Tplant Why don't you sell to the teachers etc at your school? Put you a little sign out people will stop or find a place on the side of the road. If my garden produces like I hope my teenagers are going to sit at the entrance to my subdivision and make some money for me and themselves. Deanna
Melon Garden for 08
No can do Deanna as I am surrounded by school property and it would be forbidden to do so. Insurance purposes!
Im horrified, I just went out to take pictures of my melons. They are so cute I cant stand it. What I found, was a melon with a perfectly round hole in the top. Im sick, what can I put on to keep these borers of whatever nature. OUT
DELICIOUS!! Had a picnic with this "Picnic" watermelon. This 18 pounder was as good as it looks. The way the melons are ripening it seems that I will have one ripe melon daily which is just perfect.
A better shot. All I did was put the knife to it and it just popped in half as it was perfectly ripe. I waited for the stem to shrivel and you can see the results.
After having a slice of my ice cold melon I thought of the construction crews working on the school renovation and sliced up the rest of the melon and brought it over to them. There was not enough for everyone this time but I certainly have enough for everyone next time and promised to take care of the rest of the crew as the melons ripen. Needless to say they were very appreciative! I enjoy making new friends....
gardenglory --- Sorry to hear about your predicament but I believe that I mentioned "Critter Ridder" to spray around the EBs and the ground. You can also spray the melons as you'll not be eating the rind! Sounds like you have some orioles in your neighborhood as they are the fruit eaters and if it was a small round hole that was pecked??? Well, that fits the description of their doing. I have them all over the place but no damage to my melons.
That melon looks so delcious, and its always fun to share.
Here is a picture of the hole. Its much smaller than a beak, and I think there is a worm in there.
Ouch. The pickle worm. They are very hard to control and they attack melons, squash cucumbers. Talk to your county agent for recommendations, I can usually work around them as they arrive here about the first of July and I have most of my cucurbit crop harvested or at least to a size where they are deterred by hard rinds.
http://centralfloridagarden.blogspot.com/2007/05/organic-control-of-pickleworms.html
http://www.geocities.com/green_cache/worms.html#Pickleworms
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/Cucurbit/insect/insect1/insect1.4.html
How big does the melon have to be before they leave it alone. Im going to try anything to get rid of it, Im so beside myself over those little melons.
This is my biggest melon so far, still very small, but I hope big enough the worm leaves it alone.
I did have a similiar problem with three of my young developing melons but not with the ones that developed their hard rinds. They don't bother the mature melons or do they??
At last I'll get to taste my first ORANGELO ever. Have you ever seen a prettier melon? You'll have to excuse me for now as I intend to enjoy. Will let you know how it tastes in a LITTLE WHILE!
I have been checking all afternoon. It is gorgeous. Cant wait to hear how it taste.
Do you chill before eating?
This message was edited May 30, 2008 7:06 PM
Looks good to me!
Ok! (BURP!) Sorry for the shakkkkkyyyyy picture but it is my carpul tunnell plus my PPS that can ,at times, give me a shaky hand. This is a tough one to decide between the red or the orange melon? It really is to close to call but I recommend you try it in your next melon garden. It was not a big producer for me, only three out of three plants or one each with the other two still growing.
Yes gardenglory I chill them overnite to firm up the melon and make them crispy. I still have three more or so varieties that I am waiting for them to ripen..
Darn the shaky hands! Still does not do the pretty watermelon justice. I have a tripod that I bought for such occasions so the next time I'll use it. Seems like I Get shaky after working out in the garden most of the day but I just can't help working out there as long as I can because I enjoy it so much! It is amazing no matter how much I do I'm never finished? There is always more to do! Great isn't it???
Sure thing... sooo much going on and it is all exciting.
I brought in to the kitchen my first ripe Bush Sugar Baby watermelon and placed it on the counter to cool to room temperature as I wanted to cut it open later and take pictures. Well, can you believe, when I was ready for pictures the family had devoured all but one slice that they left for me to taste? Oh well! The color was a ruby red and flavor was sweet. Perfect to my taste! Still have a few more out there so I promise to do better next time...but for now it has cleared up my doubts about this variety not being up to par. It suits my growing area perfectly as it only sends its vines out less than three feet and is perfect for my EBs. Next season I will definetly expand their production.
How mean! The first year I grew melons, I had one good melon, and my roommate ate most of it. Grr!
Yeah, my Bush Sugar Baby is extremely compact so far.
Mickeylee is supposed to be compact but it's sending out vines everywhere. Can I prune? I just thinned to 3 plants per hill (I had 5).
This message was edited Jun 4, 2008 10:09 AM
I would not prune a melon as the vines do not like to be disturbed. Just let them do their thing! To the best of my limited melon growing experience Mickeylee is not a compact plant.
Again because of all the construction here I was just told that by next week they must put in a four foot drain field in a section of my melon garden! I was fully aware of this prior but decided to take a chance and plant my melons anyway and I'm glad that I did otherwise or I would have missed all this fun. It works out just right as most my melons will be fully ripened by that time. It won't be the entire garden just the first quarter where the melons are finished.
