There are lots of open pollenated varieties. A few are very fast but you can shave a few days off if you go to hybrids. but then hybrids probably dont have the flavor. I dont really know. Lots of seed people sell OP melons of all kinds. I must have saved seed from at least 5 melons from the store this year. They will grow very well. They have great genetics just not lined up perfect in f2 sometimes. I grow a lot of f2 seed that comes out true to the original. Many times the seller just likes to claim they are F1. Stops people from saving seeds. haha. I know someone who plants almost an entire garden from the store bought veggies. It can be a lot of fun. I also find good stuff. or I should say better stuff from the farm stands. That is a better place to find seeds because you know it was local grown. I have picked at least 3 melons this year where I could immediately tell the variety once looking in the seed catalogs. Mostly because the locals like to buy from Johnnys and Fedco. northern seed companies carrying good seed for New England. It is hard with the major grocery stores because they import everything from California and Florida which is not the best variety for growing in new england. Here is a link that might be useful: OP melons from one company

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.

CarolynCl, I think the Japanese are excellent breeders of hybrids, but are there any true Japanese heirlooms? I love their Sunrise melon but don't know if it's Heirloom/OP or hybrid. Some of the other melons (Gaya, Hanmei, Kondoz) at the Asian markets were nowhere near as good as that. I've had some Vietnamese melons, too - I think those were heirlooms and they were also just OK. And they were supposedly grown near Bakersfield. The one heirloom from Khazastan (Kazakh), a white fleshed melon, was excellent. Last few years in the fall, the stores started carrying a large football shaped melon with netting, I forgot what it was called. It was good, but not great, and the local store told me they only sold about half its inventory. reign - Concord grapes for watermelons sounds like a great deal to me. And if you make jam or jelly from a neighbor's pickings, that's outstanding. Nothing beats homemade. As for foliage reports, I have been through the Adirondacks, Shenandoah, and Colorado during fall leaf drop. It's truly beautiful and eerie knowing that after all those gold and red leaves fall, it'll be nothing but limbs and branches for another six months or so. Wayne 5 - Thanks for your reply. I am often in shock when someone says I hate cantloupes/melons. They will eat them in a fruit salad and if the flavor isn't too pronounced. I don't grow the Crenshaw/Sugarshaw varieties, but I do buy them when they're in season. They have a silky smooth texture bursting with juice. Alas, I have one melon that isn't doing too well again for the second year - Montreal Melon. It's turning yellow, and the growth has slowed and looks like early blight is taking hold. Our June Gloom with cloud cover till 1 PM and high humidity 72 degree days just aren't warm enough. The first Ambrosias are looking great and should be ready this week. It should be around 2-3 lbs, though they grow to 5. The charentais planted the same time as Montreal melon have lots of blossoms. The Yellow Doll hybrid watermelon is about softball size now. Butterscotch is now getting fruit (planted about 45 days ago).

This seems to be a popular thread, so I thought I would put in my 2 cents worth. I finally have been able to harvest and try the great Petit Gris de Rennes that I've heard so much about. Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed. We've had so much cool, rainy weather this year that they just aren't sweet. Other than the lack of sweetness, they did have a unique flavor that I think could be quite good in different weather conditions. I could say much the same about my Charentais and my Blacktail Mtn. Watermelons. Just not sweet. So far the Butterscotch Melons have been the sweetest. They have been my best melons this year and the most productive by far. I think the smaller fruited varieites are less affected by excess rainfall. It seems to be true with my tomatoes. Today I pulled my first Piel de Sapo (frogskin) melon. It was slipping from the vine, which I didn't think they were supposed to do, but the vine seemed to be dying. They can be extremely sweet, but I'm afraid with this year's weather these will also prove disappointing. I'm almost afraid to cut into it. I have one more that is still maturing and an Amarillo Oro, that is very small but seems to be turning yellow.