Yes, I'm excited. Look what I found on the ground today! I've been checking every day to see if the color was changing. I noticed a bit of change yesterday, then pow! It happened overnight. So, now I'll have some cantaloupe-growing experience. I'd love to try small watermelon next summer. Anyone have success around the greater Houston area? What kind & when to plant? Watermelon growing tips?
Janet
wow congrats.
I am also waiting on 5 melons ... I just don't know when they will be ready. This is really the first year growing them seriously !
I think they need to fall off the vine easy, right?
I've harvested about 30 melons so far and there are a few more out there that will probably be ready tomorrow. I grow Minnesota Midget -- the vines are midgets, the melons small but not tiny. It's OP.
It's a short season variety for colder climates; why it does well for me in our heat I don't know. For lack of a better term they are "determinate" and the melons all ripen within a couple of weeks. As the last few are ripening, the vines die. Whether they die from heat or because they are done, I don't know. I have tried succession planting them, although I could fit in a whole 'nother season from seed now if I tried. (And if they could deal with Alabama August.)
If you are a cantaloupe (well, muskmelon) fan, it might be a variety to add to your arsenal for early melons.
There are full slip melons are fully ripe. If the vine moves when you pick it, they aren't there yet. Half-slip is when they are generally picked for commercial use. Full slip melons are sweeter, but the shelf life if shorter. However, they tolerate the lower home refrigeration (< 40F) temperatures better than half-slip.
They slip off the stem when ripe. Half slip you have to tug a little bit but they still release from the stem when you pick up the melon and tug gently.
Thanks drthor! Mine are definitely full slip since the melon was on the ground & I'm growing them on a trellis. When my hubby got home this evening, he found another on the ground but this one was a little green still & it got a boo-boo when it hit the cement blocks (my border). I wiped it with a damp towel, put it on the counter, and will cut it up tomorrow. I'm growing Ambrosia. I tried a different one for 2 years & it didn't produce well at all. I got these at Whole Food as baby plants😊
Nicole, you sound like you have a huge garden! Wish I had the energy.
Tomorrow I'll be making pickles with my Carolinas😛
ok. thanks
I will go outside checking my melons again. I have 5 developing and they are big.
I got some free seeds from Baker Creek and I am glad. I think melons do very well in my garden with no efforts.
Nicole, you sound like you have a huge garden! Wish I had the energy.
Very nice beds of melon😊 It didn't occur to me that if melons are NOT trellised, it would be harder to tell if/when they are ripe since they don't fall! I found another today, undamaged. I also cut up 2 and they are sweet & juicy--sooo good!
Sandy,
When did you sow the seeds for your Ambrosia melons?
Very nice beds of melon😊 It didn't occur to me that if melons are NOT trellised, it would be harder to tell if/when they are ripe since they don't fall! I found another today, undamaged. I also cut up 2 and they are sweet & juicy--sooo good!
This was my first melon this year and it was delish.
Gymgirl, who is Sandy? If you're talking to me, I'm Janet😊. I bought 3 Ambrosia plants that were out front at the Whole Food where I shop. I may have planted them in May but I didn't write anything down. I like to call myself the "accidental gardener" because I'm so laissez faire, it's a miracle anything makes it!
These melons are the juiciest & sweetest I've ever eaten! We've gotten 5 so far & more are in various stages of growth. The vines are starting to look bad though--leaves getting yellow & dying. I'm going to fert & mulch some more & water in. We were getting some good rains for a while but they've stopped. My thermometer reads 100degrees right now😱
Podster, let us know how your cantaloupe tastes when ready. Is it full slip?
by the way ... have you seen the new cucumber/melon collection from Baker Creek?
Ohhhh I am going to be in so much troubles.
They have so many new seeds from Italy, check out both the melons and the cucumbers:
http://www.rareseeds.com/store/vegetables/cucumbers/
http://www.rareseeds.com/store/vegetables/melon/melons/
Like these ones:
http://www.rareseeds.com/carosello-scopatizzo-barese-melon/
http://www.rareseeds.com/carosello-spuredda-leccese-verde-/
http://www.rareseeds.com/tortorello-verde-barese-melon/
I am a "seedholic"
We have always grown "Honey Rock" cantaloupes and they are to die for delish!! We didn't grow any this year, though. Wonder if I can still plant for fall.... http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/60247/
As for smaller melons, we've grown Sugar Baby and have had really good success. They weigh anywhere from 3-5lbs and are very sweet when fully ripe. I still like Clemson Sweet, but they are a much larger variety and need A LOT of space! They're great, though.
Drthor--you crack me up!! Do you do anything other than garden & deal with your bounty?! Those are really interesting cucs & melons. My mouth is watering!
Stephanie, that Honey Rock looks sooo good! Might have to try that one next year.
And what is up with the cherries this year? I AM LOVIN' THEM!!! The price has come way down & they are so big, red, & sweet. 'Scuse me while I go get some😊
bariolio
you are funny.
I just love to eat ! and eat well ...
Janet, Janet, Janet...
NOT Sandy, LOL!!!
I'm growing Vodrentais (sp?)Melons this yr, along with 2 types of watermelon. I have grown them before but I don't remember them taking so long to ripen or being so big.
The honey rock cantaloupe is so juicy and so yummy! I really think I'm going to go ahead and sow some seeds, even if it's late. LOL
Hahaha, Linda! Forgiven!
Hey, if you end up planting & you get melons before the cold hits, let us know Stephanie. If I had more garden space (and more energy), I'd do some experimenting like that.
Lisa, is that like a Charentais? I think I read some people liking that kind. So many varieties, so little space...
Ever saw a cat with a diaper on??!
Yes, I think it is a Charentalis. They do taste great however the first and largest one slipped off today and it was overripe, so the livestock is happy. We have been getting lots of rain and I think the melon split and the bugs got in......the vines are growing every where I have no idea what is what any more. The grass is also taking over.
Stephanie I don't know what the DTM on those melons are but I think you have plenty of time. If there is an early freeze it usually doesn't last very long and you can cover them up, if you have to. I'm just starting pumpkins and they have a DTM of 100 days on average. This is when I start them every year.
Oh, how disappointing. The weather is very different this summer. It still hasn't rained all that much at my house but it's been cloudy on more days than usual. Gives a break from the heat.
My tomato plants are hanging in there & actually putting on new growth. I topped the tallest ones so hopefully they'll bush out by fall. If they last, that is.
