Melons, watermelon types

[lakelady]

I've noticed some folks post pictures of melons growing rampantly through the grass. I always thought I had to have a "plot" for them. If you do let them wander through the grass, how do you mow? Or don't you?

[RebelRidin]

Originally Posted by lakelady

I've noticed some folks post pictures of melons growing rampantly through the grass. I always thought I had to have a "plot" for them. If you do let them wander through the grass, how do you mow? Or don't you?

I don't mow were the melons grow. The melons seem to appreciate it and the grass (my lawn is mostly weed anyway) doesn't seem to mind too much either. In fact some grasses between the melon rows is good to protect from drying winds. Routine commercial practice around here is to have strips of grass thorughout the fields.

[lakelady]

wow, well I never knew that. See? You learn something new every day here on TV!

Thanks for the explanation!

[RebelRidin]

Originally Posted by lakelady

wow, well I never knew that. See? You learn something new every day here on TV!

Thanks for the explanation!

They grow a lot of melons here on the shore Antoinette. Black plastic mulch and grass strips between. I'll try to remember to get a few pictures of some fields this year and post them.

[Tormato]

I plant them in the last three to four feet of row, and let them wander onto the lawn. I have to train them, since they like to wander as they like. It's gently turning the tips of the vines in the direction that I'd like (usually SW), and placing a small stake into the ground next to the vine, so it doesn't wander back.

Once they get going in a good direction, I leave them alone. However, I found out one year that they do like to climb my nearby highbush blueberries.

Gary

[Farmette]

Those of you that let them wander, do you have problems with deer or any other animals eating the plants or melons?

[kath]

Originally Posted by Farmette

Those of you that let them wander, do you have problems with deer or any other animals eating the plants or melons?

When any melon vines reach the garden fence the deer prune the vines as best they can.

[RebelRidin]

Originally Posted by lakelady

I've noticed some folks post pictures of melons growing rampantly through the grass. I always thought I had to have a "plot" for them. If you do let them wander through the grass, how do you mow? Or don't you?

This is one of the problems with TVille. Here I thought I had my plans all made and Antoinette brings up melons! It turns out that I have an area that I grew tomatoes in last year that my DW told me was off limits for trellises as they shaded out her flowers on the other side of the fence. Rather than sprawling toms there I think maybe I will have to grow some melons. Now what to grow?

I've grown melons before. Mostly Hales Best and Iroquois for muskmelon and Sugar Baby and Black Diamond for watermelons. What are everyones favorite melons and what are your favorite methods/secrets for success? Compost, Manure? Plastic, no plastic? Straw when they run or no?

I want to start prepping my hills/bed this week...

[lakelady]

I never grew them myself, haha...but I have seeds for Orangeglow that I'm dying to grow. I told myself I don't have room, but maybe I'll just let the vines wander . I'm going to trellis a few smaller melons as I did that last year and it worked out pretty good.

With my limited sunny space, I tuck plants in here and there wherever I can find some space, so other than the main garden, I have little gardens all around the house.

[RebelRidin]

Originally Posted by lakelady

I never grew them myself, haha...but I have seeds for Orangeglow that I'm dying to grow. I told myself I don't have room, but maybe I'll just let the vines wander . I'm going to trellis a few smaller melons as I did that last year and it worked out pretty good.

With my limited sunny space, I tuck plants in here and there wherever I can find some space, so other than the main garden, I have little gardens all around the house.

I don't know Orangeglow Antoinette. I'll have to look it up. Did you have some of it before or just like its description? (ah ha... I assumed from 'orange' that it was a lope. I assumed wrong! http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-...#axzz2QRKA4zT1)

Melons and tomatoes are probably the finest tastes to ever come out of a garden. Also, like tomatoes, they can be some of the most disappointing. We have some ladies at the edge of town that grow their own melons to sell. Theirs are usually quite good unless the weather is just too wet. Still, it is a lot of fun to see the vines run and the melons start to swell. With DW having nixed my trellises about the time you started your thread, well it seems like a sign.

I've always found it a bit tougher to grow a good melon than a good tomato and wanted to see if some folks here would share their advise and their favorites. I hope you don't mind my hijacking your thread!

