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Post by bunkie on Aug 7, 2011 12:35:56 GMT -5
Hi! Here are some pictures of my watermelon varieties. On the 30Th of July I had a little watermelon party with some close relatives to taste them and find favorites. awesome colors there!
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Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Aug 25, 2011 20:02:01 GMT -5
Well... I guess i can officially say my watermelon experiment this year was successful... I said if i got one ripe melon i'd call it a success. Well, I got one today... sort of... The problem is that it was about the size of a tennis ball. It actually was mildly sweet for it's pinkish hue. I'm not sure what happened to the plant, i found it turning yellow along with this melon yesterday. I doubt this is the normal size for this melon, but it seems to have somewhat made it. And almost all of the seeds look like they have also reached maturity. I have added the seeds to my mix for next year. haha
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Post by mickey on Aug 26, 2011 9:45:41 GMT -5
I found out it's hard to give my watermelons the needed time to ripen, the first one I picked looked fine on the outside. that small spoon leaf was gone the tendril had gone brown and a yellow belly, but as I cut it open it looked fine but wasn't sweet and 1/4 the seeds hadn't matured yet. and looking at the stem I had cut it was still light green. the next one I picked 7 days later was better, sweet but not quite there and very few immature seeds. I picked these two because the leaves on this vine had turned yellow and died back to brown. The next one I pick I hope will turn out better because the vine looks to be in better shape and not turning yellow.
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Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Sept 3, 2011 7:25:09 GMT -5
I've already gotten a few ripe watermelons this year! ..although so far they have been tiny (like tennis ball to mini soccer ball size). Another was a red one with large seeds, and two were yellow ones. One of the yellow ones cracked open, and i found it after the ants did. I was able to save part of the melon and eat it... It is the best watermelon i have ever had i think.. mmm.. It had tiny seed too which was cool! The second yellow one was bigger, and i accidentally stepped on it. It was mostly ripe, so i ate it too. It was pretty good. The seeds were medium size. The two yellows must have been different varieties, but i don't care. I'm saving any mature seeds that make it, for next year!! This watermelon breeding stuff is fun. I look forward to harvesting more. I think i have a few blacktail mountain and/or sugar baby melons, and they are the biggest. I'm waiting to harvest the big one though, because i dont want to pick it before it ripe. It starting to get slightly yellow spots and the leaves are getting a little yellow, but i think it needs a little more time. If anyone is good at identifying varieties, by color and markings, let me know. i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af224/keen101/Garden%202011/DSCF0662.jpgi1010.photobucket.com/albums/af224/keen101/Garden%202011/DSCF0660.jpgi1010.photobucket.com/albums/af224/keen101/Garden%202011/DSCF0655.jpgi1010.photobucket.com/albums/af224/keen101/Garden%202011/DSCF0652.jpgRed one (huge seeds): i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af224/keen101/Garden%202011/DSCF0645.jpgi1010.photobucket.com/albums/af224/keen101/Garden%202011/DSCF0644.jpg
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Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Sept 15, 2011 22:19:24 GMT -5
It's getting wetter and colder here. Fall and winter wont be that far away. I probably should pick that last "big" watermelon soon, but I've been waiting just to make sure it's not under ripe. I found another small ripe yellow one again the other day. It had 5 dark black seeds. All three yellow's had different sized and colored seeds. I guess they were all different varieties?
I'm not sure if i mentioned my observation this year or not, but it seemed like the yellow ones seemed to ripen much better than the red ones. While most were all very tiny, i'm still surprised at how the yellow ones overall seemed to do better. Some of the red ones seemed to never ripen once the weather got a little cooler. I'm wondering if anyone knows where the yellow-flesh mutation came from? I'm wondering if it was a natural mutation from people growing them in a slightly cooler climate. If my suspicion is correct, then maybe i should only plant yellow varieties from now on here in my area. I suppose it could have just been coincidence, but I'm not entirely convinced of that. I also thought the yellow ones tasted better. Not necessarily sweeter, but a better flavor. I certainly need to research this idea more.
anyone else have any observations this year? I haven't heard much news about everyones melon projects in awhile.
