I use cradles for my cantaloupe. Keeps the rot and bugs away. They’re a white, heavier duty version I got off Amazon. I expect they’ll last a lifetime.
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I haven’t seen any mention of Hami Melons in these discussions. Does anyone grow this type? It is our favorite store-bought melon. I tried growing them, but they seem to need more heat than our Pacific Northwest location provides.
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Are any of the orange watermelons worth growing? Orangeglo or Tendersweet Orange?
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Tried my first Wibb. Picked it overripe unfortunately so it was a bit disappointing. Plenty more on the vine to find the perfect one. I did not like the large seeds and this above average sized one at 14 pounds had a smaller heart area than expected. Flavor was good but I will need to try more before I decide if its on my must plant list. Great plant vigor with lots of leaves to hid the leaf colored melons.
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Wibb is notable for intense red color and reasonably good flavor. It really needs a week of intense sun and no rain to reach best flavor. Otherwise, a good watermelon and easy to grow.
EP, I’ve grown both tendersweet and orangeflo. Both are good watermelons with orangeglo IMO slightly the better of the two.
vitog, Hami melons are decent if you have seed of a good variety. Climate can make it difficult to grow them.
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Parks Whopper cantaloupe. Very good. Tastes about the same as Athena. Ripens a touch later which is good for me, spreading things out a bit. I pick before slip as I like them before they turn to mush.
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so, if you would pick 1 watermelon variety that’s easier to grow in the north with good overall flavor, which one would you pick?
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You climate is tough. I’d do New Hampshire Midget or Blacktail Mountain.
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i have some seed for blacktail mountain, crimson sweet and a small yellow fleshed one from baker seeds. something midget. im going to start them early indoors to give them a good headstart. i got a crimson sweet plant i started in the spring. its been neglected but its alive. was thinking of potting it into a 10gal. pot and throwing it into my 6’ x10’ x 6’ high grow tent with 2 1000w equiv. leds. think i could fit it in there once grown out ?
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Sure, you could also fit an elephant in there but the elephant won’t be happy either.
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If I thought I could grow an elephant I’d probably be looking to see if I should get a red, yellow, or orange fleshed one!
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I have 9 melons out there, 6 from my compost and they look very healthy, not sure which variety, I’m waiting for them to ripen up. But I don’t have large space either.
SCGN, sounds like you need to grow some elephants too! :
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No here, I tried all sorts of big watermelon seeds and I got nothing. When my last batch is over, I’m done with them. Back to Sugar baby size.
what if i only allowed a few flowers to set and pruned out alot of the vine?
@Fusion_power Have you ever grown Nancy? I’m really enjoying the melons I’m getting and am curious how they fit in the universe of melons based on flavor.
Minnesota midget melons grew well here early in the season, they were ripe by August and I planted them out in early May. small cantaloupes. tasty
these yellow melons too, smaller and ripened fast in a not-great season. I started those in blocks indoors in March, put them out in late April/early May, they’re just now ripe
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that’s the yellow one i have seeds for.
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try ‘yellow baby’. its the shortest season one I know of. Sub 70 days if memory serves. Flavor is great. Its an F-1 hybrid, I believe
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thanks.