Only 2 watermelons set on early in my regular patch...and 1 cantaloupe.
I think they were more interested in growing big healthy vines with the extra rain we had. Now they are really getting in gear. I hand pollinated several today. It was good to see honeybees in that patch too. Bless their hearts.
This year I am seeing many honeybees......on the shirley poppies, larkspur, and the linden trees are a hum of activity this week while in bloom. In fact there are so many bees feeding on my white clover in the grass that it is harder to mow if you value them. I may need to mow some spots just before dark...10PM.
Let's talk melons!
Have a few Sugar Baby babies - first watermelons of the season. 29 days from sowing the seeds in the good ol' dirt! When they're a tad bigger I'll post a pic. Honeydew vines are getting bigger and spreading well - have a ton of flowers but no fruit yet. Scaleybark and Blacktail Mountain watermelons have been thinned to 4 per mound and are just beginning to vine out. More to come....
Flip
Melons require a lot of room but with the help of my chain link fence and my EBs I am able to train the vines and have fifteen productive melon plants growing in a small area. It's a funny thing about some of the vines? I have trellisis to hold the vines but even when placed they still prefer the chain-link fence. I have quite a few beauties that will soon be ready.
tplant
I am growing Watermelon the vine is probably 3 feet now how do I train it grow up the fence. Also will check out my zucchini on the vegetable garden they are growing in an earth box but are not doing well. Please tell me what you think.
babydoll - - I should have stated that they are honeydews that are growing on the fence. WATERMELONS are far to large for support and must sprawl unless they are the ice box type. I used some old bird netting to support my honeydews and tied them to the chain link fence.
Mountain Hoosier sizing up nicely this year.
That's a nice looking melon Farmer. My, my melons got pounded with hail on June 28 and don't look as pretty. Made some dents in melons, apples, and english walnuts.
We had a hail storm one year when melons were about 10" long. Most aborted because of so many pok marks. A second crop came on & turned out good, except they were late.
My watermelons are just starting to set, about on schedule.
Bernie
The Fourth of July Cantaloupe. Also got a watermelon, a mongrel Crimson Sweet type that was a volunteer in the corn field.
that looks just terrible dill...I think you need to send it to me to taste test for you *G* I even think flies landed on it...tsk tsk you wouldn't want to eat it...
Here is my best yet. It is an Amy hybrid by Parks. The color just changed to a yellow gold and the skin is changing from smooth to ridges. I've cut way back on the water in my EBs because I understand to much water will make them bland. The difficulty for me will be when to pick them when ripe and how do I tell?
They are climbing the fence and running along the ground. This batch is called Venus. I do love to eat melons better than ice cream.
Here is a better view of my melon whereas you can clearly see the ridges developing.
Plant, that is a Spanish melon, Canary type introduced by Hazera Genetics as Amie. Hazera is not currently listing it, so hang on to any seeds you may have left. They don't usually slip, so you have to deal with them like you would a honeydew type. That one should not too much of a problem as they turn canary yellow when ripe. The blossom scar should also be slightly springy.
http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/96400/ when you post the pictures.
This message was edited Jul 4, 2006 7:16 PM
Thanks Farmer! I can see what you mean. Stick around as I will be calling upon you for ripening advice and water limitations.
Another honeydew but I can't remember the name. There are five more under those leaves. This might be Amy hybrid also.
Here is one for Farmerdill! On the leaf at a little below center is a fly with a gold body and a long black tail with long pointy wings. Looks kind of like a mosquito but it isn't. I have a hundred of them on my plants. Are they harmful?
Another view.
Looks like a cranefly to me http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/StratfordLandingES/Ecology/mpages/crane_fly.htm
Are they harmful to my plants? I haven't noticed any damage?
Here you can see the netting that I use to protect the melons from critters. I'm forever getting tangled in it so it must be working.
Here is a Spanish variety growing on the outside of my fence. It is at least five pounds and still growing.
Another view of the Spanish melon with my foot as a marker to show the size. There are three more.
Now you can see more from the outside of my fence. They love to climb. They are supported with cut-up bird netting.
I only have a 3'x35' run for my garden and this is why I use EBs as so much can be grown in so little a space. I actually have about twenty plants in this space. All melons of course until the fall when I start my tomatos.
Just had to include my best girl. She is always with me.....
lol love that look..Like Hurry up Dad I'm HOT!
TPlant, The dark green Spanish type....Is it a Piel de Sapo or St. Nick of the Santa Claus type? I had some last year that were a huge success. They got a lttle bigger than 10 pounds.....and of course they were a guess as when to harvest......very sweet white meat.
Indy ---- Can't remember the the true name but I know it is not the ones you mentioned. I'll check tomorrow.
TP, I'll be darned if you're not turning into a melon man. Those look really nice. I think I'll have to stop by for a taste test while I'm waiting on my watermelons to grow up.
Flip
Any time Ol Buddy! Having a great year so far what with my tomato production and now melons plus all my weight loss.(60lb) I am now trying to adjust water intake so melons will sweeten up. If to much water they will taste bland. Indy seems to have best flavor by picking when ripe and than let stand a few days at room temperature. I'd hate to make a mistake because they are really getting huge and of excellent quality. The bird net is doing it's job of keeping away all the critters and Ortho keeping them bug free. Next season I will seed only two plants per box and not three. More than that is not necessary unless I open a farmers market.
Indy --- I checked the name of the melon we were discussing yesterday, you know the spanish melon you referred to? Well the name is" Sweet Barcelona."
TPlant,
I planted that once or so but didn;t get any good ones that time. The St. Nick from Vermont Bean Seed was fabulous. ...very sweet.
Well, I planted a little later than most - over a period of 3-5 weeks ago. I have several Sugar Baby watermelons on the vine and a few Rockford Honeydews that are tennis ball size. Still waiting on the Orangeglo to pop some watermelons; the vines are really doing well but no fruit yet. Scaleybark and Blacktail Mountain starting to vine out nicely. Iroqouis Canteloupe looks the least vigorous of my 6 melon mounds - smallish vines and no fruit yet.
Flip
Flip ---- My Rattlesnake watermelon just developed melons the other day and they have more than doubled in size since then. They are slow to fruit but once they do, look out!!
Indy ---- I'll look up Vermont Bean Seed. What kind of a melon is St. Nick???
Tplant, The St. Nick is a Santa Claus type. They used to pick them early and store them for holidays. I say...eat em now..
You may have seen them in the store. .....dark green with yellow streaks.
Plant, it is a relatively new (1994) hybrid Piel de sapo type from Seminis. All of this type have great storage capability. It has a shorter season than many others of this type. It is the same type as your Sweet Barcelona, but there is considerable difference in taste and productivity among melons of the same type. You almost have to try each of them yourself. Indy is pretty far north for Spanish Melons, so it could be that the shorter season melon was just what he needed. Tried Honeydews for years unsuccessfully in Virginia, until Earli-Dew hit the market. Now Honeydews will grow just about anywhere as long as you stick to the short season hybrids.
You guys think I should pick the Amy hybrid and the Sweet Barcelona now and keep it at room temperature for a few days or so?? They are both as big or bigger than the ones in the store that sell for 99 cents per lb?? I don't know how to tell when they are ripe. All were planted from seed on 5/5.
The Amy should be ripe a few days after a complete color change, No green. A few of the hybrids do slip like a cantaloupe. Try that first. I have grown the open pollinated Canary but not the Amie. Press on the blossom scar it should be slightly springy, instead of solid. The Sweet Barcelona would have a longer season, so the Amy should be ripe first.
I'll check tomorrow. It's been raining very hard today so I haven't checked the garden.