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Post by canadamike on Feb 20, 2009 16:37:08 GMT -5
A friend just asked me for seeds of a long keeper. I am not a watermelon lover, I never grew enough to put any in the cellar.
I know that once ripe they can keep for quite a while, but are there some that are better long keepers than others? I would appreciate to know, and maybe get seeds.
Thanks,
Michel
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Post by pugs on Feb 20, 2009 20:09:09 GMT -5
Hi Michel,
Blacktail Mountain is suppose to keep for a while, I can't speak from personal experience though. It was develped by Glenn Downs and he said it was a good keeper.
Pugs
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Post by castanea on Feb 20, 2009 21:13:54 GMT -5
I've never found any studies on long keeping watermelons. There are some varieties that have that reputation but I have seen no studies to support their reputations and I know from personal experience that some that are supposed to keep well (such as King and Queen) do not.
Oddly enough, the best keeping watermelons are probably many of the more modern hybrids which are advertised as long keepers. Many are bred specifically for long storage so they probably will keep better than many heirlooms.
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Post by atimberline on Feb 20, 2009 22:06:21 GMT -5
A friend just asked me for seeds of a long keeper. I am not a watermelon lover, I never grew enough to put any in the cellar. I know that once ripe they can keep for quite a while, but are there some that are better long keepers than others? I would appreciate to know, and maybe get seeds. Thanks, Michel like the person just before me said, most modern Hy's keep well, it is all about being able to cut loses for the seller, if sales are slow, and keeping customers happy... A very good red op that will keep 1-2 months for me is Allsweet, ...Burrell has an excellent strain. Some srains of Crimson Sweet are almost as good. ...Blacktail Mountain is not a long keeper for me... Winter King is more a pink... some strains keep almost as good as Allsweet, other Winter King's are terrible... An excellent longkeeping golden op is AU Golden... it is essentially a golden version of Crimson Sweet. Until recent you could get seed from Jordan... I have some... It will keep a month from first ripe... I have had them good up to 2 months... ...soil chemistry (affects plant chem) and weather seem to have a big influence to on just how long they keep. Tim Peters
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Post by winter unfazed on Mar 8, 2009 10:36:02 GMT -5
'Daisy' is a long keeping old variety.
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Post by castanea on Mar 8, 2009 15:47:33 GMT -5
I just cut open a small watermelon last night that I picked in September. The outside was still perfect. The inside was mostly decayed, but not too badly. The very center was probably still edible.
This small yellow skinned watermelon is from SSE member BELR BA A and is called Podarok
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Post by Hristo on Mar 8, 2009 20:21:42 GMT -5
I know for few russian varieties which descriptions say - storage 3-4 months, but usualy they are not among best tasting varieties (which of course is a rule for most long storage vegetable varieties).
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Post by mnjrutherford on Jun 30, 2009 17:51:01 GMT -5
Tim, we are growing "Carolina Cross" this year. We have never really been successful with watermelons. We just can't stand to wait until they are ripe! This year we have promised to be wiser and we have some American and European melons that will hopefully take our minds off the watermelons until the right moment.
Anyway, these are supposed to have the quality of turning into monster melons weighing in at 200 lbs and more. Besides the kids eyes turning to saucers as they watch this process, are there any real advantages to have this particular breed?
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Post by canadamike on Jun 30, 2009 23:05:44 GMT -5
As much as 200 pound melons go ,they are a matter of pride but not much practical. Smaller melons are far more practical and better in a fridge.The best early melon I have seen, far better for me than Blacktail Mountain, by a mile at least, is Early Canada, a little bigger , earlier and better tasting.
It is only offered by Mackenzie seeds from Manitoba, a pure shame.
It is a much deserving variety. I am not a watermelon afficionado, but to me, in my conditions and weather, it beats the crap of all the highly touted ones, doing its lonely lil' thing without being a flashy star, but stars the other ones out all the time.
Tastier than Blacktail Mountain, one week earlier here, bigger without being too big. Easier to grow and much more productive in that 2008 hellish season loaded with diseases, viruses and fungus than all the others.
This is a watermelon we HG people should list as a growing priority and promote like hell. Even in breeding, its genetics should be a priority for us.
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Post by mnjrutherford on Jul 1, 2009 8:03:12 GMT -5
Never heard of a "Blacktail Mountain". In California everyone touted the "Sugar Baby" a small seedless. Here most folks grow "Black Diamond" or "Jubilee". What we had last year was "Will's Sugar Baby". And like I said, not one made it to ripe. ;D ;D ;D I have to laugh thinking of it and I think you would have appreciated the pomp that accompanied each melon as it was paraded grandly into the house with HUGE expectations. The table laid out with all appropriate accouterments, the knife plunged to the depths of the fruit laying it open to our anxious gaze... damn things were barely even pink! The flavor? Well, what can I say, THEY WERE NOT RIPE! ;D ;D ;D Oh well... The kids are getting a big kick out of watching this thing grow and to be honest, it's growing rather rapidly. I'm thinking of measuring it somehow so they can get a real idea of how it goes. If we can actually let the thing get ripe, they are so gonna be excited cutting into a giant melon they grew themselves. NEXT year we will be prudent and get a good melon for flavor, this year, it's all fun.
