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Post by daylilydude on May 22, 2015 16:35:57 GMT -5
How many fruit should I get per vine? I'm asking because not all of my seed sprouted and I'm not sure if I need to replant?
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Post by paulf on May 23, 2015 16:00:48 GMT -5
When I plant a "hill" of watermelon seeds I put in maybe 8-10 seeds. With my luck at melons, if I get 4 or 5 melons I consider it a great year. Three is a good year. I have gotten as many as 6. But then my garden is not conducive to growing watermelons.
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Post by spacecase0 on May 23, 2015 16:51:35 GMT -5
my pants give me little watermelons, get about 2 to 3 on a good plant many plants don't grow much at all with no melons so I plant 5 in one spot and get a few good plants out if it
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Post by daylilydude on May 24, 2015 7:25:56 GMT -5
Next question... let's say there are 3 melons on the vine, would all of them ripen about the same time?
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Post by spacecase0 on May 26, 2015 1:01:23 GMT -5
did they start at the same time ? they ripen in a fixed number of days from when they flower regardless of what plant they are on (as far as I can tell)
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Post by daylilydude on May 26, 2015 18:32:11 GMT -5
Thank you paulf & spacecase0, so I may have planted more than we can eat here... lol, but I bet we can find home for the extras... Hmmmm... watermelon jelly anyone?
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Post by paulf on May 29, 2015 15:47:14 GMT -5
It just not seem like it will ever warm up here. So today I planted muskmelon and watermelon anyway. I doubt there will be enough of a growing season to get much. Muskmelons: Greeley Wonder and Pride of Wisconsin. Watermelons: Wondermelon, Ledmon and Blacktail Mountain.
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Zebi
Junior Member
Posts: 46
Zone:: 6b
Favorite Vegetable:: watermelon
Joined: July 2018
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Post by Zebi on Nov 30, 2018 16:24:11 GMT -5
In my experience most varieties will get about two, regardless of fruit size. However, some are much more prolific. Prolific ones can be hard to find, but they exist. Some of the more prolific ones I've tried include Red-seeded Citron, Navajo Winter, Orangeglo, Congo (and a cross of something with it; maybe it was a cross, too, though), King Winter, and maybe Wondermelon.
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Post by ladymarmalade on Dec 1, 2018 10:18:21 GMT -5
Zebi, I'm really appreciating all the information you're sharing about watermelons! I think I am convinced to give them a go in 2019. Do you prefer starting seeds ahead of time or planting them directly in the ground? Also, do you use black plastic or some other mulch/cover at all to warm the soil?
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Zebi
Junior Member
Posts: 46
Zone:: 6b
Favorite Vegetable:: watermelon
Joined: July 2018
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Post by Zebi on Dec 1, 2018 14:40:03 GMT -5
ladymarmalade , I've been starting them in foam cups in early April (or late March) in an unheated greenhouse, transplanting them in late May or so (I like to transplant tomatoes in late April or early May, though, if possible). Watermelon do better here that way for me than if I direct-seed them, since it goes from too cold to too hot/dry for seedlings pretty quickly here (and it can stunt plants). If I transplant them too early, they're prone to dying. Starting the seeds later doesn't always hurt (and can help sometimes), but some varieties take a while to sprout. Some are better at sprouting in colder temperatures than others. Watermelons sprout surprisingly well in an unheated greenhouse, though, but if it's too cold, it can stunt them. In 2018, I think the most cold-tolerant sprouter was Hamby. Wondermelon has sprouted very easily in previous years. Watermelon act differently on different years, though, with regard to sprouting and starting in the greenhouse. Part of the problem with direct-seeding is that the seeds take longer to sprout, and it's risky since it can get cold enough to inactivate most of the seeds. If I plant them later on they don't have as much time to grow. Reseeded watermelons have done pretty well, though, including the fruit size (but they do tend to be later). I've used plain ground mostly, but black plastic a couple years (including 2018). We're planning to re-use the black plastic in 2019. Black plastic is great for keeping weeds away, but it can make the soil too hot in the summer (the plants wilt in the day in it, and it feels very hot); however, I think it makes the fruits ripen better (even if they're smaller from the heat stress). Giving them Epsom salt seems to help them tolerate the hot soil. I think a dark pine bark mulch might be ideal for my garden, though. I haven't tried it on watermelons, but our Sweet Banana and mini bell peppers in the ground sure loved it this year. Without mulch, the peppers in the ground really struggle (much more than watermelons); I've normally grown them in containers instead. So, yeah, I'd probably recommend mulch over black plastic, even though I haven't tried mulch with watermelons. The heat from the black plastic does help the initial post-transplant growth when the sun isn't super strong, though. Watermelons do like warm soil (I'm just not sure that they like hotter-than-sauna temperatures.
