Pruning

Watermelon plants need to be pruned of excess fruit to allow the correct number of fruit to properly develop and obtain marketable size.

Pruning is performed to achieve a balance between vine growth and fruit set. Pruning increases average fruit weight while reducing the number of unmarketable (cull) fruit.

Pruning should occur in two stages:

The first pruning removes all of the unmarketable fruit (Remove misshapen and blossom-end rot fruit).

While the second removes the late set fruit in order to increase the size of the remaining melons.

There should only be two fruits per vines of varieties, which produced large size fruits and 4-6 in the case of small-fruited varieties after pruning.

To avoid disease spread, do not prune melons when vines are wet.

Fruit in contact with soil may develop rotten spots or be damaged by insects on the bottom. Place a board or several inches of light mulching material, such as sawdust or straw, beneath each fruit when it is full-sized.