Share which watermelon and other melons you are growing this year

[ddsack]

Joseph, please do keep working on those bush melons, they would be fantastic space savers for smaller gardens! Do some revert to long vines in future generations, or are seeds pretty much stable once they show the trait?

Every year I long to try more varieties, but have to limit to three or four plants per garden area because of the space issue. I've even grown some in extra large containers, but normally can't seem to get more than a couple of fruit per plant that way, ground grown do way better. I'll be impatiently waiting for your bushies to become available! Just let us know when and where!

[joseph]

Originally Posted by ddsack

Do some revert to long vines in future generations, or are seeds pretty much stable once they show the trait?

The trait seems to be stable... I've grown one line for 3 generations without any long-vined plants showing up.

[heirloomtomaguy]

Originally Posted by joseph

The trait seems to be stable... I've grown one line for 3 generations without any long-vined plants showing up.

I love what your doing Joseph with this bush muskmelon. Its perfect for a guy like myself who grows maximum amounts of plants on a very small footprint.

[AlittleSalt]

We are going to try :

Cantaloupe - Hearts of Gold

Watermelon - Georgia Rattlesnake
Watermelon - Missouri Heirloom Yellow Flesh
Watermelon - Orangeglo

Pumpkin - Seeds I saved from a huge jack-o-lantern pumpkin.

[PaddyMc]

The above pics remind me that every year I mean to acquire some silver dimes to send to Joseph in exchange for seeds from his Landrace melons and watermelons. Because they're SUPER cool, and because we share a very similar climate. Need to get on that (unless you have any interest in a trade Joseph? ).

Meanwhile, this year I'm growing -

Watermelons -
4th of July
Acoma
Ali Baba
Blacktail Mountain x Ali Baba F1
Btere x Amish Moon and Stars F1
Canada Supersweet
CIT 303
CIT 336
Habhab Hamra
Jumanos
Korol Kuby
Lajko II
Ljubimec Chutora Pjatigorska
Manzano Sandia
Noran e Su Bak
PI 593358 x Tohono O'Odham Yellow F1
Pioner Pustuni
Pyong Yang 1
Raqi
Sandia Los Lunas
Seychelles
Shindewha 3
Skorospelka Char'kovsjaja
White Flesh White Wonder
Zardetzki Piroshushu

Melons -
Aarhus Torg
Acoma
Acoma Light
Angel Dew
Baj Gua
Bon Richah
Chimayo
Fruhes SuBes Wunder
Green Fleck
Ic-Kzyl
Iraq 348
Khiar Taaruzy
Melon De Castilla
New Mexico
O.odham Ke:li Ba:so
Pjpei Mjalhes
Qarres i Bodinak
Showa Kogane Nashi Makuwa
Tam Mayan Sweet
Thai Golden Round
Uzbek Sweetness

Ali Baba and Uzbek Sweetness are the only ones that come back every year, because I love them both so much taste-wise. Everything else is new to me this year (I like to experiment).

[Tormato]

watermelon - Orangeglo

melon - Ichiba Kouji F1
- (Weeks) NC Giant, if I get seeds

Likely some more, but no plans yet.

[Andrey_BY]

PaddyMC,

you are lucky to get Ljubimec Chutora Pjatigorska a very old Russian watermelon variety from 1800s.

It has been respected as one of the best greehhouse watermelon for the Central part of the Russian Empire in the late 1800s - early 1900s and a very reliable open ground variety for the Russian South.

Skorospelka Char'kovsjaja is also quite old watermelon variety from what know we call Ukraine from ealy 1900s.

And Uzbek melons has been always win flavor contests in USSR and CIS and widely sold in open air seasonal markets.

There are some bushy melons like Improved Bush, Bush midget (both from USA) and Pridnestrovskaya Kustovaya (Moldovian CV), Severnaya Papaya (Russian CV). I've trialed only Severnaya Papaya with its tropical sweet flavor.

[pauldavid]

Trying Crimson Sweet watermelon and Israeli (Old Original) melon again this year. Last year was a bust with all the rain and lack of bees. Fingers crossed!

[Scooty]

Originally Posted by Andrey_BY

PaddyMC,

you are lucky to get Ljubimec Chutora Pjatigorska a very old Russian watermelon variety from 1800s.

It has been respected as one of the best greehhouse watermelon for the Central part of the Russian Empire in the late 1800s - early 1900s and a very reliable open ground variety for the Russian South.

Skorospelka Char'kovsjaja is also quite old watermelon variety from Ukraine from ealy 1900s.

And Uzbel melons has been always win flavor contests in USSR and CIS and widely sold in open air seasonal markets.

There are some bushy melons like Improved Bush, Bush midget (both from USA) and Pridnestrovskaya Kustovaya (Moldovian CV), Severnaya Papaya (Russian CV). I've trialed only Severnaya Papaya with its tropical sweet flavor.

