The taste is ok, just the amount of seeds made it a pain to eat. We did Crimson Sweet ? last year in place of those and the vines didn't get too unruly. I placed a wire A-frame down the center. Those were better melons for us. Larger melons, more melons, and not a lot of seeds. I imagine with a little pruning you could grow a variety like that in a 3 foot deep terrace.

The female bloom will also have a little baby watermelon at the base of it, which when pollinated by the male blooms, (via bees, flying things) will become a nice big, juicy watermelon. This is the same for most all squashes, melons, gourds, etc. The blooms also have a different stamen/center thing inside the blossom, take a good look and compare them when you're sure you have both. And per the original question, yes, the guys always come first before the ladies, and I've never pruned/pinched watermelon, but I do pinch back gourd vines.

I tried to post a picture, but it appears I don't have the know-how to accomplish that task. A few answers: I think it's a clear substance...shiny. It's just in areas of the patch now. Yes, the vines are blooming and setting fruit. At least a couple melin have the sticky stuff on them. From the 2 plants, I have identified 18 different melons. I have lost a couple that split open, a couple that have wrinkled up and withered after they'd started to grow. I do believe it is a case of aphids. I was in the patch checking and picking a melon this morning and when I came out, I realized that I had many very small crawly things on my arms. I'd say infestation, it is! I tackled the situation with horticultural oil spray, doing the best I could to hit the underside of the leaves with the spray. Do you suppose that will be enough to knock back the population? Can aphids destroy the vine? I already lost my cantaloupe this year before I was able to harvest any because of bacterial wilt. I'm hoping that the watermelon will make it.

Growing watermelon in a large 5 gallon container, one of those ones that has the opening on the bottom for you to pour water in. Over the last week I noticed that all the upper leaves have died and rotted away. Haven't used any fertilizer.. I see some leaf miner damage on the bottom leaves.. when I separated the bottom water drain with the pot I saw a bajillion ants living inside it. Could the ants have been eating the roots causing the plant to slowly die?