First time melon grower (pics)

[BP]

What kind of watermelon are you growing? My sugar baby melons double in size everyday for the first few days. Sounds like yours are not?
I didn't get all technical with hand pollinating with a paint brush, I just picked the male off the vine and rubbed it into the female. They took with no problem, you can tell the next day if it took or not. I haven't grown any other kind, so it may be different with other kinds of watermelon? I've gone through most of EG's videos on youtube and he had a few different kinds last year. Hopefully he sees this and tells us if they grow slower depending on what kind they are.
To me newspaper or cardboard seem like they will retain moisture. I have cantaloupes and honeydews on clay pots and paver stones instead.
The overabundance of rain I got for a bit flooded the raised bed pretty bad. It stopped watermelon production. The new buds would open and be dried up black by evening. I wasn't planning on letting any fruit set until the ones I had stopped growing and went into ripenning mode anyway. I just had my first watermelon take and quadruple in sized the past 3 days. I'm gonna let it grow, but am not too sure it will ripen before it frosts here.

[BP]

Yes Stella, the growth rate is amazing at first. Wait til you get to the ripenning phase and they stop growing. It's agonizing! I had an 8 pound sugar baby watermelon that stopped growing for a little over 2 weeks and thought it would be ripe. I wasn't even close! It had pink in the very middle, but that was it. I was so mad at myself, but it's my first year growing melons. I have a 10 pound plus and a few 4-6 pounders and they will be staying on the vine FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!! Haha, I am leaning towards letting them stay on the vine until the plants die unless an experienced member here tells me otherwise. SO, how bout some knowledge folks? The thumping method is difficult because I did that on the one I wasted and it was a way different sound then the rest had. I had the nearest tendril dry too. If I don't get some good advice, I'll be eating watermelon for Halloween.

[stella1751]

I guess you haven't seen [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=153924#153924]my post about the SVB's[/url]. Atlantic Giant is pretty much done for, unfortunately. But I have Bushel Gourd vines taking over the front yard.

So far, I haven't pruned anything. In the past, when I pruned hollow-stemmed squash, I cut the leaf above where it attached to the stem, leaving the part where the leaf veins start on the stem. I don't like leaving the hollow stem exposed.

I am genuinely sorry to learn you lost your Atlantic Giant I hadn't read that thread because, well, because I haven't yet seen an SVB up here. (Every time I write that, whatever I am referencing shows up in mass quantities.) I've seen a red-winged bug with a black body beneath its wings, but it doesn't look like an SVB, being 1/4 inch long, slender, and matte finish. I don't know what it is, but it does like the leaves on my cucumbers, pumpkins, and beans.

I like your idea for pruning leaves. It makes sense, and I will get out there with a scissors today. Last night I began pinching off tertiary vines, treating them like suckers on a tomato plant. One vine wanted to rocket off the corner of the bed. Because I no longer have room to train it to go to the back of the bed, I pinched it off right after the last female bud that could reasonably fit a mature pumpkin in that corner. I'll see how it looks after today's heat before I pinch off any more vine ends.

What kind of watermelon are you growing? My sugar baby melons double in size everyday for the first few days. Sounds like yours are not?
I didn't get all technical with hand pollinating with a paint brush, I just picked the male off the vine and rubbed it into the female. They took with no problem, you can tell the next day if it took or not. I haven't grown any other kind, so it may be different with other kinds of watermelon? I've gone through most of EG's videos on youtube and he had a few different kinds last year. Hopefully he sees this and tells us if they grow slower depending on what kind they are.
To me newspaper or cardboard seem like they will retain moisture. I have cantaloupes and honeydews on clay pots and paver stones instead.

I'm growing Burpee Fordhook. Your reply solidified my belief that the first baby watermelon isn't viable. All it has done thus far is grow a stem, and it has been three or four days.

I read about this technique of pulling a petal from a male to pollinate a female when I was studying pumpkins. I'll try that this morning on my first female pumpkin blossom. I wonder whether I damaged the female watermelon by using a Q-tip.

