Watermelons

[henless]

I'm growing moon & stars, Van Doren variety this year. I thought they looked neat, and weren't a large watermelon.

 

[YourRabbitGirl]

I've ought Yellow Doll at the Farmers market but I've never tried to grow it.

When I grew sugar babies I started them in peat pots, made a mulched mound for each peat pot and set them up in a cold frame. I put straw bales on 3 sides too to help insulate it and left the south side uncovered to help maximize the sunlight it received. Goal was to get them as warm as possible and let them trail, so they transplanted easily.

I got good germination and then moved that mulch, and added more mulch ground temps stable and dry.

How to know the best watermelons?
Look for a solid, symmetrical fruit free from bruises, cuts or dents to select the ideal watermelon. The surface of the fruit will be dark green, dull, rather than shiny. Once you raise the watermelon, it will appear heavy because of its size, which means it is full of water and therefore ripe.

 

[Zeedman]

How to know the best watermelons?
Look for a solid, symmetrical fruit free from bruises, cuts or dents to select the ideal watermelon. The surface of the fruit will be dark green, dull, rather than shiny. Once you raise the watermelon, it will appear heavy because of its size, which means it is full of water and therefore ripe.

Picking watermelons at the point of perfect ripeness is an art. Some rules of thumb are to watch for the tendril next to the melon to dry out, or for the point where the melon touches the ground to change color. But for me, those are just invitations to do the "thump test"; a higher pitch thump indicates immaturity, a lower pitch indicates relative ripeness. A watermelon which has a dull thud when thumped seldom disappoints.

 

[seedcorn]

I go by the tendril to dry all the way to the watermelon. Hasn’t let me down so far.

 

[Xerocles]

And for me, who doesn't have the experience of growing my own yet, I find the method of "Would you cut a plug out of one of those so I can taste it?" to be a certain winner.

 

[seedcorn]

And for me, who doesn't have the experience of growing my own yet, I find the method of "Would you cut a plug out of one of those so I can taste it?" to be a certain winner.

I remember those days when plugging watermelons was quite common. Not sure how today’s supermarkets (or farmers market) would react to people plugging their watermelons.

I found that a completely dried tendril on home grown was an easy and excellent way to determine when to eat. O

 

[Zeedman]

And for me, who doesn't have the experience of growing my own yet, I find the method of "Would you cut a plug out of one of those so I can taste it?" to be a certain winner.

"And after I taste it, you can put the plug back in."
...
Yeah, that would probably be a real winner in the current environment.

 

[Xerocles]

"And after I taste it, you can put the plug back in."
...
Yeah, that would probably be a real winner in the current environment.

Kinda like the free food samples at Sams Club (when they could still do that). You can get a lotta plugs out of one melon.

 

[YourRabbitGirl]

I'm growing moon & stars, Van Doren variety this year. I thought they looked neat, and weren't a large watermelon.

Water the plants at the base in frequent, deep-watering sessions to maximize the size of the melons and keep the soil moist. Side dress the watermelon plants with fertilizer intended to feed the plants for edible crops or compost tea. The fertilizer helps growing melons to get bigger.

 

[seedcorn]

Kinda like the free food samples at Sams Club (when they could still do that). You can get a lotta plugs out of one melon.

@seedcorn I called Park's this morning. Spoke to a customer service rep named Steve, very pleasant young man. He was flabbergasted at the error. This is their first report of the problem.
SOLUTION:
1. If you have placed the order CALL their toll free#
1-800-845-3369. If the order has not been shipped, they will correct it to the 3.50 price.
2. If you have NOT finalized your order, when you're ready, CALL and place the order over the phone. They will give you the 3.50 price. Remember, it's the 2020 catalog, PAGE 89.
I knew Park was too big and too established to allow a 1.50 mistake to threaten their reputation or even cost them a potential new customer.
Happy growing....and hope those melons do exactly what you want.

the saga goes on.... When I called, the person at the other end corrected the price on the watermelon seed. Made mistakes on amounts, corrected that, then couldn’t figure simple 7% taxes, kept giving me wrong totals. I even tried to go step by step. She finally told me a bill of $10+ for $9.50 worth of seeds. I tried to explain that she wasn’t charging the $2.99 shippIng. (She wanted to charge taxes on shipping as well-never heard of that before). So today, we get amount charged to my account-you guessed it, another incorrect amount. Still less than what I owe but at least closer....... good thing margins on vegetable seeds are high. The lady at the other end of call was friendly as I called because of the amount but more importantly the bill didn’t say Park Seeds. Wanted to make sure who was accessing my account.