sheriberrie - I would not have had an answer to your question had I not read a thread we had last year. You might be interested in the entire thread, but if you only want an answer to your question then do a "find" or "search" on the word "whiteheart".

Here is a link that might be useful: Whiteheart Thread

Carol,

Thanks for finding and linking the whiteheart thread. As I was reading Sheriberrie's question, I had that thread on my mind and then as I read on, I found you already had searched it out and linked it.

Wouldn't a fresh home-grown melon taste yummy right now?

Dawn

Yeh - I'm a much better researcher than I am gardener. LOL

I don't normally grow watermelon because of the space factor, but I am going to find a spot for one or two this year. I bought a small pack of Black Diamond in my first Willhite order. I have several others that I have gotten in swaps that I would like to try, but just don't have room.

When we were in Alaska I only bought one watermelon and it was $13.50. When we moved back we were at Tinker and I had watermelon on my cafeteria tray everyday all summer long. My Mother said that my Dad gave me watermelon juice in a spoon when I was six weeks old so I guess I developed that taste early. He always grew Black Diamond and Charleston Grey and I still love both.

Thank you guys for bringing up whiteheart. I guess that is what we experienced this past year. I had posted in the earlier thread, but had not followed up later.

We had three planted Black Diamonds and two volunteers from Black Diamond seed from last year. These plants produced 5 of over 30 lbs and a few others around 20. Unfortunately we only ate a couple of them and even those were not very good. No matter when we picked them they were always matching the whiteheart description, except the few we waited so long on that they rotted a bit before I noticed.

On the other hand, the other three varieties we planted mostly were very good. Only a couple were not red and those I think I picked too early.

The soil for mine was unimproved heavy soil that was mulched a little bit. The Black Diamond volunteers got watered only a couple of times, but had heavier mulch. The planted Black Diamonds were watered at 2 gallons per plant daily unless it rained. Grass took over part of the plant areas after the summer rains came. In all cases the melons were the same, so my guess is that Black Diamonds don't work as well in my specific unimproved soil. The soil and watering was identical for all others and they were good.

Scott,

The heartbreaking thing about whiteheart is that you really cannot prevent it in a rainy year.

My friend Fred grows the best watermelons I've ever eaten, but he doesn't grow them at his place a mile and a half from us where he has red clay. He grows them at his old home place on the river where they are unirrigated and grow in very sandy soil....not sandy loam, just almost pure old river sand. Since that sand drains incredibly quickly, his melons seldom have whiteheart even in the rainiest of years. He grows huge Black Diamonds, but has to fight the coyotes for every single one of them, and the coyotes will get them before they're ripe, so that's a hard battle to win.

Dawn