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Vegetable Gardening

Small vined Watermelon varieties

16 years ago

I am looking for watermelon varieties, that have short vines. The only thing I have found is Bush Sugar Baby Watermelon.

Any small vined watermelon recommendations?

What about companion planting these watermelon with tomatoes?

thanks,

Dean

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Comments (6)

farmerdilla
16 years ago
Here are the bush (short vine) cultivars that that I know about.
Sugar Bush - Burpee
Bush Snakeskin _ Seeds of Change
Bush Jubilee - Cooper Seeds
Bush Charleston Grey
Bush Baby II ( hybrid)
Bush Desert King ( yellow flesh)
I would not recommend planting them with tomatoes.
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deanriowa
Original Author
16 years ago
farmerdilla,

Have you grown any of these varieties? If so, could you recommend anyone?

I am just wondering why would you not plant around tomatoes?

thanks,
Dean
0
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I am adding to this old thread that is 15 years old. I have picked up a lot of info from these threads on numerous cultivars that has helped me in my trials of many varieties. I found it interesting that farmerdilla has pale colored Yellow Doll. Different soils and temps can have effects like this obviously. Yellow Doll grown here in Florida is not a pale yellow but takes on a nice bright yellow. I have been growing that early variety here for a very long time. I grow it for it's earliness, for to me, it is the best early variety I have grown. Has anyone grown the variety Royalty? That variety is a 20-22 lb melon which supposedly ripens in 70 days. Noted for being a great pollinator and has an extended flowering period which will help with a seedless variety if you are growing them. I am going to put that one out in South Florida and start it very early so I can have watermelon starting out in early March. I also just noticed this thread started out as most vigorous vines! lol I think Orangeglo is at the top of my list but I have not grown some known for their aggressive nature and am not interested in doing so. I grow strictly for flavor and production. I will sacrifice production to get the quality of flavor I want, but if I can get both, then that is the cats meow. To me, nothing beat Gold Strike! It had it all. I do not see it ever being available again, which saddens me!
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Just thought I'd post a quick follow-up. I actually got some ripe melons this year. Most of them were tiny though. Maybe i planted too many close together. Oh, well. It was still fun. It's been hard to identify which ones did the best, since i planted them all landrace style (And hoping for some to cross). Anyway, the best red variety goes to Blacktail Mountian by far. I had a few other reds, but i don't know what varieties. Some of the reds seemed like they were struggling to ripen though too. Whats surprising is that i got quite a few yellow ones. And i'm not sure if it was my imagination or not, but the yellow ones seem to be able to ripen much easier than the reds. Plus they tasted better. I had three different yellow varieties (because they all had different sized and colored seeds). Yellow-Doll is a strong possibility. Hopi Yellow is another. Tohono O'odham Yellow Meated? Desert King? (i dont think i saw any Desert King based on pictures of the rind, but who knows) Maybe even Orangelo, but i only saw yellow, not orange. The worst melon was "Malali" (or possibly "Osh Kirgizia", but i think it was "Malali". It was a splitter! Not only that, but they kept splitting way before they were ripe! It had very distinctive pattern on rind. Very round. Will not grow this type again. Still if i had to recommend two varieties for Northern or Colorado gardens, they would be Blacktail Mountain and Yellow Doll. (i still suspect the yellows ripen better).
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I am in the Bay Area. Last season, I got 2 nice 20+ pound Crimson Sweets. Dee-licious those were. This season, I have a Crimson Sweet and have added an Early Moonbeam and a Bush Snakeskin. The Early Moonbeam is a short season variety with small fruit. The Bush Snakeskin is a longer season variety with 40+ pound fruit. We will see how things go. I'm not sure the Bay Area is great watermelon growing country, but this is only my second season. I imagine if you were in San Jose or a bit south and inland, conditions might be more conducive than where I am. Anyways, it has been plenty hot the past few days...my plants are really stating to roam and set flowers.
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"cucamelon"- Melothria scabra, also known as the cucamelon, is a vine grown for its edible fruit. Fruits are about the size of grapes and taste like cucumbers with a tinge of sourness. Vernacular names include mouse melon, Mexican sour gherkin, cucamelon, Mexican miniature watermelon, Mexican sour cucumber and pepquinos. Cucamelons are small but pack a healthful punch. They are full of vitamins and minerals, antioxidants and fiber, and are also low in calories. The nutrients they provide can help lower the risk of heart disease, stroke, and cancer. Genus: Melothria I'd love to get some seeds (hard to find where I am= Canada); if you - or somebody reading this post- can mail them in an envelope pls email me at nkguw7piodi9@opayq.com; thx.
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korney19
16 years ago
This year I'm growing Bush Sugar Baby... vines can't be over 3ft long. Unfortunately, no melons over softball size yet...
0
deanriowa
Original Author
16 years ago
Do the Bush Sugar Baby set more then one melon per vine?

