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Post by mgulfcoastguy on Oct 26, 2018 21:16:41 GMT -5
I have been toying with next years planting lists. Dad finally has the test results that watermelon doesn't shoot up his blood sugar levels after this years bountiful harvest. If an administrator wants to start a section for watermelons and move this there, please feel free. Here is the first candidate waiting for comment. www.rareseeds.com/cypriot-watermelon/
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Post by mgulfcoastguy on Oct 26, 2018 21:23:10 GMT -5
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Post by mgulfcoastguy on Oct 26, 2018 21:26:22 GMT -5
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Post by brownrexx on Oct 27, 2018 7:29:00 GMT -5
Sorry I have nothing to add because I never had any luck growing watermelons.
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Post by paulf on Oct 27, 2018 9:48:21 GMT -5
Here are my favorites from my favorite watermelon seed seller, Sand Hill Preservation: www.sandhillpreservation.com/watermelonBlacktail Mountain- 73 days- My own development, created while I lived in northern Idaho, a location which has cool 35 to 45 degree nights and short seasons. The fruit is dark green with very faint stripes, flesh is an orange red similar to Sugar Baby. Continuously, it is my earliest type in over 100 varieties grown each season. Fruit averages 6 to 10 pounds. Our son, Cory, and family moved to a new home in mid-July, 2013 and he wanted to plant a garden. He stuck in some Blacktail Mountain seed on July 18 and was rewarded in late September with an abundance of nice sized ripe melons. I planted the crop on June 19 in 2016 and the first ripe on was August 28 ( 70 days) with a continuous supply thru the end of October. Pkt $1.75; 2 Pkts. $3.00 1 oz. $10.00 Certified Organic Seed OSSI pledged variety Halbert’s Honey - 88 days - One of my early friends in the seed saving world was Virgil Johnson who always claimed this was the best. We are finally able to offer this dark green rind, oblong melon with very sweet crisp, pink/red flesh and white seeds. Fruits average 20 to 30 pounds. Pkt. $2.00 Certified Organic Seed Orangeglo- 85 days - Superb tasting. Oblong striped melon with super sweet orange flesh. Fruit averages 15 pounds. Pkt. $2.00 Texas Giant- 94 days- A large dark green thick rind, red flesh, Black Diamond type, 40 to 50 pounds. Pkt. $1.50 Wilson Sweet- 85 days- A uniquely colored melon that we were pleased to reintroduce to the public after many years of being out of circulation. We were thrilled when a customer sent us a sample of this variety which I’d only seen a picture of in a 1961 seed catalog. The rind is somewhat mottled in appearance giving it excellent sunburn resistance. The 10 to 20 pound melons have solid, firm, super sweet red flesh. Part of our goal and work here is to see material get picked up and carried by other places. When we first offered this we were the soul source, now we are pleased to see it being offered in wholesale amounts and by numerous companies. Bravo! One more saved from extinction. Pkt. $2.25 Certified Organic Seed Excellent seeds, lots of them, very low price and a very good guy. Lots of other seeds to sell, too.
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Post by mgulfcoastguy on Oct 27, 2018 11:30:50 GMT -5
My family didn’t like all of the seeds in Blacktail Mountain when I planted it several years ago. I planted Orangeglo this year. It didn’t do well and the folks didn’t like the texture of it. I will look the other ones up though.
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Post by mgulfcoastguy on Oct 27, 2018 15:25:50 GMT -5
I ended up ordering the Cypriot and Wilson Sweet. Of course I ordered some tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and zucchini since the shipping would be the same.
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Post by spacecase0 on Oct 28, 2018 23:00:40 GMT -5
about 7 years ago I started growing sugar baby watermelons have saved the seeds every year, some years only a few plants made anything now they have adapted to my cool nights in the spring and fall. this year I decided to back cross them to the ones I started with to get more genetic diversity. planted right when it stopped freezing, so plenty of 35F nights it was very apparent what were my seeds, they has grown 3 inches when the others had made it to about 1 inch so whatever you start with, keep saving your seeds, they will adapt to your location.