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Zebi
Junior Member
Posts: 46
Zone:: 6b
Favorite Vegetable:: watermelon
Joined: July 2018
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Post by Zebi on Dec 1, 2018 15:10:11 GMT -5
ladymarmalade , If the plants get too big in the greenhouse, heavy pruning a while after (and probably before) the transplant can help to stimulate renewed vigor and fast new growth. This can help later on, too, if the plant stops growing, if you want it to stop being stunted. Mine were pretty slow-growing pre-transplant in 2018 compared to previous years, though. (Probably because of the nutrient balance I gave them, which was high on calcium/potassium/phosphorus and low on nitrogen). They got a few inches long and just stopped growing very fast until I transplanted them. Then they were fine. Anyway, what works for me might not work for everyone, since we probably have different growing conditions, and I like to experiment, but some of the stuff I say should be helpful.
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Zebi
Junior Member
Posts: 46
Zone:: 6b
Favorite Vegetable:: watermelon
Joined: July 2018
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Post by Zebi on Dec 1, 2018 15:15:02 GMT -5
Although I've been using white foam cups, I should note that black containers are probably better for seed-starting. I'm tempted to spray paint some foam cups black and see if it makes much of a difference.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Jun 23, 2019 16:03:39 GMT -5
This is an old thread, but I find it interesting that people should think watermelon and cantaloupe should only produce two to four melons each. I expect my vines to continue growing and putting on melons as long as the are growing. I've taken six to ten melons off one vine over a three month period and found melons in the patch that I did not know of when I mowed down the vines. I got a late start this year, crimson sweet, but the vines are running and blooming now.
I just wish there were some bees in the neighborhood to take care of pollination.
I tried pride of Wisconsin one year, considered them worthless in this climate. Considered buying Israeli melons but declined when I found that they were very small. I just read that Wilhite seeds in Poolville, Tx sells seeds for a very sweet Israeli melon that will get almost as large as a bowling ball. Not commercially viable; too tender for shipping but one of the sweetest melons grown anywhere.
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Post by spacecase0 on Jun 23, 2019 22:36:07 GMT -5
This is an old thread, but I find it interesting that people should think watermelon and cantaloupe should only produce two to four melons each. I expect my vines to continue growing and putting on melons as long as the are growing. I've taken six to ten melons off one vine over a three month period and found melons in the patch that I did not know of when I mowed down the vines. I got a late start this year, crimson sweet, but the vines are running and blooming now. I just wish there were some bees in the neighborhood to take care of pollination. I tried pride of Wisconsin one year, considered them worthless in this climate. Considered buying Israeli melons but declined when I found that they were very small. I just read that Wilhite seeds in Poolville, Tx sells seeds for a very sweet Israeli melon that will get almost as large as a bowling ball. Not commercially viable; too tender for shipping but one of the sweetest melons grown anywhere. I grew the Israeli cantaloupe, and it totally failed in my climate. any cantaloupe has a hard time where I live, it is just to hot and dry here for most of them. on days where the humidity is higher, everything grows way faster. single digit humidity is hard on plants, so production drops.
