Which states grow the most watermelons? Tap them most-to-least.
Tapping assigns 1→4 in order
I bet… Texas! Big state, big melons 🐾
2Answer
The real order is…
Florida wins, growing more than a fifth of the country's watermelons — a watermelon vine is a warm-season plant that one frost can finish, so the long, hot South gets a head start. Now look at #5: Indiana, a cool northern state that is also one of America's top-5 corn states, ahead of both Carolinas. A watermelon needs a hot summer, not a hot winter.
📚 BackgroundWatermelon is a warm-season plant — one frost and the vines are done — so the long, hot South gets a head start, and Florida takes #1 with more than a fifth of the country's crop. But look at #5: Indiana, a cool northern state that is also one of America's top-5 corn states. Watermelon is not only a Southern thing — it needs heat while it grows, not heat all year.(USDA NASS Quick Stats)
Note: measured in hundredweight (100-pound units) harvested in 2024. Only states USDA publishes a value for are shown; some numbers are withheld to protect individual farms. 2024, USDA NASS. Only the top states are shown here — smaller producers (and states USDA doesn't publish) aren't listed.