The best melon we ever grew, we forgot about. The leaves were hiding it, and we didnt find it til the end of the season when the leaves started dying back. That melon was HUGE! It took both of my boys to carry it into the house. They were so proud, finding it and bringing it to me. It was about 18 inches long and 10 in diameter. Had to be 30 pounds. I think it was a Georgia Rattlesnake. It was so perfectly ripe that it pretty much split on its own as soon as the knife went into it. We will forever remember that perfect, forgotten watermelon. It was like finding hidden treasure.

This was my first year growing watermelon. I didn't realize I'd be so emotionally invested. I had one that I thought was done and it wasn't and completely white inside, 2 others burst, a few little ones that just didn't make it, etc. Out of the 9 potentials, I ended up with 4 of the most incredibly sweet watermelons ever but I just don't think my nerves can take it again.

I didn't have a ground to plant watermelon. my parents have a rooftop garden with potted plants. Last summer I randomly decided to sprout some watermelon seeds and planted them in a pot. I had 0 knowledge about gardening. I watered it every day and 1 or 2 months later I had my first watermelon. It was tiny, but it was very delicious. This year, I'm doing a little research before planting them. wish me luck!

I love how excited you get when you harvest that finished product. I recognize the feeling. The proud excited feeling of accomplishment and thankfulness. It's so cute to see. Thank you for sharing, long time viewer/ subscriber here.

I've got to imagine everyone is seeing "epic" and mistaking in for eric

The best part of these videos is Kevin’s excitement for what he’s grown. Also you can save the seeds and roast them like pumpkin seeds, they’re really good.

2:30 def expected you to say "he's Eric, I'm Kevin, show us respect so we can flourish" 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Amazing! This is my first year growing watermelons and they’ve been my most successful crop so far. One thing you didn’t address is watermelon blossom end rot, which I struggled with. Apparently, fertilizing with a high-calcium fertilizer solves for this. I didn’t realize you could overwater later in the growth cycle, so that’s a great tip!

I grow mine on an arched trellis with sling supports for the fruit. Takes up a lot less space that way. This is my first successful year growing them. yay go me!

It's the humming at the end for me.😄 It's so rewarding when you get to eat something you've grown from scratch. Absolutely satisfying!😌

That looks so so good! I am growing watermelons this year and they are going crazy. I only planted 5 total plants I bought from a nursery. They must love the soil and the sunlight because they’re doing awesome. Thanks for the tips on how to know when it’s ripe and how to care for it. Appreciate you!!!

New subscriber here. Love that you get right into your information that your title depicts. So many channels get into talking about themselves or other topics and you get the information you were looking for in the last 5 minutes of the video. Thank you!

We had the same, dumbfound excitement in our garden last year when we somehow managed to grow a couple giant watermelons and it definitely hits different when you grow it yourself. Congrats man!

The tendril method is what my neighbor told me to use. Of course we have had a crazy wet year here in southern Mississippi so every watermelon has split open when it got to softball size. Then Ida comes and dump even more water on my already overly watered watermelons. “We’ve had too much rain this summer.” Words a San Diegoan has never uttered. Maybe I can get some watermelons next year.

I've got five seedlings growing right now and hoping for just one to make it this season. Your enthusiasm is infectious and I hope I can have a similar reaction to the joy you felt when you cut yours open. :)

I’m actually growing sugar baby watermelons 🍉 right now. I have two that are the size of golf balls and today I noticed two other female flowers the size of a marble and just manually pollinated two other female flowers. I’m so excited. My first time ever growing any fruit… I’m so excited for my watermelon! Can’t wait until I can harvest and it eat. Thanks for the video.

The history of watermelons is actually Really interesting. There was Centuries of effort to get watermelons sweeter and red as apposed to light green and almost flavorless. Watermelons also originated in Africa

Kevin always gives me Property Brothers vibes! I can totally see a collaboration of sorts, hopefully one day soon

I hear you!! Grew a 31 pound Ali Baba last year - the flavor and smell/color was unbelievable. Knowing when to pick is so tricky. I have two growing this year- one tendril is hard but not dried. The other one has a tendril that is still green and soft. Hoping in 2-3 weeks I can pick the bigger one. 🤞🏾🍉👩🏾‍🌾

Omgarsh I just found you as I'm finishing up caring for my greenhouse friends! I am growing sugar baby watermelon, in my GH. They are growing off the hook ! I was life , I'll have 50 when I'm done. Lol After waiting your video I see a few things wrong . I already have one soft and she's not gonna make it. Darn! They are crowded and are in long boxes up off the ground . I wish I was gonna get 50 , but some of the tiny ones are dying off already . I'm going to watch again , and I subscribed! I'm so glad I found you ! Have a lovely weekend!