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Post by mgulfcoastguy on Oct 28, 2018 23:17:50 GMT -5
spacecase0, Thanks, if I like either of these I'll do that. As a side note I had 4 different varieties of watermelon seeds stored in my parents deep freezer. Sadly they got tossed along with the entire contents of the deep freeze after they lost power for 14 days due to Katrina. I also lost some various winter squash seeds and some pole bean seeds that we had grown and saved for 45 years. The bean seed was given to use by a neighbor who had also planted it for over 50 years. Ten years after losing it I finally figured out that it was just Rattlesnake Bean.
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reubent
Pro Member
Posts: 389
Joined: May 2011
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Post by reubent on Nov 14, 2018 5:42:27 GMT -5
While I enjoy the bright orange/yellow "Orange Glow" watermelon. Best flavored watermelon I ever grow is bull frog, but it's extremely rare. I have to make sure to keep my own seed going. Last summer the varmints got everything. Have to be sure I get some next year. On ordinary soil it can be ordinary flavor, but it seems to have more potential than most melons, If I get the fertility up good the flavor is superb and wins over anything else on the same soil. It was a cross of something else with moon and stars, bred by Gerald Sprouse, deceased. But he was also a breeder of "grass" and I ran into a comment from someone from AZ who mentioned "Jerimiah the bull frog" Cannabis. And I knew immediately where that came from.
It was a crazy thing. I'd gotten the watermelon seed from another seed saver near Knoxville TN. Loved it so well I wrote to Gerald in Ooltewah. The reply I got in letter was so weird it was obviously someone mentally mixed up seriously. He thought he was Jesus and was hiding from the jews who were out to get him. So I didn't pursue connection. But a year later I get a letter from Gerald's father inlaw, seems he found my card in Gerald's stuff and wandered if I was interested in more seed, Gerald had colon cancer and not expected to live much longer, and he was clearing his stuff out. So my brother and I went down and helped him clear a back shed and storage unit out. And that's when we found the whole shed packed with cannabis and all the various seed stocks he'd been breeding. We knew it would create a mess if the authorities got involved, so we decided to just dispose of it all and say nothing to anyone. With that I came to understand why that letter I got from him was so weird, he must have been pretty high on the stuff when he wrote it. Gerald died a few weeks later and that was the end of it. He gave us a freezer that was there, packed full of something and choked up with ice. That was one heavy thing to move. We thawed it at home and found it filled with discount wieners. That was another clue. Gerald ate himself to death. Consuming a lot of meat, especially processed meat is well known to cause colon cancer. We are vegetarian so we discarded all the meat and used the freezer to store seed.
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Post by september on Nov 14, 2018 8:34:02 GMT -5
What a great story, reubent! Thanks for your memories! I have never heard of Bull Frog watermelon, but now I will have to keep my eyes open for it!
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Post by ladymarmalade on Nov 14, 2018 11:06:03 GMT -5
Wow, reubent, that's a story isn't it!? If you get your stash improved on Bull Frog next year I'd love to try growing it!
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Post by meandtk on Nov 14, 2018 11:27:21 GMT -5
reubent, So....do you get any special feelings when eating Bull Frog? That must have been some kind of experience. It is definitely one to remember. Thanks for sharing.