[Tracydr]

I have a gravel area where the gravel has worn thin and gets a lot of weeds. Last year, a bird or the irrigation water must have dropped some watermelon seed. We had a bunch of melons grow there.
They unfortunately didn't get very ripe or maybe just didn't have much flavor, even though I waited until the vines were dying from colder weather. Maybe they came from dropped seeds from a fruit that was a hybrid? I may try try dropping some good seed there this year and actually taking care of it. It also could have

[lakelady]

Ah, I just liked the description and figured I can always buy a pink fleshed melon, but never saw an orange one!

Hijack away, I need all the help I can get on this one too!

[Marcus1]

Melons and tomatoes are probably the finest tastes to ever come out of a garden. Also, like tomatoes, they can be some of the most disappointing. We have some ladies at the edge of town that grow their own melons to sell. Theirs are usually quite good unless the weather is just too wet. Still, it is a lot of fun to see the vines run and the melons start to swell. With DW having nixed my trellises about the time you started your thread, well it seems like a sign.

I've always found it a bit tougher to grow a good melon than a good tomato and wanted to see if some folks here would share their advise and their favorites. I hope you don't mind my hijacking your thread![/QUOTE]

I grow about 2 acres of melons for our stand every year. I use green plastic ( for earlier harvest, weeds, and more important to conserve water ), lots of dairy compost with a balanced fertilizer tilled in on hip rows for extra depth, a double drip tape under the plastic,plants spaced 3 ft. rows 5 - 9 ft apart, low tunnels with perf plastic for seedless watermelon plants early everything else direct seeded.

Suggestions; As deep a bed as you can make with lots of organic material, protect young plants from wind, scout for insects often ( I use neem, insecticidal soap and pyrethrin when needed but use caution if temps above 85 ), keep soil consistently moist until a week or two before harvest then cut back for sweetness.

Melon varieties we grow; Fastbreak, early with good production 3-4 lb consistent year to year, Superstar, larger 6-8 lb excellent yield and flavor, Halona, 4-5 lb slip well at harvest, few problems, good size for my older customers and very good at handling the heat. Honeydew - Honey Ace, my fav of all melons I grow, mix with some ice and a little medori makes a drink that is pure ambrosia, grows well and cracks less than any we've tried 6-8 lb.( either keep moist till the end or quit water all together a week before harvest to prevent cracks). Annas; San Juan, trialed last year, very beautiful and the most aromatic. Korean melon; Sun Jewel, smaller, white flesh, tastes like an asian pear,crispy, would be a good candidate for a trellis 2-3 lb and looks like a big yellow cuc. Christmas melon; Lambkin, cust fav., green & yellow out honeydew like in, stores really well( a month if in frig), has kind of strange aroma like a camp fire but is really sweet. Passport, HD like with netting, earliest melon, very sweet but later sets get smaller and the ones without netting aren't very good.

Seeded watermelon: Jadestar, If I could only pick one this would be it. Like a sugar baby but 12-16 lbs and doesn't go hollow as much, deep red and very sweet. Lemon Krush, Large yellow, looks like Crimson Sweet, good sweetness and strong plants. New Queen; small orange 3-4 lb, few seeds and very sweet but has a bad habit of exploding in the field the day after you should have picked it, worth growing for the flavor. Summer Flavor 900; large deep red oblong, very good but later, strong vines with good cover handles our CO sun well.

Seedless watermelon: Crispy Red, best germ ( I start in extra depth jiff pellets, 84-86 degrees 60% moist, time so plant out is before taproot emerges out bottom, seedless can be frustrating to sprout) and overall taste and appearance, Orange Crisp, tried last year and customers went nuts for them, very sweet 12-15 lb pretty melon. Orchid Sweet, 8-12 lb, most forgiving, earliest, good sweetness and sets multible time for later season harvest

I grow about 25 varieties total, these were just what I considered the best. They are all hybrids, I have found them to produce more, earlier, and with less problems than the OP varieties and the seedless sell 2-1 over the seeded watermelons. I am also planting orangelo this year to see what it does.

[Cole_Robbie]

Sangria is my grandparent's favorite variety of watermelon.

[lakelady]

Wow Marcus, thanks for the tips! I have seeds I've accumulated over the past year that I'm going to try and grow, I just have a pretty full garden already that I'm going to try letting them trail wherever they want to go. Tormato's suggestion of the little posts to keep them where you want them is very good too. Well, I still need to give this a lot more thought obviously because now I want to grow lots of melons!

Now I'm hungry!