I have two melon plants I started indoors hydroponically from a single seed each, transferred each to one of two 3 gallon pots outdoors on the deck when I felt they were ready for the heat of the deck (90 to 100 degrees). I stretched a bungee net (attached to the deck) over the two containers so they can tie into it and support the fruit load. Each plant is at the flowering stage right now, with 4 to 5 yellow blossoms each. I'm going to assist them in what they seem to want to do, no pruning, just nutrients, water and some conversation. This melon species only produces one to two melons per plant for most people, but I'm going to try for more. Wish me luck, I'm a newbie gardener.

I planted watermelon for the first time this year. Slow start and then they took off. I was pretty excited, even had several fruits growing (one was larger than my hand) until some field mice came through and destroyed all of my vines and all 6 of my fruits 😭

I have 5 fruits out of 1 plant last year, each fruit was 25 to 30 lbs. They all tasted really sweet. The reason i let them fruits that many is because the seed package said it was small variety, maximum 10 lbs per fruit 😅

ahh yes, the wee little baby homestead that this use to be. I came back to this video to try to refresh what mistakes I made these last 2 years and try to start in an angle that might be better. Man you have really made some major improvements to this place! Great job so far. :)

Kevin, been following your work since December. been planting because of you. saw you on the today show 2 days ago. glad you are helping folks. stay blessed and inspire!

You are right about eating food that you grew yourself. I picked some tiny tomatoes from an experimental farm 20 years ago, froze the seeds, and just planted them this year. The tomatoes (which didn't have a name, just a number back then) grew, flourished and are presently feeding the multitudes! Oh, and from a dyslexia point of view, Kevin and Eric have the same vowels in the same order. Throw in the title Epic (again with the vowels) and it is an easily made transfer.

We Love Eric's!!!!!!!!! Great video. I love gardening and small farming. What I have found out about melons is to not rush them and try and not pick them early, because the inside wont be as soft throughout.

4 of my seedings have sprouted :D I have them in a huge bucket but it's hard to move it into full sun, so I'm gonna carefully dig them up and put them in smaller pots to a more sunny spot. I live with my family on 12 acres and 2 are currently being converted to a giant garden. I may use the giant pot to grow some potatoes (since we have root-loving moles digging around) Happy growing!

Eric, i mean kevin is not lying when he says that these things take up a lot of space. It is crazy. These things make pumpkins look like parsley plants that being said, i planted a cosmos a little too close to a watermelon plant. The cosmos pretty much swallowed it completely. Sad stuff.

I was able to grow a delicious 20 pound seedless watermelon in my yard. It is very gratifying growing edibles in my own yard. I also grew yellow squash that was so big it made the grocery store yellow squash look so puny. Nobody told me about the vines growing from watermelon or yellow squash, so yes they do need a bit of space.

I did Black Mountain Watermelon last year in my South Florida garden. It is really the only annual that handles the heat and humidity of our summers.

I can appreciate just how much work goes into planning and producing videos like these. Thanks for sharing Kalem!

Expensive, expensive crop (resources, time, effort, soil, water nutrients)....gotta get them right or it could be a big loss. EPIC, as always. :-)

This season is my first time trying sugar baby watermelon and this video is great to know what are my mistakes, thanks Kevin (Eric) 😁

Thanks for the tips mate. I have my first crop of watermelons and I have no idea when to harvest them. Talk about heat and the summer, we had a record 6 days straight of over 40c which equates to about 104f, my water bill was huge but the watermelons have thrived. I think I’m still a few weeks from harvest, can’t wait. All the best from Western Australia 👌

Eric it is. So 80 degrees F is like 26degrees C for normal people who don't have snow. In Australia yeah 26 plus is good However Watermelons are grown where ever in plastic glass houses but Commercially (all year round) mostly near Cairns and NT, which are never below 31 C. Fun fact: pumpkin tomato water melon and many southern grown vines and plants when grown in the tropics actually just don't stop growing. It is possible to keep the same vine growing year after year. with water and love.

This video is right on time! I'm struggling with my watermelon. I hope my melons come out well. (Goes back to watching the video). Just watched to the end an am all smiles! I'll definitely be a bit more patient with my watermelons and use your tips on picking when they are ripe! The hum at the end, golden!! 🎉

This past year was the first time i was successful with watermelon and i was so excited, i feel your joy KEVIN keep gardening man love it

I have 2 on my plant, one smaller than the other hanging on a trellis outside in south Wales, can't wait to try it.

