How to Grow a Chicken-Shaped Watermelon
Learn how to encase a developing young watermelon in a rigid chicken-shaped polycarbonate mold to produce a custom novelty shaped fruit by harvest.
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🧰 Required Tools & Equipment
- ✓ Two-part chicken-shaped polycarbonate fruit mold
- ✓ Set of M6 bolts with wingnuts or heavy-duty zip ties
- ✓ Pruning shears
- ✓ Adjustable wrench
📦 Materials & Supplies
- ✓ Actively growing watermelon vine with tennis-ball sized fruit
- ✓ Clean straw or wood support plank
- ✓ Shade cloth or breathable light fabric
⚠️ Safety Checkpoints & Warnings
- • Wear garden gloves when handling sharp plastic mold edges and zip tie cutoffs.
- • Handle the watermelon vine gently to avoid snapping the main vascular supply line.
📋 Step-by-Step Guide (5 Steps)
Select the Right Fruit Candidate
Examine the watermelon vine to find a healthy, blemish-free female fruit that is roughly egg- to tennis-ball-sized. Ensure the stem is supple, undamaged, and attached to a vigorous main vine. Clear away surrounding weeds, rocks, and debris so the work area is flat.
- • A healthy, smooth watermelon roughly 2 to 3 inches in diameter resting on clear soil with plenty of vine slack.
- • Choosing a fruit that is already too large to fit easily into the mold without bruising.
Prepare and Vent the Mold
Wash the interior of the two-part chicken mold with mild soap and water, then dry it completely. Ensure that the built-in drainage and ventilation holes at the bottom and sides are open. Line the base of the mold on a flat wooden plank or bed of dry straw on the ground.
- • Spotless, transparent mold halves resting next to the vine on a clean, dry surface.
- • Leaving drainage holes blocked, which traps condensation and rots the melon skin.
Seat the Melon in the Bottom Mold Half
Gently lift the young melon and place it into the bottom half of the chicken mold. Orient the stem carefully through the dedicated stem-exit notch so the vine does not pinch or kink. Center the fruit so it has room to expand uniformly into the tail, beak, and body cavities.
- • Melon sitting centered inside the lower mold with the vine passing straight through the notched opening.
- • Pinching the vine tightly between the mold edges, cutting off water flow.
Align and Secure the Top Shell
Place the top half of the chicken mold over the melon, matching all alignment pegs and bolt holes. Insert bolts through every perimeter hole and hand-tighten wingnuts or thread heavy-duty zip ties through each slot. Tighten the fasteners evenly in an alternating cross-pattern until the mold seam is tightly shut.
- • Mold halves are completely flush along the perimeter with tight, secure fasteners throughout.
- • Under-tightening fasteners, allowing the growing melon to push the mold halves apart.
Protect and Maintain the Mold Assembly
Drape a light, breathable shade cloth loosely over the mold to prevent internal greenhouse overheating while allowing light through. Check that the assembly rests stable on the straw base so heavy rain does not tilt it. Inspect every few days as the melon expands to fill all contours of the chicken form.
- • Shaded, stable mold sitting level on straw with the fruit visibly filling out the internal cavity over time.
- • Leaving the clear plastic in direct blazing sun, which cooks and blisters the fruit.
Credit: inspired by an original tutorial by Sweetitude — watch the original on YouTube.
Don’t have everything?
- No M6 bolts with wingnuts? Heavy-duty UV-resistant nylon zip ties (rated 50+ lbs)
- No Straw base? A flat wooden board or raised plastic garden tray