Watermelons! Watermelons!

They come in all varieties, sizes and colors. Central Americans consume them year round. At present we have six manzanas (10.38 acres) planted. Each manzana is in a different stage of growth. We will be harvesting our first crop in ten days.

Our clients are requesting over 40,000 watermelons each a week. Here are some of the details I thought you might be interested in regarding the growing cycle and profitability of watermelons. We can plant 4,500 watermelon plants per manzana (1.73 acres).

Each plant produces a total of 7 watermelons, 3-4 large melons, usually the first ones on the vine and 3-4 small melons, the last on the vine. I use the number seven as the total number of melons per plant with an average of $1.00 per melon. Our clients pay two and three dollars for large and less than $1.00 for the small. With this information I will use a conservative number of $1.00 per melon and the number 31,500 melons harvested per manzana.

Watermelons are ready for harvest after 75 days in the soil. Eight weeks growing one week harvesting, wait a week then one more week harvesting. A total of eleven weeks from seed starts to finished crop. At $1 per melon and 31,500 melons per manzana it is an easy number to figure sales wise. A total of $31,500 per manzana over the eleven week growing period.

We plan to sell some melons on the side of the road. This is a very common practice in El Salvador. Thousands are sold this way. By doing this we are able to increase our profits greatly. At present we have six manzanas (10.38 acres) planted. Each manzana is in a different stage of growth. We will be harvesting our first crop in ten days.

Our goal is to plant five manzanas every three weeks. Planting this way will we will have twenty-five manzanas (43.25 acres) of watermelons growing at one time. By doing this we will have nearly 40,000 melons available for sale weekly.

Water melons are a great crop for exporting to the U.S. We have made some inquiries and we will be testing the market as soon as it makes sense to do so. In the U.S. water melons tend to be a summer fruit. In Central America it is a twelve month selling item with peaks around any holiday.