The black plastic worked better than I expected. I think it’s the reason the melons are so much larger this year. Last year, the largest melon was about 22 lbs, and the others all averaged around 14 lbs. This year, I’m averaging between 25 and 30 lbs per melon.
Regarding the temps, once the vines run and cover the plastic, the plastic and the soil underneath won’t get so hot. The black plastic just allows you to get a jump on seed germination and plant growth earlier than normal–in my case nearly a full month earlier than the past two years. Recall, too, that watermelons came from Africa, so they are a hot weather crop.
Regarding the row of mounded soil, I basically applied the raised bed way of gardening and the Square Foot Gardening method to the row. I tilled the row last year and added a cubic yard of compost, some sphagnum moss for water retention, and vermiculite for soil looseness. This year, I added another two cubic yards of compost. So, it’s a raised bed without the box. This year, I also added drip irrigation, which was very nice to have.
Thank you sir, I will definitely be using some weed barrier next year. I will also be adding big stripe to my varieties. I will be keeping crimson sweet, Charleston gray, and jubilee improved. I’m getting rid of black diamond and sangria. Jade star still to be determined.
ouple Jade stars, a couple Charleston gray, and a couple crimson sweet. Biggest Charleston gray so far at a little over 30 lbs. A few cantaloupes, ambrosia and sugar cubes.
Think watermelon quality has been suffering this year because of weather. Has been very dry here since about mid-July, and it’s starting to stress the vines; the melons themselves are on the puny side. Had a couple 40+ pound (and sugar-sweet!) Strawberries last year. Nothing close this year. Don’t have an irrigation set-up, so am probably going to have to hand water tomorrow. Well, at least I’ll get my exercise!
I’d certainly recommend giving Janosik a go—and I’m definitely growing it again next year. Had it for dessert today, and it tasted much sweeter after cooling in the fridge. And the texture: wonderfully crisp. Reminded me of some sort of shaved ice confection. It’s exactly what I’ve been looking for in a yellow watermelon! Even if the others out in the patch aren’t as good, it’s shown its potential----and I look forward to seeing what it can do in a good watermelon year.
I know I will be giving janosik along with big stripe and starbrite a go for me next year after hearing you and others favorites. This years melons are not done around here and already looking forward to next year.
How did that Tendersweet Orange taste? My first one, I threw into the compost pile. Here’s the second one. It’s just not juicy like the other melons. I just sliced up half of this for the fridge. The other half is about to turn into a smoothie.
I just picked a smaller one, which I’m chilling right now. We’ll see if it’s better than the first two. Next year, I’m going back to Gold Strike or OrangeGlo.
On a better note, here are three Big Stripes we just picked – 88 lbs total.
Today I picked and ate my Galia melon. In the singular. Like, the only one. There should have been two vines, but one of them turned out to be another charentais. The only vine, the only fruit on it. A nice big one, a good one, but still.
Kevin,
Thank you very much for recommending Charleston Gray. This was picked around 85 days after planting. About 30 lbs and 20” long. Perfectly ripe. Brix was 12. Crisp, juicy and sweet. Can’t ask for a better melon.
This is my sixth Strawberry this year—and several more are waiting. And while I haven’t grown anything approaching the size of my 42-pound champ last year, they’ve all been good to excellent. They’re better, probably more consistent, than Crimson Sweet—and are probably my favorite melon. Janosik, all three or so of which I’ve tried have been top-notch, is gaining on Strawberry, though. Northern Lights is a productive and early red-fleshed melon, Russian I believe. All have been decent—but don’t hold a candle to Strawberry. Yarilo (not pictured) looks—and tastes—like a somewhat bigger version of Northern Lights, and was not very productive this year. Kaho is a neat little (very little) melon with pretty orange flesh—and they’ve ranged from okay to very sweet; all have been extremely seedy.
A cucurbitaceous miracle! Zatta di Massa managed to ripen two melons despite the wilt, and Kajari several more. The first Zatta was excellent, fragrant and sweet; the second only good, because it lacked a bit of the first’s sweetness. Here’s the interior:
It’s worth growing—and fighting the cucumber beetles over. My favorite of the two, however, was Kajari, which was consistently sweet and delectable. Guess I’m just more of a honeydew guy.
@MNmelons, I was admiring your splendid Janosiks again (I’m becoming a Janosik-fiend!) and it struck me: you’re growing all these fine melons in 3b! How do you do it in such a short growing season?
I start them in peat pots May 15 th or so and they come up before June 1st at which time I plant them in the garden in black plastic mulch. The black plastic helps all season. It makes the temp around the entire plant at least ten degrees warmer on a sunny day. You can feel the warmth just walking near it. I also get out in the patch and hand pollinate as soon as female flowers appear. This gets me earlier melons. It takes awhile for the bees to find them and often aren’t enough bees to pollinate them properly. This year we had a cold June and still started getting fully ripe melons about 80 days after transplant. My first was a Crimson Sweet. Couldn’t believe it cuz they set later and are 85 day rated. First time growing them and they are my second favorite after Janosik. We eat a watermelon every night and will be for 20 days or more yet hopefully.I’ve wanted to post more here but was only allowed 3 posts. Also have Athena cantaloupe getting close. About 40 of them. Them lime green melons are Bingo. They got to 27 pounds. Good tasting but not as good as Crimson Sweet. I have some of those that should hit 25. Biggest Janosik was 19 so far. Last year several went over 25. Forgot to say earlier the only fertilizer these get is cow manure dug under previous fall. And for foliage diseases I am using Biosafe organic products. Works very well against Anthracnose, alternaria and others. And they’ll only let me show you one pic so here’s the 27 pound Bingo melon.
