What looks like a watermelon...but isn't?

[N80]

I planted a food plot this spring with one of those commercial food plot mixes. It had sorghum, soy beans, sunflowers, millet, cow peas, etc etc.

But, when it all came up there were several flowering vines that came up too. They spread all over the place and started making what look like watermelons. So we were happy to have watermelons. Maybe a little more round than a watermelon, but otherwise, just a dark green watermelon. Well, as soon as one got big enough (they got bigger than a cantaloupe (sp?) but smaller than a typical watermelon) we would pick it and cut it open. Every time they would be white and fairly hard in the middle with green seeds the shape of watermelon seeds. It also looked like the interior of the melon was segmented into three segments but it is not hallow in the middle. We figured we had picked them too soon an waited. Well, I picked one yesterday which has been full sized for over 2 months now and it looks exactly the same.

So what are these things?

Sorry, no picture. I can get one this afternoon but I figured someone here would know what it was from the description.

 

[ToadHill]

Could be cantalope?

 

[Bird]

Could be cantalope?

Too big, wrong color, and not hollow in the middle to be a cantaloupe, but I sure don't know what it could be.

 

[N80]

Could be cantalope?

No, it definitely isn't a cantaloupe. Rind is different. These things look exactly like round watermelons. The rind is just like watermelon. The seeds look like greenish watermelon seeds. But there is no red in the middle. Just whitish pulp that is harder than the inside of a ripe watermelon.

I'm pretty convinced they aren't unripe watermelons though. They've been growing since mid July. The stems from the vine are brown and dry. They haven't gotten any larger in at least 45 days. No wildlife has eaten them. None have rotted or gotten soft.

 

[N80]

but I sure don't know what it could be.

I'm kinda glad because I was starting to feel like a dufus not knowing what these things are. Can't find anything using Google or Wikipedia either. Will post a picture later today.

 

[charlz]

Could be a watermelon that crossed with something else before you got the seeds. Is it sweet at all?

 

[Bird]

I would think it would be something in the gourd family, but what? An unripe yellow meat watermelon comes to mind, but not with the 3 partitions.

 

[tallyho8]

Sounds like the pumpkins I planted this year.

 

[N80]

Could be a watermelon that crossed with something else before you got the seeds. Is it sweet at all?

I guess that's possible. Have not tasted it. The middle is not really soft enough to eat. I've got one at home and I'll try tasting it when I go home for lunch. It does not smell sweet at all, smells 'green'.

Bird, I did find yellow and white meat watermelons on the internet. These could be unripe white meat watermelons but the data say they ripen in 80 days. These have been there for closer to 100.

The 'sections' are barely visible when the melon is cut in half through the circumference (not stem to bottom) and they are divided by 3 very faint, very thin 'ribs' that meet in the middle.

 

[DocHeb]

A gourd or squash?

 

[MicroPilot]

Is it a Christmas Melon?

Christmas Melon: Cooking Terms: RecipeTips.com

 

[jinman]

I may not have the spelling or name correct, but my father used to talk about a Citron, (or Sitrone?) melon sometimes referred to as a "pie melon" that was grown like watermelons. He used to talk about growing them and having people cut them as a joke, thinking they were cutting a watermelon. That may be what you have George.

 

[HappyCPE]

I was just thinking Citron as well. I'm told they taste lousy but you're supposed to soak the flesh in a sugar syrup to make an edible fruit. Not a common thing to find.

You seem to have stumped us - Do you have a picture?

 

[N80]

My father suggested that it might be a citron and my wife looked it up and the dictionary said a citron was a citrus fruit so we dismissed that idea, but since two more people have suggested it I'll do a little more research.

I did taste it just now. Again, the 'meat' is hard and has the consistency of watermelon rind. And it tastes just like the white part of watermelon rind with just a vague hint of watermelon flavor and not very sweet at all.

Here is a picture. You can see the three partitions and that the seeds are in 'lobes':

 

[N80]

Mystery solved! It is a citron melon. A citron is a citrus fruit that grows on a tree. A citron melon is an entirely different thing but that is definitely what it is. Thanks guys!

Citron melon - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I now have to admit that I feel bad about doubting my dad. He has early alzhiemers and when we looked up 'citron' and found out it was citrus fruit, I totally dismissed it. Anyway, I never told him that I thought he was wrong but I am certainly going to tell him today that he was exactly right!

 

[Tororider]

Glad the mystery is solved. Now the question is why was it in your food plot mix? Apparently if it has been sitting there uneaten someone needs to tell the animals what they are supposed to eat.

 

[Bird]

Glad the mystery is solved, and glad your dad got it right, too. My dad had Alzheimer's the last 5 or 6 years of his life. And to the best of my memory, I've never seen or heard of a citron melon before. I looked at a recipe on the Internet and wonder if the preserves aren't similar to the watermelon rind preserves my mother used to make.

 

[N80]

Don't know why it was in the food plot mix but nothing has messed with these at all ...... except me. The article I read says that they now grow wild in some southern states.

Bird I have no idea why Dad had heard of them either. He's always gardened, and been an outdoor type so he must have encountered them somehwere.

There are still 4 or 5 melons in the field but so far there is nothing about these things that tempts me to make preserves out of them. I think they will most likely end up as targets.

 

[scgargoyle]

Watermelons will cross with cucumbers- maybe your seeds are the results of that. You're gonna need bigger pickle jars....

 

[RobJ]

We have patches of those around the weekend place. Get rid of them quickly. They will come back and come back and come back. More and more each time.