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Dec 16, 2009, 7:09pm

Homegrown Goodness :: What's Growing on in your garden? :: Cucurbitaceae (cucumbers, squash, melons, ext.) :: MELONS SELECTION FOR 2009

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Alan
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Re: MELONS SELECTION FOR 2009
« Reply #60 on Nov 4, 2009, 6:50pm »

I didn't even really get to bother with melons this year other than my white fleshed watermelon grex which I only grew enough of for selection and home eating. They did superbly but the issue that is giving me problems there is that damn "E" gene (exploding rind) that is carried by Cream of Saskatchewan and is apparently dominat!

For those that don't know the "E" gene basically expresses itself in a very thin rind under quite a bit of pressure, which means if one even taps the melon in the right way it splits, but sometimes it does far more than that, I've had them pop right in two and a couple of times split on all sides, and once even litterally "explode".

Breeding this out of my new white fleshed watermelon varieties is going to take some time that's for sure.

Next year I'll revisit the Absinth melon gene pool selecting for green fleshed, sweet, non musky, musk melons.

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Just a farmer/gardener with a message board!
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Average last frost May 10, First Frost October 15'th. Hot and Humid Summers. Full sun plots, rolling hills, plots planted on southern and south western facing slopes. Greenhouses kept at 70 Degrees F.

Owen
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Re: MELONS SELECTION FOR 2009
« Reply #61 on Nov 7, 2009, 8:06pm »

Holy cow Alan, explosive watermelons!? You've got to run with this idea, turn it into something really cool!

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Now back to the garden, back to the meadow, back to the woodlot.

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Alan
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Re: MELONS SELECTION FOR 2009
« Reply #62 on Nov 15, 2009, 8:40pm »

LOL Owen,

I promise, it is not as cool as you think!

I tried to take some of those to market last year, that didn't work out so well for me, and getting rid of that particular gene is proving to be a real pain in the ass.

But if you ever want tho mess with a friend, pick one at peak ripeness and let someone try to cut it, watch as they freak out when it blows in two right before them!

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mnjrutherford
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Re: MELONS SELECTION FOR 2009
« Reply #63 on Nov 16, 2009, 7:31am »

That is VERY interesting. This is a MUSK melon or a WATER melon? If it's a watermelon, try a cross with "Carolina Cross" (I MIGHT have some seed leftover if you want them). "Carolina Cross" has a very thick rind suitable for making preserves. I didn't use it this year, but I plan to next year.

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Jo - A developing farmer based on Bible teachings. Diversity, research, and chemical independence are key. Our top soil is about 12 to 18 inches of depleted sandy loam. Under that is a layer of light colored clay. Our sons will soon have more information as they learn to dig deeper and deeper holes. www.TrulyThankful.typepad.com

Alan
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Re: MELONS SELECTION FOR 2009
« Reply #64 on Nov 17, 2009, 9:12pm »

It's a watermelon Jo, well actually a white fleshed watermelon gene pool to be exact, but the "E" gene was contributed to the group via Cream of Saskatchewan.

I have done some crosses to some of the yellow fleshed varieties in this grouping, only because it's easier to keep white fleshed traits by crossing to yellow types as opposed to red, the problem seems to be that the "E" gene is highly dominant, anytime I make headway I loose it again, but I suspect this has more to do with my horizontal resistance selections and isolating the blooms is hard to do as well because almost all of the white fleshed types look the same, same rind, same size, similar flavor.

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mnjrutherford
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Re: MELONS SELECTION FOR 2009
« Reply #65 on Nov 17, 2009, 10:47pm »

Whoa... ::laughing:: OK, so most of what you just said was so far over my head I didn't even notice a shadow crossing! I'm guessing that you really don't want to throw red coloration back into the deal? Cause the Carolina Cross is definitely red though not a ruby red, more of a delicate sort of pink. I grew it because I was attracted to it's size. We got 40 pounders though records of up to 200 lbs exist.

My kids would be thrilled to see exploding melons that they would not be blamed for exploding...

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peapod
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Zone 4, acidic soil, and sandy loam that I have worked on for 4 years. Fixing the bad stuff.

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Re: MELONS SELECTION FOR 2009
« Reply #66 on Nov 18, 2009, 2:31pm »

CanadaM~ do you still need the list of melons that you sent to me last seaon? I think it was lost or something like that. Cant remember. Let me know and now that I have time I can probably do it sooner than later.

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jonnyyuma
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Re: MELONS SELECTION FOR 2009
« Reply #67 on Dec 12, 2009, 7:16pm »

Hello all
Canada Mike suggested that I join this site, so I decided to give it a try. I work with melons mostly and really like to work with watermelons. Hopefully I can be of some help to you all. I have a large collection of melons, but they are mostly F1.

Thanks,
Jonny

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castanea
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Re: MELONS SELECTION FOR 2009
« Reply #68 on Dec 12, 2009, 9:56pm »

Dec 12, 2009, 7:16pm, jonnyyuma wrote:

Hi Jonny,

Welcome aboard.

What watermelons do you have? Which are your favorites? Which hardiness zone are you in?

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canadamike
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Re: MELONS SELECTION FOR 2009
« Reply #69 on Dec 13, 2009, 10:51pm »

peapod, no, I am ok but need your adress again, and phone number. jonny, welcome aboard. Would you happen to have a couple of F-1 seeds of true cantaloupes or non climacteric melons??

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I garden mostly in heavy clay, but I have 1/2 of an acre of sandy soil added on top of it.

Alan
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Re: MELONS SELECTION FOR 2009
« Reply #70 Yesterday at 7:17pm »

Hey Johnny, glad to have you here my friend!

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