How were your watermelons that ripened in Oct in your zone?
Mine did not ripen well and were not sweet after cooler night 40’s started by mid Sept. I am in zone 6a.
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They definitely decline a bit in quality, but most are still good eating as long as the overcast rainy fall weather keeps at bay. They need more ripening time then, so theres more propensity for them to get weird in some way. Still, A lot of our latest melons were some of the biggest last year, and even if they dont measure up to the PERFECT summer melon, they’re still better than store bought.
More than any reduction in sweetness, what I really noticed was a dramatic decline in anyone’s interest (mine included) on eating watermelon by that time of year. Those one mostly get put up frozen whether cubed or made into juice (using my preferred method- rind, seeds, and all)
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Some of my newest melons to form are looking very skinny on the stem end. Poor pollination? Will they fill in on the stem end or should I cull them?
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Mine definitely did not ripen well and tasted poorly. Brix was barely reach 8.
To me, watermelons with brix go like this.
12 excellent
11 very good
10 good
9 edible
8 not good.
Below 8 not for my consumption
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some of these late ones wind up like that inevitably, but not all IME. Surely growing a small short season variety adapted to some cool nights helps.
I find a good use for low brix melons (including the ones accidentally picked underripe) is to juice them (rind, seeds, and all). In the process, they can easily be sweetened to taste. The rest of the curcurbit flavor is there.
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I don’t know. Been a wet summer so lots of blooms around to attract pollinators more than watermelons which are not the favorite of honeybees for foraging.
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I cull the poorly pollinated ones. This was a hand pollination that I didn’t get enough pollen on.
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bummer on the lack of bees. Ive heard this is an issue. The native bees and wasps are better pollinators on the whole, and would seem to be much more imperiled by habitat loss. they seem to get along well here, but we are surrounded by the elements of good habitat- field, forest, meadow, clean water both open and flowing. Snags and decaying wood abound. And there are all sorts of flowers available through the season in pretty close proximity. I suspect any of these could easily be a limiting factor. Just as with our plants, all of the sun and nutrients in the world won’t help you without water, and vice versa. There has to be an element of critical mass too, I imagine. Many pollinators are not willing or able to cross the vast areas of areas now unsuitable for their survival.
They have a field day here. Even at that, I understand that my home state of VT has lost at least 2 species of bumblebees (now extirpated) in the last decade or less. Ive made them a haven here and so far they seem to have returned the favor. Theres no accounting for what your neighbors are doing though, or for the machinations of society. Personally Im glad to be removed from that to the degree that I am, but I recognize that is an exception in today’s world and that our lives are intertwined in all sorts of unexpected ways. It would be nice if we somehow were able to create habitat through our habits though. Thats a big part of my goal writ large.
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Even here in SW Texas watermelon quality starts to decline by late September most years. Sept is 80s/50s.
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I’d keep them. See what happens. With mine if the blossom end is skinny that’s bad. Mine are seldom like yours but it could be a variety thing.
That is not a variety specific issue. It is from inadequate pollination. Watermelons need about 10 visits per female bloom to set a full complement of seed. Without enough pollinator visits, the portion of the fruit that did not get enough seed set grows as shown above. Long skinny watermelons are more susceptible to poor pollination than shorter fatter watermelons.
Well I checked one of the big Sweetglo this morning and it seemed to have just broken loose- it set very near the hill and its weight made it roll down the mound. It came in at almost exactly 15 lbs. but as I suspected was a few days from being fully ripe. There wasnt much to do but cut into it.
One way or another, the first watermelon always seems to be picked prematurely. Still, its a good gauge for the others that are similarly near ripe
This is the earliest Ive harvested watermelon. Usually I expect them to start ripening the 2nd week of August or so.
The biggest Blacktail Mt looks to be close. The spot has colored up well. Sounds is deep. The tendril has a ways to go still though
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i grew out a few blacktail mountain last summer. got 3 fruit about volleyball size . they were good but not great due to being planted too late. i had a whole tray of crimson sweet die of dampening off due to too much rain this spring. im going to start them much earlier next spring indoors and only plant out in well prepared beds next mid june. ive never eaten a vine ripened watermelon. hopefully next years the year.
I just ate half of the first one. Nothing special. About the same as a good cantaloupe. 13 brix. Not as good as the French Charentais I’ve grown in the past. More like a cantaloupe than a Charentais.
Maybe it’s not the real deal but plants/fruit from two sources appear to be identical.
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Can you post a picture of the melon’s outside when you picked it?
This is the bottom side. It probably needed another day or two to be fully ripe. But ants were getting into the blossom end.
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So it does turn color on the outside.
Thanks… I still have a few more on my vines.
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Did you note how many days from fruit set to picking those were? I believe you having plenty of moisture and heat so it should be optimum conditions for maturing quickly.
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Yes, optimum watermelon growing conditions with 90+ degrees daily and have had abundant rain. My watermelons are maturing almost too fast. I checked last night and there are at least 40 more of which about 10 will be mature over the next week. I set out plants on May 11th. The plants would have been about 10 days old started from seed under grow lights in my basement. I don’t directly track days to maturity, but you can figure 85 days from seed to ripe watermelons. I expect to harvest watermelons for at least 8 weeks after which I will till up the vines so my fall crop can grow without contaminating pollen.
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