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sevierville, Tn

Is there such a thing as too far out on a vine to set a fruit ? In pumpkins there is an optimal range, how about melons? I have 1 plant that is my best but the 1st fruit broke itself off after setting. Its finally showing another female about 15 feet out. I'v had alot of problems this year getting the mains to set or even get females for that matter. It seems that its easier to set on the sides.

7/7/2009 2:28:14 PM

formerly RGG

Chris,I have the same "problem" on 3 of my vines. They have gotten large without setting any melons and the melons they are now trying to set are way out on the vines.I really don't think this will keep the melons from reaching their potential.It is the best we have been able to do so we will just have to hope for the best.Time will tell.BTW, will you be taking a watermelon to the fair this year?

7/7/2009 8:55:42 PM

formerly RGG

I think it probably has a lot more to do with the youth and health of the vine and the time of year.I am sure most of us have seen declining plants that have set melons late in the season on the ends of old vines. These never have a chance at doing anything good.

7/7/2009 8:59:27 PM

Bowdon, GA

Tennesse I think your on to something, I was looking at the bench mark post and I read chris's measurements from last year. Mine was nearly identical up until day 55. Mine stopped growing completely around day 60. The big difference is chris' grew almost 90 days if I remember correctly. We have brutal summers down here plants grow really fast but burn up quicker, and the plants were fried by august. So my idea this year was to plant later and see if the plants would last longer because it will be cooling off in september about the time the plants are getting some age on them. We don't have to worry to much about cold temps down here until october. North growers probablly have more luck starting ealier due to a shorter season. So far the plants are about the same size as at fruit set last year but nearly 3 weeks younger. We'll see if it makes a difference. I think Chris is right maybe we can learn from paying attention to measurements. Good luck

7/8/2009 5:54:20 PM

formerly RGG

I too [accidentally] have later starting vines this year that have grown faster than last years vine. I agree this seems to be a good thing. My melons have a much better shape this year than the long skinny one I produced last year. If things keep going well I should easily beat last years effort. Sounds like a real good bet you are going to have a better year also Holloway. The one thing I am concerned about is the decreasing hours of sunshine as it gets on toward fall. As it is I get only about 8 hours of direct sunlight on my patch during long summer days due to tall oak trees in my neighbors yards on both sides of me. I am really in a poor spot for growing big melons but there is nothung I can do about that short of moving.
I just wish I could afford to.

I am slowly getting my clay soil ammended with the addition of a lot of organic matter. I have recently taken to making the rounds at local Starbucks to pick up free coffee grounds from them. I have been doing this for a couple of weeks now. I drive to 5 different stores and so far I have probably collected over 150 gallons of grounds. I will apply this in the fall after the garden is finished producing for the year. I will add a little dolomitic limestone to keep the PH adjusted but I have read this isn't really necessary as brewing the coffee removes most of the acidity and the used grounds are actually close to a neutral PH.

7/8/2009 9:34:33 PM

sevierville, Tn

Thats funny, cause i started earlier this year to get a bigger plant when i polinated ! So far so good as i'm ahead of last years numbers at the same age. The key will be keeping our plants healthy so that we can add the pounds later in the season !

7/9/2009 2:10:55 PM