What type of crop is watermelon classified as?

Watermelon is classified as an annual crop because it completes its life cycle within a single growing season. This means that it germinates from seed, grows to maturity, flowers, and produces fruit all in one year. Annual crops like watermelon are typically sown in the spring and harvested in the summer to fall, depending on the climate.

In contrast, perennial crops live for several years and regrow each season without needing to be replanted every year. Biennial crops require two growing seasons to complete their life cycle, usually producing vegetative growth in the first year and flowering and seed production in the second. Ephemeral crops are short-lived, often surviving only for a few months under particularly favorable conditions. Watermelon’s one-season growth cycle is what firmly places it in the category of annual crops.