How To Save Watermelon Seeds?

After having a watermelon, have you ever wondered how to save watermelon seeds? Watermelon is a member of the Cucurbitaceae family and originally hails from southern Africa. You’ll find nearly 300 to 500 seeds in a single watermelon depending on its size! In today’s post, I will show you how to save watermelon seeds in detail. Saving watermelon seeds is super easy and requires less effort. The seeds of watermelon are edible and delicious when roasted. People often save these seeds for growing their own watermelons in their backyard gardens. Without wasting much time, you can keep on reading to find out how to save watermelon seeds.

How To Save Watermelon Seeds?

In this section, I will teach you how to save watermelon seeds in detail. Saving a handful of watermelon seeds will surely give you a garden full of sweet, juicy watermelons!

You can follow these steps to learn how to save seeds from watermelon for planting.

1. Purchase a fully ripe watermelon from a nearby grocery store.
2. Clean the watermelon before cutting it open.
3. This will help you to get rid of soil, dirt, and grime.
4. Now, eat the watermelon to collect their seeds.
5. Or else you can even cut the watermelon and then pick the seeds out with your hands.
6. Take a glass or plastic container filled with water.
7. Put the seeds into this container and stir it around with a spoon.
8. This will immediately wash off the pulp.
9. Allow them to sit in the water at normal room temperature for at least two to three days.
10. Just make sure you stir them gently once each day.
11. On the 3rd day, you’ll see seeds floating at the top.
12. Gently pour out the water to take out the seeds floating on the top.
13. You can leave any seeds at the bottom in the container itself.
14. Now, fill another container with some fresh water.
15. Swish the seeds around and pour the water out a couple of times.
16. This will give your seeds a good rinse.
17. Using a spoon, remove the seeds from the container.
18. Or else you can even pour them out into a strainer.
19. Place several layers of paper towel on a flat surface.
20. Spread the seeds on it and let them dry at room temperature.
21. Make sure you dry them away from direct sunlight.
22. Transfer your dry, clean seeds into an air-tight container.
23. Label the container mentioning the year the seeds were processed.
24. You can store the container in the refrigerator to keep them cool.

Make sure you always take ripe, healthy watermelons if you want to save their seeds. You should never pick a watermelon growing on vines that have wilted, spotted, or dried leaves or vines. The seeds of such melons could be infected and may produce diseased plants.

Let us now check out how to save watermelon seeds to plant next year.

Save Watermelon Seeds For Next Year

Surprisingly, you can even save watermelon seeds for planting next year. Watermelon takes a while to grow from seed to harvest. You can follow these steps to learn how to save watermelon seeds for next year.

1. For this, you’ll need ripe watermelons.
2. Cut the watermelon and collect the seeds.
3. Now, place them in a sieve and wash the seeds gently under clean running water.
4. Transfer the seeds to a paper towel or coffee filter.
5. Allow them to dry for a few days at room temperature.
6. Then, store them in an air-tight container and label them.

If you store the container in a cool, dry, dark place, the seeds will remain fresh for up to five years! Make sure you separate out any seeds that are small, pale, or damaged.

Now, you must be wondering how to prepare watermelon seeds for planting. Place the seeds in a colander/sieve to rinse off any pulp under running water. Now, allow the seeds to dry on a towel or newspaper in a sunny area for a couple of days.

You can keep on reading to learn more about how to save watermelon seeds.

Save Heirloom Watermelon Seeds

Before saving watermelon seeds, you need to be sure whether you are dealing with a non-hybrid variety (heirloom). When you replant seeds of a hybrid variety, you won’t get any fruit. But do you know how to save heirloom watermelon seeds? The procedure will be the same for saving heirloom watermelon seeds. Cut the watermelon, scoop out the seeds, and rinse them to get the most out of the pulp from the seeds. Now, put the good seeds on a paper towel to dry.

Do you know how to dry watermelon seeds? There are a couple of ways you can try out to dry your watermelon seeds. The easiest way to dry them is using an oven or air-dry at normal room temperature. Simply spread the seeds in a single layer on a baking sheet and turn on the oven light. The heat from the oven light is enough to dry out the seeds in about 36 to 48 hours.

