Getting Into My Melon

[digitS']

I take back any adverse impression I left about the Diplomats.

They have fully recovered and caught up with the cantaloupe. Imma gonna have sooo many melons this year!

Steve

And, I have soooo many melons ... but, I should not have said that the Diplomats "caught up with the cantaloupe" on @majorcatfish 's thread.

Nope. They did not! June's whiplash weather set back their harvest. The vines look about normal, although this variety of Galia melon I've only grown in '15 & '16. Here they are about 5 weeks earlier, last year:

I should have anticipated that they would be about 5 weeks late, in 2016. Five weeks! Well, maybe not ... Wow! I have long known that the June climate around here can be hard on things but here's more evidence ...

The Goddess Cantaloupe came in right about on time. For nearly a month, we have been enjoying those nice, ripe cantaloupe.

Something else this experience points to -- days to maturity assigned. Harris Seed says Goddess is a 68 day melon. Johnny's Seed says Diplomat is a 71 day melon. Can you believe it? Can I believe it??!? June's weather turned that 3 day difference into 30!

Steve

 

[so lucky]

I took a chance on buying a 3 dollar melon at the farmers' market last week. The gal there said it was Aphrodite; "not a mushmelon" she said. It's ripe and sweet, but not mushy. It sat on my counter for two days before I cut it. It was definitely a MUSH melon. And not very tasty.
I am really tired of buying sub-par fruit and veggies at the farmers' market. Since my maters drowned, I bought some "home grown" tomatoes at the farmers' market. They are about as good as Walmart maters.

 

[thistlebloom]

It's a good thing I don't know where Steve keeps his melon patch because I'm ready to go raid it.
After dark, in my melon swiping ninja suit...

I'm also tired of tasteless melons faking me out, tricking me into bringing them home, only to turn them into expensive chicken treats.

Steve, your melons are something to aspire to. Great growing.

 

[catjac1975]

We take our daylilies to farmer's markets. The market manager says she visits farms to be sure they are growing what they say they are.She said that farmers are the worst scoundrels of all. Many buy produce and the sell claiming it is local grown. I can tell at a glance if things are grown organically. They'll not quite lie but I can here the sidestepping of the truth in their claims.

 

[catjac1975]

And, I have soooo many melons ... but, I should not have said that the Diplomats "caught up with the cantaloupe" on @majorcatfish 's thread.

Nope. They did not! June's whiplash weather set back their harvest. The vines look about normal, although this variety of Galia melon I've only grown in '15 & '16. Here they are about 5 weeks earlier, last year:

I should have anticipated that they would be about 5 weeks late, in 2016. Five weeks! Well, maybe not ... Wow! I have long known that the June climate around here can be hard on things but here's more evidence ...

The Goddess Cantaloupe came in right about on time. For nearly a month, we have been enjoying those nice, ripe cantaloupe.

Something else this experience points to -- days to maturity assigned. Harris Seed says Goddess is a 68 day melon. Johnny's Seed says Diplomat is a 71 day melon. Can you believe it? Can I believe it??!? June's weather turned that 3 day difference into 30!

Steve

Looks so good!

 

[aftermidnight]

What I wouldn't give to get a nice vine ripened cantaloupe, growing them here is very dicey, could have grown them here last year but not this year. Even in the summer the melons from the supermarkets are tasteless, watermelon is only slightly better but not great.

Annette

 

[digitS']

I was told by someone who shops there that Trader Joe's has Galia melons in their produce section.

They are fairly new and, I believe, a hybrid of cantaloupes and honeydews. They may always be F1. Maybe I should save seeds and see what the offspring look like but my ability to get melons to maturity, or the plants to just survive, is too tenuous for me to mess around much with them.

I'll have to go back to Passport Galia, that I had for about 10+ years. Ironically, Diplomat is supposed to be an especially early variety. It didn't miss; the plants and fruits are just fine. However, mid to late September is risky. I'm not sure if Passport was always so much earlier but it never failed. I'd better not risk having Diplomat in August one year and in September the next!

Honestly, the Goddess Cantaloupe are a special delight. There are probably other cantaloupe that would ripen okay but I've got 3 years of success with Goddess. Bingo! I've gotta winner there.

It's another hybrid so I'm depending on the seed companies. That doesn't always work so well so I'll continue to research early, hardy types. There is more to hardiness than simple survival ... shoot. Maybe I should move everything into a 15,000 square foot greenhouse where I can control temperatures at both ends of the thermometer!

Steve

 

[Smart Red]

Most melons grown around here this summer were tasteless mush due to the steady rainfalls we had during ripening.

Watermelons are a tad more flavorful. I've given up on trying any more melons other than watermelons for the season.

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

something i read recently on FedCo's site was that farmers of melons would hold onto seeds & tended to plant those that were about 4-10 years old. i think this was about french melons though & not sure if applies to musk, cantaloupes or Asian types. so, if you could get a good supply of seeds of something you liked, apparently the seeds will be viable up to 10 years & maybe more!

 

[buckabucka]

I grew 5 kinds of melon this year, and two were very successful. The most prolific was "Dove", almost white flesh and very sweet. I did get a one cantaloupe and one or two delicious green-fleshed melon. Those are my preference, and apparently a strong preference of the rats around here.