my first BIG watermelon

[beverette]

this is my first big watermelon ive grew.its a carolina cross . weighted about 95 pounds. here are some pics. grew in Tarboro, NC. if anyone has any question about it feel free to ask. thanks
[img]https://i34.tinypic.com/33v2hx4.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i38.tinypic.com/2r29ber.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i33.tinypic.com/2nbrnmv.jpg[/img]

[C00KiE46]

WOW that's huge How long did it take to grow? Do they all grow that big?

[hit or miss]

Yeah! What's it look like cut open?

Note to self, go get a good watermelon for this weekend!

[beverette]

I planted them the end of march, i planted 8 hills this is the only big one i got out of the 8 hills, i just pulled it yesterday, had a couple other 40-50 pounders

[beverette]

Yeah! What's it look like cut open?

Note to self, go get a good watermelon for this weekend!

Havent cut it yet im taking it up to the local newspaper place in the moring they had a guy on the front page talking about "Whopper watermelon 53 pounds" so i thought i might go up there and show them a little bigger one

[engineeredgarden]

Oh gosh, I don't know if my trellis could support that one! It's a bigun' for sure...

EG

[BP]

Nylons aren't holding that badboy EG

I grew my first garden this year and become addicted to gardening. I really like trellis's, but one goal for next year is a giant watermelon. This will be grown on the ground for sure. I'd be more than happy to reach 50 pounds in my growing season here. With this said, I have a lot of questions if you don't mind.

1. Started from seed or storebought plant? I assume seed, so if so did you start inside or in the ground? (I have to start inside here in Michigan for a big melon)
2. How long from first sprouting til transplanting and how long were the vines when transplanted? (if started inside)
3. Your hills..... How many plants per hill?
4. Did you put manure in the hole in the hill and plant in that?
5. Did you let the plant go and grow as many melons as it wanted to or did you take some off to grow this one?

Sorry this is so many questions.
6. What did you do? Great compost? Compost plus manure in the hole? Fertilizer? Just want firsthand knowledge as I've been researching growing a giant watermelon and have read different points of view.
7. How long did the vines on this plant get?

[orgoveg]

Tarboro. I've been by there many times along Rt. 64. There's alot of watermelons in that part of the country. I see them for sale everywhere.

Isn't the soil red clay with some sand? If so, that makes it even more impressive. Do you have squash vine borer problems over there?

[gixxerific]

That thing is HUGE.

Nice job.

[jal_ut]

Very nice melon. Thanks for sharing.

[beverette]

Nylons aren't holding that badboy EG

I grew my first garden this year and become addicted to gardening. I really like trellis's, but one goal for next year is a giant watermelon. This will be grown on the ground for sure. I'd be more than happy to reach 50 pounds in my growing season here. With this said, I have a lot of questions if you don't mind.

1. Started from seed or storebought plant? I assume seed, so if so did you start inside or in the ground? They were started from seed.


2. How long from first sprouting til transplanting and how long were the vines when transplanted? (if started inside)


3. Your hills..... How many plants per hill? Planted 3 seed to a hill,once they broke the ground and come up, i picked the best 1 out of the 3 and pulled the other ones.

4. Did you put manure in the hole in the hill and plant in that? In January I put out some chicken manure and tilled it in and i put a VERY little bit around the plants once they got on up some size once or twice, but you have to be very careful doing this because it will burn the plant and kill it so i quit with that. Every 7 days I would use some 10-10-10 fertilizer and sprinkle around the hill not directly only on the plant just around the hill. I also tried some horse manure and bunny manure .I mixed some liquid nitrogen that we use on the farm for corn with some water and watered around the hills.

5. Did you let the plant go and grow as many melons as it wanted to or did you take some off to grow this one? I pulled all the other melons that were making and only had this one on this plant.

6. What did you do? Great compost? Compost plus manure in the hole? Fertilizer? I used a variety of manure chicken,horse,bunny i also used regular fertilizer , but i think next year im going to go with straight compost, as i have made me a small compost pile outback and i got that building up now. but the manure was limited this year so i used what i could get.


7. How long did the vines on this plant get? um i would say around 10-12 feet? i didint not measure them but that is my guessamation.

and orgoveg asked "Isn't the soil red clay with some sand? If so, that makes it even more impressive. Do you have squash vine borer problems over there?" yeah the land is a little sandy not as much clay right where i am at. I went and got a dump truck load of farm dirt out of one of my grandpas field and spreaded it out where i was going to have my garden at it help with the land alot.
Havent had no problems with squash vine borders.