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Post by blueadzuki on Sept 16, 2011 19:44:45 GMT -5
I'm not sure if i mentioned my observation this year or not, but it seemed like the yellow ones seemed to ripen much better than the red ones. While most were all very tiny, i'm still surprised at how the yellow ones overall seemed to do better. Some of the red ones seemed to never ripen once the weather got a little cooler. I'm wondering if anyone knows where the yellow-flesh mutation came from? I'm wondering if it was a natural mutation from people growing them in a slightly cooler climate. If my suspicion is correct, then maybe i should only plant yellow varieties from now on here in my area. I suppose it could have just been coincidence, but I'm not entirely convinced of that. I also thought the yellow ones tasted better. Not necessarily sweeter, but a better flavor. I certainly need to research this idea more. It certainly sound like it might be possible. I planted no watermelons this year (actually I planted no cucurbits period) but I have in previous years. Over those years I noticed that I only seemed to get melons in years when I planted white fleshed varities. Those years I tried orange fleshed ones (that's pretty much all Ive ever done, oranges and whites), I'm not sure I even got seed to germinate let alone flower and fruit. Of course, as the variety pool of both whites and oranges is a lot (comparitively) smaller than that for reds or yellows, it may have less to do with the color and more to do with the orange strains I have encountered to date just not being right for a place as cold and short season as mine.
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Post by castanea on Sept 16, 2011 20:09:09 GMT -5
I'm not sure if i mentioned my observation this year or not, but it seemed like the yellow ones seemed to ripen much better than the red ones. While most were all very tiny, i'm still surprised at how the yellow ones overall seemed to do better. Some of the red ones seemed to never ripen once the weather got a little cooler. I'm wondering if anyone knows where the yellow-flesh mutation came from? I'm wondering if it was a natural mutation from people growing them in a slightly cooler climate. If my suspicion is correct, then maybe i should only plant yellow varieties from now on here in my area. . That's an interesting observation. I never really paid much attention to that issue, but now that you've made me think about it, I am realizing that I have always had more success with orange and yellow varieties than with red ones. Of course that may just be because I've grown really good orange/yellow melons, but I'm going to need to pay closer attention in the future. The yellow/orange, white and green fleshed watermelons are part of the original genepool in Africa. I think people have been selecting for red flesh for a long time. Orange/yellow flesh will still show up spontaneously in red fleshed populations though. I've read about the genetics of the color expression but don't remember how it works.
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Post by blueadzuki on Sept 17, 2011 9:33:38 GMT -5
I'm not sure if i mentioned my observation this year or not, but it seemed like the yellow ones seemed to ripen much better than the red ones. While most were all very tiny, i'm still surprised at how the yellow ones overall seemed to do better. Some of the red ones seemed to never ripen once the weather got a little cooler. I'm wondering if anyone knows where the yellow-flesh mutation came from? I'm wondering if it was a natural mutation from people growing them in a slightly cooler climate. If my suspicion is correct, then maybe i should only plant yellow varieties from now on here in my area. . That's an interesting observation. I never really paid much attention to that issue, but now that you've made me think about it, I am realizing that I have always had more success with orange and yellow varieties than with red ones. Of course that may just be because I've grown really good orange/yellow melons, but I'm going to need to pay closer attention in the future. The yellow/orange, white and green fleshed watermelons are part of the original genepool in Africa. I think people have been selecting for red flesh for a long time. Orange/yellow flesh will still show up spontaneously in red fleshed populations though. I've read about the genetics of the color expression but don't remember how it works. this seems to explain it pretty well cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cucurbit/wmelon/wmhndbk/wmfleshcolors/wmfleshcolors.html
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Post by toad on Sept 24, 2011 15:54:13 GMT -5
DSCN5871 by skrubtudse, on Flickr This is the fifth watermelon this year. Again a Bonanza - thanks to Pierre The seeds are extremely tiny, as predicted by Pierre. Almost the size of tomato seeds. It's very nice when eating the watermelon, as you doesn't notice the seeds. But for seed saving it's a pain in the a.. You don't feel the seeds in your mouth, so better sort them out before eating the watermelon, or there will be no seeds left. Then they are slippery, stick to the plate and are easily washed down the drain, when I try to wash them But tiny seeds are really a good trait in a watermelon, if you don't intend to eat the healthy seeds. ;D
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Post by canadamike on Sept 24, 2011 17:31:45 GMT -5
Gosh, I am interested..is it possible to get my hands on some of those seeds?? Up for trade: the best darn yellow soup peas I ever had. They are grown by an old local farmer, they are smaller than the ones in the grocery stores, sold, in small quantities, by the lil'local orchard store when in season( open in the apple season). True hard to find country gems, the kind of stuff that makes people like us smile... the kind''you got to be around when they are there''.
