How Do You Grow A Watermelon In Minecraft?
In Minecraft, growing watermelons involves a few simple steps:
- Find Watermelon Seeds: Watermelon seeds can be obtained in a few ways. They can be found in chests in mineshafts, dungeons, and strongholds. You can also get them by trading with villagers, or by placing a watermelon slice in the crafting grid, which will yield one seed.
- Prepare the Ground: Use a hoe on a dirt or grass block to prepare it for planting. This block must be adjacent to a water source, such as a river, lake, or a manually created water hole.
- Plant the Seeds: Right-click on the tilled ground with the watermelon seeds in your hand to plant them.
- Wait for Growth: Watermelon plants in Minecraft go through 8 stages of growth before a melon will appear on a suitable block adjacent to the plant. The growth process can be accelerated by using bone meal on the plant.
- Harvest the Watermelon: Once a watermelon has grown, it can be harvested by breaking the watermelon block. This will yield 3-7 slices of watermelon. The original stem does not need to be replanted and will continue to produce watermelons over time.
Remember to leave a block of space around the stem for the watermelon to grow. If there are no adjacent ground blocks available, the stem will not produce a watermelon.Note: Watermelons will only grow on dirt, grass, or farmland. If a watermelon ends up growing onto a block of farmland, that farmland will be turned back into a dirt block.
Featured Answers
First, till a dirt block with a hoe next to some water, then place a watermelon seed on it. Seeds can be found by trading with villagers or crafting other watermelons into seeds. Be sure to leave a block of space around where you planted it. Then wait for it to grow!
Answered from Nick
Watermelons are one of the most useful and efficient crops to farm in Minecraft. This comprehensive expert guide will equip you with everything you need to know to become a master watermelon farmer.
Table of Contents
- Watermelon Overview
- Obtaining Seeds
- Preparing Farmland
- Planting Seeds
- Watermelon Growth Stages
- Harvesting Watermelons
- Replanting and Expanding
- Accelerating Growth
- Maximizing Yield
- Efficient Farm Designs
- Ideal Farm Locations
- Troubleshooting Guide
- Closing Thoughts
Watermelon Overview
First introduced in the 1.4.2 update, watermelons have become a staple food source and renewable resource. When harvested, watermelon blocks drop 3-7 melon slices, which restore 1 food point (half a drumstick) and 1.2 hunger each when consumed.
Watermelons can also be crafted into seeds, which are used to rapidly expand watermelon farms. On average, each fully grown melon drops 4 seeds when broken.
Below is a comparison of watermelon growth stats across different versions of Minecraft:
| Version | Full Growth Time | Growth Stages |
|---|---|---|
| 1.4.2 | 10-15 mins | Stem > New melon blocks |
| 1.13 | 10-15 mins | Stem > New melon blocks |
| 1.14 | 10-15 mins | Stem > New melon blocks |
| 1.15 | 10-15 mins | Stem > New melon blocks |
| 1.16 | 10-15 mins | Stem > New melon blocks |
| 1.17 | 10-15 mins | Stem > New melon blocks |
| 1.18 | 10-15 mins | Stem > New melon blocks |
| 1.19 | 10-15 mins | Stem > New melon blocks |
As shown above, watermelon growth mechanics have remained consistent over time, with a full growth taking 10-15 minutes on average.
Obtaining Seeds
There are two primary methods of obtaining watermelon seeds:
Breaking Mature Melons
Destroying a fully developed watermelon block has a 65% chance of dropping 3-7 watermelon seeds. On average, this equates to approximately 4 seeds per melon block broken.
With a large watermelon farm, seeds can be rapidly accumulated this way. However, some initial seeds are required to start the farm in the first place.
Trading with Farmer Villagers
Wandering traders will exchange 1 watermelon seed for 1 emerald. Finding a village with farmer villagers allows you to trade for seeds.
However, this relies on having emeralds available and can be inefficient compared to harvesting existing melons.
Preparing Farmland
Watermelons can only be planted and grow on farmland blocks. To till land into farmland, use a hoe on ordinary dirt or grass blocks.
Farmland appears as darker soil blocks and indicates the land is ready for planting.
For fastest growth, farmland must be hydrated by having water within 4 blocks horizontally of the blocks being tilled. Hydrated farmland will cause crops to grow approximately 20% faster compared to dry farmland.
Regular application of water (e.g. with buckets) is required to maintain the hydration status of farmland.
Planting Seeds
To plant watermelon seeds, place them on tilled farmland blocks. Be sure to leave 1 empty block on all 4 sides around the seed. The stem and melon blocks require this space in order to develop.
The planted seed will take around 10-15 minutes to grow into the first stage of the watermelon plant – the stem.