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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 22, 2018 7:51:07 GMT -5
Ali Baba is a good watermelon (not my favorite ever, but I like it better than average). I've only grown it once. I really like Santo Domingo Winter, Congo, Verona, Black Diamond, and Ledmon. Ancient is pretty cool, too (especially if you like to eat the rinds fresh; Ancient's rinds are kind of pear-like). Ledmon and Tom Watson (white seeds) are my favorites for taste. Carolina Cross #183 is actually pretty good, if you can get it to sprout. Fairfax and Weeks NC Giant are decent. Sugar Baby is pretty good, with unique texture, but perhaps not as early as you'd think compared to other watermelons. King Winter has a unique taste. Jubilee smells great. Wondermelon is pretty good (prolific; sprouts easily). Most people seem to like Crimson Sweet, Yellow Doll F1 and a number of others. Yellow Doll F1 tasted good when I tried it, but too mild and not very sweet (people say it's very sweet, however). The plant had above average vine vigor similar to Santo Domingo Winter and Ancient. Sand Hill Preservation Center, Baker Creek, and nativeseeds.org are the main three places I recommend looking for watermelon. Victory Seeds is another, maybe. They don't sell F1 hybrids, however. I don't remember the places I've found with awesome selections of F1 hybrids. If your family is picky about seeds, realize that some of my suggestions can get rather full of large seeds, but how dense they are may depend on growing conditions. I didn't think Blacktail Mountain had that many seeds the times I've grown it. King Winter has small black seeds that are easy to chew. Orangeglo was chalk full of large, fibrous seeds when I grew it.
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Post by pepperhead212 on Nov 22, 2018 11:14:45 GMT -5
Where are you located Zebi? Just curious where you are growing all those watermelons. And all those seeds are not necessarily bad. In India, they are used as a seasoning, and they can be roasted and eaten as a snack. Check it out, and don't toss those seeds!
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Nov 24, 2018 12:43:51 GMT -5
I'd never heard that before. I knew watermelon seeds are safe to eat if you accidentally swallowed some, but I didn't realize they had a culinary use.
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Post by spacecase0 on Nov 24, 2018 19:02:59 GMT -5
I'd never heard that before. I knew watermelon seeds are safe to eat if you accidentally swallowed some, but I didn't realize they had a culinary use. I often chew them up and eat them when eating watermelons. they are pretty good for you as far as a food.
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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 28, 2018 1:51:52 GMT -5
Where are you located Zebi ? Just curious where you are growing all those watermelons. And all those seeds are not necessarily bad. In India, they are used as a seasoning, and they can be roasted and eaten as a snack. Check it out, and don't toss those seeds! Don't worry—I normally eat the seeds (or save them to plant), even if they don't have a peppery taste. I like lots of seeds. I think Orangeglo and some white-seeded watermelons are perhaps the only varieties where I wouldn't be fond of chewing up the seeds raw (were I to eat those now, I'd probably swallow them instead to save myself the effort). King Winter's seed type is particularly easy to chew up (and easy to ignore for others who don't like lots of seeds; personally, I prefer them a larger size and one of the brownish colors, if it's just me). If you bake at low temperatures for long periods, I imagine that might reduce the fibrousness of Orangeglo's seeds, though.
I'm not a big fan of many white seeds generally, though—they tend to have more air inside (so they can be harder to plant), and be more fibrous than other seeds. Fairfax has a good white seed type, which seems pretty tight (rather than filled with air), though.
I garden in southwestern Idaho in a BSk climate with extra hot summers (with potentially very cold winters, though). We've got a clay loam type soil and only city water for the plants (no well, nor irrigation). I'm trying to discover and breed large, prolific, red/pink-fleshed winter watermelon varieties that do well with little water in arid conditions with extra hot summers and cold nights. We don't have the best garden for growing large watermelon, but it's easy to grow lots of little ones from the larger varieties in a fairly small space (and get plenty of watermelon to eat). I'm growing them landrace-style (but I've made significant changes to growing conditions and/or varieties a few times; so, I haven't reaped the full benefits of that style of gardening, yet).
Sorry I took so long to respond. I didn't get email notifications of replies (but when I revisited, today, I saw the posts).
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Post by september on Nov 28, 2018 10:53:05 GMT -5
Glad to have you here, Zebi , I'm really interested in your coming landrace varieties. Blacktail Mountain always does well for me here in northern Minnesota, I don't mind the seeds, enjoy a good spitting session. I have never eaten any seeds, but if you can roast them like squash seeds, I'll give it a try. I don't have much room in my deer fenced gardens for rambling melons, so can only grow a few plants each season. Wish I could grow them unfenced, because then I would go hog wild!