The seed packet for Mickeylee says Bush type so that's why I grew it.
http://www.neeps.com/1475.html?productid=1475&channelid=BIZRA
I'm growing in a 4' x 8' bed with Sugar Baby at one end and Mickeylee at the other. I guess I will thin another plant or two.
We need to be able to mow the lawn. :)
feldon30 --- I know what you mean about mowing the lawn. The melons just take over and that is why I devoted a large section for them by applying the weed cloth. Been trying to get out there this morning to clean up some of the melon patch but rain showers have slowed me down and now the sun came out raising the humidity to an uncomfortable level. Glad that there is no rush to get the job done..
I WISH my melons would start taking over! They've just been sitting there, shivering.
It surely was a cold and wet May around here too. Finally the melons are growing and starting to vine.
It was about a 3 week layoff fromm field work around here. May seems like such an unsettled month sometimes.
Wish you guys woudl share some rain. A total of a half inch im May and none in sight. Temps hitting 100 degrees. The early corn is burned to a crisp and even the watermelons are just holding on for dear life. I am reliving the dust bowl experience.
For May I would have traded an 1½ of rain for 10° of heat.....deal??
5 melons per vine! I may try that Mikeylee next year!
One year a Tiger Baby made 6 melons averaging 10 pounds apiece. The next year it made one melon [a 15½ pounder] on the first set. The quality of the latter was superb.
I picked a smaller size Orangelo yesterday as the plant was all "pooped out" if you know what I mean? It weighed only 18lbs and the taste was good but not great as it was slightly bland. Seems that the smaller size is not as tasty? This certainly confirms Farmerdill's statement to be true! (As usual)
Today I will start to clean up the melon garden and pull up the weed mat in the area where they will put a four foot drain field. Around this field I shall plant a dwarf papaya and a Condo Mango interspersed with some low growing flowers which are to be determined over the hot summer months.
NOTE:
It really isn't that hot as the average temp is 87-89 but it is the high humidity that makes day temps uncomfortable in the full sun but not in the shade where there is always a breeze thus the lack of daytime gardening on my part.
A Mickeylee producing five melons on one vine? I never had more than two? Where did you purchase the seed and if so, what brand?
I wish I could find a good short-season melon.
By the time mine are ripe, it's fall, and too late for melons.
Ltilton, Have you tried Black Tail Mountain. Supposedly the earliest melon that tastes decent. Have not grown it myself. The earliest is the New hampshire Midget. It is an attractive personal size melon that is rated at 65 days. Grew it back in the 60's and while it is not going to win any contests for taste, it is early. It is an Alwyn Meader creation like the New Hampshire Golden Midget that Plant grew this year.
I'll give them a try next year. How big is Black Tail Mountain?
Particularly depending how the seedless minis turn out, if they're worth the considerable trouble. They're small, but no faster to grow.
The melon on the left is a Blacktail Mountain and the right is a Bush Sugar Baby. I thought Blacktail would be a little larger but it is only six or seven pounds? Well let's see what it cuts and tastes like!
Wow! It cut beautifully and tastes great! Real sweet and crispy and a color red that I can not capture with the camera. Double AA on my opinion.
Bush Sugar Baby! Excellent flavor, appearance and sweetness. Crispy crunchy when cold as all melons should be when cold. This will be a mainstay to my garden along with last years Mickeylee which I did not grow this year because I wanted to try the orange and yellow type. I highly recommend this melon to everyone that has a space problem as this vine literally takes up no room as it grew around my EB hugging the sides. However, of three vines I had only five melons but they were and are delicious. For all you EB'ers out there I suggest growing only two melons to the EB and not three as the earthbox people suggest. I will do this with all future melon growing. For the very large melons I will grow only one to the EB and see what happens. It wil be an exciting next season. I still have a few more melons to make reports on and they are Golden Casaba, Orange Sunshine, Picnic and one other that slips my feeble mind....
Yellow Doll is a very good and tasty early melon. Mainly I want the larger melons. Last year the large ones started ripening about July 20th and the last one which was super was harvested on Oct. 9th. Granted that not all years are quite that long of a season. This year looks to be 10 days later perhaps....can't wait to get a Raspa, Sangria, or SF#420.
Orangeglo is quite good as is Gold Strike for a change-up. I really eat the melons!
I have heard good things on the Black Mt. Good for high humid area's .
i had forgotten about that one . I choose Moon and Stars and Carolina Cross. The biggy :)
I am going to plant my melons next week. I have mulched an area to keep it moist . Build some hills and off we go. I hope. I have them in Cowpots so i m hoping they transplant well.
THey all look so wonderful Tplant.
It makes me want melons NOW !! :) lol
great pics tplant
sue
I tried Blacktail Mt. in '03 and it was going to be early but both plants suddenly wilted and died on me while other varieties didn't....so I daren't raise that variety as it could be more wilt susceptable than many others. On brand new ground for melons you are not likely to have that trouble.
Some varieties like Black Diamond, perhaps Sugar Baby, and also my favorite [Raspa] are not rated very wilt resistant.