. After transplanting, use a 500-fold dilution of 50% carbendazim as the root-setting water. Then lay a strip of film on each side of the seedlings on the bed surface, making the film cling tightly to the bed surface, pressing it down firmly so it will not be lifted off.

Field Management

1. Fertilization: Begin applying the first fertilizer 3 days after transplanting, then apply once a week. In the early stage, mainly use urea, and in the later stage, mainly use potassium fertilizer. Especially during the fruit-swelling stage, heavier fertilization is needed. When the fruit grows to the size of an egg, apply 1000 kg of decomposed human urine per mu, plus 20 kg of compound fertilizer and 20 kg of potassium sulfate. On a sunny afternoon, lift the plastic film and apply at a distance of 60 cm from the watermelon seedlings. Apply again 10 days later. At the same time, foliar fertilizer can also be sprayed together with pesticide application for pest and disease control.

2. Vine training: Keep one main vine and two vigorous secondary vines per plant, and promptly prune other secondary vines and tertiary vines. When the watermelon seedlings change from an upright state to creeping growth, spread grass near the root crown so that the vines can climb and tangle, and to prevent the film from reflecting sunlight and scorching the seedlings.

3. Pest and disease control: During the seedling stage, mainly control underground pests. During the growth period, the main diseases include fusarium wilt, phytophthora blight, and powdery mildew, which can be controlled with guakuning, carbendazim, and dasheng powder; the main pests include watermelon leaf miner, yellow squash beetle, and watermelon webworm, which can be controlled with dimethoate, bisultap, pumieke, and Sangli No. 1.

4. Artificial supplementary pollination and fruit selection techniques: Black Beauty watermelon generally does not require artificial pollination in good weather, but when rainy weather affects fruit setting, open male flowers can be picked at 6-8 AM for artificial pollination. Generally, keep 3 fruits per plant, one on the main vine and one on each side vine. For fruit-bearing node position, generally remove the first female flower and select the second female flower, that is, keep the fruit at around the 10th node. The retained fruits should be cushioned with grass, and the contact surface should be kept dry. After the fruits are set securely, when the main and side vines grow to about 25 nodes, pinch off the growing tips so that nutrients are concentrated in supplying the fruits.

Timely Harvesting 

Watermelons should be harvested at the right time. Generally, they mature about 28 days after female flower pollination. Before harvesting, 1-2 melons can be cut open for testing to determine the harvest date.