«Ours are very sweet». Belarusian woman boasted about a harvest of giant watermelons

— At some point, you come to the conclusion that simply growing a watermelon is uninteresting. It's interesting to get the maximum harvest from a minimal area with minimal care. On August 23, late-ripening giants and 'rejects'—watermelons weighing up to 3 kg—remained in the garden bed, says Alena from Vaukavysk on TikTok. The video gained over 250,000 views and hundreds of comments. Mainly, people admire Alena's watermelons, ask questions on the topic, and share their successes in growing melons and gourds.

@vital046 результаты по сортам сезон 2026 Эль Уафи 11 шт вес 83.4 кг Талисман 7 шт вес 75.2 кг Шампань 4 шт вес 19.4 кг yelloy heat 9 шт вес 39.4 кг black tyresson 5 шт вес 47 кг Амина 7 шт вес 70 кг Сидней (два растения) 18 шт 64.6 кг Романза 10 шт вес 89.2 Амфион 4 шт вес 42 кг#арбуз #watermelon #лето #вкусно #беларусь ♬ оригинальный звук - Арбуз Волковыск

Onliner.by journalists contacted Alena to find out the secret of such a bountiful harvest.

— We live in the suburbs of Vaukavysk, we've been growing watermelons for about 18 years. At first, our successes weren't great, but then, in 2016, I learned that they can be grafted—like trees. We tried many options, never quite finding the ideal one, but lately we've settled on the bottle gourd (lagenaria). This means that during the seedling period, the lagenaria and watermelon are grown, the top of the gourd is cut off, and the watermelon is grafted onto its root.

What does this achieve? A watermelon on its own root grows when the soil temperature rises above 18 degrees. But one grafted onto lagenaria already grows at 14 degrees. Accordingly, it can be planted earlier. The root system of lagenaria is more powerful, so the watermelon naturally gets more strength and nutrients, — shares the Belarusian woman, offering life hacks for growing southern crops.

@vital046 зрелый арбуз проще всего определить по сроку 35+ для порционного и 40+ для крупноплода с момента завязи размером с грецкий орех, но есть и внешние признаки #арбуз #лето #огород #watermelon #грядка ♬ оригинальный звук - Tajus

At the same time, the woman emphasizes: to grow watermelons, a lot of space is needed.

— The distance between watermelon rows is about 5 meters, and in one row, the distance between plants is about one meter. All this is so that the fruits receive more nutrients. We try to plant them earlier because many diseases start in August and then nothing much will come of it.

Therefore, usually at the beginning of May, we create such a raised garden bed and cover it with transparent film—sunlight passes through it well and heats the soil. Then we cover the soil with black spunbond to prevent weeding and to keep the fruit from lying directly on the ground and rotting.

We fertilize the garden bed well with humus, add sand, because our soil is loamy, and watermelon prefers sandy soil. We don't do any shaping, we don't pinch off extra fruits. They grow as they grow. Two preventive treatments against diseases, we definitely treat with calcium so that the fruit doesn't crack, — adds Alena.

According to the Belarusian woman, the watermelons turn out very sweet.

— Because imported watermelons, which we buy in a store or at the market, are picked slightly unripe so they can be transported. And plus, they lie there in the store for a week or two, evaporating moisture, which also doesn't affect the taste very well.

— And do you grow watermelons for sale?

— No, mainly for ourselves. And we also treat friends and relatives. We only sell grafted seedlings. I'm the chief agronomist [laughs]. But my husband also helps, of course. Moreover, he's the one who manages the social media, filming videos about our hobby.

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