A bit of frustration for me as I planted out my nice plants and then we had that cold wet snap and the snails and slugs snapped up almost all of them. Those were my new varieties for crossing this year. Change of plans, I’ve now direct seeded my grex from last year mixed with seeds from @ThomasPicard and from the serendipity seed mix. Fingers crossed for round two. I have a couple plants that survived the snail attacks so either they are lucky or icky to gateropods.
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I have direct seeded the watermelon grex seeds from Marcela into my best bed yesterday. Planting by the very last light.
Today evening we have a big thunderstorm.
Unfortunately all melon and watermelon and sunflower seedlings were eaten by the slugs. I have replanted with popcorn, bush beans and potatoes on the 14th of June.
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As of June 19th. It’s almost 40 degrees here and these guys have still had no irrigation other than rain. They are holding out well! I have a couple surviving plants growing poorly and a couple seeds still germinating sporadically in my garden elsewhere, but it seems like this batch will the the area to watch this summer, fingers crossed. I have some burrowing rodent action in this area as can see on the photos, but I seeded very heavily.
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Vines exploding (20th of June). Both melons and watermelons have doubled in size in just a couple days. Many melons already male flowering
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Best part of direct sowing is that you get to see the true growth potential of the plants, given that temperatures are somewhat favourable. Always fun to check some plants everyday to see how much they have grown. I often take pictures/mark growth points to see how much development there is between days. Last year I went from barely first true leaves to first females in a month. I’m at similar phase now so I’d guess flowering in a month, hopefully few days under.
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The same for me. I saved 2 plants in a bed which I patrol frequently. Additionaly I noticed one seedling which sprouted much later then others, which probably saved it from the slug invasion during wet weeks. But late germination is actually the opposite we want to achieve. So no progress this year on my side. I replanted with corn on 22th of June.
I’ve also gotten some direct seeded seeds sprouting even a month after others, and therefore escaping slugs and so far surviving the heatwave. If they go to fruit perhaps worth still saving seeds even though potentially selecting for later germination? Or perhaps it isn’t that linear and they are simply “late germinators” but there are other factors that delayed their germination? Not much experience here, but just wondering.
We can speculate but we don’t really “know”… But yes in my opinion it’s not that linear!
It certainly aren’t that linear, but at the same time I would say that it’s likely that there is something genetic to it. Only other thing I have noticed is that seeds that haven’t had the time to fully mature might have slower germination. But I would only use that knowledge if I had some seeds that I know came from a special plant that might have had difficulty maturing seeds. If it’s genetic, I don’t see the value of slow germination. It just adds unpredictability. Only possible line I’d see is for summer sowing, but if slow germination persists, then I don’t see the value in that. Even if the selection is never linear, I try to make sure that the bottom is cut and so even if you go down to 50% it will be hard for the weaker plants to make it through and slowly the cream will rise to the top. Although rather have 5% or even lower to make the adaption as fast as possible.
It does seem like you really need to make some brainstorming to adapt the methods of growing for the slugs. Unfortunetely I can’t help with that, but it does make me wonder why there are such differences. @ThomasPicard Doesn’t have problems with them, right? So maybe it’s not inevitable. I haven’t got problems even though I do have some slugs/snails at the perimeter. But I don’t have spanish slug that has been spreading south from me causing problems. I have also heard that people here have problems with the ones I have here. It seems strange.
For slugs it’s a lot in the timing and this year I had super bad luck as it got really wet and rainy right at the wrong time which brought them all out. I noticed also that woodchip mulch seems to attract them less so I’ll have to try that in other spots next year. Also, I see a huge difference with or without Indian runner ducks. Last year I had mine in the garden patch and have way way less slug and snail pressure than this spring without them.
I’ve also noticed that it seems a bit all or nothing in the sense that either a plant is doing terribly or solidly, not much in between. And a huge difference between brought varieties that I planted in pots to plant out later and my grex from last year that I direct seeded, with my grex doing better. That said it’s not entirely scientifically sound given that one was direct seed and the other transplants, which could definitely account for some of the difference.
I have problems with snails and/or slugs when I direct seed and there is mulch nearby, in my greenhouse for example.
But when big plots are rototilled and bare I never have any problem. Same with plastic tarp and there I guess it’s because it makes the soil too warm under the tarp for them to stay.
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Indeed, transplant and direct seeded behave very differently. Transplantation shock is frequent
I was thinking the same that it must be bare ground (easy for predators to pick them up and in dry conditions hard for them to move) and plastic ground cover. At least partially helps the matter. I had one of the outer row paths overgrown with weeds and there were some snails once I removed weeds, but no damage from there on. There was one row in between covered with plastic and there I had transplanted tiny ground cherries, some of which were eaten. By what I don’t know, but might be snails/slugs. Might be also rodents, although this time I would doubt that. I have had previously voles eat watermelon seedlings in the row next to the weedy middle between plots, but that was solved by covering the sides of the plastic so there was no direct access from the sides, and hence no cover to access seedlings. Ground cherries don’t have the sides fully covered, but since the damage is in the very smallest, I suspect the culprit is also smaller.
It’s good to have experiences from people in similar climates how to control slugs/snails so that people can also take advantage of the direct sowing and start mass selection for their climate.
Dibs 
Couple pics from @Bruno in Haute-Loire, France, higher in elevation and cooler climate than mine, from transplants put in the ground by the end of May. The ones I direct sown in my soil, by the end of April, are about the same size as his.
He did soak the potting mix of his transplants but never watered since, weeded twice. Now (end of June) many fruits show up, he says.
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I have watermelons in 4 different locations, dealing with different challenges. All sowed directly into the ground.
The photo bellow shows a green jungle where everything turned into one big mass.
I have around 100 watermelon plants here, but there were many volunteer potatoes from last year, so watermelons need to find their place under the sun. I didn’t have time to do any weeding, only trimming 2 weeks ago.
And then I was away for 2 weeks and everyhing merged together 
I don’t have photos from all locations, I will post later in the season.
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