Short-vined/Bush Watermelon Recommends?
snidelywhiplash z5b
16 years ago
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farmerdilla
16 years agoanney
16 years agoRelated Discussions
growing watermelon in containers..
Comments (34)"People believe a lot of strange things, " I do so agree! Really I have never heard of people doing that.. cept for maybe at a party! But someone would be missing some teeth if I was half way through a vegy an then told it was grown on human waste! Somehow dysentary doesn't seem that appealing. Think I would rather have diner with the 'Doners!" " You think that was funny. Well I don't want to hog the thread so I'm going to start another. Come on over, you can get a tickle there too." About time! This forum has been getting a little mean spirited! LOL Jus' joking Seramus! What I think is funny.. is how some must view porta potties at public events as a gold mine!...See More2014 Watermelon Report/review
Comments (40)I am over here in Southeast Montana and have sandy soil that melons love. When I started raising melons in the 1970's, my Burpee Hybrid muskmelons were simply delicious, now I cannot get hardly anything good out of a muskmelon. The exception was the Sunder which was superb, but Willhite quit selling. I can get good-tasting Savors in the early part of the season, but the later ones rot before they taste good. As for watermelons, some do not do well for me (Desert King). I have had only two watermelons that had a "perfume" when eaten. The one I remember the most was a White Seeded Simpson. I used to grow lots of watermelons, did not rotate and eventually my field got too diseased. Now, years later, I start on new ground, till in lots of leaves and I have vines all over the place. I really like the Sweet Favorite. They ripen early (around a month after setting on), and I can turn around and get two crops off the same vine. Some Sweet Favorites do not get the sweetness of the others, I wonder if one should withhold the water for a few weeks before ripening. To tell when a melon is ripe: I used to scratch the melon with the date it set on. For example, if a melon set on July 19, I would take a knife or nail and scratch "J19 on the skin and the resulting scar would remain. Then, since it takes six weeks for most watermelons to ripen, I would harvest the melon six weeks later (September 1st for the above J19 melon. Now, I think I will take an ear tag (that they use in a calf's ear), and if a watermelon sets on July 19 th, write that on the ear tag and set it beside the melon. I actually would go out July 23 d, see a watermelon the size of a chicken egg, and subtract a few days and write J19 on the tag. But I do agree that the Orange Glo is a very delicious watermelon. And it has a taste that is more than sweet. This year my Orange Glos tailed off in sweetness at the end of the season. I tried the Moon and Stars a few years ago and was impressed with their earliness. But I ran into problems this past year as I picked the first ones too early. I think that in excellent soil, they ripen later than if they are on just average soil. And they do taste very good. This year, I will plant around 50% Sweet Favorite and 50% Moon and Stars. With a few new ones. I finally found a source for the Tiger Baby (Anderson Seed and Garden Logan Utah.) The Tiger Baby is a small melon, short vines and ripens in 30 days from setting on for me. The flesh is only pink, but I am going to try plastic tunnels, underground heating to try and get very early melons. I like to take a heat lamp (put in a 100 watt bulb), and set it next to the watermelon plants in the plastic hot kap for overnight heating of the soil (heat lamp is face down on the dirt). Sometimes the bulb breaks due to moisture on the bulb. But the plants really thrive and grow fast if it is 100 degrees in the hot kap at night. I like the Tiger Baby's short vines because I have to cover all my watermelons with wire with small holes due to the hail we seem to get every year. Is that called hardware cloth?...See MoreWatermelons! What to grow for short seasons?
Comments (22)I started some patty pan squash and cucumber this year in peat pots in early May. They germinated quickly and grew, and then, of course, the weather was just so miserable that they couldn't be planted out. So I potted them up - the patty pans went into 6" pots and the cucs into 4". They grew in those pots (in the greenhouse) until early June - I think I finally put them out in the garden on June 12th. They transplanted with no trouble and we're about to have a few patty pans for supper tonight. Cucs are blooming, the largest fruit is about 3" long. So as long as you are careful, all these plants that 'don't like to be tranplanted' will do just fine growing in larger containers and then planted out when the soil is finally warm enough....See MoreSugar Baby and Bush Sugar Baby Watermelon
Comments (17)I have been told many times that Mississippi is the poorest state in the entire country, but it amazes me what we get for our money in this state when I read about the silly things that northern gardeners do with a trellis. I may not have a lot of money, but I live in a warm state with enough sunshine and land to grow a watermelon on, and if I start early enough, I can grow any kind of watermelon that I want on my land because land is cheap in Mississippi. However, this is my first year to attempt to grow Sugar Babies. I selected that variety because I am planning to sell them at a roadside market and thought that people who have smaller families than they used to would want smaller watermelons. The little ones seem to do well at the grocery store. My first ripe looking watermelon has come in, and I want to know if it is indeed ripe. It has changed its color to dark green. I am told that Sugar Babies do that. It also has a bright yellow spot on the bottom. So far so good. It is soft ball sized, but I am not considering the size as important because I know watermelons better than that. However, the tendril has not changed. Should I consider this to be important? If you ever get tired of being cold, feel free to check us out. We are somewhat due south of Chicago, Ill, but it seems like it's on a different planet....See Morebcomplx
16 years agojoytosew
16 years agofarmerdilla
16 years agoseedssun
12 years ago
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