My Garden: Watermelons & Melons... and More :D

*Update: More flowers appeared today (form the watermelons!). Those small clumps of leaves were actually flowers. I had read a lot about watermelon flowers and knew which one was a female or male flower (very small watermelon under the flower). So I pollinated them (I took pictures too). Ill post them as soon as I find my memory card reader.


I added more pictures, not a lot, but more; The pictures from my friends DSLR are pretty big (12mps) so I had to upload one by one..


More pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/63215867@N08/sets/72157626657771893/
I couldn't upload them all since they were too many for the uploader...

I would like to start off by saying that I'm not used to writing for people to actually read it and would really like constructive feedback in comprehension and usage of words (english is my 2nd language). I am writting a lot here because I think this is not enough to be an instructable but It contains enough to give someone tips and tricks (along with a timeframe) in growing what they want (in this case, melons).

I started growing watermelons by early April, I grew them on a wooden raised bed. I grew them on regular pots, hanging pots and in spots on the garden. The ones I grew in the raised bed (inside a simple pvc greenhouse) were totalled with golf-sized hail (well, just the ones that grew). I thought that everything was dead there and had to leave it since I had to study for my ap tests. A week later, new watermelon plants started growing (from some late-sprouting seed(s)). Those grew slowly but kept strong. I kept them in a strict watering "diet" until they had more than 2 leaves (hardening, which made the "trunk" thicker). then its just to mother nature to make them grow. Just water and remove weeds. You can build a trelli if you would like (or if you have the space, just let them spread around). They are growing strong and hopefully they produce watermelons this summer. 

The melons (the orange-inside-kind) grew the same way as the watermelons, but they all died too with the freezing water and hail. I had given up hope about them until one day my mom comments on how big the melon plants on the hanging pot are growing (they were too big for the pot) so I transplanted them in the actual ground, along with a few bulbs (now flowers) we planted in february.They grew pretty fast, I had to use insecticide since one of my plants was being eaten my worms and other kinds of insects. This left me with 3 (out of 4) mature-ish (4 weeks old) plants. I left them growing for a few weeks and today I see flowers appearing! (5+) on one of the plants, I hope at least 2-3 are able to mature and become melons.

Well this are those melons that took a lot of work to grow. I forgot to mention how sensitive they are. I had to move the pots and plants around when rain came and cover them so they wouldn't freeze (like today) or break/get damaged. So if you work on them and take care of them (dont forget watering) they'll grow a lot and hopefully have melons in about 3 months after planting. 
(I will add pictures tomorrow morning since I am tired, and its easier to write than to go look for my silenced phone)

Theres a lot more explanations in the pictures, so if you want to learn more about them just look through their "notes" :)

Thanks for reading

The uploader isn't working right. I tried uploading pictures but its not working right (too many pics, canceling my upload) and the "new uploader doesn't work with me and flickr isn't working either.. So I hope it counts if I make a gallery for my pictures in flickr

I will post new updates about every week (if it doesnt interfere with the contest, if it does I will try posting them in the comments)