As for the newspaper and cardboard, you are right. Even though we don't get much rain here, we do have dew most mornings. I have some plastic report holders I can cut into slices and weave beneath the babies. I now have three of 'em: the first one, pollinated with a Q-tip; the second one, pollinated with a paintbrush; and a third one I just noticed last night. I will use a male flower on that one. If I can get just one to produce a watermelon, I'll let the bees handle the rest of 'em.

[BP]

Don't use just a petal from the male flower. Pull the petals off and mash the middle into the middle of the female flower. Do be delicate enough that you don't damage the inside of the female. The only ones I had start and then stop a couple days into it was when the flooding happened. I just had my first baby take a few days ago after none for 2 weeks

[Anna63]

It`s little bit sad to watch your fotos, because here in my country the climate do not allow to grow melons I wish I could.
Good luck to you with your melons

[BP]

Here are pics from today.

Minnesota Midget Cantaloupes
[img]https://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb9/BP991/Melon%20patch/009-4.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb9/BP991/Melon%20patch/010-4.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb9/BP991/Melon%20patch/011-3.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb9/BP991/Melon%20patch/025-1.jpg[/img]

Gold Star is what has been hit worst by powdery mildew, but more webbing appears everyday on the fruits
[img]https://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb9/BP991/Melon%20patch/012-3.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb9/BP991/Melon%20patch/013-2.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb9/BP991/Melon%20patch/014-2.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb9/BP991/Melon%20patch/015-2.jpg[/img]
Odd shaped Gold Star
[img]https://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb9/BP991/Melon%20patch/016-2.jpg[/img]

I had only 2 nice sized honeydews growing and thought it was done growing new fruits with the powdery mildew and all, but I noticed this one a couple of days ago and it is growing still
[img]https://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb9/BP991/Melon%20patch/017-2.jpg[/img]

Honeydew ripenning
[img]https://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb9/BP991/Melon%20patch/018-2.jpg[/img]

The one on the pot grows slowly and seems to be lightening up some too
[img]https://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb9/BP991/Melon%20patch/019-2.jpg[/img]

Here is the Sugar Baby I'm waiting FOREVER to pick lol
[img]https://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb9/BP991/Melon%20patch/020-2.jpg[/img]
This one is smaller, but darker
[img]https://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb9/BP991/Melon%20patch/021-2.jpg[/img]
This is the first one to take in about 2 weeks. I doubt it will mature fully and ripen before frost, but I'm gonna let it grow and see what happens
[img]https://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb9/BP991/Melon%20patch/022-2.jpg[/img]
The plants I started from seed only produced these smaller ones. 4 in all. Disappointed about that.
[img]https://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb9/BP991/Melon%20patch/023-2.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb9/BP991/Melon%20patch/024-2.jpg[/img]

The Honey Rock cantaloupes are coming along. They grow a darker green than the Gold Star does. These are still growing and haven't put any webbing on yet
[img]https://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb9/BP991/Melon%20patch/026-1.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb9/BP991/Melon%20patch/027-1.jpg[/img]
These plants don't have powdery mildew and are still putting on a few more fruit.
[img]https://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb9/BP991/Melon%20patch/028.jpg[/img]
I've removed a lot of leaves on the right side of the trellis.
[img]https://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb9/BP991/Melon%20patch/029.jpg[/img]

[engineeredgarden]

Looking good, man! I really like the red netting from what appears to be a potato or onion sack...

EG

[stella1751]

Wow, BP! You, your family, and your friends are going to be eating a lot of melon this year. I am sorry to hear about the PM. I live in fear of that whenever I grow cucurbits.

[BP]

We have produce at work. The 5# sacks of onions you buy are shipped in giant sacks, I take those home. A lot easier than slinging with nylons. Nylons work great on larger fruits though.
That powdery mildew really sucks. I had well over 30 small Gold Stars that stopped growing and some rotted so I just plucked them all off the vines. Everyone around here has PM. Just visited my Grandfather and his garden looks horrible. All of his squash, zucchini, and cucmber plants have PM and his tomato plants have died already. He can't get in there to do all the work he used to, but it still looks worse than I expected. I have other friends around here that have PM on all broadleafed plants, even sunflowers.
Next year if I notice PM I will try the milk and water spray right off the bat. Right now I'm just spraying the Honey Rock plants that haven't gotten PM yet. It never got on my watermelons though. Why is that? And why do some of those leaves have small brown bumbs all over them?
And EG, when do I harvest that watermelon?