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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 16:09:53 GMT -5
september, Thanks. I've tried Blacktail Mountain a few times. The fruits look cool (I really like the rind color/patterns; they look really cool if you shine them), and they're early. Taste is pretty good. I usually only get about two fruits from it, though, and they're fairly small. The vines aren't very big for me, though. I like the seed type (which is pretty standard). Have you ever tried Sugar Baby Bush? I think it has the shortest vines of any watermelon I've tried. The growth habit seems different, too (but not quite like a bush zucchini). It's more like a dwarf watermelon than a bush one. If I were to compare its growth habit to a tomato variety's, I'd compare it to Husky Cherry Red F1 (which is a dwarf indeterminate).
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Post by pepperhead212 on Nov 30, 2018 17:33:59 GMT -5
I just got Blacktail Mountain, in my Pinetree order - first watermelon I will have grown since the 90s! I gave up on cantaloupe, so I thought I'd try WM again. I'll find out if it will work for me.
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Post by ladymarmalade on Nov 30, 2018 17:38:44 GMT -5
Ali Baba is a good watermelon (not my favorite ever, but I like it better than average). I've only grown it once. I really like Santo Domingo Winter, Congo, Verona, Black Diamond, and Ledmon. Ancient is pretty cool, too (especially if you like to eat the rinds fresh; Ancient's rinds are kind of pear-like). Ledmon and Tom Watson (white seeds) are my favorites for taste. Carolina Cross #183 is actually pretty good, if you can get it to sprout. Fairfax and Weeks NC Giant are decent. Sugar Baby is pretty good, with unique texture, but perhaps not as early as you'd think compared to other watermelons. King Winter has a unique taste. Jubilee smells great. Wondermelon is pretty good (prolific; sprouts easily). Most people seem to like Crimson Sweet, Yellow Doll F1 and a number of others. Yellow Doll F1 tasted good when I tried it, but too mild and not very sweet (people say it's very sweet, however). The plant had above average vine vigor similar to Santo Domingo Winter and Ancient. Sand Hill Preservation Center, Baker Creek, and nativeseeds.org are the main three places I recommend looking for watermelon. Victory Seeds is another, maybe. They don't sell F1 hybrids, however. I don't remember the places I've found with awesome selections of F1 hybrids. If your family is picky about seeds, realize that some of my suggestions can get rather full of large seeds, but how dense they are may depend on growing conditions. I didn't think Blacktail Mountain had that many seeds the times I've grown it. King Winter has small black seeds that are easy to chew. Orangeglo was chalk full of large, fibrous seeds when I grew it. Oh boy. I just got sucked into the nativeseed vortex! I don't know that I've ordered from them before. Added several things that I need for a trade I'm organizing at the moment. I'm going to go back after I get some of my Christmas tips, wow they have lots of lovely varieties that I've never heard of!
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Post by september on Nov 30, 2018 18:38:55 GMT -5
I tried to grow a smaller watermelon - could have been Sugar Baby Bush - quite a few years ago when summers were still cooler here. It seemed to be very small, like a one person serving, but maybe my conditions were very poor. Back then, I had no idea of starting them early or how to tell they were ripe. I think the slugs got to most. I probably should give them a try again now that I know a little more about watermelons in my area.
Blacktail are about the perfect size for the two of us, any bigger and I start running of of fridge room.
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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 20:37:35 GMT -5
ladymarmalade , Yeah, they definitely have a number of kinds of watermelon I haven't found anywhere else, either. Baker Creek gets some of theirs from them, too, I think (like Navajo Winter, Hopi Yellow, and maybe others). I'm planning to try all three Santo Domingos next year. I've already tried and liked Santo Domingo Winter. If I were into yellow watermelons, I'd definitely try Tohono O'odham Yellow-Meated. I've been tempted to grow it and breed the yellow out (same with Orangeglo, except from saved seeds, and with breeding the orange out instead of yellow), but I decided against it for the present. september , Cool. Your Blacktail Mountain looks somewhat different than mine. Mine get oblong (not terribly long, but still oblong) instead of round, and the patterns are more prominent. Mine were smaller than that, too. I got my seeds from a friend in Minnesota, coincidentally. I don't know what they were like for her. I looked for a picture, but I couldn't find one on my cloud. If I have one it's probably on my external hard drive.
