How to grow watermelon in Launceston
Citrullus lanatus
Frost in Launceston rules out the cool zone's usual months for watermelon. Ask the growers at your garden what works locally.
A sprawling, frost-tender vine grown for its large, sweet, juicy fruit. It needs a long, hot season, plenty of room and steady water while the fruit swells.
When to sow in Launceston
Launceston, TAS is in the cool zone. The zone also plants in Sep to Dec, but Launceston's frost dates make those months risky for a frost-tender crop.
Broadly matches local guides, with some differences.
Your local conditions can shift any months shown here, so treat them as a guide.
Frost in Launceston
Frost usually arrives in Launceston around late March and finishes by late November. In about 1 year in 10 it comes as early as late January or as late as late December, so frost-tender crops are planned around those dates.
From its Bureau of Meteorology station, 1991 to 2020, counting a night at 2°C or lower as a frost. Frost hollows and hillsides can shift these dates by weeks, so ask the growers at your garden too.
On a shared plot: needs a lot of room
Vines wander well beyond a small bed. Train them back into your plot, and ask your coordinator if space is tight.
Growing details
- How to start
- Sow directly in the bed
- Sowing depth
- 25-38mm
- Plant spacing
- 90-120cm
- Row spacing
- 125cm
- Germination
- 10-14 days at 27-32°C
- Time to harvest
- 85 days
- Frost
- Frost tender
- Sun
- Full sun
- Life cycle
- annual
These are typical figures, and varieties differ. Your seed packet takes priority.