Mealybugs wreaking havoc on the watermelon plant. That’s not them in the background, though; the white things on the ground are part of the potting mix.

If you remember, I started growing a couple of watermelon plants several months ago, just to see if the fruits could grow here. The plants have gone through a few ups and downs, probably because they’re new to our garden and the regular critters were curious about them.

First there was the aphid infestation that I thought would kill off the plants. Then the mealybugs came. From having a pair of healthy-looking vines spilling out from a large pot, we went to spindly stems hanging over the rim of the pot, with average looking vines growing on the lawn and plants surrounding the pot.

The plants are tenacious, I’ll give them that. The main stems in the pot have sprouted new growth each time – although that’s still a yo-yo of a battle – and the stems around the pot are still meandering here and there, causing a bit of a headache because we daren’t cut the grass too close to them in case we accidentally sever the stems. In fact, I was having a conversation earlier today with my mum about how wild parts of the garden are looking, when I saw…

From a distance – do you see what I see?

…the first watermelon fruit!

Our first baby watermelon!

Oh yes indeedy, it is the first sighted fruit growing, and it’s already about an inch wide! Of course it’s not guaranteed that it will grow to term, but I’ve finally got my answer that yes, it looks like watermelons can grow here!

© 2013 curiousgardener.com All rights reserved.