planatus does bring up a good point about the round vs oblong varieties. It seems this melon has already been crossed to plenty of other stuff. Either of you know how that works genetically? cc definitely looks like the definition of oblong to me, which makes me think oblong is the way to go, but I also love variation and making new things. IF I were to put round m&s to cc, are the results going to remotely predictable? I was mostly planning to look for the heaviest weight I could sense thats the first thing I'll be going for. Maybe down the road I'll worry about mixing taste/resistance into it, but for the first step, I just want to make big cool melons. I cant find it, but I saw some seed someone developed that made the m&s look slightly pear shaped, and I thought that might have been from crossing round to oblong, but I thought round was typically an absolute trait as opposed to something line bred. maybe there are both. I wish I had bookmarked that page. I really love the idea of making new things. Growing the same stuff as everybody else would never be good enough for my personality type. An example would be roaches. I breed them as feeders for my pet lizards. Was that good enough? NO. lol. I had to select the most colorful, and the biggest, and start side roach colonies to try and improve things. Its really ingrained in me for some reason, so as I get more and more into gardening, I'll definitely be spending my life trying to make new things and improvements every year :) I love the idea of open pollinated plants because of their variation, and am not fond of patented seeds. I'd rather be the guy making cool new things in a natural way and sharing them with others, as opposed to letting some scientist do it for me then telling me I cant play with it in future generations. Its really a big part of the fun to me, even if I have some crops fail once in awhile because of that unpredictability. for whatever reason, I feel like this line should stay red fleshed. orange/yellow look nice, but not as yummy as red. I'll worry about colors down the road if I change my mind. I'm only 32, so i have plenty of time. If I grow a 200 lb melon with bright yellow moon and stars on it in the next decade, this will be a success. I have patients ;) Although realistically, it'll probably be done by someone in the south with my seeds which would still give me much satisfaction (I'm in MI so 200lb might be out of reach until I get south). anyway, sorry about rambling on so much. I like talking plants :)

I have been known to grow veggies simply for their looks. This is one of them. I grew them for the first time last year. I only got two plants to grow and finally got 2 melons. The first I picked wasn't ripe, or I thought it wasn't, and it sure wasn't sweet. I waited and waited for one to fully mature... made sure all the signs were there - yellow belly, dry tendrils and 'plunk' not 'plink' - but the flesh still didn't look ripe. It was very light pink, but the seeds (and there were LOTS OF HUGE things) were dark brown. So, I dunno if I did something wrong, or they just don't taste that good. They are still the loveliest melons I have seen. Maybe you'll have better luck than I. Lisa

This was the first and only year I have ever planted watermelon. I must say based on or own opinion and many people who are avid gardeners that the M&S we have been enjoying for 3-4 weeks have been delicious and very well formed. I do remember it seemed they took a cpl weeks after we planted for them to settle in and start their vineing process. Starting from seed my son Luke and I Started 4 plants (2 seperate hills)from seed and by the end of June they had taken all the room I had given them and were growing out of their area. Up the rose trellis and across our concrete patio. I think they would have grown over our home if I and my scissors had not taken action to keep them in the area (10x30). They made great and quite large melons, 38lbs in one case but no smaller than 25lbs. All the fruit, 11 total made it to maturity and were very juicy and sweet. They have vined and bloomed and set fruit again with one growing 3 feet off the ground on our rose trellis ,...need to build a stick platform for it lol. Which brings me to my question. Is thier enough time for them ( 5 more so far) to develop to maturity? And is it common for watermelons to have 2 seperate crops from each plant???? I water them really well until they are fully formed and not getting any larger then I cut the water back to whatever nature will give us......my take on M&S's watermelons.......GREAT!!!!!!....thx ,..timetaplant

Take a look over on the Vegetables forum. There are some folk giving really good advice on this very question. I'm growing this one, and have for some years, but I have to admit that the ones giving advice over there know this subject better than do I. George in Tahlequah, OK -- who recently openned up a half-ripe Moon & Stars watermelon!