SOB
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Volunteer Squash??

So this has been growing for a while in my garden. This is my first year in the house and I'm using the previous owner's garden plot for the time being. I thought once It fruited I would know what it was but I have no clue. I have no experience with squash or anything of this sorts. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[img]https://i48.tinypic.com/iwm48w.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i46.tinypic.com/11vguj8.jpg[/img]

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jal_ut
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Looks like a watermelon. The leaves are melon looking, not squash.

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applestar
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Ha. I was going to say it looks a lot like my Moon and Stars watermelon except without the yellow spots.

SOB
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Watermelon, huh?! I guess I didn't even consider that option! I thought watermelon would have some stripes to it.

I have about 3-4 fruit on the vine now. Do I want to cut this back to 1 or 2 to ensure then ripen before fall? Any other advice would help too.

I knew I could count on you guys :wink:

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applestar
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Black Diamond and Cannonball are examples of solid dark green rind watermelons. But since it's a volunteer, there's no way to tell for sure if it's a single variety, crossed, or F2 from a hybrid.

Keep us posted! I hope they mature for you because I want to hear how they taste :D I just discovered a grapefruit sized fruit in my watermelon patch that I'm hoping will make it. I'm so glad I put it up on an upturned clay pot saucer because it rained buckets yesterday. :shock:

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jal_ut
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I just let them all grow. It will make no difference in when it ripens to leave them. Sometimes people who are going for giant fruit will pick all but the first one to try to get larger fruit. There was just a discussion about when to tell if a watermelon is ripe. Look that one up.

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I have been keeping up on the "when is a watermelon ripe" thread because I planned on growing some next year. These things are so green and look so much more different than any watermelon I've seen so I guess I'll really have to pay attention to the bottoms and pick when they turn creamy.

I'll keep you updated!

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GardenRN
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I'm too late...but yeah that's definitely a melon. I was gonna say watermelon too.

As far as when it's ripe, knock on it. When it sounds hollow-ish, it's ripe. That's how I've always done it.

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Here's an update:

I picked the biggest melon. A breakdown of the symptoms of a ripe melon and my results were 1. turns a dull color (check) 2. closest tendril turns brown and dries up (negative) 3. resists a fingernail piercing the outside (kinda) 4. the bottom turns from white to yellow (check). Below you can see what happened when I cut it open.

[img]https://i47.tinypic.com/5nvop.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i50.tinypic.com/23lcq53.jpg[/img]

You can tell the bottom was yellow (much more yellow than the others) but it is pure white inside. I'm thinking it's not ripe yet. It taste like water but a little bitter...not much flavor. Also the seeds seem huge! What are your thoughts? The thing is about the size of a basket ball so it's a good size...

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GardenRN
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It could have been cross pollinated with something else the previous year because of you or whatever other backyard gardener growing different kinds too close together resulting in a bad taste. For example. I saved some summer squash seeds from last year that were grown close to gourds...they looked just like a summer crookneck squash, but tasted very bad. JMO

SOB
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The cross pollination was another thought but everyone above seemed to be very sure that it was a watermelon. I think that cross pollination would have changed the appearance...?

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applestar
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It could have crossed with another watermelon with less than desirable results, or more likely, the parent was a hybrid and this one is showing recessive throwback traits?

But it could be that it's not ripe yet. How about my other two favorite tests?

(1) thump test -- despite the sometimes dubious reviews about this method, I think it IS pretty accurate IF you know what to listen for. I picked two fruits the other day. Had I picked the 2nd one first, I would not have harvested the first one yet because when I thumped the 2nd one, I REALIZED the first one didn't quite have the right sound. But BECAUSE I thumped that one first, I had no reference, and it seemed right at the time. BTW, I use the flat slap (not fist nuckle) and I listen for the sound made by my fingers (bones, I suppose) rather than the palm -- a nice hollow resonant sound.

(2) first cut test -- when you cut into the rind, the ripe ones practically explode open: the "incision" starts a self splitting crack. FWIW the first one harvested above cracked open but slooowly, another sign it wasn't quite ripe. It was slightly pinker than it should have been, and flavorwise, it was sweet and tasty but it could have been better.

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GardenRN
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When my squash and gourd cross pollinated it didn't change the appearance at all. For the most part, with cross pollination, you never know what you're going to get.

I agree with apple on the thump test. It takes a lot of "getting used to" the right sound. I use a knuckle, but usually do give a few knuckle thumps and a few slaps, listening closely to how it sounds. Apple start hit the nail on the head with the description of the sound being resonant.

I'd imagine it's something like if you knocked on the side of a wooden bongo drum or something. That's the best comparison I can think of at the moment.

