Ocalagirls,

I don't want to rain on your parade but I have good news and bad news if you bought seeds this year.

First the good......I have grown that watermelon variety for a few years and it is by far the best watermelon I have ever tasted. It has a really thin rind and when a knife touches it they literally explode:)

Now the bad......Being an heirloom I have always just stored seed year to year and they were perfect. Last year I decided to plant two different varieties that I thought would not bloom together but they did. Because they crossed I needed new seed so last winter ordered more Strawberry seed from Southern Exposure and planted them. All was well until I noticed the fruits were getting much bigger than they had previous years. They were 30 pound fruits and when they ripened they looked good inside but were very bland and had a thicker rind than normal.

As you know that variety comes from and produces full size hard pure snow white seeds. These melons had seeds that were mostly white but had some dark streaks through them. Not sure where Southern got the seed but the source must have had a cross pollination........I was very disappointed to say they least. I hope your lot of seeds won't have this problem or you were saving seed year to year?

How disappointing! I bought the seeds in the spring of 2012 and planted them for the first time last summer. But I didn't save seed because of a neighbors watermelon patch. I still have seed from that first pack and all the plants so far have been as described in the seed catalog (pure white seeds). I will definitely be saving seed this year! And, I agree that they are great tasting and really tough plants. The best I've grown.