[stella1751]

Okay. The watermelon I pollinated with a Q-tip is still the same size as it was two days ago. I think it's done for. The one I pollinated with a paintbrush is growing, though!

I haven't yet been able to try the male flower to female flower on any watermelons; every time I go out there, they are closed, either finished or just starting. I believe there are two out there this morning that should bloom in an hour or two.

I did try it on a pumpkin two days ago. So far, it has done nothing but close the bloom. I'll keep watching it.

On another note, I decided to let two of my primary pumpkin vines attempt to climb the chain link fence, one on each side of the watermelon extension. I started directing them toward it two days ago, but they don't seem to fancy chain link. This is a very, very old fence, and I wonder whether its metal conducts heat better than the new ones. They're just not grabbing it with their tendrils, not yet, anyway. Today will tell.

I HAVE A WATERMELON! That's what matters. If I can get two watermelons and three pumpkins, my life will be complete.

[BP]

The baby watermelon that hasn't grown in days is done. I'd pluck it and focus on future female blooms. When I first started to research hand pollination I remember a few times reading not do it before noon. I don't remember why, but I made sure to do mine from 10-11am. Almost everyone I hand pollinated grew, but it doesn't show now that I removed some odd shaped ones and the flooding killed some. So check every morning for open female flowers on your watermelon plant and try the male to female direct approach.

[engineeredgarden]

BP - When the tendril closest to the fruit turns completely brown, it's supposed to be ready.

[cynthia_h]

It's all looking really great!

Cynthia

[garden5]

Man, this this thread is a virtual how-to guide for growing melons. Keep the great posts and pics coming.

[BP]

Thanks, I figured I would show everyone the ups and downs of growing melons and growing melons on a trellis. The only downer is the powdery mildew so far. I'm gonna go out and look at those tendrils EG, but the one I cut open a couple weeks ago had a dry tendril and wasn't ripe. Looks like the watermelon plants are dying today. Leaves covered in brown dots and turning yellow. I may just leave the melons on until the plant dies.
Went to our smalltown farmers market this morning and a guy had sugar babies a lot bigger than mine. I plan on working on my soil for next year and see if it helps.

[engineeredgarden]

BP - after pulling my melons, I let them sit on the counter top for about 3 days - then cut into them. My biggest on a trellis is the size of a basketball right now, and should be ready this upcoming weekend. I figure it weighs around 15 lbs. probably...

EG

[BP]

I picked one of the small watermelons that has been there for a longtime and it had a brown tendril that fell off when touched. Cut it open and it was about half ready. I have pics of the tendril and cut melon I will get up tomorrow

[garden5]

I just found out this year about all of the early maturing varieties of watermelon. I always thought of melons as a mainly southern crop, but now I'm already planning my garden for next year. I certainly want to have some melons in my next garden .

[stella1751]

I slung my first watermelon today. Because of its position on the angled trellis, with no way to tie it crossway, I used the other method of slinging: I cut a hole in the toe of a nylon, eased it over the melon, and tied it to the top of the trellis. At the rate of my one watermelon's growth, the hole I cut should be insignificant by the end of the week.

By the way, and odds are high everyone knew this but me, watermelons don't like to grow downwards. Every vine that achieves the summit of my up/down trellis tries to continue growing upward. I suppose it has something to do with equilibrium. I have to tie them down for them to attach themselves. I fear the next big wind; many of them are at a 90 degree angle to Mother Earth. Oh well.

