I didn’t know I had a contest named after me ,
The annual Rayrose melon contest? Did i win?
3 Likes
I voted for you in the Small Wonder category 
5 Likes
Kevin, et al,
Is Black Mountain stingy in producing female flowers?. The one plant I have produces only a few female flowers and plenty of male flowers. (I did not get around to hand pollinate it ( fruit turned yellow and fell off). Orangeglo has many more female flowers.
1 Like
I went ahead and picked a crimson sweet melon that was nickel size on July 2nd… Container grown//15 gallon…basically sand soil from my flower bed…no special mix or anything. I did fertilize early with a multipurpose fert. Flavor/texture were perfect, but the size was just not there… only managed 7lbs 14oz.
2 more left on the plant.
7 Likes
Congratulations, that’s highly unusual. But there’s always an exception to every rule.
The little one seemed to have the most fun. What a lovely pic.
1 Like
Thanks the little one enjoyed her self immensely.
1 Like
Actually, I’m more surprised to hear that your orangeglo has a large number of female flowers than I am to hear that your Black Mountain doesn’t. I’ve never noticed Black Mountain in particular having a lower percentage of female flowers than any other watermelon, but just know that almost ALL watermelons have a VERY low percentage of female flowers. Ray and others might disagree, but I would put the average female to male ratio at somewhere around 1:15, meaning 1 of every 15 blooms is a female. That is nothing but an off-the-cuff guess from memory, but I’d say its in the ball park. But I don’t think Black Mountain is any more stingy than others. As with all things watermelon, the plants that get the most sun seem to produce most female flowers (and have the biggest leaves, thickest vines, most melons per vine, and so on. I cannot overstate the importance of sunshine to watermelons…more than anything else I grow.)
1 Like
This has been my problem. My vines have tons of male flowers. I haven’t seen a single female flower. Even after watering in doses of phosphorous-rich bonemeal. What gives?
Probably not enough sun.
1 Like
Kevin,
Now I feel better that it’s normal. I planted 2 Orangeglo and one Blacktail Mountain on the mound. One of the two Orangeglo has fewer female flowers (2) and than the other (5-6 so far). The BM has had 3 so far.
I have fun growing watermelons. Very easy (so far). Next year, I’ll move it to a sunnier area.
By the way, if you notice the pic of my BM melon, there are white scratch marks on it. I do not know if it’s squirrels or groundhog. Fortunately, it’s only superficial. I keep spraying my two watermelons with Deer Off since it says it repels tree squirrels, too. I’ve found that Bonide deer repellent and Deer Off say their products repel squirrels, deer and rabbits. Liquid Fence does not list squirrels so I don’t buy it anymore. .
.
You can sprinkle cayenne pepper too as you feel necessary. Works like a charm directly over plants or on ground when planting seeds. You can’t overdo it.
Dax
1 Like
Does Cayenne pepper (bottled) from the store work? I don’t find the bottled ones sold at supermarket very hot. However, if works, it’s better than smelling Deer Off.
Thank you for the suggestion.
Yes, bottled… it works.
Dax
I have lost 6 watermelons- all of which were within about a week of being ripe- in the last 3 days! In each case, the critter carried the watermelons about 50 feet away from the patch, then managed to bite and scratch into it, then completely hollow it out. I’m about 85% certain it is coyotes, but it is possible that it is opossums. My corn kept being hit and I set a trap and caught a opossum. She had 6 babies in her pouch so I felt so bad that I just took her a few miles away and let her go. Really they should be dispatched but seeing all her babies kind of got me. Anyway, the point is I know I have opossums but its hard to imagine them moving a watermelon 50 feet…but they could roll it so I just don’t know for sure…still betting on Coyotes.
I have others that have scratches like you just described. I hope something doesn’t end up stealing yours or carrying it to the other side of yard to eat it like they do mine. Perhaps pepper sauce is a good idea.
1 Like
Thanks, Dax. That’s great news.
@thecityman, I caught a opossum last year (so I know they are around). It is one ugly rodent. Groundhogs, at least, are better looking
It’s nice of you to let the opossum and the babies go. I could not kill the chipmunk that got trapped in the netting, either. Well, if I catch it running away with my tomatoes again, I may think differently.
I never know a coyote would eat watermelon. I can’t imagine it roll a melon away (pretty funny image, too). I can see a groundhog or a opossum does it because they like to eat my fruit. I just hope they leave my wm alone.
1 Like
i grew kajari and was very soft compared to super market canteloupes and was also juicier i picked them when their colors started to show across the whole melon and the ones with browner skin were better than the ones with orange
2 Likes
I agree with everything Kevin posted, but I’ll put my money raccoons.
They can roll a melon a very long distance. I had one roll a melon from
my back yard to the front, which is about 90 ft. before he finally gave up,
probably exhausted.
I trapped a possum this morning in a trap baited with a rotten apple right
next to a patch full of ripe melons. Go Figure.
Great idea, Ray (racoons). I hadn’t even thought about them really. Around here we see one road kill raccoon for every 20 opossums. I assume that means we have a much higher population of opossums but it could be that raccoons are just smarter and/or don’t live or go around roadways. But I am especially grateful that you told about a racoon rolling your watermelon so far. I was having a really hard time imagining a coon OR a opossum moving a watermelon so far from the garden, but now that you have confirmed that it has happened to you I am going to lower my percentage guess of it being a coyote. That being said, I have actually seen a coyote eating the gut out of a watermelon he had moved from the garden, so I am 100% certain that coyotes DO eat melons. If I hadn’t seen it I wouldn’t have believed it. I also had a friend who had a dog that loved watermelon. So I guess it isn’t quite as odd as it sounds. ha