Plans for next year as far as the watermelons for a big one are: thinking about using drip irrigation. it has been overly dry here in the eastern part of NC and im not I didnt water it enough it probably could have been bigger, use more compost and get away from regular fertilizer. More space between each hill i only had 8 feet between the hills and the vines started running together.

Hope this answered some of your questions.. im not a expert by no means as far as growing monster melons..im just a 22 year old with some extra time on my hands so i used it for my garden

[philm00x]

my word, that thing's enormous!

[LindsayArthurRTR]

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang! That baby's a WHOPPER!

You'd be surprised what nylons can hold LOL The trellis, that's another story

[garden5]

Wow, that's a nice one. I, too, am going to try for some watermelons next year. Also, how far apart were your hills?

[BP]

Thanks for answering all the questions. That's a very impressive melon and I hope to get one half that size next year.

One more question........... I know you already said you plucked all melons on the plant but this one, but did you have quite a few? Reason I ask is in my researching I learned that adding nitrogen once the plant is established deters fruits from developing and just make the vines long.

[garden5]

I remember reading that Carolina cross is the variety that was used to grow record-sized watermelons. Did you choose it for this reason or just get lucky by planting this variety?

[stella1751]

BP mentioned this thread in another one, and I had to come down and take a look. Wow! That is a serious watermelon! Good job!

Thanks, too, for taking the time to answer all of BP's questions. I learned from your answers.

What did the fellow at the newspaper have to say?

[applestar]

Did you eat it?

[Scarecrow]

WOW! That is a nice melon! You must have been feeding that plant water from the Tar river! Congrats!
Let us know If they put it in the Daily Southerner so we can look the article up on the web.

Tarboro. I've been by there many times along Rt. 64. There's alot of watermelons in that part of the country. I see them for sale everywhere.

I have made about a dozen business trips to Tarboro where the company I worked for had a facility over on Anaconda road.

Isn't the soil red clay with some sand? If so, that makes it even more impressive. Do you have squash vine borer problems over there?

I was about to ask the same thing. You should see Tarboro from the air where the farms look like large sand patches. There are lots of cotton being grown there as well.

[garden5]

Let us know how it tastes. I've always heard that the giant fruit of a plant is never all that great.

However, I've never had bad watermelon, regardless of size, so I'm eager to find out.

[franktank232]

Beverette-

Very nice. and good looking too!

I grew a 74lb Carolina Cross that i just picked today. I did some things wrong to really get a big one, but now i know.

[stella1751]

Beverette-

Very nice. and good looking too!

I grew a 74lb Carolina Cross that i just picked today. I did some things wrong to really get a big one, but now i know.

You couldn't have done MUCH wrong, franktank. Congrats!

[garden5]

Beverette-

Very nice. and good looking too!

I grew a 74lb Carolina Cross that i just picked today. I did some things wrong to really get a big one, but now i know.

What are you going to do with it? Eat it, enter it?

Also, do tell me the things you did wrong so I can do them wrong as well, next year . Seriously, though, Carolina Cross definitely looks like the variety for growing a giant.

[franktank232]

I ate it...well some of it! Texture wasn't great, and flavor was so so... I probably should have left it go another 2 weeks, but it developed a crack and was leaking a little! These things grow so fast! I just bought a packet of seeds at Walmart... I may try again next year. I want a 200lb, however

[img]https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v519/franktank232/august31.jpg[/img]

[garden5]

Did it still taste better than a store-bought one? That's too bad you had to pick it early , but what can you do? If there was an open crack, you made the right call, as bugs would have just gotten into it and made the whole thing inedible.

Good luck with next-year's melons .

[franktank232]

It was "ok"...a good store bought watermelon is/was better. It almost seemed like it could have used more water! Which amazes me because I had over 20 inches of rain fall between June 1st and Aug 31... I think the biggest thing was the rind... IT was SO thick.... and the seeds... full of seeds. If your growing this, i think its more for show then for food.

[stella1751]

I ate it...well some of it! Texture wasn't great, and flavor was so so... I probably should have left it go another 2 weeks, but it developed a crack and was leaking a little! These things grow so fast! I just bought a packet of seeds at Walmart... I may try again next year. I want a 200lb, however

[img]https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v519/franktank232/august31.jpg[/img]

Cute photo, Franktank. I'll bet your son thinks Dad can do anything!

[beverette]

Heres the link to the newspaper with it in it. [url]https://dailysoutherner.com/local/x1772338669/ANOTHER-WHOPPER[/url]