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Post by september on Nov 30, 2018 23:45:09 GMT -5
Zebi , I got my seeds for Blacktail Mountain from Sand Hill Preservation, they have been round and very dark every year.
Here is the entry as it appears in their 2018 online catalog:
Blacktail Mountain - 73 days - My own development, created while I lived in northern Idaho, a location which has cool 35 to 45 degree nights and short seasons. The fruit is dark green with very faint stripes, flesh is an orange red similar to Sugar Baby. Continuously, it is my earliest type in over 100 varieties grown each season. Fruit averages 6 to 10 pounds. Our son, Cory, and family moved to a new home in mid-July, 2013 and he wanted to plant a garden. He stuck in some Blacktail Mountain seed on July 18 and was rewarded in late September with an abundance of nice sized ripe melons. I planted the crop on June 19 in 2016 and the first ripe on was August 28 (70 days) with a continuous supply thru the end of October. Pkt $1.75; 2 Pkts. $3.00; 1 oz. $10.00 Certified Organic Seed - OSSI pledged variety
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Post by ladymarmalade on Dec 1, 2018 10:12:56 GMT -5
ladymarmalade , Yeah, they definitely have a number of kinds of watermelon I haven't found anywhere else, either. Baker Creek gets some of theirs from them, too, I think (like Navajo Winter, Hopi Yellow, and maybe others). I'm planning to try all three Santo Domingos next year. I've already tried and liked Santo Domingo Winter. If I were into yellow watermelons, I'd definitely try Tohono O'odham Yellow-Meated. I've been tempted to grow it and breed the yellow out (same with Orangeglo, except from saved seeds, and with breeding the orange out instead of yellow), but I decided against it for the present. I'd love to know why you'd want to breed the yellow out!? Tohono O'odham IS one of the seeds I purchased! Also some popcorn and some peas for drying/soup.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Dec 1, 2018 12:54:19 GMT -5
Zebi, I grew Sugar Baby Bush (actually it said "Bush Sugar Baby" on the packet) some years ago. And I have grown Sugar Baby a few times. I don't have photos, but I recall that the Bush Sugar Baby looked like a regular watermelon vine except that the internode distance was much shorter and there were fewer nodes per vine. So it didn't look "bushy" at all; it was just a shorter vine. I seem to recall that the leaves were a little smaller, too. Production was very good compared to the size of the vines, and the melons were almost the same size as the regular Sugar Baby. Great for space-constrained gardeners like me. But I haven't seen seeds for that variety in some time.
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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 14:09:57 GMT -5
ladymarmalade , I prefer the red and pink types for taste, so far, in our garden. Other types (yellow, orange, and white) tend to be very mild and not very sweet here, IME, although I understand orange, white and canary yellow fruits are supposed to be pretty awesome comparatively. We did have a yellow that was quite sweet and had a strong taste when I was younger (I'm not sure what it was), but it wasn't crisp, and it had a pumpkin-type smell. I preferred red/pink watermelon, though. It wasn't yellow like Yellow Doll F1; so, I imagine it was salmon yellow or yellow-orange. They were easy to grow, though! I'd like to learn what kind it was, some day. Laura_in_FL , I think I got my SBB seeds locally (I'd have to check), but I know Baker Creek has them. Your description sounds about like my experience. Maybe I didn't use the best choice of words.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Dec 1, 2018 15:18:46 GMT -5
Zebi, I didn't realize that Baker Creek has the SBB - thanks! Not sure if I will grow watermelon this year, but it's good to know where to find the seeds if I do. :-D
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