This is the first time I ever grew watermelon and they finally ripened. I only have 4, but they are delicious. :-D Will try again next year, but start them earlier. moderator's note: added a more descriptive title to topic
Congratulations! Some things seem to be harder than they really are and watermelon is one of them.. . Enjoy the rest of them, too. I have one left in the garden and it is the biggest one I saw in the garden, it looks to be 30#'s I'll try to remember to weigh it to see.
I would love to grow watermelon where I live! I'm sure you'll enjoy them, they will be delicious. I have never heard of a 30 lb watermelon, that's not the norm, is it Carolyn? I can't imagine that.
I love the taste of watermelon - especially if it's been chilled in the 'fridge. I'm really pleased that yours grew well for you and that they tasted so good. :-D Roll on next years crop!!
Cariboo Valley, Most of the watermelons that I look at for my garden are a 20-30# varieties. there are a few varieties that are huge as in 40-50#'s and then there is the carolina cross that people grow for competitions (there are probably other varieties, too) that I have seen grown as prize winners closer to 200#'s I can't move a melon that size and I can't use it either, nor do I think most of my customers want one that size....moving one that big has problems/challenges I like the smaller ones called Jade Doll which averages 15#'s and is much easier to carry to a market in crates. We also grow one called sangria and it has excellent flavor and is a medium size of 20-25#'s. Donna chose well at growing the crimson sweet. It was always a good melon in our garden, too. When we plant melons we lay black plastic in the garden and bury the edges. this keeps the weeds down and the heat in for the melons. They don't need much water once they are established. How long is your growing season? You might be able to squeeze a short season variety out of your garden if you use plastic mulch. I would feel guilty putting it in the trash (we use a lot of the mulch) except everything goes to a recycling center and is recycled instead of put in a land fill. The largest melon this year...24#'s according to this scale... ( photo / image / picture from carolyn keiper's Garden ) I finally got a picture and got it uploaded...This was the largest melon in the patch this year, that I remember. Some years there are many like this.
Congrats on your watermelons and good luck next year! We had one this year the size of a tennis ball. :-|
Congrats! My watermelons also didnt get any bigger than a tennis ball this year, so finally today I just dumped the lot of em in the compost. Try again next year!
If there's anything better than an ice cold watermelon that you grew yourself, I don't know what it could be. I had four beauties this year. I'm thinking next year I'll put some seeds out as soon as the soil is warm enough and when those are up, I'll plant another hill. I'd love to extend that harvest. I have three honey dew melons left on the vines that should ripen in the next week or two. Then, that's it for melon season. Boo hoo hoo.
