Watermelons - female flowers first!

GreenThumbGal_07 · July 6, 2021

I'm growing Sugar Baby and Blacktail Mountain watermelons this summer.
Last summer I grew these watermelon varieties: Sangria F1, Crimson Sweet, Bush Sugar Baby. All three varieties had male flowers first, followed by female flowers.
This summer, Sugar Baby and Blacktail Mountain had the female blossoms open first! Blacktail Mountain was the first, followed by Sugar Baby (two female blossoms open today) a day later.
I don't know what caused this, but I do need to have some of the boys show up so we can get the pollination going (and I will have to do it manually, since the bees aren't as enthusiastic about watermelon blossoms as they are about melon blossoms).
I don't know what caused this, the plants were starts set out on May 29 (some Sugar Baby seeded directly outside May 9). This May was pretty overcast and chilly and the weather didn't start warming up until the second week of June. I've never seen an open-pollinated cucurbit with female flowers showing up first; generally there's about 10 days of male flowers before the first girl steps on the dance floor.
Anyhow, the vines look healthy otherwise and I do hope to be able to try a melon or two by September.

GoDawgs · July 11, 2021

I'll be interested to see how your Black Tail works out as I was considering that for this summer but switched to Black Diamond at the last minute. It might have been a notion I got from somewhere that made me think it might not do well down here in Georgia.

Anybody in the South grow Blacktail?

GreenThumbGal_07 · July 21, 2021

Blacktail Mountain is chugging along, looks like it might set its first fruit soon, but I might need to give it some help in the form of hand pollination.

The plant that really grew the female flowers first was Sugar Baby. Even now (with the male flowers present) it still seems to have quite a few female blossoms. I'm starting to hand pollinate it.

GreenThumbGal_07 · August 11, 2021

Follow up on this.
As of this writing, Sugar Baby has set two fruit! I have three vines in a 7-gal. felt grow-bag pot. (The Blacktail Mountain is two vines in a separate 7-gal. felt grow-bag pot. No definite fruit set yet.)
The regular vine (not bush) Sugar Baby watermelon has lots and lots of flowers, both female and male. I'd thought I would have to hand pollinate but this summer the bees seem to be present and active and doing their thing (funny to watch a honeybee burrow headfirst into a watermelon blossom and dig, dig, dig like someone trying to grab spare change fallen between the cracks in the sofa cushions). Neighboring flowers are: grape ivy (fence above the garden), catmint, and catnip, as well as the Honey Rock and Sugar Cube melon blossoms. The grape ivy is popular with the bees but the other flowers below draw them in as well. Never knew how good it was to have catnip blossoms as a bee draw.
One Sugar Baby fruit is approaching tennis ball size, another ping pong ball size. I hope I can expect a yield of two good melons per vine if all goes well. Perhaps basketball sized? I can hope!

GoDawgs · August 15, 2021

Thanks for the update! I love the "change between the cushions" analogy.

Here the first ripe Black Diamond is not far away and I've gotten two large Charleston Grays but then they were planted May 4. Yours will get there! I'd love to see a pic of your finished Blacktail.

GreenThumbGal_07 · August 18, 2021

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoDawgs

Thanks for the update! I love the "change between the cushions" analogy.

Here the first ripe Black Diamond is not far away and I've gotten two large Charleston Grays but then they were planted May 4. Yours will get there! I'd love to see a pic of your finished Blacktail.

Thank God for good bee pollination this year! Last year I had to go out with a paintbrush almost every day.

I would like to post the Blacktail Mountain pictures but I need to find a good picture hosting site for them.

Lucky you in sunny Georgia, you get to grow the big aircraft carrier-sized melons (big enough to cover a picnic table). Hope they taste great!

July 6, 2021	#1
GreenThumbGal_07 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Northern California Posts: 300	Watermelons - female flowers first! I'm growing Sugar Baby and Blacktail Mountain watermelons this summer. Last summer I grew these watermelon varieties: Sangria F1, Crimson Sweet, Bush Sugar Baby. All three varieties had male flowers first, followed by female flowers. This summer, Sugar Baby and Blacktail Mountain had the female blossoms open first! Blacktail Mountain was the first, followed by Sugar Baby (two female blossoms open today) a day later. I don't know what caused this, but I do need to have some of the boys show up so we can get the pollination going (and I will have to do it manually, since the bees aren't as enthusiastic about watermelon blossoms as they are about melon blossoms). I don't know what caused this, the plants were starts set out on May 29 (some Sugar Baby seeded directly outside May 9). This May was pretty overcast and chilly and the weather didn't start warming up until the second week of June. I've never seen an open-pollinated cucurbit with female flowers showing up first; generally there's about 10 days of male flowers before the first girl steps on the dance floor. Anyhow, the vines look healthy otherwise and I do hope to be able to try a melon or two by September.

July 11, 2021	#2
GoDawgs Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2018 Location: Augusta area, Georgia, 8a/7b Posts: 1,685	I'll be interested to see how your Black Tail works out as I was considering that for this summer but switched to Black Diamond at the last minute. It might have been a notion I got from somewhere that made me think it might not do well down here in Georgia. Anybody in the South grow Blacktail?

July 21, 2021	#3
GreenThumbGal_07 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Northern California Posts: 300	Blacktail Mountain is chugging along, looks like it might set its first fruit soon, but I might need to give it some help in the form of hand pollination. The plant that really grew the female flowers first was Sugar Baby. Even now (with the male flowers present) it still seems to have quite a few female blossoms. I'm starting to hand pollinate it.

August 11, 2021	#4
GreenThumbGal_07 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Northern California Posts: 300	Follow up on this. As of this writing, Sugar Baby has set two fruit! I have three vines in a 7-gal. felt grow-bag pot. (The Blacktail Mountain is two vines in a separate 7-gal. felt grow-bag pot. No definite fruit set yet.) The regular vine (not bush) Sugar Baby watermelon has lots and lots of flowers, both female and male. I'd thought I would have to hand pollinate but this summer the bees seem to be present and active and doing their thing (funny to watch a honeybee burrow headfirst into a watermelon blossom and dig, dig, dig like someone trying to grab spare change fallen between the cracks in the sofa cushions). Neighboring flowers are: grape ivy (fence above the garden), catmint, and catnip, as well as the Honey Rock and Sugar Cube melon blossoms. The grape ivy is popular with the bees but the other flowers below draw them in as well. Never knew how good it was to have catnip blossoms as a bee draw. One Sugar Baby fruit is approaching tennis ball size, another ping pong ball size. I hope I can expect a yield of two good melons per vine if all goes well. Perhaps basketball sized? I can hope!

August 15, 2021	#5
GoDawgs Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2018 Location: Augusta area, Georgia, 8a/7b Posts: 1,685	Thanks for the update! I love the "change between the cushions" analogy. Here the first ripe Black Diamond is not far away and I've gotten two large Charleston Grays but then they were planted May 4. Yours will get there! I'd love to see a pic of your finished Blacktail.