Watermelons...Yum

[Bird]

OK, how do you know when to pick these watermelons?

I planted some this spring even though everyone said it wouldn't work and now I have ~12 nice little watermelons. I planted sugar babies and they are not quite as big as a bowling ball yet.

This website has information that I think is as good as you'll find. Item #8 about the tendrill is a big key, in my opinion.

 

[jinman]

I like Bird's link because it details just how difficult it can be to judge a melon. I particularly like the suggestion to just pick a melon and cut it. If it's ripe, then others like it will probably be ready. Actually, when the melon stops growing, the "curly-cue" stem dies, and the vine starts to dry up, it's probably time to do a cut test. Last week while watering, one of my soaker hoses busted and flooded a couple of melon vines where I had not intended to water. The next day, three yellow-meat melons exploded and all I had to do was look in the crack to see they were ripe.:laughing:

One thing I have found is that all your melons and cantaloupes will probably be ripening during the same two-week period. You'll eat so much melon that you'll find yourself hoping they never ripen. I have about 5 Ziplock bags of cut watermelons and cantaloupes in my refrigerator and I had to make a trip around the neighborhood last Thursday to get rid of about 18 cantaloupes. I swear that I planted several hills of cantaloupes and watermelons two weeks apart and they all matured at the same time. My wife likes the melons, but only eats maybe one little slice per day. I'm always telling her that she's not doing her part to help me.

 

[Duffster]

Apparently this one wasn't quite ripe.

 

[jinman]

Apparently this one wasn't quite ripe.

I thought Sugar Babies had stripes. That melon's skin looks solid dark green like a Black Diamond to me. If it is a Black Diamond, it will probably weigh 25 to 30 lb when it is mature. They're big melons.

EDIT: I looked up some images online and they showed darker stripes and darker melons. Mine were lighter with stipes and I cut one earlier this week, but yours looks like the darker variety.

EDIT 2: Some days I just make a complete idiot of myself.:laughing: I just checked the seeds that I thought were Sugar Babies and they are Crimson Sweets. Please ignore this whole post.

 

[Bird]

We went to the little local 3 day a week Farmers Market in Denton just before noon. There were only 2 sellers there. The others had either sold out or it got too hot outside for them. Anyway, in addition to cucumbers, 4 kinds of squash, okra, and tomatoes, I got a BIG solid colored pale green yellow meat watermelon, and it's a good one, too!!!!!

 

[Chuck52]

On the way in to work today the prize question on the radio was "What fruit can cost $100 in Japan?" I guessed watermelon because they have limited gardening space in Japan and I figured watermelons, even if they grow well there, would be expensive. I was right, but I didn't want to call in since I have trouble driving and chewing gum, let alone punching in a number and talking on a phone.

Chuck

 

[firefighter9208]

Fungus (powdery mildew) in Watermelons, Cantelopes, Squash, Cucumbers, Pumpkins, etc... can be controlled with Manzate. It's a fungicide. It's a wetable powder that you mix with water and spray on the vines every 5 to 7 days. I mix it in the sprayer with my pesticides.

You can also buy fungicides at Walmart that are in liquid form to spray on these crops.



How to tell if a Sugar Baby is ripe. Turn it over and the "belly" or underside of the melon (where it touches the ground) will be turning yellow. The brighter the yellow the riper the Sugar Baby.

For other varieties we look at the "pig tail" to see if it's brown.

The best way is to wait the 80, 90, or 100 days they say it will take for them to mature and then cut one.

Chris

 

[ray66v]

For other varieties we look at the "pig tail" to see if it's brown.

I grow Crimson Sweets, and pick them about 2 weeks after the pig tail goes brown.

I've had no luck controlling fungus.

It takes a great deal of effort for me to keep the plants alive long enough to pick the melons.

With the hot, and wet, weather we've had this summer, I expect things to get ugly.

 

[jinman]

I picked two yellow-meat melons today. One was about 25 lb and the other must have been 30 lb. I iced down the 30-pounder for about 3 hours and then cut it. It was perfect. None of my grandkids had ever had yellow watermelon. They thought I was pullin' their leg when I told them I thought it was yellow. After eating a slice, they all told me that it was the sweetest watermelon they ever ate. I sent the 25-pounder home with my daughter.

 

[firefighter9208]

I grow Crimson Sweets, and pick them about 2 weeks after the pig tail goes brown.

I've had no luck controlling fungus.

It takes a great deal of effort for me to keep the plants alive long enough to pick the melons.

With the hot, and wet, weather we've had this summer, I expect things to get ugly.

We probably grow a lot more than you do, but this would also work for you. We start spraying out pumpkins, squash, cucumbers, watermelon, caneloupes, etc... when they are 2 days out of the ground. We then spray them every 5-7 days. If it rains we respray the day after it rains. Ex: Spray on Monday and rains on Tuesday then we respray on Wednesday. It's important to keep the fungicides on the plant from the time they pop out of the ground until harvest.

With a garden and just a few vines it wouldn't be hard to dedicate a 2 gallon hand sprayer to fungicide. Just make sure that you shake it up good before spraying and coat the plants. You can buy a liquid (mixable) fungicide at the co-op or even WalMart.

On 3 acres of pumpkins I apply 6 pounds of Manzate in a 100 gallon air blast (orchard) sprayer every 5-7 days. It gets kind of expensive at $20.00 (a 6# bag) but you can't harvest the pumpkins, watermelons, etc.... if they don't stay on the vines long enough to make. By the time I add my two pesticides to the sprayer I have $50.00 in spray every 5-7 days ( on 3 acres) from early June until late September.

The key is to keep the powdery mildew out of the vines and keep the vines healthy long enough to let the "fruit" make.

Here is a picture of my two kids with a 215 pounder that was taken last fall (September) right before harvest. The vines in this picture were about 120 days old and still looked pretty good. I planted on May 15 last year and harvested right after this picture was taken on about Sept. 15.