I'm planning to set up a watermelon patch about 4 feet away from my lemon cucumbers, which I have fenced in. The cucumbers should be ready to harvest in about 45 days, while I plan to plant the watermelons around the 15th. I'm a bit concerned about potential cross-pollination between them. Also, is it alright to grow different types of watermelons together in the same patch? I want to plant orange tender sweet, Charleston gray, and sugar baby varieties close to each other, but will they cross-pollinate?
2 Answers
The cross-pollination concern really comes into play only if you're saving seeds from this year's watermelons to plant next season. As for the cucumbers and watermelons, they aren't closely related enough to cross-pollinate since they're in different genera. Watermelon is *Citrullus lanatus* and cucumber is *Cucumis sativus*. You're safe to grow them near each other!
Cross-pollination won't cause any issues for this season's harvest. Any genetic mix-up would only affect the seeds if you decide to save them for next year. So, if you're not saving seeds, you're good to go!
Exactly! And don't worry about mixing up the watermelon varieties either; they'll just produce watermelons without any issues for this season.