I got this Vietnamese watermelon variety from my vacation trip to Vietnam in April. I planted the seed in early May and now just harvested them. They are only about 7 pounds. Next year I will use the Black diamond flower to cross it to see if I can get them bigger in size. They are real red, sweet, crunchy and tasty. Also early maturity is a plus.
Tony
I have an elongated watermelon similar to yours with a similar origin. It also matures very early and has a very thin rind.
I bought the watermelon in Sapa, Vietnam. One of the small Hmong ethnic group in this red Mountainous highlands of Northern Vietnam. The older lady that sold me the watermelon said she grew it from seeds she harvested yearly.
Tony
That looks great and I actually like that it’s an icebox that’s short to grow. It looks like it isn’t very seedy?
It was about 20 seeds per melon.
Tony
I’m impressed with the low seed count and I assume that it is an Heirloom. I have planted a few watermelons before but I’m still in the learning stage. I have limited space so I planted 3 varieties (Black Diamod is one of them) in part of my blueberry beds. Live and learn. I go by every day and pull the vines off the blueberry plant. On the good side is that I counted 7 melons that are getting bigger every day. On a side note I spent 2 years of my younger life in Vietnam near what used to be Saigon.
How did you get this through customs
I put some seeds in side my shaver bag with all the toot brushes and placed the bag inside the check in luggage. The custom guy just asked if I brought any fresh fruits but didn’t asked about the seeds. I said no to the fresh fruits.
Tony
Sounds risky, especially if the dogs sniff it out…
Good answer. Fruit growers know how to answer questions.
These are the Black beauty Vietnamese watermelon. I think the late frost kinda stunted them a bit. The size kinda small. I will collect the seeds for next year
Tony
The Black Diamond cross sounds interesting, would be curious if any of that dark skin shows up in the F1. Black Diamond can take a while to ripen though, hopefully the early maturity carries through from the Vietnamese side.
