Beautiful plums!
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The 1/2 yellow leaf on watermelon looks like a chimera too me .
@Alan,
It is too bad nuseries do not carry this variety. Since this is a very dry year, I don’t see bacteria spots on them yet. I do spray fungicide from brown rot.
My Spring Satin branch broke. I love that pluot. It is a standout.
@mrsg47
Thank you. Wish you were near so we could taste all the fruit and share out thoughts on them.
@Hillbillyhort - it only happen to that vine. This Crimson Sweet plants has several vines but only this 9ne shows this abnormality.
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Sorry I’m a week late. I haven’t even read the other answers here, but in my opinion that 1/2 yellow leaf is absolutely meaningless. Not sure of the cause but the rest of the leaves look very healthy. And you will always have some random leaves that turn yellow and die for whatever reason. Its a bit odd the way that one is just 1/2 yellow but still, I think its just a fluke or caused by something that isn’t an on-going problem. The dryer and hotter it gets the more yellow and dead leaves you will get, so don’t worry about them. As long as most leaves are green, and as long as all the leaves on a vine or subvine aren’t wilting, Don’t worry about it.
Hope you are giving lots of fertilize. I like 15–15-15 but I know others argue otherwise. But watermelons LOVE fertilize so much it can’t be overstated. Don’t think of them as fruit trees … they are annuals and different in 1000 other ways. Feed them!
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Thanks. Can’t find 15-15-15 so I gave the plant Plant Tone 4-5-5 plus calcium. I used to get bottom end rot on watermelons, too.
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@Olpea
What are the characteristics of Spring Snow, please? My potted SS have ripened, sooner than I recalled. I left way too many fruit on this small tree. Fruit are small. I did not have time to cut down water so their brix was only 12.
They were in bags so the coloring is off but they potentially can be very red. When fully ripe, skin peeled off easily. It is white flesh and free stone.
I tried to get good pics of their end part of the fruit.
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I think that would be fine, it would just take more, but the ratios are about the same. Obviously you don’t want to burn the plants but don’t be stingy either! They can take more than you think. Its amazing to fertilize them heavy right before a good rain. About 3-4 days later it’s just amazing to see all the new growth start coming out and how bright the color of the plant is and how the melons grow, etc. More than almost any other plant I’ve grown, watermelons just thrive with from good feedings!
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How often do you feed them?
So, I’ve been at a quandary with this Spring Snow. Some folks on the forum have less than stellar reviews of it. I know I sent you wood which I suspect is growing in your pot. Your fruit looks like my Spring Snow (though I’m not positive the variety I have is Spring Snow). Another member has sent me Spring Snow from a different source to compare. His wood I grafted this spring on a nearby tree. It is growing well, but the soonest it would fruit would be next year. Of course I can’t guarantee I’ll get fruit next year, depending on the weather.
Characteristics? This is the best tasting white peach I’ve ever grown. I’ve grown about 15 different white peaches, and this one is the best.
Most years it’s a light cropper. However this year, the biggest tree had full crops. Other smaller trees were light crops. We’ve had a drought this year, but that doesn’t affect my opinion. It’s always top notch in terms of flavor here, whether wet or dry. My only complaint is the production, which has always been very light except for this year.
The fruits are always remarkable in terms of fragrance and flavor, but this year with the drought, they were out of this world. Seriously, they were crazy sweet. I had one close friend who came by and I gave him a box of fruit. He and his woman ate a fruit in front of me and he said it was the best peach he had ever eaten. He was so sincere that he made it clear to me he wasn’t saying that because we were friends. By his account, it was the best peach he had ever tasted.
One of my employees who has worked for me for over 3 years was also super impressed with the peach. He tastes probably 10 to 15 peaches a day when we pick heavy. He was so impressed with the peach, he took a couple home to his mother (who receives peaches from us throughout the season). I asked what she thought of it, and he said, she said she couldn’t believe something so sweet could grow on a tree. I could go on with testimonials this season.
I sold these peaches to customers and they all went bonkers over them. Admittedly, they were a notch better this year with the dry weather, but this has always been an exceptional white peach for me. Again, it blows the doors off so many other white peaches we’ve grown. It’s as sweet as Saturn, but with much better flavor. This year with the dry weather, they are positively the best flavored white peach I’ve tasted. My only grievance against this variety is it’s finicky production. Because of that, I only have 4 trees left, and will slowly get rid of them.
It’s a super delicious fruit, but the light production doesn’t really make money so i need something in those spaces with more consistent production.
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i wish i could grow watermelon here. its just not warm enough. ive tried them and cantaloupe and they never get to size up.
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SS (your version) sounds great. I hope you will keep one just because of its taste. Grow it at home for your wife 
!!
It seems to produce well where I am so I keep mine.
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Depends on rainfall. By far the best time to fertilize watermelons is right before a good rain. In those cases, I fertilize as soon as 5 days later. If it doesn’t rain in between, I fertilize mine about every 12-14 days at most. Also use less when you aren’t getting rain. Also, rain is different from watering. If you are watering with city water, even if you water heavy with a hose, it just isn’t the same as a rain. Not only because rain soaks the ground better and therefore lasts longer, but it also contains nutrients and elements and other things that watermelons love. So if you are only watering but not getting any good rains, fertilize less and less often.
My goal on watermelons is to pretty much try to find the line where I apply all the fertilize the plant can take without killing it. Really. Some may disagree, but my 35 years of watermelon growing has taught me that anything just short of wilting and burning the plant is great. I’m not claiming this is true for any other plant - I don’t know- but for watermelons its good to feed often. Yes, it also creates more leaves and vines, but those leaves and vines collect sunshine and use photosynthesis to convert it to more feed for the plant and for the fruits. I’ve seen some people claim that too much fertilize reduces sweetness but I strongly, strongly disagree. I find no correlation at all. Too much water does, but not fertilize- IMHO. So feed away.
I have no idea how to tell you with your 5-5-4 fertilize because I’m unfamiliar with the volume of that mix. But when using 15-15-15 granulated fertilize, I use approximately 1 cup per plant. Sprinkle it started about 2-3 inches from the base of the vine and spread out in a perfect circle to around 3-4 feet circle all the way around the base of the vine.
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My first Arctic Glo ripened today.
@Ahmad when did you pick you Arctic Glo?
What about Zephyr and Emeraude?
Mine are still quite small. Look like a long way from ripening.
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I picked my Arctic Glo on July 20, the first day I arrived back from my vacation, and they were very soft, so I would have probably picked them a few days earlier. Emeraude will probably be around Aug 15-20 for you and Zephyr about a month later.
Have you tried the Glo or not yet?
Thank you. One of the three in the pic did not come off easily. These are from the multi grafted potted tree. The fruit in pots often ripen 7-10 days before the same varieties in ground.
My potted Spring Snow peaches ripened on 7/17 but the one in ground did not ripen until 7/25-26. The last one is still on the tree.
Lots of my friends think it is easy to have a backyard orchard. You just planted fruit trees and wait to harvest fruit.
I often have to tell them that it is not always rainbow and unicorn.
In fact this year, there has not been rainbow due to no rain. Unicorn has not shown up but these did.
From last night.
And at lunch time.
@SMC_zone6 I broke my record of back to back non-unicorn catches within 12 hours.
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Wow! I never set traps, except for once and caught a screaming mink! It was loud and very nasty. Hissed too.
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You’re a raccoon away from starting an “orchard pest zoo!”
Yikes! Those guys have quite a bite! I think minks and skunks are the scariest things to have to open the trap for and let go.
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