Oh. I quit hand-pollinating pumpkins and watermelons. My success rate for pumpkins was 33%; for watermelons, considerably less. I'm now letting the bees do their own thing

Garden5, I selected the Burpee Fordhook because it is supposed to give Northern gardeners a decent-sized melon. Given our wet, cold June, when all but this one watermelon plant died, this year hasn't given it a chance to prove itself in Wyoming. However, I am definitely going to try it again next year!

Oh. EG? You were right. I pruned. I trained. I cautioned and advised. However, those pumpkins are moving toward the lawn, and I look to see them pounding on my door any day now

[engineeredgarden]

stella - those pumpkins can certainly take up some real estate, that's for sure....

BP - I'll pick a watermelon today and see if it's ready...I'll try to get a pic of it, too.

EG

[BP]

stella - those pumpkins can certainly take up some real estate, that's for sure....

BP - I'll pick a watermelon today and see if it's ready...I'll try to get a pic of it, too.

EG

Sounds good. Check these pics out

This is the tendril that was closest to the melon. The melon was from behind the vine.
[img]https://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb9/BP991/Melon%20patch/001-3.jpg[/img]

This is the small watermelon I picked
[img]https://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb9/BP991/Melon%20patch/002-3.jpg[/img]

I just don't get it?

Found this cicada shell
[img]https://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb9/BP991/Melon%20patch/003-5.jpg[/img]

A butterfly
[img]https://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb9/BP991/Melon%20patch/014-3.jpg[/img]

[MaryDel]

BP - When the tendril closest to the fruit turns completely brown, it's supposed to be ready.

The brown tendril tells you that you are close,
Look for small brown spots on the stem of the watermelon close to where it attaches to the main vine. I am 100% on this method, and none of my fruits have been over ripe.

[BP]

I'll start looking for those, Thanks

[engineeredgarden]

MaryDel - I've never heard of doing that before, but will certainly try it out for myself. Thanks for the information!

BP - I removed my largest melon from its sling yesterday, and it weighed in at 19 lbs. even. I'll cut into it over the weekend, and let ya know how it was.

EG

[MaryDel]

MaryDel - I've never heard of doing that before, but will certainly try it out for myself. Thanks for the information!



EG

An old timer at work told me that about 3 weeks ago and I gave it a try. He said wait until you see at least 5 or 6 spots. I even picked one with a curled green tendril that was fully ripe. The spots should be brown and about the size of a pin head.

[engineeredgarden]

MaryDel - ok, I'll be looking for that...thanks!

EG

[garden5]

Found this cicada shell
[img]https://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb9/BP991/Melon%20patch/003-5.jpg[/img]

........SO THAT'S WHAT THOSE ARE!! I've seen those and have wondered for so long what they were. Thanks for clearing that one up .

MD, great tip about the spots.

[BP]

A buddy of mine got a pic of a cicada emerging from the shell. Creepy looking stuff.
I'm going to go look for the brown dots on the stems of my watermelons.

[garden5]

I've seen those things when they are alive, before the larva crawls out, and they are just a creepy alive as they are dead. I swear they were used as a model for designing some of the sci-fi move monsters .

[specgrade]

Hey BP, just curious as to what the melon tasted like? It looks like it was really close to being ready. Good luck with the rest!

[BP]

Once I got all the seeds out of the red part it was sweet, but nothing special. My biggest one (I'm guessing 11-12 pounds) has to be ready. Two tendrils nearest the stem have been dry for about 2 weeks, but didn't notice brown spots on the stem. I worked the late shift at work today and didn't get home until after dark. I have been known to get in there with a flashlight and or headlamp, but we had a few good downpours today and the skeeters are in swarms it seems so I'll check tomoarrow evening for brown spots on the stem.
Is there anything wrong with waiting til the plant is pretty much dead before harvesting the watermelons? Can it get over ripe or die or anything?

[engineeredgarden]

BP - yes, a watermelon will rot if you leave it too long. Just my opinion, but I'd pull that melon now....

Here's the 19 lb. watermelon I pulled the other day. It was slightly larger than a basketball, and you can see where one of the knee highs was wrapped around it. BTW, I haven't cut into it yet, but will this week...

