Also welcome to the forum!
3 Likes
Thank you. Agreed, an OK Torpeda is still an incredible melon. But I hope for more than just OK 
Our summers are pretty hot. This year the summer is very hot and not much rain, so that certianly helps. The problem is that our seasons are very short, but with a good headstart indoors itâs doable.
I am slowly figuring out how to grow these melons. They hate rain. Growing in containers may be the the way to go as I can control water supply precisely. I need to cover them when it rains to prevent splitting. They are also very prone to diseases so you need to stay on top of that as well.
4 Likes
Thank you!
I see youâve been growing this variety as well⌠in North Carolina, based on your profile. Have you been successful?
Not yetâŚ
Iâm still trying though, and Iâve a few tricks for next year if this year doesnât work.
3 Likes
Well, I was going to post a picture of this melon because Iâm questioning whether I mixed up labels and itâs not golden midget. And, then I noticed the deluge yesterday caused it to split. Sad. Smell nice, but doesnât look fully ripe. will try it with my kids this afternoon. Itâs that time of year when we stress out with every downpour and run to check the melons.
Not sad- heart of gold slipped from the vine. Itâs small bc it was trellised and the vine was sick, but it smells delicious!
Edit- Iâm positive now the watermelon is crimson sweet. Unfortunate labeling error as thatâs obviously not a trellis melon. And, it means I gave away all 4 of my golden midget seedlings. This. Year.
4 Likes
ive got 2 orangeglo vines going with 5 fruit sizing up. got 2 basketball sized fruit last year off of 1 vine. hoping for even better results this summer.
3 Likes
I just saw a video of someone putting a toothpick through the watermelon stem to supposedly prevent cracking. Has anyone tried that? Would it really let out excess water yet not compromise the melon ripening?
2 Likes
Well, I got a cantaloupe from that one tiny half-dead plant of unknown variety that I posted about with pictures 4 days ago on this thread. It still has four good-size melons left and I think some smaller ones starting to form.
I had been reading about how to tell when a cantaloupe is ripe, I.e., turns more yellow, slips from vine, melon aroma, etc. I moved it just a bit and it came loose almost on its own from the vine. No tugging or twisting required. I never knew exactly what it meant when people said it âslipsâ from the vine, but I think I have a good understanding now. I tried to smell it before I moved it and thought it had a faint aroma, but there were so many other stronger smells out there that I wasnât sure. It had turned more yellow than it was previously.
When I brought it into the house and left it in the kitchen until I could get a chance to cut it up the next day, my whole kitchen began to smell of ripe cantaloupe so I was hopeful it was nicely ripe.
I cut it the next day (photos below) and it was perfect. Juicy but not at all mushy, and it was pretty sweet. Not the sweetest melon I ever had but probably 2nd or 3rd. This was somewhat amazing to me as we have had 3 inches of rain in my rain gauge this week and 6 inches of rain last week, which is very unusual for July. I can only imagine how sweet it might have been without all that heavy rain. My husband quite liked it and he is always the first to inform me that a melon we just cut is not sweet enough. It was also quite a good size cantaloupe.
I will definitely be saving seeds and will talk to the lady at the Amish nursery where I bought it next spring to see if she might be able to narrow down the variety. If I remember correctly she only had a couple of cantaloupe varieties for sale, so maybe she will remember. Definitely a keeper!
Sandra
6 Likes
I came across this article a few years ago. I wonder if anyone on this forum has tried it.
Saving The Sweetest Watermelon The South Has Ever Known : The Salt : NPR
1 Like
First rich sweetness slipped from the vine! These are TINY (those are 5yo hands!) , but pretty and prolific. Weâll try it tomorrow. I figure even if itâs a 2 bite melon, itâs worth growing because it took up very little space. - 5 melons quickly formed within a foot of a 10g container.
Update- rich sweetness is not sweet. Not even a little bit. It smelled really lovely, but clearly needed to sit on the counter for more than one day.
Further update- I let one sit in the counter for many days until more aromatic and soft. Texture was nice, good juice, still totally devoid of any sugar/sweetness. Has a nice melon flavor and would probably be good if it was sweet. Baffling little melon. Vines have zero disease tolerance as one is now mostly dead and the other super disease-laden so I think Iâm pulling them along with all the fruit. Clearly, not the melon for my location.
7 Likes
Whatâs your way for telling if watermelon is ripe??
I feel like the tendril goes long before itâs actually ripe. Knocking doesnât work well as they all sound hollow. I usually pick one and use it to gage the rest, but I only have one lone and beautiful sugar baby, soâŚanyone have a magic trick?
1 Like
I have a terrible time picking ripe watermelons. I think it is important to make sure the bottom where it was laying is yellow, not whitish or green. All the thumps sound virtually the same to me. If anyone has a fairly reliable method I would love to know it, too!
Sandra
5 Likes
Iâm still refining my method, myself. Last year I started only picking them when they had a brown tendril, made a hollow ring, AND a yellow spot where they touched the ground. Once I started picking them only when they displayed all 3 of those signs I managed to catch the rest of them ripe. When in doubt, Iâm sure to give them a couple more days on the vine. Most likely, itâs far from a perfect system, but seems to be working for me so far.
6 Likes
Well, this is trellises, so no sun spot to watch. Itâs been a bit over 5 wks since the fruit pollinated, and Iâm mostly anxious to get it because itâs been dry for 4 days.
1 Like
The sound I listen for is when it sounds closer to thumping on a jug of water than on a pumpkin.
2 Likes
Picked my first watermelon yesterday. Dried up tendril, very visible ground spot, very ribbed looking like it was ready to burst (thump thing is nonsense IMHO). Got it inside, washed it off, cut it open, andâŚbarely pink around the seeds. Maybe the mostly superficial pin-sized bug hole in the bottom made it âripenâ sooner? Very disappointing.
@KS_razerback OK, thanks. Now Iâm gonna have to go thump a jug of water to see what that sounds like since I have never thumped one before. LOL!!
1 Like
I used to use the thumping reliably when picking grocery store watermelons, but maybe Iâve gotten worse at it because totally inaccurate this year. Another rich sweetness fell from the vine looking ripe. Letting this one sit on the counter for a while to see if they can develop any of the sugars theyâre named for.
Pretty sure aside from maybe the sugar baby and one cantaloupe, all my small melons are going to ripen while Iâm on vacation 
5 Likes
if you save seed from that hardy fella i would love a few, i can send you seed in exchange or postage if youâre willing to part with any
i finally have a few hairy little baby muskmelons, and one watermelon forming from my neglect patch this year.
all melons are trying to escape the patch and get out into the path. they are allowed, itâs a really wide path area
3 Likes