blacktail mountain watermelon

Rachel W · August 7, 2013

Hello everyone!
I've been monitoring my watermelon plants and taking pics as they progress. When i started to get melons, I have continued the pics. My Grandpa loves watermelon and I would love to bring him some as soon as it is ripe. Unfortunately it is a two hour drive each way. I would like to plan a visit where i can bring him ripe watermelons. I live in Everett WA. My largest watermelon is a little larger than a softball. It should weigh 8 to 10 pounds when finished. This is my first year gardening and i would love to get an approximate time lapse from thus point. Should i expect ripe melons in two weeks? Four weeks? Six weeks?
Thanks for your help!
Rachel

crmauch · August 22, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rachel W

Hello everyone!
I've been monitoring my watermelon plants and taking pics as they progress. When i started to get melons, I have continued the pics. My Grandpa loves watermelon and I would love to bring him some as soon as it is ripe. Unfortunately it is a two hour drive each way. I would like to plan a visit where i can bring him ripe watermelons. I live in Everett WA. My largest watermelon is a little larger than a softball. It should weigh 8 to 10 pounds when finished. This is my first year gardening and i would love to get an approximate time lapse from thus point. Should i expect ripe melons in two weeks? Four weeks? Six weeks?
Thanks for your help!
Rachel

My melons rarely get to the size listed, I wouldn't depend too much on that. If you know your planting date, I'd check to see how long it's been (According to this site (http://agsyst.wsu.edu/watermelonphotos.html) that someone else posted, Blacktail Mountain is about 89 days (I'm not personally sure how you use the number vis-a-vis planting transplants versus direct seeding.) If your significantly under the 89 days, they're probably not ready. If you've gone over the time (and of course the 89 days is just approximate), do the normal thump test, check the tendril nearest the fruit, and check that it's yellow underneath (where it rests on the ground).

Good luck!

Chris

Rachel W · August 22, 2013

HAHA! I posted that website LOL! Mt Vernon is about 40 miles north of me.

I was just trying to figure out how long the fruit take from first development to finished product. I really was hoping that I would have one this weekend but thats not happening. My largest one was the size of a ping pong ball on July 31, and is now 6.5" in diameter at the fattest part in the middle where you would cut it in half.
I'm hoping for a watermelon next weekend but I think it might be two more weeks. It grew a lot faster the first two weeks, but this past week or so has been slow. According to that website, the average melon is 8.5" diameter.

August 7, 2013	#1
Rachel W Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Everett WA, zone 8b Posts: 95	blacktail mountain watermelon Hello everyone! I've been monitoring my watermelon plants and taking pics as they progress. When i started to get melons, I have continued the pics. My Grandpa loves watermelon and I would love to bring him some as soon as it is ripe. Unfortunately it is a two hour drive each way. I would like to plan a visit where i can bring him ripe watermelons. I live in Everett WA. My largest watermelon is a little larger than a softball. It should weigh 8 to 10 pounds when finished. This is my first year gardening and i would love to get an approximate time lapse from thus point. Should i expect ripe melons in two weeks? Four weeks? Six weeks? Thanks for your help! Rachel

August 22, 2013	#3
Rachel W Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Everett WA, zone 8b Posts: 95	HAHA! I posted that website LOL! Mt Vernon is about 40 miles north of me. I was just trying to figure out how long the fruit take from first development to finished product. I really was hoping that I would have one this weekend but thats not happening. My largest one was the size of a ping pong ball on July 31, and is now 6.5" in diameter at the fattest part in the middle where you would cut it in half. I'm hoping for a watermelon next weekend but I think it might be two more weeks. It grew a lot faster the first two weeks, but this past week or so has been slow. According to that website, the average melon is 8.5" diameter.