Did a test garden this year. Got two watermelon starters, and a few others plants. The watermelon went crazy. The vines have spread over 1/4 of the garden. We've had 2 so far, 8 more still on the vines. It was a super-hot year, but it's starting to cool fast, so hopefully they all finish soon.

🤤 That watermelon looks incredible. I grew some Sugar Baby watermelons vertically this year. Only a few because I didn’t have a lot of space but it was a great experience.

Thanks for the useful tips on harvesting! I’m growing cantaloupe and watermelon on my flat roof garage this year (zero shade Colorado sunlight) using either 25-30 gallon pots or fabric bag. I guess I should try both and compare. 🤞🏻🍉

I've been growing watermelon for a few years now. I made the mistake of over watering them last year and they weren't as sweet. This year though the summer is hot and they get watered about once a week. I have 2nd generation Sugar Baby's in the ground of all different sizes! They're grouped together a little tight but, it's okay, I've had success with different distances between mounds! I'm extremely excited for my crop this year and intend to make dehydrated watermelon jerkey and sweet pickled watermelon rinds🥰👍🏻

I have never grown them due to the space needed. But when my development was first built they only built 15 of 99 lots and for years melons would grow in the lots that they did not build on. Was never sure what the land was used for before but it gave me a good idea. But it was nice for a few years to just walk around and find them.

My first year growing them. Luckily I checks how much space they need. I'm having trouble deciding when ripe. We've had so much rain for the last two weeks and they look fat now. This vide made me happy, time to pick a watermelon!

So happy you just dug into half a watermelon with a spoon like we do. I also felt like I got to share your joy in unavailing that watermelon. Thanks for the tips! Wish us luck!

Have to admit I had an ear to ear smile watching u cut then taste ur fruit for the first time. I can’t wait!! I’m going to grow the small watermelons in laundry baskets lol. Space is an issue. Getting excited. What kind did u grow?

There are varieties where I live, that usually give 3-4 watermelons per plant of 110-15 kilos each; and they are planted at half a meter distaance from each other. As little water as possible is the best tip for growing watermelon. It is a desert plant after all.

We all need someone in our lives who adores us as much as Kevin adores that melon. So wholesome!

I’ve been watching you for a long time. I circle back sometimes to videos of things I want to grow. For the longest time I thought your name was Eric. You look like an Eric. But it was only about 6 months ago I realized it was Kevin! 🤷🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️. Either way… you have helped me get some prolific harvests. Thank you KEVIN!

Your reaction to eating the watermelon made my day! Have a good one! Thank you for all your gardening tips friend 🌸

This was my first year growing watermelon too. I grew some "space-saving" style ones --- Golden Midget and BlackTail. They both didn't take much space and they tasted amazing! Next year I plan to grow some larger ones like the star and moon type too.

“Probably not the best place to cut this, but I don’t really care” Kevin gets it.

I am growing mine in 20 gallon plant bags that are growing up a arbor trellis. Works great

Thank you for these tips Eric. i have been trying to grow melon for sevral years, i get miles of leaves but really struggled to get fruit. thank you,

2021 was my first ever attempt to grow watermelons. I live in a suburban house with about 4000 square feet of backyard. I used about 500 square feet for my garden. I grew Sugar Babies from seed in tiny peat cups until they were about 3 inches tall (7 to 8 cm). Half of them died young, but I had started out with 6 so it was okay. When they were almost ready to transplant, I made a long hill about 1 foot high, 2 feet wide, 18 feet long by scraping up bare dirt I had solarized over the winter, and covered it and adjacent areas with weed control cloth. Under the very bottom of the hill, I had buried some weeds and some of the wild clover that grows abundantly in my yard, to act as a slow-release natural fertilizer. I put in 3 of the peat pot watermelons 3 feet apart on the downhill end of the hill, and 3 cantaloupe seedlings on the uphill end, all at the top of the hill through x-shaped holes I cut in the cloth, and ran a drip hose on one side of the elongated hill. To help the 6 seedlings get started in the hill, I gave them _point source irrigation_ with 1 pint (1/2 liter) plastic drink bottles with the bottoms cut off, and a small hole punched through the bottle cap, about 1 millimeter or 3/32 inch diameter. The bottle tops were just pushed into the dirt next to the peat pots far enough to make the bottle stand up stably. I would top off the water in the bottles once or twice per day, which would slowly filter out into the dirt over the course of 2 or 3 hours. I also put in just a few granules (about 2/3 of a tablespoon or 10 cc) of 10-20-20 slow release fertilizer through the x-cut cloth at planting, and 2 or 3 weeks apart 2 more times. A few times I dissolved a very small amount of generic MiracleGro in the water headed for the plastic bottles. I did not prune the vines at all, I just moved them to keep them on the weed control fabric, so 3 feet either side of the hill. *They got a bit crowded and could have used more like 6 feet either side, but even so, I harvested a dozen beautiful Sugar Babies.* The cantaloupes did much less well, almost all bursting open from too much water from a late season tropical storm that hit North Carolina. I grew corn and butternut squash and climbing beans (the Three Sisters) a few feet away, which helped attract bees, mostly bumblebees, away from the wild clover. Pollination was never a problem. I also grew tomatoes and leeks in my container garden, in pots where I transplanted some of the wild clover to act as living mulch (and nitrogen donor). Those container plants got the same fertilizer treatment, except for adding some garden lime.

