watermelon question

[majorcatfish]

planted new queen melons this year, have already picked the first couple rounds of melons .. did pick the largest melons last sunday. oh my those were sweet ....

now the 3rd round are smallish 4-5 lbs, since i was hardening off the bigger melons the others 3rd's were not receiving water was well, now with all the rain we received last week is this going to mess with the sugar content inside.?

should i pick or should i let them ripen more?
also being the 3rd's are they even worth growing..... taste wise......

 

[thistlebloom]

I have no answer for you, but it's an interesting question.
It's hard enough to achieve even one round of watermelons around here Major, so I admire that you're on your 3rd (!!) round.

 

[majorcatfish]

will say this for the new queen yellow watermelon they are prolific little buggers... planted 12 lost one have eaten or given away 20, tossed 20 due to splitting, picked 3 today and about 12 more out there<the 3rds>, culled 7 little ones<4ths>
they are a great personal melon and have the neatest yellow flesh too them ,but for a big family would go with a traditional red watermelon dw would carve up 3 at a time for our lunches and snack at the house that would only last 2 days. next year not going to do a mass planting,going to do a staggered planting in hopes of having melons all summer long hopefully till late september/early october.

 

[Hal]

planted new queen melons this year, have already picked the first couple rounds of melons .. did pick the largest melons last sunday. oh my those were sweet ....

now the 3rd round are smallish 4-5 lbs, since i was hardening off the bigger melons the others 3rd's were not receiving water was well, now with all the rain we received last week is this going to mess with the sugar content inside.?

should i pick or should i let them ripen more?
also being the 3rd's are they even worth growing..... taste wise......

Okay with Watermelons and other melons the flavour is dependent on sugar which will become diluted if you have too much water be it rain or irrigation, I've found best flavour is attained if water is withheld as much as possible in the 7-10 days leading up to harvest. I've had the same thing as yourself happen, great melon season only to have a decent load of rain during ripening.
They won't improve if picked early as the sugars are not starch converting to sugars within the fruit like winter squash but instead sugars produced by the leaves transferred into the fruit.
It is a catch 22.

 

[Jared77]

I'm impressed Hal......we have a heck of an impressive group of gardeners here.

 

[thistlebloom]

I'm impressed Hal......we have a heck of an impressive group of gardeners here.

I was just going to say the same thing. Hal is a wellspring of great info!

 

[Hal]

I'm impressed Hal......we have a heck of an impressive group of gardeners here.

I was just going to say the same thing. Hal is a wellspring of great info!

Thank you to you both

 

[digitS']

I had that question about an early-maturing winter squash a couple years ago. @Hal suggested la Madera from Native Seed. Good choice!

My seed must now be a cross because I had 3 different C. maxima varieties in 2014 (4 in 2015, including the 2 from saved seed).

La Madera squash matured early and developed a good, hard skin. Right now, there is one easily the size of a medicine ball! It's Hal's fault.

Steve