I see a lot of names not in Amy Goodman's Melons: For the Passionate Grower , which is suppose to be kind of like the melon version of what Carolyn wrote for tomatoes.

Though not in the book, I see Uzbek at Bakers, so I have an idea of what that looks like. Where would I get info about Ljubimec Chutora Pjatigorska or Skorospelka Char'kovsjaja

[PaddyMc]

To be honest, I don't know much about any of them (most acquired in trades over the last few years). Though a few of the above melons and watermelons are from Native Seed/SEARCH.

Not knowing is partly what I love about them, it's pretty much how I garden - maximum diversity, maximum surprises. My tomatoes are almost all segregating hybrid lines, and I try to grow as many new to me varieties of everything else as I can get my hands on every year. A variety has to be pretty special to keep coming back.

[twillis2252]

Do not have much space for watermelons but try to manage a few plants. Last year grew Crimson Sweet and Charleston Gray (very sweet, red flesh). The Charleston variety produced one specimen that topped 40lbs...I saved some seed from that one for this year.

[Andrey_BY]

Originally Posted by Scooty

I see a lot of names not in Amy Goodman's Melons: For the Passionate Grower , which is suppose to be kind of like the melon version of what Carolyn wrote for tomatoes.

Though not in the book, I see Uzbek at Bakers, so I have an idea of what that looks like. Where would I get info about Ljubimec Chutora Pjatigorska or Skorospelka Char'kovsjaja

Scotty,

when you expect to find everything even in a very good book, but written by American for Americans it's like drinking Jack Daniels and pretend you know the taste of all whiskies
There are thousands of melon and watermelon varieties over the world and you can't know all the best varieties without contacts with people from the major areas of their growing or at least seed collectors
So Amy's book is very good, but it is not about melons worldwide
And Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are two very old melon growing areas with so many great, but mostly semi-late or late season varieties. I've got seeds of several melon varieties from Uzbekistan, but they are rarely get ripen in my climate even in greenhouse... They are great for South. So it's be better to me to grow early varieties from any countries

Here is some info:
Ljubimec Chutora Pjatigorska watermelon - 80-90 days from germination, a plant with long wines up to 4-5m, tappered-globe 6-12 kg green fruit/berries with dark green stripes, intensive red flesh, very sweet and flavouful.
Original variety is a very old Russian watermelon from 1800s.
It has been respected as one of the best greehhouse watermelon for the Central part of the Russian Empire in the late 1800s - early 1900s and a very reliable open ground variety for the Russian South.
Extra info: Hutor Pjatigorsk is a small village in Kharkov region one of the Russian Empire areas. Now it's in the East of Ukraine with a dominant Russian-speaking population...
Lesevitskiy D.C., the breedor of this and many more Russian watermelon varieties, was a landowner of this local places and a passionate melon/watermelon grower and a docent at the Kharkov's University. He developed this variety in 1890s.
There was an improved version called Ljubimec Chutora Pjatigorska 286 developed by Birechekutskaya AES before World War II in Russia.

Skorospelka Char'kovsjaja watermelon - early (64-70 days), green skin with dark green stripes and spots, red crunchy flesh is very sweet. An excellent early variety.
Old variety from Russian Empire from early 1900s. Again from Kharkov's region.

Korol Kuby is just another very old watermelon variety from the same time late 1800s-early 1900s. It was widely used for crosses by breeders of the Russian Empire. The name has told its origin from Cuba.

Ic-Kzyl melon is an old Uzbek variety. The more common spelling is Ich-Kzyl.

Last time I saw so many very old melon varieties from Russian Empire is at Alan Bishop's (Homegrown Goodness) list.

[Gerardo]

Has anyone tried Hime Kansen from Kitazawa?

http://www.kitazawaseed.com/seed_250-91.html

[rhoder551]

Glad to find this area of Tomatoville since melons are my favorite thing to grow. Iffy here in this chilly climate but I've found a few good ones that grow and taste good. I like sweet melons but they don't have to taste like candy...

Rocky Ford Green is top of my list. Grows and produces good sized netted melon with good tasting green flesh. Grew well last year, every other melon was meh..

Tularosa Market. Love this, very much like Crane but grows better for me. Crane farm is not far from here but in a warmer micro-climate.

Honey Ace Hybrid. Growing this because I have seeds from my first year growing when I thought there was no way I could grow a melon, let alone a heirloom. Is okay.

Hale's Best Jumbo. First year growing
Sharlyn. First year growing
Eal River first year
Haogen first year

No watermelons Small garden space and it is really not warm enough, although I tried Moon and Stars last year and got one good melon...

I call them Lofthouse Landrace Muskmelon

Joseph, do you sell your produce in Cache Valley only, or do you make it to other farmers markets on the Wasatch Front? Those melons look fantastic, I'd love to visit and purchase from you this summer!