Watermelon for garden (in the north)

[seedcorn]

I'm looking for a watermelon that is on the early side but sweet. Wanted a yellow type but the seed is more expensive than the value to me.

I've used sugar baby. Correct size and early enough. The problem-way too many seeds. Give me some suggestions please.

 

[Zeedman]

The OP variety Blacktail Mountain has been pretty reliable for me... and is one of the earliest. Fairly short vines, red fleshed, and very high sugar content.

If you don't mind a hybrid, Yellow Doll has also done well. The vines are more robust than Blacktail Mt., and yield better some years. Yellow flesh, very small seeds, and a very thin rind.

Neither variety has had issues with cracking or hollow heart.

 

[digitS']

Ah, @Zeedman, yer killing me!

Do a TEG search for the names of those two varieties ... Yellow Doll in 2016 and Blacktail Mountain in earlier seasons .

Seedcorn, I think you can trust him. He also is in the upper Midwest. I'm never gonna have watermelon in my garden!!

! Steve

 

[thistlebloom]

I'm sad about Blacktail Mtn.'s performance here too.
It's just not fair being betrayed by a native watermelon!

 

[majorcatfish]

here tried both orange and yellow seedless melons, just like any melon to much rain and they split due to their thin rinds.enjoyed the flavor of the ones we were able to eat. but next year going to do either moon and stars or sugar baby.

@seedcorn look in "territorial" they have a new yellow melon called orange crunch 70-80 dtm avg weight around 20 lbs. if you start the seeds early enough you should have a good head start.... if that melon interests you be willing to split a pack of seeds with you...

 

[seedcorn]

@majorcatfish Thanks for offer as I would be all over that except it makes a much larger melon than I want. Really like the smaller as I will pick them, eat what I want, give rest to chickens. (chickens usually only get rinds). Leaning towards yellow Doll.

@Zeedman Are the Yellow Dolls as seedy as sugar baby? I don't mind spitting a few seeds but sometimes that is all I get done.

 

[seedcorn]

Not to hi Jack this thread, but $8 handling for a $3 packet of seeds. No wonder I buy seeds locally...

 

[Zeedman]

I guess it's technically not hijacking, since it's your thread.

Haven't grown Sugar Baby for decades, so can't remember how seedy it was. Yellow Doll has most of its seeds concentrated in 'bands', so they are (somewhat) easy to remove. The center is mostly seedless, as is the 1" or so closest to the rind.

 

[Nyboy]

Major I believe when I was researching Yankee seeds there was a yankee melon

 

[digitS']

Ya know, there might be other locations where it's difficult to grow melons but 2,000+ feet in the Wild West is something of a benchmark. Well, how about: York, on Prince Edward Island?

There's something called a Mini Love Watermelon .

Seed packets are ... ouch! Maybe shipping isn't as high, altho it has to cross an international border.

Steve