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rainbowgardener
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I think it was James/ jal_ut who said should sound like thumping yourself on the chest (resonant), not like hitting your head (too hard) or your abdoment (too soft -- for most of us, I guess :) ).

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ReptileAddiction
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I just sat at my computer trying it my abdomen and my chest sounded exactly alike my head had a noticeable difference

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applestar
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ReptileAddiction wrote:I just sat at my computer trying it my abdomen and my chest sounded exactly alike my head had a noticeable difference
Aw c'mon -- how am I going to resist that? :twisted:

....resonant? :>

...just kidding. You were absolutely irresistible. :wink:

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I kept trying the "thunking" method until I read a couple extension sites that said. Not to go with this method and take the other indicators (that I listed above) instead. Per the thunking method it was not ripe. I have 4 other melons that are still developing. One is pretty large so I will keep an eye on I and wait until it sounds like my chest before picking. Even though my wife says my head is hollow I can still notice a difference between my head and my chest.

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jal_ut
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Hmmmmm, be careful how you slap yourself............

That melon is definitely not ripe. The seeds in a ripe melon are black. Here is a prime example that a yellow bottom doesn't necessarily mean it is ripe. I don't think there is a good reliable way to tell except the knife test. I will look at all the indicators, but like the thump test.

I recently picked a melon that seemed to have all the right indicators, but it should have stayed on the vine a couple more weeks. Any way, I was hungry for a melon, and it wasn't all that bad. I guess now that we have had a frost, I can pick the melons and if they are ripe when I open them that's great, if not......... worm food.

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So James, you agree that it IS a watermelon and not something that cross pollinated? That's the way I was leaning...

I figured if anything this is a trial and error for next year when I will be planting watermelons for the first time. With my luck, though, the kind I plant will have different indicators than this variety! :roll:

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applestar
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It could be a yellw fleshed "white" seeded -- usually tan when ripe -- variety.
Keep thumping and comparing and keep us posted! :wink:

ETA -- funny! Remember I said it looks kind of like my Moon and Stars? When I searched for yellow fleshed tan seed watermelons, Yellow (fleshed) Moon and Stars was the first variety to come up. This variety has oblong fruits though, and yours doesn't have yellow spatters on foliage and rind.

HOWEVER, my short season Red-fleshed Moon and Stars has round fruits like yours.

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jal_ut
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I definitely think it is a watermelon. I can't guess where the seed came from, nor do I recognize the variety. I have seen only one white fleshed melon, and it too had black seeds.

If you want to try Charleston Gray Watermelon I have some seeds. It is the only melon I have had luck with here in this high mountain desert.

SOB
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I'll definitely keep you guys updated as I thump away...

I wouldn't mind trying some Charleston Gray Watermelon. I looked at it on Burpee's site - looks good! It says "28-35 pounds" per fruit?! Holy Cow!

How many fruit do you typically get per plant? I'm thinking next year I may try and stagger the plantings so I font get bombarded with watermelon all at the same time...would that work?

dirt road
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You mentioned that the nearest tendril hadn't dried, ( an excellent indicator in my experience), and the seeds are white in your pic. My opinion is the melon simply isn't ripe. Though some folks are quite good at it, I can pound on one till it collapses and can't tell when the sound is "right".

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So it's been almost another week. The two biggest melons have a distinct different sound than the smaller/later ones but I still don't know if it's "hollow" enough to be ripe. I was going to wait until the closest tendril dries up before picking since I cant tell by sound.

What happens if they stay on the vine too long?

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applestar
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Jal_ut said to wait a week after the tendril dries in another post. Maybe use that as a guideline?

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jal_ut
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I am looking at the under side of my melons and if they are yellow, they have been ripe. That seems to be a good indicator on the Charleston Gray. Like I said earlier, I picked the first one when the tendril was dry, but it should have stayed on the vine another week. I sure have a good one in the fridg I have been working on. Did I say good? Yummy watermelons. I really enjoy them in season, and seldom get a chance any other time of year.

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UPDATE: After the little frost we had a week or so ago the vine started dieing off pretty fast. As you can see in the first pic below most of the watermelon vine is dead and the weeds are still thriving. I figured the fruit wasnt going to do much now that the vines dead so I picked the largest fruit. As you can tell from the second pic it STILL wasnt ready. There are 3 smaller watermelons still on the vine that I'll leave on for a while.

If this has taught me anything it's that I have NO CLUE as to how to tell when a watermelon is ripe :?

Hopefully next year will be easier when I put some of Jal's Charleston Gray seeds in the ground!

[img]https://i48.tinypic.com/2iuc02u.jpg[/img]

[img]https://i45.tinypic.com/sbn59v.jpg[/img]



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