Have you ever eaten a watermelon fruit? The taste is incredible! Nothing says “December holidays” quite like a big, juicy slice of watermelon!
Kenyans love eating watermelon. They provide a good refreshing taste especially during hot days when you want to cool off. It’s because of this reason that watermelon farming in Kenya is a lucrative agribusiness venture, especially for those farming in areas with low rainfall. Watermelons require minimum water usage especially when they have developed their fruits.
Watermelons are grown from seed. Watermelon seeds germinate easily and quickly, within a few days of planting. Their plants outgrow the seedling stage very quickly and they don’t like transplanting. It won’t help you in saving much time and you end up with a weaker plant.
Watermelons require deep, rich, easily crumbled soils. Raising the soil into mounds will help your watermelon to grow well.
Making mounds has several advantages mentioned below:
- Raising your soil will make it free draining (watermelons don’t like wet ground when developing).If your soil has heavy clay you will definitely need to raise it.
- If your soil is poor and lacks enough nutrients you should also make a mound with a lot of compost. This will enable it to grow watermelons.
- Making a mould would enable you to plant watermelons over large area. Raise your soil and plant like the large scale commercial growers.
Popular Varieties in Kenya include;
- Pato F1
- Sukari F1 hybrid
- Charleston Gray
- Early Scarlet F1
- Sugar Baby
Yield
The new hybrid varieties of watermelon can give you a yield of up to 20,000 fruits per acre.
Market
After harvesting watermelons, you can supply them to schools, supermarkets, private orders, Kiosks, Institutions or post them to online shops for sale.
Download more tips and costings HERE
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Thank you
Hi, please help me find land to farm watermelons in Embu county.im in need of 1acre for leasing with water sources nearby.im a youth aspiring to get into agribusiness.
Tel:0715087689
Email:petwanjiru@gmail.com
hi i own a piece of land in kisanju.can melon grow there. can it do well in gatundu south? i will appreciate your support
Leah,
They do so well.I do them as well in those sides.0725562352
Hi,
can water Mellon do well in Mtwapa and which is the best variety to plant
Hey. Melons do well in dry weather. They need a lot of water when still young and minimum watee when mature… Test your soil first to know which variety is best for you
hallo, i want to start watermelon farming but in laikipia county a dry part of the county,would you please provide more guidelines on how to grow the fruit,is there need to use fertilizer,is can it work on irrigation e.t.c…generally i need guidelines so that i can prepare myself.
I have the land but not sure the amount of capital required to plant one acre of watermelons, can I please get your help?
Hi,I have two two acre piece of land in Emali,can watermelon do well there,kindly advise.0728295893
hi there, how long does watermelons take to mature..ready for market?
Hi I leave in LIKUYANI kakamega County can watermelon do well in this region