Watermelosn require two things: heat and deep sandy soil. here they will grow wild in the fence rows. They do not have high fertility requirements nor do they require as much water as most crops. pretty drought resistant. You should have sufficient heat, so try to avoid clay or shallow soils.
Starbright has not been a good producer for me.{{gwi:16396}}
AU- Producer is very similar to Crimson Sweet and is an excellent melon {{gwi:16398}}
Mickylee is of the best of the "icebox" melons: {{gwi:16400}}

Here is a link that might be useful: My Watermelons

Thanks, Farmerdilla! Looks like you might have grown a melon or two in your day. Yes, I have plenty of heat here (just outside of Memphis), but no topsoil whatsoever. The plan is to truck in a sand/composted manure mix available locally, and build jumbo hills. I grow nice cantaloupes with this method. Misterbaby.

Misterbaby,

I think that a deep hill of enriched mix like you mentioned might work. I do not know if a soiless mix is great or not. Watermelon roots are mostly horizonal about 4 or 5 inches deep so don't let your hills dry out. I believe that watermelons like mitrogen early on.

Farmer says that they grow in fencerows. I agree that that is so. I had that happen too. I believe that they can be healthy there because fencerows are often virgin soil with good fertility and tilth which watermelons need and without soil fungal diseases.

Hello,
If you are in Texas the Star Brite should work very well. I know this melon well in Texas and it is our number one seller for seeded types. Micky Lee will also work well in Texas. We sale it as a pollinator and use it to pollinate our expiremental trials.

Jonny

I'm in Indiana, and I was wondering if there is any watermelon growers from my area that is willing to help 'teach' me how to grow them. I'm only trying the seeded type to start with. I have good loam ground. I'm taking out some farm ground, previously grown soybeans for the last 2 years. I'm not trying to grow thousands, but 100 or so will make me happy.

I have Sugar Baby and Black Diamond seeds, but am willing to buy other varieties if suggested as better production. I'm outside of Lafayette, IN, about 120 miles north of Vincennes (our melon country).

Also, how difficult is it to grow the seedless varieites?

Hi, myfamilysfarm! You are indeed north of Indiana melon country, and may want to focus on short-season melons like Mickeylee, Yellow Doll, or Pronto unless you can get them off to an early start with a greenhouse of some sort. As a boy in central Ohio, at your latitude and elevation, we always ran out of hot summer b/4 our melons got good and ripe. I don't know about central Indiana for sure, but the extension office can advise you well. Also, I've enclosed a link to the U. of Mo., who does a lot of work with melons and greenhouses. Best, Misterbaby.

Here is a link that might be useful: High tunnel melons

myfamilyfarm,
I used to take started plants up to my daughter at Brookston [just north of Lafayette]. Yellow Doll was great for early ones, but we grew the full sized ones mostly very easily. If you will start them inside early [April 25th or so] for setting out about the 17th of May, you can grow the full sized ones easily here in Central Indiana.

Most of the growers now use plastic mulch with drip irrigation under it.........I use it on some for early ones. So dont just settle on "early" ones as the larger are better.

Be sure that you have fairly good soil that is loose and fertilize well.

PS to post above,

I would suggest dropping Black Diamond definitely ....too slow.\

Yellow Doll, Mickeylee, Sangria, Star Brite, Rojo Grande, Raspa are good tasters.

I've had Sangria melons from Rockville, they are great and I don't like watemelon. I have planted the Sugar Baby ones last year, plus the Black Diamond. We got them out late, with barely enough days to ripen. The Sugar Babys did ok, and the Black Diamonds tasted good, but alittle underripe. Another 2 weeks before frost would have been much better.

I still have Sugar Baby and Black Diamond seeds, but those black skinned melons are harder to determine when ripe by looking. Now I'm looking for a striped melon, red fleshed melon.

Thanks for all the info.

Wayne, I'm about 30 miles south (as the crow flies) from Brookston, between West Point and Attica.

