Melons so far....including a few heirlooms

**nctomatoman** · July 20, 2008

Well, the melons are coming pretty fast. So far, here is what we've found:

Passport F1 - always reliable, early and large, easy to tell when ripe, very attractive (mint green flesh shading to pale orange at the seed cavity). Slightly sweet, mild, fairly OK, but always a bit disappointing to us...could be too hot here for it to taste at its best.

Diplomat F1 - new from JSS - large, early, productive, similar looking to Passport, except lacks the orange around the cavity - sadly, we found it somewhat bland, despite a nice juicy texture. Probably never again for our garden....a shame! Again, is it too hot here for it to develop optimum flavor?

Tip Top - heirloom variety, easy to tell when ripe, some big ones coming, productive....we were surprised to find such a large seed cavity/shallow flesh, though the texture was fine - lightly sweet, mild, good but not great.

Blacktail Mountain - pretty yummy! We picked the first too soon (I hate when that happens!), but today was perfect - nice mildly sweet melon, outstanding texture, relatively few seeds, but a nice true watermelon flavor. a favorite!

We await Eden Gem (smallish melon, lots of them out there, not yet ripe), Noir de Carmes (setting pretty well, not too large), and Sugar Baby.

My initial view is that we will be looking for new melons for next year - or, at least replacing Passport and Diplomat.

July 20, 2008	#1
nctomatoman Tomatoville® Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Hendersonville, NC zone 7 Posts: 10,385	Melons so far....including a few heirlooms Well, the melons are coming pretty fast. So far, here is what we've found: Passport F1 - always reliable, early and large, easy to tell when ripe, very attractive (mint green flesh shading to pale orange at the seed cavity). Slightly sweet, mild, fairly OK, but always a bit disappointing to us...could be too hot here for it to taste at its best. Diplomat F1 - new from JSS - large, early, productive, similar looking to Passport, except lacks the orange around the cavity - sadly, we found it somewhat bland, despite a nice juicy texture. Probably never again for our garden....a shame! Again, is it too hot here for it to develop optimum flavor? Tip Top - heirloom variety, easy to tell when ripe, some big ones coming, productive....we were surprised to find such a large seed cavity/shallow flesh, though the texture was fine - lightly sweet, mild, good but not great. Blacktail Mountain - pretty yummy! We picked the first too soon (I hate when that happens!), but today was perfect - nice mildly sweet melon, outstanding texture, relatively few seeds, but a nice true watermelon flavor. a favorite! We await Eden Gem (smallish melon, lots of them out there, not yet ripe), Noir de Carmes (setting pretty well, not too large), and Sugar Baby. My initial view is that we will be looking for new melons for next year - or, at least replacing Passport and Diplomat. __________________ Craig