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I planted Crimson Red watermelon seedlings (top) in a firepit that I converted to a garden bed. It's sharing space with a tomato (left), rosemary (bottom), and red pepper (right). Since there's 4 plants crammed into this garden bed, I decided to drape the watermelon vines over the concrete to make room. Is there any problem for the watermelon fruit to grow on a hard surface? I've been slowly building up this soil with a mixture of store bought soil and vegetable scraps, egg shells, fallen fruit, and nut shells for several years. I water this garden bed twice a week.

I noticed that the watermelon leaves are all curling inward. It looks wrinkly just like kale. Is this normal or a sign of some disease? The leaves are a decent green color. There's not much yellow. There's 3 watermelon fruit growing, They're all around 6 inches in diameter. The fruit started off squishy but now they're rock hard like the mature watermelons you find the super market. Is it normal for the fruit to start off soft?

I'm in California zone 9. It's been around 80 degrees Fahrenheit during the daytime for two months.

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JoJo
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    Could be low pH. – J. Musser Jul 22 '17 at 21:41
  • I was thinking it might have something to do with the mulch, roots or watering. Maybe the mulch is pine bark and making it acidic. The UV index is extremely high in most parts of the USA, and probably many other parts of the world, in recent days (9-12+). – Brōtsyorfuzthrāx Jul 23 '17 at 05:27
  • @J.Musser I have tree that profusely produces lemons. I place all the dropped lemons into this garden bed. Am I right to assume that anything sour is going to lower soil PH? – JoJo Jul 23 '17 at 15:29
  • @JoJo Any decomposing organic matter will be somewhat acidic (produces humic acid and others). But different nutrients become less available to the plant at different pH measurements, which can cause nutrient deprivation in several forms, depending on the soil type and the pH extreme. I'm looking at your tomato plants too, and I see chlorosis and curling on the older leaves. I'd get a soil nutrient/pH test, before i added lime, though. – J. Musser Jul 23 '17 at 18:17
  • Is there any drainage at the bottom of the fire pit? – InColorado Sep 13 '17 at 18:34

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