I have only been growing watermelons for a few years, with the help of some very good melon growers on this forum and generous I might add i have done very very well. My melon of choice so far is the Summer Flavor 420 (thank you Wayne)

farmerdilla, you say that watermelons do not require alot of water but I have read that they should get a certain amount of water daily up until so many days before harvest. Is it that they don't require it but more is better? because I give mine 3 gallons of water per day per vine up to 2 weeks before harvest and I have had some melons up to 50 pounds and many in the 25 to 40 lb range and they could not get any sweeter. I also give my cantaloupes and pumpkins the same amount of water.

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Sorry but I can't resist putting up some melon pics.

Dale

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Pics

Dale

WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW ;-) WOW ! ! !

That is amazing ;-)

What a awesome system you have made ....Absolutely incredible

Thanks misterbaby for starting this thread. It's a good one.

If you're looking for a striped red fleshed melon, may I
recommend Legacy. It was recommended to me by Willhite's
last year and it was one of my best performers. I think
Summer Flavor 420 is more suited to a northern climate.
I grew it this year and it was a big dud for me. It isn't
being offered by Twilley, this year. I'll be happy to send you the left over seeds that I have, if you can't find
it someplace else.

You're welcome, Featherhoof! I'm soaking all this up like a sponge.

Dale, your pix are way cool. Your garden is a total traffic stopper--so neat and lush. Moreover, that baby is knock-down gorgeous! Misterbaby.

thepodpiper , Whatever works best for you is the best method. I am traditional, grow with out irrigation and watermelons are one of the more drought resistant crops I grow. I am in the sandhills and watermelons in this soil will send roots down 6 feet for water. After all watermelons came from semi desert conditions.
Rayrose I concur that Legacy is a great performer here, more consistent than most. I also agree that different cultivars are better suited to different parts of the country, While I have not found one I cannot grow here, some have been far below par in taste and performance. I have found this more so with the hybrids than with open pollinated cultivars. My worst dud has been Matador. Starbright has been disappointing. of the open pollinated, Royal Golden produced well but was not worth eating. Best hybrid I have tried ( and I only grow one or two hybrids a year) Sangria (comparable to Legacy but no better) and Crest. Yellow Doll for a yellow fleshed icebox melon and surprisingly Cream of Saskatchewan (OP)
thepodpiper, I have to irrigate c.melo's as there is insufficient rainfall most years. Ditto for squash. They are addicted to water. I am especially found of the Galia type melons. Just for you, the melons that I have grown since 2005.

Here is a link that might be useful: My Cucumis melo

farmerdilla

Ummmm...

The Early Crenshaws are still my favorite tastewise. I hope they'll do better in 2010 than they did in 2009 -- didn't get a single one, hardly any tomatoes either. Too much rain and disease.

I'll look for the Summer Flavor 420, but if I can't find them, I'll be more than happy to take care of your leftovers. If you email me, hanselmanfarms@usa.com, I send you my address and postage/envelope.

I've been told that Cream of Saskatchewan is good also, but isn't it a cream flest melon?

I know the Sangria tastes great, but haven't tryied the Legancy or Crest.

I do have some bottom of a slope area that stays moister than the rest of the farm, I was thinking that might a good area.

Interesting Anny, 2009 was our second year in a row of class 4 drought. Hardly any rain from May to late August. Burpees Early Crenshaw is the best tasting Crenshaw that I have tried. It is a bit fragile tho, subject to sunscald and splitting. Lily is smaller, and does not have quite the flavor, but it is a more consistant performer.
myfamilysfarm Cream of Sakatchewan is listed as a white flesh watermelon. It is a much ligher color flesh than the pale yellow, Yellow Doll. It is very sweet tho.
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If one is planting only one yellow or cream flesh, YD is about sure to please.....others...?

Orangeglo is usualy a very rewarding choice for a large one that is truly different.

For taste..Rojo Grande red is super.

I have to agree with Wayne about Orangeglo. To me it's
the best of the yellow/orange melons.

My son brought some orange-fleshed watermelon seeds home from the greenhouse that he works in. They were left overs. He brings the orphan plants home also. I'm not sure what variety the orange watermelon is, but if I can find where I put the seeds, we'll try them.

