Sugar Baby Watermelon

Why I grow it

Watermelon straight from the garden is one of those ridiculous summer pleasures that makes all the sprawling vines worthwhile.

Sugar Baby particularly appeals to me because the fruit stays relatively small — much more manageable than attempting to grow something the size of a small child — but still gives you that crisp, sweet, properly watermelon-red centre. A useful watermelon for an ordinary garden rather than requiring your own melon plantation.

At a glance

Type: Watermelon
Fruit: Small, round, dark green
Flesh: Deep red
Flavour: Sweet and crisp
Growth: Sprawling vine
Position: Full sun, warm and sheltered
Best for: Fresh eating
Space: Give it room to wander

In the kitchen

This one requires very little culinary interference. Get it properly cold, cut it into wedges and eat it somewhere that doesn't matter when the juice runs down your arms.

It's also gorgeous chopped into summer salads with salty feta, mint and lime, or blitzed with lime and ice for an absurdly refreshing drink.

In the garden

Sugar Baby is a smaller-fruited watermelon, which makes it surprisingly good for growing up rather than out.

I've had great success growing mine over arches made from concrete reinforcing mesh. The vines happily climb up and over the arch and I've harvested heaps of watermelons this way, without sacrificing a huge area of garden floor to sprawling vines.

Guide the young vines onto the mesh as they start growing and they'll use their tendrils to help themselves along. Because Sugar Baby produces relatively small fruit, it's particularly well suited to this kind of vertical growing.

You can, of course, let it ramble along the ground instead. If you do, place something dry beneath developing fruit to keep them away from damp soil.

Jo's growing tip: If you're short of growing space, don't automatically rule out watermelon. A sturdy arch turns the vine into part of the garden structure — and there is something rather glorious about watermelons hanging overhead.

Care

Grow in rich, fertile, well-drained soil in your warmest position. Water consistently while the vines establish and fruit develops, avoiding dramatic wet/dry swings.

Feed during flowering and fruiting, give the vines room to spread and protect from frost. As the fruit approaches maturity, ease back on heavy watering rather than soaking the plants.

What you'll receive

One healthy, established plant grown here at A Garden Between. Plants naturally vary in size and shape and may be supplied in reused nursery pots or growing bags — perfectly useful plastic doesn't need replacing simply because it doesn't match.