How is the flavor?
0
farmerdilla
16 years ago
I tried one from Burpee about 35 years ago. The only difference ( compared to the vining verion of the same cultivar) was the the short stubby vines and like a determinate tomato you only get one set. A vining cultivar can give up to three crops if you can keep the vines healthy. Bush versions have never attained any popularity and can be difficult to find seeds.
Tomatoes are 1. Big competitive plants that can both compete for nutrients and shade watermelons which cannot tolerate shade. 2. In competing the watermelons climb up on the tomato vine resulting in a tangled jungle with restricted fruiting on both species. Harvest of the fewer fruits becomes difficult without damaging the more fragile watermelon vines. 3. At least in this area, tomatoes are a disease magnet some of which also attack watermelons.
0
korney19
16 years ago
Dean, here's the description from the packet... I haven't tasted any yet...

"Space-saving bush-type vines grow only 3-3 1/2' long; usually bear 2 fruits each. Melons are round-oval, 8 1/2-10'' long. Rind is dark green, flesh is bright scarlet, juicy and sweet, with excellent flavor. Ready to pick about 80 days after sowing seed."

The website description is similar but just slightly different:

"Watermelon Bush Sugar Baby

Customer Favorite
Sweet, scarlet (icebox) melons grow on space-saving vines only 3-1/2' long.

80 days. Sweet, scarlet "icebox" melons grow on space-saving vines only 3-1/2' long. Each one bears two 12 lb. melons. Burpee bred. After all danger of frost, sow 5 or 6 seeds in groups 6-8' apart . 25 seeds per packet. Sun."

Their website actually had a customer review:

4 out of 5 (Overall Rating)
Bush Sugar Baby, July 18, 2006
Submitted by KBTexas from Sugar Land, TX (read all my reviews)
Plant performance: 3 out of 5
Taste: 4 out of 5
Yield: 2 out of 5

"Vines are very pretty & melons are very sweet. I planted 15 seeds but only 7 came up."

5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Reviewer Information

Would recommend: Yes
Type of gardening: Small Garden
Gardening skill: Moderately skilled
State of residence: TX
Types of plants: Vegetables
Gardening experience: 10+ years

...................................

Burpee also had a couple paragraphs on the same page on growing watermelons, this one sounded interesting:

"If you don't have room in the garden for watermelon vines, think about growing them in the middle of the lawn. Yes, in the middle of the lawn. Simply dump two 40-pound bags of composted cow manure and one 40-pound bag of topsoil into a heap on the lawn. Mix and mound with a trowel or by hand to integrate all materials. Water well and plant 6 to 8 seeds and later thin to three plants. The vines will ramble all over the lawn, and you will have to mow around them. But, the watermelon foliage will shade most of the grass underneath it and slow growth. After harvest, pull up vines; rake the nutrient-rich manure mix over the lawn for fertilizer and water well. Within a week, the grass will be growing vigorously again, and it will be a healthy dark green."

Also a few general watermelon tips from Burpee:

"...Watermelon plants have moderately deep roots and waterin g is seldom necessary unless the weather turns dry for a prolonged period. When vines begin to ramble, side dress plants with Â½ cup of balanced fertilizer (5-10-5). A third application of fertilizer should be made when melons are set. Withhold water as melons start to mature to intensify sweetness."

and

"When vines begin to ramble, give plants a dose of boron to help them produce sweeter fruits. Dissolve 1 tablespoon of household borax in 1 gallon of water and spray foliage and the base of the plants."

Mark
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