I could not get ID on these, they are ''the ol'man peas'', but gosh are they flavorful..There are old people who will not eat any others.
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Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Sept 25, 2011 14:34:00 GMT -5
I had a few with small seeds this year. I'm not sure if they were quite that small, but they were close. Here are the latest (and probably the last) pictures of ripe watermelons from my garden this year. This Watermelon was the biggest. I'm not sure what variety though. Sugar Baby? Or blacktail mountain? It had pretty good flavor for a red watermelon. This i think was the Israel watermelon named "malali", but it could be the Russian one "osh kirgizia". Either way it was the best tasting red flesh ever! Much sweeter than the others, even despite it's pale pink color. Unfortunately this variety had three melons split way before they were near ripe (maybe i overwatered?). If they hadn't split this would have been a good producer. I was only able to harvest one ripe melon from this variety, but it was very sweet. Sweet watermelon, small, with small seeds. good. no idea what variety. Oh, and here is my Chilacayote melon. Or Sharkfin Melon. It's still growing. I haven't harvested it yet.
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Sept 25, 2011 21:14:11 GMT -5
I finally got around to opening my first watermelon for the season. It was picked on September 8th (2.5 weeks ago). I laughed my head off when I saw it. I was so content about what others had posted about their first watermelons... Oh my gosh it was sweet!!! The sweetest I have ever grown. My family sure was upset about the color, and about how it must have crossed with something, and made sure to tell me that I aught to stop saving my own seeds. Ha! Ha! Ha!!!!
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Sept 25, 2011 22:02:01 GMT -5
Sweet watermelon, small, with small seeds. good. no idea what variety. If I had to name this one, I'd guess that it's Blacktail Mountain.
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Post by olddog on Sept 26, 2011 9:47:18 GMT -5
All those watermelons look luscious! I have always wondered too how to tell when watermelons were ripe. Long ago, in an experimental garden, we would walk through the fields of watermelons, and the vines would be brownish, dying, and the melons kind of stuck up from the ground, above the shriveled foliage, and were very noticeable, and beautiful. They would take the stem near the end of the melon, and push it sideways with their thumb, and the stem would peel off of the melon so easily, and then they would crack open the melon, and taste it, and if it tasted good, they would pick up the two pieces, and I would have to carry one, and if the melon did not taste perfectly good and sweet, they would just leave it to rot in the field. So wasteful. Some of the melons had the stem already fallen off and were just sitting in the field. Anyway, to make a long story short, the ones that they dryfarm in the river bed, are pretty much all sweet, and it does seem reducing or stopping the water at some point, before they are fully ripe, allows them to ripen and sweeten so well? Anyone have any thoughts on this?
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Sept 26, 2011 22:31:18 GMT -5
Here's the melon I opened today. It was likewise harvested 2.5 weeks ago and was sweet as anything. I guess I know which color watermelon I will be growing next summer.
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