[img]https://i35.tinypic.com/2hxce15.jpg[/img][/img]

[garden5]

BP - yes, a watermelon will rot if you leave it too long. Just my opinion, but I'd pull that melon now....

Here's the 19 lb. watermelon I pulled the other day. It was slightly larger than a basketball, and you can see where one of the knee highs was wrapped around it. BTW, I haven't cut into it yet, but will this week...

[img]https://i35.tinypic.com/2hxce15.jpg[/img][/img]

If you keep them up, off the ground, your risk of rotting will be lower.

I've often wondered if you couldn't get a melon/squash to grow into a weird shape by intentionally restricting its growing space.

For example, I had a cucumber that grew in the hole of a chicken-wire fence and it ended up with a crimp in it . Just a passing thought.

[applestar]

Put one in a box and grow a CUBIC watermelon!

[stella1751]

EG, that is a gorgeous watermelon! The pumpkins took over my bed, and the watermelon plant quit producing in disgust. I still have my one watermelon growing like crazy, though. It will not be a 19-pounder, but I'll bet it's at four or five pounds now.

There's one pumpkin I'll need to sling. I'm not sure how, though, because it's in a tricky upright position underneath the watermelon trellis. I think if I let it get a tad larger, I can use your sling method on it, but I suspect the stem is going to get crunched

[applestar]

I took a couple of the kids' old (but clean!) nylon tights from when they were little that have holes in them, tied off each of the legs at the leg opening and cut off the rest, then made two holes just under the elastic waist band on opposite sides of the waist opening and threaded hay strings through the holes.

I slip the melon in the pants part of the tights, then carefully maneuver the hay strings through the vines to a support so I can "slightly" lift the melon higher to relieve the tension on the vines, then tie them off.

I only tried this with a couple of the melons and bushel gourds. They're working out well so far. Only problem is that I can't see them inside so I have to peek in from the top, and with the melons, pull open the waist band and give a sniff (Ha ha, brings back memories.... )

[engineeredgarden]

Stella - I'm glad you liked my melon. Can you set something under the pumpkin to support it? Like maybe a bucket or blocks of wood? Anything to keep tension off of the stem will work...

EG

[stella1751]

Stella - I'm glad you liked my melon. Can you set something under the pumpkin to support it? Like maybe a bucket or blocks of wood? Anything to keep tension off of the stem will work...

EG

I might be able to. I'm not sure. You were completely right about these fellows being aggressive--that bed is full.

Here's the one I'm most worried about. It's starting to lean a bit today. What happened was that I got bored with pruning, so I let the pumpkin climb the fence to each side of the watermelon. The following photo is of the inside of the bed. If you'll remember, there's a chain link fence behind it, so I can sling it to that.

[img]https://i801.photobucket.com/albums/yy292/mitbah/Pumpkin_1.jpg[/img]

Even more troubling is a discovery I made while taking this photo. Another one, right above it and to the right, may have been pollinated this morning. It looks like it could be a good one, but I won't know for sure until tomorrow morning. If so, I'll be up to 16 pumpkins from three plants. Yeesh!

[img]https://i801.photobucket.com/albums/yy292/mitbah/pumpkin_2.jpg[/img]

And, just for fun, here's a photo of my prize: the first pumpkin to be pollinated.

[img]https://i801.photobucket.com/albums/yy292/mitbah/pumpkin_3.jpg[/img]

Any advice would be appreciated. Applestar's tights might work, too, but I can't visualize it

[applestar]

Did you say what kind these are? I love the yummy butter-yellow skin.

Of course despite ALL the photos I have taken, I apparently never took even one of those cut-off tights slings. But I did find this one. The melon (French Charentais 'Edonis') is being supported on a double-strand cradle of its own vines. I've done this before with a Sugar Pie pumpkin.
[img]https://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll272/applesbucket/Image7835.jpg[/img]

I think it's *almost* ready.

[garden5]

Put one in a box and grow a CUBIC watermelon!

I'll bet it's doable . Perhaps several boxes to allow for increases in overall size while still restricting shape. It just may be possible!