I did sugar baby watermelon for the first time last year and I watched so many videos on how to make sure it’s ripe. I went based off the yellow spot and the dry tendril. I also took note when it stopped growing which is when it indicated to me to check the tendril. Home grown watermelon does not ever beat store bought! It was so fresh and juicy and delicious! Thanks so much for the video!! I love your channel. 🥰

I grew my first this summer. That joy is indescribable☺️. Happy growing everybody!!

Great video man, thank you. I planted mine watermelons early but they needed a lot of time to just grow wines, now they did get pollinated and they are growing but summer is almost over and I'm afraid that they will not ripe... What can I do to make them grow faster at least wines earlier in the year so they can grow big and strong while summer is still kicking?

Love this season! I just made a little video on how to tell if a watermelon is ripe, too (for me and my 9 lovely followers!) - in my experience the bonus tendril test is the most important

I tried the watermelon "sugar baby" this summer, it's a small variety. Yesterday I ate the first one, it was really sweet. Can't compare to the big ones in the supermarket, love mine :) I built a trellis to save on the space I don't have for them on the ground. Next year I will try 1 more different location: 1 one the ground, 1 again on the trellis. Hopefully the summer will be better and not so rainy.

The end excitement around the success is so relatable. It’s so hard to grow a tasty perfect watermelon! 🎉

Hi Eric 😁 thanks for sharing, I’ll be growing watermelon for the first time this summer

Super Informative! Maybe because Eric is close to Epic…

Gosh! Eric looks delicious!!! Your content is fantastic. Thanks for sharing your epic garden. 👊🏼♥️

i love growing watermelon! I have SIX growing right now. I used to have a watermelon plant and it started climbing up on my gate and the lawn service people cut it down :(. But i got to harvest thereof the watermelons from my watermelon plant but the two HUGE one were white on the inside :(. But i harvested the tiniest one and it was super tiny, And THAT was the one that was red on the inside. Thank you Kevin for telling me when to harvest them :). I want mine to be as HUGE as Eric.

Hi Kevin, I planted a seedless variety watermelon and it is currently about the size of a softball. When I gently lift it from the bottom it is super light, at what stage should it start to feel like it's more solid/weighty? Enjoy your channel and videos, keep up the great work

I succeeded on my first try growing them this year IN WISCONSIN! I only had to let them take over 1/3 of my lawn after they escaped the garden lol. Also, you're too tall to be a Kevin. Definitely getting mad Eric-energy from you. Or even Luke vibes.

It's because Epic looks like Eric understand certain altered states of consciousness.

Just picked my first 2023 watermelon yesterday...yep, ate the whole thing🤣🤣 tried to store half...went back and ate pretty quickly! Yum

This is the video I decided to subscribe!! I love your reaction to opening that beautiful watermelon! Well done!

I tried growing the jubilee in a large container and it didn't do very well. In fact, none grew very large ( not reallysweet), and a couple split open.

EPIC is so close to ERIC, I think that may be where people get mixed up.

You made my mouth water when you took a bite of that watermelon. Thanks for the tips.

I just met your LA rep Linda. She is great! Thanks for tip on watermelon care.😊

Eric looks amazing! 😁 Do you know where the persistent myth that there are such things as "male" and "female" watermelons comes from? It's all over the guides on how to choose the right grocery-store watermelon, and it makes zero sense botanically.

Thanks, Eric :) You have given a lot of great tips! I’m getting ready to plant some watermelons

You’re videos are awesome very straight forward. I’m Almond farmer in the Central Valley starting a little garden in my backyard for fun appreciate the tips!

