Gardener figures out secret to large watermelons

GROVETOWN - Gardener Russell Collins caught his friends by surprise when he and a friend brought a 110-pound watermelon to the local American Legion, chilled in a beer basket. <br> <br> ``There was about 85 people and they couldn&#39;t believe it when we walked in,&#39;&#39; Collins said. <br> <br> And the melon he showed off at American Legion Post 192 in Evans may not even be the biggest he&#39;ll grow this season. The world record for the largest watermelon is 255 pounds, grown in Bixby, Oklahoma. <br> <br> When the curlicue that grows on the stem where it attaches to the watermelon turns brown, and the bottom gets a yellow tint to it, Collins will know the next monster watermelon will be ripe to be cut. <br> <br> ``The first one I pulled out I got real anxious, and I said, &#39;Oh, yeah it&#39;s ready. It&#39;s got to be ready.&#39; I popped it open and cut it, and it lacked about a week. It was just pink inside,&#39;&#39; he said. <br> <br> Usually he knows when to pick them. And then he&#39;ll preserve his prized watermelon by covering it in a wire basket and wheelbarrow. <br> <br> He has a lot of practice growing the Carolina Cross variety from seed. It&#39;s one of four watermelon varieties he&#39;s growing in the hills in his 70-by-70-foot garden plot behind his ``Jack of all Trades&#39;&#39; lawn mower shop. <br> <br> He learned how to grow them using directions from a garden book except he follows instructions for growing melons in clay soil. <br> <br> ``I don&#39;t have clay soil, but I said if it will work in clay soil it ought to work anywhere,&#39;&#39; Collins said. <br> <br> First he digs a hole 3 feet in diameter and 1 foot deep. In its center, he digs another hole 1 foot in diameter and 2 feet deep, and packs the center hole full of compost. Then he mixes the soil with sand, dirt, topsoil and composted manure. Finally, he makes a mound with the mixture about 6 inches high and plants the seeds about 1 inch deep and 1 foot apart. <br> <br> He also grows Big Bertha bell pepper plans, squash, tomatoes, cucumbers and flowers for bug control. <br> <br> Petunias and marigolds work best. <br> <br> ``I&#39;ve got a lot of petunias planted out through here,&#39;&#39; Collins said. ``There&#39;s an old yellow butterfly that flies around, and it lays eggs that hatch into worms that get into your tomatoes and especially into your cucumbers. And something in that petunia attracts that yellow butterfly and it lays it eggs in it, and when they young hatch, they eat on the petunia, and whatever&#39;s in that petunia kills them.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> He attributes his gardening success to fertilizer, compost, lime and Epsom salts. <br> <br> And Collins doesn&#39;t have weeds either. <br> <br> ``This time of year, most everybody&#39;s fighting weeds. Right?&#39;&#39; he said. ``You don&#39;t see no weeds nowhere. Well, back in February and March I figured out where I was going to put everything. I put down about two layers of newspaper and then came back and put leaves and grass on top of that newspaper. If the weed can&#39;t get light, it can&#39;t grow.&#39;&#39;