Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 10 Entries. Friday, July 18 View Page I guess it is late to start a diary.I am doing it anyway.I have a small back yard and have room for only a single Carolin Cross plant. This is the first picture I took of my lone watermelon this year. This was taken July 2, 2008. Friday, July 18 View Page I live in Knoxville, Tennessee. I haven't tried to raise a big watermelon in many years. My best offort back then was 103 pounds. I'm not sure if I can equal or surpass that this year because I do not have as good a place to grow as I did back then.This picture was taken on July 9, 2008. Friday, July 18 View Page I have tall trees on both sides of my lot that make for too much shade and not enough sunshine on my plant.I starded out using grow lights over the plant at night to supplement. It seemed to work very well for a while. This picture was taked on July 16, 2008. The melon is about 28" long and near 60 pounds by the OTT chart. Monday, July 21 View Page Today my Carolina Cross is 35 days past polination.This is a side view od the melon. It is 29" long and a bit skinny still. Monday, July 21 View Page Here is a top view of the melon.It has about 6 weeks left to grow and I am hoping to keep it healthy.I will harvest around September 4 to take it to the Tennessee Valley Fiar. Monday, July 21 View Page Here is a view of the plant my melon is growing on.I really do know how to spell fair.Sometimes I have a bit of dislexia going on. Thursday, July 24 View Page Here is a new picture of my lone melon.It is 38 days old.It is 30" long and the OTT is a little over 70 pounds. Tuesday, July 29 View Page Well today is day 43 for my melon. It is just a bit over 32" long and a bit over 39" in circumfrence. It is growing very slowly and basically a big disappointment. Tuesday, July 29 View Page Here is a top view of the melon. The vine is healthy and the days are now hot and humid.It should be growing good.Perhaps I will do better next year. Saturday, September 6 View Page I won ! My melon ended up only 96 pounds but that was good enough to win first place and $100.00 at the Tennessee Valley fair in Knoxville.