{"id":1850,"date":"2015-04-12T11:55:06","date_gmt":"2015-04-12T11:55:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.whataboutwatermelon.com\/?p=1850"},"modified":"2017-06-12T11:55:41","modified_gmt":"2017-06-12T11:55:41","slug":"5426","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.whataboutwatermelon.com\/index.php\/2015\/04\/5426\/","title":{"rendered":"ASK THE EXPERTS: SHOULD I BUY WATERMELON OR GROW MY OWN?"},"content":{"rendered":"

JASON K. ASKS: Watermelon isn\u2019t THAT expensive, but watermelon seeds are pretty cheap. I eat a lot of watermelon, so I was wondering: should I buy watermelon in the store, or should I try to save a few bucks by growing my own?<\/strong><\/p>\n

You\u2019re right about watermelon not being all that expensive, Jason. In fact, pound-for-pound, watermelons are one of the cheapest fruits or veggies you can buy. Like most produce, prices vary depending the season, but you can usually pick up a watermelon for much less than a dollar per pound. Last summer, my local store was selling 10-pounders for $3.99 each. That\u2019s only 40 cents a pound!<\/p>\n

Of course, you\u2019re also right about watermelon seeds being even cheaper. A pack of 50 Crimson Sweet seeds<\/a> will run about five bucks. That\u2019s about the same price you\u2019d pay for two of those Crimson Sweets. Faced with math like that, the decision to grow your own watermelon sounds like a no-brainer, right?<\/p>\n

What you have to remember is this: Growing watermelon ain\u2019t easy. Trust me, I\u2019ve tried. Back in 2013, I made a new year\u2019s resolution to grow my own watermelon. The adventure started out great, with my five watermelon vines producing little watermelons that grew shockingly fast<\/a>. But after a few months, the watermelons stopped growing. By the end of the growing season, my watermelons were inedible and no larger than a baseball<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s assuming you\u2019ve got plenty of space to grow them in. And time. Growing watermelon \u2014 especially a whole bunch of them \u2014 is a full-time gardening job. Watering, weeding, more watering, building fences to keep the rabbits out, watering again\u2026it\u2019s not easy.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong \u2014 I definitely recommend every watermelon lover at least TRY to grow their own watermelon at some point. It\u2019s fun, and it really makes you appreciate the hard work that watermelon farmers put into their crop. But when it comes to picking a watermelon to take to the barbeque this weekend, I\u2019ll gladly leave the growing and harvesting to the experts and shell out five bucks for a big ol\u2019 20-pounder at the grocery store.<\/p>\n

UP NEXT: An interview with a watermelon carver<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JASON K. ASKS: Watermelon isn\u2019t THAT expensive, but watermelon seeds are pretty cheap. I eat a lot of watermelon, so I was wondering: should I buy watermelon in the store, or should I try to save a few bucks by growing my own? You\u2019re right about watermelon not being all that expensive, Jason. In fact, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[489,402],"class_list":{"0":"post-1850","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-general","7":"tag-planting-watermelon","8":"tag-watermelon-seed","9":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nASK THE EXPERTS: SHOULD I BUY WATERMELON OR GROW MY OWN? - What About Watermelon?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.whataboutwatermelon.com\/index.php\/2015\/04\/5426\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ASK THE EXPERTS: SHOULD I BUY WATERMELON OR GROW MY OWN? - What About Watermelon?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"JASON K. ASKS: Watermelon isn\u2019t THAT expensive, but watermelon seeds are pretty cheap. I eat a lot of watermelon, so I was wondering: should I buy watermelon in the store, or should I try to save a few bucks by growing my own? You\u2019re right about watermelon not being all that expensive, Jason. 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