Watermelon Growth Stages
Watermelons go through a two-stage growth process:
Stem Growth
The initial planted watermelon seed will transform into a solitary stem after 10-15 minutes. This stem appears as a single vertical dark green block.
Melon Block Growth
Once the stem has appeared, watermelon blocks will begin expanding horizontally on all 4 sides from the stem. New melon blocks generate approximately every 10-15 minutes.
The watermelons are ready for harvesting when their outer layer turns green. Breaking an incomplete melon will simply drop another seed to replant.
Harvesting Watermelons
Mature watermelons are indicated by their dark green exterior. To harvest, simply break any full-grown melon blocks connected to the central stem.
Each watermelon block broken will drop:
- 3-7 melon slices
- 65% chance of 3-7 additional watermelon seeds
Watermelon slices can be consumed or crafted into other items. Extra seeds should be replanted to replace the harvested melons.
The central watermelon stem will remain after harvesting melons attached to it. The stem can continue producing more melons indefinitely.
Replanting and Expanding
As watermelons are harvested, rapidly replant any excess melon seeds you collect. Replanting on tilled farmland adjacent to the original stem will cause your farm to expand horizontally.
This allows the farm's footprint to increase and provides space for more melons to be grown at once.
Watermelon seeds are abundant, so don't be afraid to plant extensively. Having multiple rows and grids of stems will maximize your farming yield.
Accelerating Growth
There are two techniques that can accelerate the growth rate of watermelons:
Hydrated Farmland
As covered previously, farming on hydrated farmland instead of regular dry dirt will increase watermelon growth speed by about 20%.
Having a water source like a river or pool nearby is an easy way to maintain farmland hydration.
Bone Meal
Applying bone meal to a watermelon stem will immediately trigger growth and produce a mature melon in about 1 minute.
This allows watermelons to be produced on-demand rather than waiting for their normal growth time. Maintaining a steady supply of bone meal can radically increase farm efficiency.
Maximizing Yield
Properly designing and planning your watermelon farm is crucial to maximize productivity. Here are some top tips:
- Construct grids with consistent spacing between watermelon stems to optimize growth.
- Leave a 1 block gap between stems to prevent melons from obstructing each other.
- Align rows of stems so that melons form unobstructed lines.
- Use bone meal frequently to maximize melon generation.
- Quickly replant seeds from harvested melons to sustain growth.
- Build irrigation channels or have pools of water to easily hydrate farmland.
- Choose large, flat spaces like plains to accommodate farm expansion.
- Automate farming processes like replanting seeds where possible.
Efficient Farm Designs
Taking advantage of watermelon growth mechanics allows highly efficient farms to be constructed.
For example, an automated farm can use pistons to break mature melons and collect the drops for sorting and storage. Pistons can also automatically till and plant new farmland.
Optimized manual farms feature long rows of watermelon stems with regular spacing and irrigation. Aligning many rows allows horizontal expansion of the farm into large grids.
Perimeter walls with water sources allow easy hydration. Central storage and workstations give quick access to bone meal, seeds, and harvesting tools.
Ideal Farm Locations
Selecting the right biome and terrain is key for watermelon farming. Ideal conditions include:
- Plains – Flat and spacious for expanding farm grids.
- Jungle – Also flat, may require clearing trees and shrubs first.
- River or coast – Provides abundant water access for hydration.
- Swamp – Naturally hydrated farmland speeds growth.
- Mushroom Fields – Lack of hostile mobs creates a safe farming environment.
Avoid uneven biomes like extreme hills, mesas, or badlands. Seek open, flat spaces near bodies of fresh water for best results.
Troubleshooting Guide
If your watermelon farm is underperforming, here are solutions to common issues:
Seeds Not Growing
- Ensure planted on farmland, not regular dirt
- Farmland may be too far from water source
- Wait at least 10 full minutes for initial growth
Growth Is Slow
- Add water source within 4 blocks distance
- Avoid overpopulation – leave space between stems
Melons Not Generating
- Verify stem is fully grown first
- Break and replace stem if issue persists
Melons Not Ripening
- Disable any client mods or texture packs
- Relogging can reset chunk issue preventing growth
Low Seed Drops
- Breaking unripe melons reduces drops
- Bad luck – keep trying for averages to normalize
Difficulty Expanding Farm
- Use more bone meal to accelerate generation
- Build an efficient farm design to start
- Automate farming processes as able
Closing Thoughts
With the expertise provided in this guide, you now have comprehensive knowledge of efficient watermelon farming principles and techniques. Leverage this information to build highly productive automatic or manual farms.
Proper placement, frequent bone meal usage, and swift replanting will have your inventory overflowing with juicy watermelon slices and seeds for expansion. Enjoy becoming a master melon farmer!
Sources
[1] https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Watermelon[2] https://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Watermelon
[3] https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Farmland