Anyone grow honey dew mellons? A friend of mine grew them last year and they were very good. Not like the ones we get shipped in here from whereever. They didn't do well for him at the produce auction because people were only familiar with the hard, tasteless honey dews from the super market. I'll plant a few for the home garden this year. Amyone tried them?

Luke

Hey, Luke, I grew the TamDew variety two years ago with nice results. This year I ordered from a different vendor and am trying Honeydew Greenflesh, which Wilhite Seeds says is the sweetest melon of all. Shoot me an email and I'll send you some seeds. I've also got some terrific muskmelon seeds if you'd like some. (Please send me a hot Akron pizza in return.) Misterbaby.

Misterbaby, Thanks for the offer. I'll get back to you after the Cav's game. From Louigi's or where?

Luke

Double the seeds for a Louigi's. Pep & mush, pls. Misterbaby

I grew orange honey which is an orange fleshed honeydew and it was so delicious. I am going to plant a bunch of them this year.

2010 is going to be year of the watermelon in my garden. I will try orangle, crimson sweet, ali baba, black mountain.

Here is a link that might be useful: progression pics of charentais, arava, honey orange

Your blog is way cool, Tammy. Thanks for sharing. Misterbaby.

I talked to a young lady at Willhite today. Ask her to recommend the best eating watermelons for Alpine Texas. She recommended Big Crimson, Crimson Sweet, Legacy, and Sugarlee for open pollinated. Her choices for hybrids were Diablo, Ole, Gold Strike, and Raspa. Said nothing about my favorite Star Brite or any seedless. I can't try all she recommended so selected Raspa and Rojo Grande, one of her's and one others here like. I'm also going to try Honeydew Greenflesh.

The Fruitnut

What's the variety of muskmelon that's so great? Is it a muskmelon or cantalope?

Myfamilysfarm, the variety of muskmelon that I mentioned above is Sweet Gem from Henry Fields, that grew to l3 l/2 pounds for me last year. It was altogether luscious, juicy, and meaty. There are other good ambrosia types, but this has worked best for me. The growing keys are: lots of compost and manure in hill; heavy fertilization, especially potash and foliar borax in the end game; irrigation and good drainage; pruning vines and thinning each to one fruit at a time; daily removal of unwanted blossoms. Free seeds for the asking. Misterbaby.

I agree with thinning the fruits to 1 or 2 at a time for watermelons...not cantaloupes or small watermelons.

I have raised Diablo, Gold Strike, and Sugarlee. I would only reccomend Gold Strike. This one can be superb, but it is not always superb though. Diablo is a good grower where the soil is extra fertile, but is just a smidgin coarse in texture. Sugarlee...I liked Dixielee better...almost identical with Dixielee a little more prolific.

The best melons ever for me have been Raspa, Rojo Grande, and Sangria. .....Raspa the very best but not great the last two years for some reason.

I live in Northwest Indiana, right by Lake Michigan... am I out of luck as far as watermelons go? I've tried them before with not so great results. They're so good though, that I thought I'd try again.

I live in SW Washington state, 600 feet altitude, and not much heat. Gold Flower (from Fedco) was my best watermelon this year: good flavor and quite a few melons. Sugar Baby was OK, but didn't produce many melons. Jenny Lind muskmelon produced, but tasted lousy. Early Crenshaw didn't produce well, but I got a couple of tasty ripe melons, which really amazed me in this climate. These were all grown in the open ground, trained onto a chain link fence. Next summer I'm going to try them in a poly house. Those of you who have long hot summers should ignore this list. You've got much better varieties to choose from.

Soil: I tilled about 2 inches of coarse sand into the top 8 inches of my clay loam soil, and raked it up into raised beds. The melons liked it. I once grew some melons on pure sand, and they grew like crazy, but the melons didn't have any flavor.

heirloomjunkie, I don't see you as being 'out of the game' with melons. You would need to start them early and grow a shorter season melon. After all they grow melons in MI, maybe not as good as Vincennes, but we all can't live there.

