10lb black diamond.
9 Likes
That looks Just Right!
Misread the date on a popsicle stick. Picked this one at 30 days instaed of 35 days. Underripe. Brix 9. Not worse than some of store bought melons we had.
1 Like
I cut my 2nd of two Blacktail Mountain loose today. It’s flesh is perfect. Total guess. No idea when I started the plant even! Had to take more than one photo! Got lots of seeds now. No other melon around to pollinate it. A lot of rind but very good tasting.
Thanks @Matt_in_Maryland for the seeds!
Dax
15 Likes
The real question is “How did it taste?” 
1 Like
Seriously, absolutely amazing.
Dax
2 Likes
I’m really excited about my first melon of the year. As I’ve said, I didn’t plant my usual patch this year but I had some seeds I didn’t get to try last year so I planted them right up by my house and let them run all across my concrete patio. I thought the coyotes would never come this close (they didn’t) and letting the vines run across the concrete meant I didn’t have to weed at all. It worked great!
Anyway, the variety I speak of is called “strawberry” and its a long, striped melon- seeds from Baker Creek. The downside is it was fairly heavy on seeds. But I’d gladly accept that for the incredible sweetness. Holy cow, this is one of the sweetest watermelons out of the 56 varieties I’ve grown. Just incredible!!! It’s also a beautiful deep red color. Baker Creek description calls it pink but it is deep red- even in their own photo. THe only other negative is that I had a higher than normal number of deformed melons, but that is usually a water issue and probably was in this case.
Anyway, I’m really excited about this new (to me) melon and will certainly grow it again. Anyone else ever tried it?
4 Likes
That black diamond really looks PERFECT.
@mamuang The same thing goes for your last Orange Glo above…you picked it absolutely perfectly IMHO. just the right amount of cracking in the center of flesh, good color, seed formation, etc. You hit that one just right!!! And as I’ve said, that can be hard to do on OG!
1 Like
I’m going to try that OG next year.
Dax
I will take O G seeds with me!
1 Like
You bet!
It’s starting to look like something “I have to eat!”
Dax
1 Like
Me too!
1 Like
Kevin,
We missed more than we hit, unfortunately. We were lucky with our first Blacktail Mountain, one Hime Kasen and two OG.
The Black Diamond and two Crimson Sweet were underripe. We still do not know when to pick Crimson Sweet.
We did not see the second Hime Kansen until too late. It cracked a lot by the time we found it. Inside rotted.
Two OG+WW both were overripe at 39 and 45 days from fruit set.
We picked another Hime Kansen and an OG+WW tonight. We’ll see if it’s hit or miss.
@Mountain_Donkey,
Hime Kansen. This one may be picked a day or two too early. Seeds were not all brown yet. It was nice and sweet. Brix 10.
This was our 3rd Hime Kansen from one plant. It needs only 30-32 days from fruit set to ripen. Small fruit 3-6 lbs. Good for a fun oroject with kids or people who have a short summer,
Don’t worry…as time goes on you will get much better at determining ripeness. I bet you’ll eventually abandon the method of trying to count days from “fruit set” and just trust what you can see and hear more- especially if you grow more melons. I just don’t think that even the same variety of melon will always take the same number of days from fruit set to ripening every year or even within a year, so that may be why you’ve missed a lot. But we all have our own system and none of them are perfect. You seem to like your method of counting days, and it definitely worked for that OG above!
Most of all, I’m just glad to see you enjoying watermelon growing! I still think its one of the best, fastest ways to get a large amount of really good fruit. And it is just plain fun watching them grow!
I like counting days because it is more concrete than other methods. Even with my limited experienced, I got perfectly ripe melons when tendrils did not turn brown, bottom side did not turn yellow, etc. Noticing difference in “sheen” and a deeper color of stripes, etc needs more experience.
One of my misses were because we mis-read the date on the stick. Others because we did not know when fruit set. By the time we saw them, we had to guesstimate the date.
We don’t just count days, we have applied all other methods to figure out when melons ripen.
I completely understand the desire for a more definable method, I just have doubts if there is one. But you make an outstanding point…as I’ve said before, none of the “old wives tales” methods work every time either. Dean or green tendrils, yellow bellies, hollow sounds, and other methods are ALL hit or miss to some degree. I suspect the counting days is too, so none of the methods are really dependable. I really wish there was some better way! But you honestly will get a lot better at it. Looks like you had a good year overall so that is what matters. Glad you are into melons now!
1 Like
Thoroughly enjoyed a Gold Strike watermelon today. Thanks to Kevin (@thecityman) for the recommendation. This was better than the two Orangeglo I had last year, though those ripened later in the season. But, man, this Gold Strike was fantastic. Probably the best thing I’ve eaten from my orchard this season.
2 Likes
Gold Strike ARE great melons!!! No doubt about it. Glad you got a good one. They are just good old fashioned sweet melons. mmm
1 Like
that is awesome mamuang
i have already included it in future breeding projects
i will try a hime kansen x strawberry watermelon along with a kaho x orangeglo
for my half japanese watermelon project
i will make seeds available and post results.
I am happy with the amount of participation in this years watermelon thread i see alot of good melons here and i enjoy watching people that grow them do so for the very first time, growing watermelons can be very rewarding
also thank you for counting days on small melons now i will know in the future