Citrullus lanatus
Watermelons enjoy hot temperatures and need only moderate water to set fruit. Keep soil consistently moist until fruits are about the size of a tennis ball. After that, water only when the soil is dry. Fruits are the sweetest in dry seasons. 
Avoid overhead watering to beat foliar diseases; use soaker hoses instead. About a week before fruits are ripe, water only if the leaves wilt.  
Fertilizer: Melons are heavy feeders
Mulching: Spread them in a six-inch mulch over the entire watermelon patch and draw the mulch up to the base of the vines. This should be done before fruits begin to form, because the small fruits may be damaged by handling.
Harvest: When ripe to eat immediately, or when not quite ripe for storing up to 2 months.