I sent you an email.

ltilton: Here, Lilly ripens at about the same time as Early Sugarshaw, and it was a little earlier than the Burpee Early Hybrid Crenshaw this year. Other years, Burpee and Sugarshaw have ripened at about the same time. I've seen the Burpee hybrid ripen fairly consistently in cool fall weather in a Zone 5/6 garden with no special efforts to speed growth. Lilly leans toward a Casaba style melon. It may not take too well to cool ripening weather. But don't take my word for it, because we haven't had cool ripening weather. I don't really know if it ripens more slowly than the Burpee hybrid in cool weather. None of the Crenshaws is remarkably productive for me, but I have repeat crops on Lilly and Sugarshaw this year. On the other hand, the melons are bigger than the typical muskmelon, so fewer melons per plant seems sort of acceptable, given their quality. Wayne, one advantage of a St. Nick type melon is that if the plant dies early or if it just doesn't ripen before the end of the season, you can peel and seed it and pretend it's a sweet cucumber. You can try the same thing with honeydews. Our old dog pulled up a Piel de Sapo plant one year. He loved burpless cucumbers and I think he mistook the melons for cucumbers. I have seed of the earlier new variety Lambkin, but didn't plant any this year. I don't grow netted muskmelons here anymore since they are grown commercially nearby. We get ripe ones at the grocery store and there have been some remarkably good ones in the past few years for not much money. I think there has been some improvement in standard commercial varieties. I only grow specialty types now.

guavalane Thank You. I want all the info I can get. Does your friend buy seeds and if so what varieties and where does he buy the seeds. etc. why higher ? How big are these. You are in a great warm long grow region. I am zone 5 and must plan carefully. So I am interested in what comes quickly and what takes a long time. I can probably do with plants to about 105 days as some pumpkins are 105. not sure on the maximum but it probably depends on the temperature. Right now it is cold here. high of the day below or near 50. just to give an idea. But of course all information is eagerly sought. how is the eating quality difference between winter melon and fuzzy gourd. I had a oriental melon gourd that I liked. It was pretty good. it grew sort of like a square long melon. the melon had 4 creases running the length that caused it to have a sort of square cross section. the crease was indented along the length. the melon was nice in soup. It might have been a winter melon but no white on the melon skin and it was ready very early. The skin was tough so it was easy to cook. I could put it into a microwave and after it was cooked the skin would come off in one piece instead of falling apart. I just grab the skin and pull it off. well more or less. worked great. the "melon" was nice and firm. light color. sort of clear when cooked. moisture came out of it. the moisture with the seeds was a little more sweet. but this was for cooking not for raw eating. Does anyone have any idea what it might have been. what kind of oriental melon or gourd. I saved some seed but then the seeds might be crossed with all the other stuff grown there. Mostly I want to know what it is so I can buy some good seed that is properly correct and not some half wild cross.

Luffa cylindrica is the smooth luffa. I like it better than the angled luffa because smooth luffa is easier to peel. The taste is very similar. BTW, where did you order these seeds? They sound yummy.