Misterbaby, I love some seeds. hanselmanfarms@usa.com.

heirloomjunkie,

I found that the big ones grew very well north of Lafayette.
Start seeds early inside ...April 25th......cover seedlings with a clotche a few days in mid-May. Perhaps you could cut pieces of plastic mulch about 3x4 feet for each melon.

Does anyone have any experience on the OP variety Cannonball? I tried one of these from Whole Foods two years ago and have been wanting to grow it, but Sandhill Preservation didn't have any seeds for it last year and am hoping they will this year. I live in the DFW area.
Thanks,
Susan

Cannonball is a variant of Black Diamond.As is Clara Lee. Has the same problems, when its good it is very very good, but when it is bad, it is pretty bad. Most consistent variant of Black Diamond that I have grown is Verona, Summit had a good rep, but I have not grown it.

I have to agree with farmerd about Verona. If you're going to try a black diamond variety, Verona is the best of the bunch.

I only tried Verona several years ago....they tried to set on 10 fruits at once on the surviving plant. Also they never seemed to be fully ripe for me. I never gave them another chance!!

Getting them to ripen properly is a problem for all Black Diamond types whether it be the original Black Diamond, Cannonball, Clara Lee, Florida Giant, Texas Giant, .... Verona has given me less problems than the others. Under good conditions, good melon.

Misterbaby, I got the seeds, Thank you. I'll be sure to try them. I never grew Honey Dew, how do you know when ripe? Do they 'slip' like the cantalopes?

Honeydews neither slip from the vine nor give off a noticeable aroma. As they ripen, they turn to a creamy white and the leaves closest to the stem will also develop a pale color. There is a strong tendency to harvest them prematurely. The Honeydew Greenflesh takes 112 days. Misterbaby.

There are lots of honeydew types that do slip and more that don't. Some honeydews are as early as cantaloupes (80 -95 day). Some change color when ripe ( rind turns yellow) There are lots of Honeydews so choose one that suits your peculiar conditions. For northern growers I would recommend an early ripening type like Earli-Dew.
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Farmerd
I just ordered Earli-dew on a recommendation from the melon
guy at Willhite's. Can you tell me more about it. Thanks
Ray

Not a whole lot more to say about it Ray, I have grown it for some starting in Virginia's New River Valley and have continued growing it here in Georgia. It has been the most consistent performer of the dozen or so honeydews that I have tried. It is a small honeydew that slips, green flesh with good flavor but not comparable to the original honeydew, California grown. My season is long enough for that 110 day honeydew, but it just nevers works right for me. Earli-Dew ripens with normal cantaloupes.

Thanks for the info. I'm not sure if I'll have enough time for the Honeydew seeds that was sent, but I'll try. I see Honeydews in the grocery, but wasn't sure how to tell if they are ripe. I know alot of the stuff we get at the store is picked green, but maybe I could get a ripe one. LOL.

Honeydews are an American adaptation of the Spanish melon originally developed for california growers. They have a very long shelf life, so you will rarely ever have to worry about one getting over ripe. They don't get mushy like a muskmelon. One of the modern problems, is that many breeders have been developing cultivars that emulate Asian pickling melons, where crisp crunchy flesh is the desired result. Sprite is a prime example. More and more of these are showing up in the supermarkets. Some of us remember when the big California grown green flesh melons were the supermarket standard. They were just as sweet but had a more melt in your mouth texture.
This is Early Crisp, Pretty, sweet, but crisp like a watermelon rind. It never softens. For me me the Galia types have more of old time honeydew taste that I like. Don't have much more shelf life than a cantaloupe tho. {{gwi:16418}}

Hello,
Earlidew is a very fast variety mostly grown in Chile. It is more of an Asian honeydew than what is now considered an American honeydew. I agree with Farmerdilla that honeydews have shifted to firm and crispy types to extend shelflife and shipability to the maximum. What we have run into is that we can not take sugar too high because we loose the ability to ship it farther. Honeydews are strange soemtimes. If you pick them before "maturity" they stay crunchy, if you leave them on the vine longer they get softer and smoother. Anyway, Earli-Dew is a good honeydew and you should try some Galia types too. They are excellent.
Jonny