watermelon
Citrullus lanatus
USDA zones2 to 11
SunNeeds full sun (6+ hours)
WaterHandles moderate to moist soil
Size9 to 18 inches tall10 to 15 feet wide
- Growth rate
- Moderate
- Habit
- Prostrate
- Bloom season
- Spring, summer
- Bloom color
- Green
- Foliage color
- Green
- Soil types
- Loam
Garden uses
Attracts
Notes
Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) is a vegetable for the food garden and annual bed. It is typically grown as an annual. Frost will kill it, so set it out only after the last frost in spring. This plant likes full sun and average to moist, loamy soil. It is a prostrate vine-like sprawler that grows at a moderate pace and spreads 120 to 180 inches, so give it plenty of room. Bees visit its blooms in summer.
Pairs well with Cantaloupe, Pesto Perpetuo basil, and Cilantro.
Native range
Africa.