A few years ago I tried this crop for the first time. It was going well until the bugs came along. I'm still a newbie gardener and what I thought was simple stink bugs on my plants turned out to be a horrible infestation of vine garden pests! By the time I figured out what they were, I had already lost 4 or the 6 watermelons growing as well as the whole cantaloupe patch. Those bugs ate through everything. This year, I'm using a mixture of castille soap and neem oil and have killed 2 of them so far. Once I started the neem oil mixture, I haven't seen anymore! 🤞 Thank you for these tips! Next year I hope to have at least a 1/4 acre garden with lots of edible goodies and will be using your videos as I go! Have a wonderful growing season! 💚

So glad I came across this much needed video. And although I’ve been following you for a while now, I do keep thinking your name is Eric not Kevin lol. It’s because Epic Gardening, my eyes see “E” and then the “I” and “C” and I just auto correct to Eric and I’m like that his garden. Crazy I know. Thanks for these tips. Which fertilizer at that point would you recommend? I look for a video on that

Your excitement was quite contagious!

Hahaha. I love that I am not the only one to get excited like that and do the happy dance while eating my fresh fruits and veggies! Great job!

Good morning Kevin. New follower and loving the info, so thanks. Third year growing watermelons and still have questions. My melons (2) are pollinated and growing great. I’m pruining back the multitude of vines to concentrate the power but I’m worried about not leaving enough vibrant leaves to keep the energy flowing. The oldest leaves have lost their life and if I cut all the new growth, will I be hurting the plant’s ability to provide energy for the melon? What’s the sweet spot here?

That nitrogen tip works for a lot of plants.I over nitro some tomatoes on time and the Friday got them before any of the tomatoes got ripe. They were beautiful 8 ft tall plants loaded with tomatoes, but they took so long to make tomatoes they didn't have time to ripen most weren't even golf ball size yet.. Telling when melons are ripe is the hardest part for me. Thanks for the info .

🤣😂 the way I grinned watching the excitement you had for that beautiful watermelon! I love your videos ❤️

My first successful watermelons. All these points are spot on. Dont over water when they get to size. Yep I did. Dont crowd them. Did that. Wrong fertilizer. Did that too. But when it's right they are much better than store bought.

Love your video. Can I convert my avocado brown leaves to mulch for the watermelons? I have a plant growing in my front yard but the yard get overgrown with weeds, so I want to prevent that with mulch, but am in the tropics and mulch is very expensive if bought at the plant nurseries. Thanks for your response!

This is the first year I was able to grow cantaloupe and watermelon that grew bigger than golf balls. I believe it's because I took better care of the soil overall. BUT.. my biggest issues are some of the watermelon have developed brown/black spots and start to shrivel. How do you prevent this and also, rodents or bugs from attacking when they are on the ground? I've lost 3 melons due to this. Thanks!

Nice video Epic!! I would like to add, it is always good to plant some bee loving flowers within your garden to help with the pollinating. Also, the best fertilizer is a healthy soil at the beginning of the season, adding compost, worm castings, fish emulsion, bone meal, etc... is better than adding chemical fertilizers. Also, spray in fertilizers make for a bitter tasting fruit. 😉

Happy New Years Kevin, staying dry LOL I'm so happy we are getting this rain I'm tired of our dry California :) Kevin I was wondering which watermelon have you had the best results with? I grew my first watermelon this year in Monterey California just up the road from you :D I want something better and not so traditional as a little sugar baby. Any suggestions that work good in your area? Our location and temps are pretty much the same. Not sure what seeds to buy or where to get some good variety thats why I am researching online tonight. Its New Year's Eve and I'm on the computer doing my 2023 real first time garden research. Seed company you recommend? I'm a new gardener so can't spend too much I need everything for 2023. When do you start your tomato's indoors? January? We don't get much frost here. Thank you for all your wonderful videos I can't wait to actually have a real garden of my own this year.

I'm gonna start growing yellow watermelon next year. I discovered them at a farmers market and I'm saving the seeds till next year as its too late now, can't wait to see how it goes for me

Thanks for the tips, Eric! I hope mine turn out as nice as yours!

thank you so much for your videos, i grew watermelon last year too, it was so exciting to see them. ❤

I love his genuine excitement over his watermelons, that’s how you know he grew it

Thanks for all the great info, Eric!

I just started my 1st gardening thanks for the advice

I just planted Congo watermelons. This year I tried cantaloupes and pumpkins in my ever growing garden.

Thank you for the informative video. I'm planning to grow watermelon this summer. After watching so many of your videos I am one of those people who thought your name was Eric. Epic Eric... Lol, but thank you Kevin. One question I do have is whether or not water melon and cantaloup be started indoors as a seed?

Thanks for the info. My 5 year old son Jacob is loving the lesson.

Thanks for the video Kevin. I’m still learning the do’s and don’t of Watermelons.