Step By Step Guide To Plant Watermelon Seeds

I hope now you have understood how to save watermelon seeds. Let us now learn how to plant watermelon seeds in brief.

1. First, sow watermelon seeds in ½ to 1 inch deep in seed-starting pots indoors.
2. This will minimize the risk of damaging seedlings’ tender roots during transplanting.
3. After two weeks, transfer the seedlings to the garden.
4. During this, make sure you handle watermelon seedlings with extreme care.
5. Try not to disturb the soil when you remove them from pots.
6. Once the seeds are planted in the garden, water them regularly until the fruit begins to form.
7. You can reduce watering once the fruit starts growing.

Now, you should expect ripe watermelons in the summer every year!

How To Prepare Watermelon Seeds For Eating?

After learning how to save watermelon seeds, you can either plant them or eat them. As watermelon seeds are nontoxic, you can eat them raw, straight from the fruit! But the best way to enjoy and eat watermelon seeds is to roast them. You can easily make roasted watermelon seeds at home in an oven. 

Follow these if you want to prepare watermelon seeds for eating.

1. Before you start, make sure you have rinsed and thoroughly dried the seeds.
2. Pour your dried watermelon seeds on a baking sheet.
3. Now, add some olive oil and salt to your seeds.
4. Finally, bake them for about 10 to 15 minutes at 325°F.

After 15 minutes, simply crack the seeds off and eat just as you would eat sunflower seeds!

How Many Watermelon Seeds Per Hole?

While planting, you can put four to six watermelon seeds per hole if you’re choosing a hill planting. Otherwise, you can put two to three seeds per hole if you plant them in rows.

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FAQ

Can You Plant Watermelon Seeds Straight From The Fruit?

You can save the seeds from your watermelon to grow more plants, but you’ll have to wait until next spring to plant them. If you save the seeds from a grocery store melon, you might be surprised at the variety of fruit you produce.

Do Watermelon Seeds Need To Be Dried Before Planting?

Yes, you can absolutely grow watermelons from the seeds inside a watermelon. All you need to do is separate the seeds from the flesh and allow them to dry completely before sowing them. To do this, scoop out the seeds with a spoon and place them onto a paper towel to absorb any excess moisture.

How Do I Harvest Watermelon Seeds?

Once the watermelon has cured, it’s time to remove the seeds. Cut open the melon and scoop the seeds out, flesh and all. Pour the “guts” into a large bowl and fill it with water. Healthy seed sinks to the bottom and dead (not viable) will float along with the majority of the pulp.

How Long Does It Take For Watermelon Seeds To Dry?

The ambient heat from the light is enough to dry out the seeds in about 36-48 hours. When they are dried enough, the seeds will be harder, more brittle and they’ll have shrunk a little bit. You can then put the seeds inside an envelope and store them in a jar in your refrigerator.

Who Should Avoid Watermelon Seeds?

Skittish adults might get nervous about choking on the seeds; kids fear that a rogue seed will cause a watermelon to grow in their stomachs. No need to worry, though! Experts say you should have zero fears — watermelon seeds are perfectly safe to eat.

Are Black Watermelon Seeds OK To Eat?

The black seeds in a regular watermelon are just plain ol’ seeds. They’re mature, fertile seeds, so if you planted a few in the ground, they would indeed sprout into watermelon plants. While they’re thought to be too hard and therefore inedible, they are actually completely safe to consume.

Conclusion

In the above post, I’ve explained how to save watermelon seeds in detail. Homegrown watermelons always taste better compared to the ones brought from grocery stores! Watermelon seeds are inexpensive but you can also collect seeds from ripe watermelons and store them for planting. Simply collect the seeds after eating the watermelon or pick the seeds out by cutting it open. Wash off the pulp, rinse the seeds, and dry them in an area that is slightly warmer. Once they are dried, you can store them in an air-tight container. By learning how to save watermelon seeds, you can grow your own watermelons from seeds!