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Post by mrsk on Jul 26, 2015 12:02:54 GMT -5
THE ONLY thing my husband wishes I could grow is watermelon! I have planted for years, and it never makes it all the way. My sister, who has NEVER had a garden, moved,planted some and got a huge harvest, Ugh! Took a lot of ribbing for that.
However, not even the end of July, and I find two melons about the size of a softball already!!! This year, I gave it plenty of room, and it is now spilling into the area that I just pulled the onions on one side, and and to the south, the potatoes, which should be nearly done.
Ok, so how many watermelon can one vine support? Is it better to snip off the ones that start later? Do I add more fertilizer? I have been watering it pretty good, and the area is well mulched.
Come on crew, help a loyal memeber do good!
Mrs K
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Post by tbird on Jul 26, 2015 12:09:24 GMT -5
no advice, but wishing you the best!
I am going to try melons again next year, didn't do any this year. I also have had no success, going to try to get them early with a cold frame in 2016
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Post by desertwoman on Jul 26, 2015 13:45:15 GMT -5
I don't know about melons (haven't grown them) but with my sugar pie pumpkins I cut off the later starting ones. I figure they won't reach full maturity before frost and the plant can probably only grow so many decent sized pumpkins.
I just start out with well amended soil and don't add anything else during the summer. they are also mulched well, and watered well. I get 5-6 pumpkins per plant each season.
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Post by restless on Jul 26, 2015 16:12:46 GMT -5
I have grown melons, but not in a couple years. They weren't space effective for me. I found that my melons self selected to produce two melons per plant. Meaning, two female flowers would fully pollinate and grow...and later female flowers would either not pollinate at all, or would pollinate, start to grow a bit, and then start to rot. I didn't have to help the plants in this endeavor. I grew full sized watermelon, honey dew, and banana melon.
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Post by datgirl on Jul 26, 2015 17:40:49 GMT -5
I don't know either. I had one watermelon vine last year that grew and grew and grew and never had a melon. It took up so much space that I decided not to try again.
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Post by octave on Jul 26, 2015 19:17:20 GMT -5
I think you can reasonably expect 2 - 3 watermelon from each plant. I would not cut/prune the vines, watermelons can take care of themselves.
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Post by James on Jul 26, 2015 19:47:55 GMT -5
I just plant them and stand back. It is good to have 2 or more plants for the sake of cross pollination. I had tried for years with no luck, but one year I came on one called Charleston Grey. It actually produced, so I saved seed and have been saving seed from this line since. It always does good for me. Ya, maybe two or three per plant. You may get a larger melon if you prune all except the first one to set on though.
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Post by mrsk on Jul 27, 2015 14:47:28 GMT -5
Thanks all, James you did send me some of that seed. I need to go through my box and see what kind I did plant, it might be those.
Fingers crossed, I see a third one that looks like it has an insect pit in it, I may snip that one off. The melons are sitting out in full sun, not under the vine, is that ok.
I would really, really like these to make it this year!
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Post by James on Jul 28, 2015 9:09:39 GMT -5
Hope it turns out well for you. Actually I am holding one of those melons in my avatar. No, full sun won't hurt the melon. Know how to tell when its ripe? look at the tendril where the stem of the melon attaches to the vine. When that tendril dries up and turns brown the melon is ripe. I am curious, what is your elevation there and how many frost free days can you expect for your growing season? Here I am at 5000 ft elevation and frost free days about 120 avg. Those Charleston Gray melons do OK here. Other varieties have not done so well.
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Post by mrsk on Jul 28, 2015 20:30:48 GMT -5
I think we are about 3500 feet elevation and about 120 days. I have tried every year, but this year, I did plant the seed in WOW in early May, and mulched with cardboard and old hay. We had so much rain and very cool temperatures in May and June, I really did not have much hope.
It is oblong, and that yellow green, I think it is the Chaleston Gray, but need to check my box.
I would be so pleased if I could get it to grow, and if it does, I am keeping the seed
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