Short Season OP Watermelon Varieties

[Ann123]

Andrey, they all are so good looking. Which ones are the tastiest and the most productive? I too live in a cool climate.

[Keen101]

I DO NOT recommend Blacktail Mountain. It has never grown well for me here in Northern Colorado. I've tried it several years in a row. Still was pitiful. It may have originally been bred in Idaho, but the seed for it is now grown in Missouri and the south U.S. and is not adapted to northern gardens anymore. A breeding collaborator of mine in Northern Utah also does NOT recommend Blacktail mountain. It does not grow for us.

My picks are Sweet Dakota Rose, Yellow Doll, and Early Moonbeam (dehybridized yellow doll by Alan Kapuler).

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Keen101

I DO NOT recommend Blacktail Mountain. It has never grown well for me here in Northern Colorado. I've tried it several years in a row. Still was pitiful. It may have originally been bred in Idaho, but the seed for it is now grown in Missouri and the south U.S. and is not adapted to northern gardens anymore. A breeding collaborator of mine in Northern Utah also does NOT recommend Blacktail mountain. It does not grow for us.

My picks are Sweet Dakota Rose, Yellow Doll, and Early Moonbeam (dehybridized yellow doll by Alan Kapuler).

Keen,you know that I know where you garden in Colorado.

The seed for it is NOT grown in MO and the south US. If you go to Glenn's website you can see where he said HE planted it on such and such a date in 2016, etc. So yes, Glenn in IA is still growing his own seed.

I think you may have confused him with Fusion in Alabama who does grow cotton and peanuts and more for Glenn.

As for your collaborator in Utah, I think you mean Dale Thurber,but maybe Joseph, but I can't remember right now where he is from without checking.

I can agree with your Yellow Doll, very much so for I've grown that one a lot,but all should know it's an F1 hybrid if that's an issue for some.

Glenn lists several short season ones, that I've grown,there are many more I haven't grown, but of those I've grown I can suggest.

Cream of Saskatchewan and Orengeglo.

The reason Glenn lists so many melons is b/c for many years he was the Curator of Cucurbits For SSE. But no more.

Carolyn, watching the temp plunge lower and lower.

[ddsack]

I'm in northern Minnesota, and Blacktail Mountain has done very well for me here for the past three years. Started early in 4" pots in a greenhouse about three weeks before setting out. Fruit ripe by late August/early September. I got my seed from Sand Hill Preservation, and plan to grow it again.

[Tracydr]

Originally Posted by SuntannedSwede

Thank you all for your advice, I will spring for the Blacktail Mountain seeds then. I had some success with 'Small Shining Light' a few years ago, in spite of being root-bound and stunted. They were in black containers though- soil temperature wasn't so much of an issue. I didn't think to measure the temperature of the bed over the summer, I will make a note of that for this coming season!

I like the idea of that melon landrace- sounds like a lot of time and effort on the part of the developer


Sounds like I should invest in black plastic and some rain barrels! Moon and Stars is the most beautiful watermelon I have ever seen, I tried it a few years ago but no fruit of course. Loved the spotted leaves. I'll save my plans for exotic watermelons for when I have a greenhouse some day. Much appreciated everybody!

Could you do a low cover? Just clear plastic and pvc pipe. You could train the melons to go length ways to keep them inside their boundaries.
Btw,I have grown Orangeglo and liked it quite well. I’m not sure how they’d do in your climate though,we have long hot summers.
I’m looking for a melon that doesn’t split as much because last year they split badly with our big thunderstorms last summer. Which is a huge bummer,watching them get big,nearly ready and then splitting in half. The goats and horses sure enjoyed them. I might consider putting low tunnels over the plants later in the season just to keep them drier.

[Keen101]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

Keen,you know that I know where you garden in Colorado.

The seed for it is NOT grown in MO and the south US.

YES it IS! Maybe not from all sources, but from many watermelon growers! So sourcing where your seed comes from may be important. All i know is that it is a terrible variety for me. So terrible that i can not in good conscience recommend it. I tried it three or four years in a row and it failed to thrive. So i gave up on it. That does not mean that someone in a similar short season climate with different moisture content in their air or different soil it might do fantastic. I have heard from some that it does well, but i have heard from others that it does not live up to expectations at all either. Seems to be a hit or miss variety.

https://www.rareseeds.com/blacktail-...in-watermelon/

http://www.southernexposure.com/blac...1-g-p-361.html

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Keen101

YES it IS! Maybe not from all sources, but from many watermelon growers! So sourcing where your seed comes from may be important. All i know is that it is a terrible variety for me. So terrible that i can not in good conscience recommend it. I tried it three or four years in a row and it failed to thrive. So i gave up on it. That does not mean that someone in a similar short season climate with different moisture content in their air or different soil it might do fantastic. I have heard from some that it does well, but i have heard from others that it does not live up to expectations at all either. Seems to be a hit or miss variety.

https://www.rareseeds.com/blacktail-...in-watermelon/

http://www.southernexposure.com/blac...1-g-p-361.html

All any of us can do is to offer our own experience with anything we grow. You have done that and so have I and yes, I did read the two links you gave.

Carolyn

[SuntannedSwede]

Wow- I had thought about buying some Blacktail Mountain seed from Baker Creek but I think I'll try to find a Canadian source from a cooler climate!

[Dutch]

Originally Posted by SuntannedSwede

Wow- I had thought about buying some Blacktail Mountain seed from Baker Creek but I think I'll try to find a Canadian source from a cooler climate!

PM me an address to send them to and I will mail 12 seeds from plants grown in Wisconsin.
Dutch
P.S. My garden soil is amended Dolomite Clay.

[SuntannedSwede]

Hey thanks so much- pm incoming!

[barbamWY]

Sweet Dakota Rose is my go to here in Northern Wyoming. People really are happy to find our plants at our annual plant sale. I grew Cream of Sask. years ago. It was good but split very easy. We had a long growing season that year, so we got lucky. I tried Blacktail Mountain for a few years and quit when Sweet Dakota Rose became available.

[SuntannedSwede]

Thanks for that, I hadn't ever seen that one before. Adding it to my list. My grandfather is from Park County- that's rugged country you're growing in!

EDIT: It would appear that I missed seeing Dakota Rose in Keen's post! Boy there are a ton of cool weather melons.

[Andrey_BY]

Early varieties are usually with compromise taste.
Full taste varieties are always mid late and late. The tastiest from Soviet/Russian watermelon varieties is Kholodok.
It is the king of farmer markets here in the late September-October. They come from the South of Russia (Astrakhan, Volgograd and Kuban regions).

A good keeper with a great skin color and a very sweet pinky-red flesh.
Like it very much and always waiting for autumn time because of Kholodok.

Originally Posted by Ann123

Andrey, they all are so good looking. Which ones are the tastiest and the most productive? I too live in a cool climate.

What a beauty! That shape is very special, isn't it?

[Keen101]

Good luck with whatever you try! I personally find the yellow fleshed varieties taste better than the reds usually regardless of size. One guy even tested his watermelon once. He said he had a red fleshed watermelon at 14 brix, and a yellow at 10 brix, but despite the brix the yellow one tasted sweeter to his tongue. lol.