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Post by castanea on Jul 2, 2009 14:31:22 GMT -5
Tim, we are growing "Carolina Cross" this year. We have never really been successful with watermelons. We just can't stand to wait until they are ripe! This year we have promised to be wiser and we have some American and European melons that will hopefully take our minds off the watermelons until the right moment. Anyway, these are supposed to have the quality of turning into monster melons weighing in at 200 lbs and more. Besides the kids eyes turning to saucers as they watch this process, are there any real advantages to have this particular breed? Unless you have really excellent growing conditions, Carolina Cross will not be a monster. It's far more common to see them in the 40-50 lb range than in the over 100 lb range. But, Carolina Cross is a surprisingly tasty watermelon. I consider it better than average. It's certainly better than those you find in grocery stores. Another good point is that you can cut it when it's still weeks away from peak ripeness and it's still a decent tasting watermelon. If you have hot summer weather and decent soil, Carolina Cross is a good watermelon to grow because it is a vigorous plant, the melons always show some size even when other varieties are not sizing up, it can be picked early, and it stores a little better than average. My advice is just to forget about the huge size potential it has and enjoy it for its other features.
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Post by castanea on Jul 2, 2009 15:34:33 GMT -5
As much as 200 pound melons go ,they are a matter of pride but not much practical. Smaller melons are far more practical and better in a fridge.The best early melon I have seen, far better for me than Blacktail Mountain, by a mile at least, is Early Canada, a little bigger , earlier and better tasting. It is only offered by Mackenzie seeds from Manitoba, a pure shame. It is a much deserving variety. I am not a watermelon afficionado, but to me, in my conditions and weather, it beats the crap of all the highly touted ones, doing its lonely lil' thing without being a flashy star, but stars the other ones out all the time. Tastier than Blacktail Mountain, one week earlier here, bigger without being too big. Easier to grow and much more productive in that 2008 hellish season loaded with diseases, viruses and fungus than all the others. This is a watermelon we HG people should list as a growing priority and promote like hell. Even in breeding, its genetics should be a priority for us. I believe someone listed Early Canada in the seed savers yearbook this year but I don't have it handy right now to confirm.
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Post by michaeljohnson on Jul 8, 2009 3:09:09 GMT -5
Over here in the UK-we have a massive problem in the supermarkets as all the watermelons on sale are mostly unripe and tasteless, there is nothing more annoying when you buy a fairly large watermelon and struggle with it to get it home rolling around in the car boot and crashing into everything in it's path, only to find that when you cut it -it is still unripe and mostly very pale pink or whitish inside, and they are quite expensive too, I wish all supermarkets would sell the watermelons only as cut halves so that you can see the inside before buying, The best watermelons in the UK are only to be had from the London area-in a place called (Wood green) there are a number of Greek owned shops there and every sunday morning a huge delivery lorrly with around two tons of Water melons on board goes round all the greek shops in (wood green) dropping off the fresh picked water melons, they are of the green striped type- blood red inside with jet black seeds and as sweet as honey, oh" what joy to gorge ones self on a twenty pound sweet greek watermelon. And then spend the next five hours peeing it all out again
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Post by silverseeds on Jul 9, 2009 11:49:54 GMT -5
Ive read stories in the past about winter water melons. Some could last 4 months, I have bought seeds from native seeds. org for a winter water melon from the navajo but I have not grown it out. I will next year, so I will post then about sharing the seeds. I bought some plain melon seed recently as well from a melon that is claimed to last 4 months into the winter as well. I will also be growing that out next year, and will share those seeds as well baker creek has them at rareseeds.com . It is caled valencia winter melon, it is under their european melons section.
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Post by canadamike on Jul 9, 2009 22:52:14 GMT -5
The valencia melons, and many other spanish ones, are often good keepers. In the inodorus group, melons do not ripen upon the ''activation'' from ethylene due to cellular degradation ( help me in english here someone, I am not sure I say it properly)
So they can keep longer, and many do. The inodorus group, in general, is performing much better in that regard, but there are some better than others. MARYGOLD is a fantastic melon bred in the US from early canary types that does very well in that regard and is earlier than all I the canary types I have seen up to now.
Even once cut, the uneaten half will last for over a month in a fridge.
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