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Zebi
Junior Member
Posts: 46
Zone:: 6b
Favorite Vegetable:: watermelon
Joined: July 2018
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Post by Zebi on Jul 1, 2019 20:02:53 GMT -5
spacecase0 , Have you tried giving them extra potassium (e.g. potassium sulfate)? C. melo can take a lot of it, and it helps with heat-tolerance and water absorption. Also, try Torpeda! It's fairly heat and drought tolerant. It also gets large, tasty, ornamental fruit and more than just one or two. I can give you seeds of mine (but they might be a cross), if you want. @oxankle2 , Muskmelons I've tried have historically gotten anywhere from maybe 1 to 15 fruits each. I've had an easier time finding prolific muskmelons than prolific watermelons. How you grow them makes a difference. I usually give mine basalt rockdust and extra potassium and phosphorus (last year I gave them Epsom salt, too, though, due to the hot soil from the black plastic; it helped them with soil heat-tolerance). I'm experimenting by not giving potassium/phosphorus/rockdust to some this year (they're getting what's left over of the different set of nutrients I gave the watermelons last year). Maybe I'll give them some later. I tend to think caging melons helps production, too. Every time I've caged a melon, it's been prolific.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Jul 2, 2019 10:06:52 GMT -5
By caging, do you mean growing the vine up a tomato cage, or something else?
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Post by spacecase0 on Jul 2, 2019 12:08:44 GMT -5
spacecase0 , Have you tried giving them extra potassium (e.g. potassium sulfate)? C. melo can take a lot of it, and it helps with heat-tolerance and water absorption. Also, try Torpeda! It's fairly heat and drought tolerant. It also gets large, tasty, ornamental fruit and more than just one or two. I can give you seeds of mine (but they might be a cross), if you want. have not tried much of anything to solve the issues, I am allergic to them, so not to much motivation on my end to get them to grow I plant them each year anyway. this year I seem to have one growing, the seeds are from my archive. would seem as if I had to go back at least 5 years to get ones that worked thank you for the offer of your seeds sounds like a good variety if you want them out there because they are worth spreading, I will grow them and share seeds with everyone I can. if you are trying to help me out, I can't eat them anyway. So, knowing that, should I ask you for the seeds ?
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Zebi
Junior Member
Posts: 46
Zone:: 6b
Favorite Vegetable:: watermelon
Joined: July 2018
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Post by Zebi on Jul 2, 2019 14:40:48 GMT -5
spacecase0 , Well, it's definitely worth spreading, and I have plenty of seeds (no worries there), but my seeds have a high likelihood of being crossed. So, you might not get the same thing I did. So, if you're a breeder, they may be of interest for developing new varieties with similar qualities. If it crossed with Kirkman that would be really cool, since they're both large and sort of like honeydews (sometimes if you cross two large plants, you get something even larger). I'm growing it again, this year (so, I'm curious to see if it crossed; if it didn't then it's probably likely that most of the other seeds from the same fruit would be the same as what I'm growing this year).
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Post by spacecase0 on Jul 2, 2019 19:45:53 GMT -5
spacecase0 , Well, it's definitely worth spreading, and I have plenty of seeds (no worries there), but my seeds have a high likelihood of being crossed. So, you might not get the same thing I did. So, if you're a breeder, they may be of interest for developing new varieties with similar qualities. If it crossed with Kirkman that would be really cool, since they're both large and sort of like honeydews (sometimes if you cross two large plants, you get something even larger). I'm growing it again, this year (so, I'm curious to see if it crossed; if it didn't then it's probably likely that most of the other seeds from the same fruit would be the same as what I'm growing this year). looking around, I can't seem to figure out what your melon was to start with, was it this one ? www.johnnyseeds.com/vegetables/melons/asian-melons/torpedo-f1-melon-seed-3416.htmlor this one that it seems as if they changed the name on later www.rareseeds.com/torpeda-uzbekistan-melon/reviews/or something else ?
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Zebi
Junior Member
Posts: 46
Zone:: 6b
Favorite Vegetable:: watermelon
Joined: July 2018
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Post by Zebi on Jul 2, 2019 19:50:42 GMT -5
spacecase0, It's the Torpeda melon from Uzbekistan with the rareseeds.com link. It has white flesh with a watermelon-like texture (except firmer) and a vanilla like flavor with no scent that I found.
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Post by mgulfcoastguy on Jul 25, 2019 12:02:37 GMT -5
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alexbur9
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Posts: 11
Joined: May 2021
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Post by alexbur9 on May 7, 2021 3:24:35 GMT -5
I've always been told to plant seeds at the same time and a certain percentage more than necessary so there are no surprises. Of course, it doesn't always work out that way, and I often buy fruit.
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