From

Location

Message

Date Posted

sevierville, Tn

I was asking about when seeds would be viable cause i have an 85 lb melon on the 157 bright thats 26 days old. I am concidering cutting it off & starting over. The plant is just now getting full grown & the melon ,while nice shaped, has lagged behing my others. I have a nice set on a side off the main vine in a good location. I will need to decide in a few days to transfer energy to the newer one.
The advantages are....it gives me a later set for late weigh offs; the plant is full grown & can suport full growth now; a set on the side will answer my question as to where is the best place to set.
Disadvantges.... It may not grow good ; i will be cutting off a melon that ranks with my best late year; the one growing now is on a nice finger vine 4 feet from the stump & the new one is a side off the main 10 feet out.
equals are .... the baby melon was the same size, both at 2.5 cm

what would you do ??? THANKS !
Chris

7/15/2010 1:29:35 PM

Garner, NC

Not sure what I would do, but I know I'd like to be in your shoes, having my worst melon 85lbs on day 26, LOL

Honestly thought, if it is your slowest growing melon that you feel will never achieve what you want, cull it, what do you have to lose.

7/15/2010 1:56:07 PM

sevierville, Tn

Your 88 Dawson is right up there, nice melon !

7/15/2010 2:09:25 PM

Corryton, TN

Cut it and learn! I'm sure you have measurements to compare them.

7/15/2010 3:32:11 PM

Deep South, USA

Either way, could you please post a picture of it? I'd like to see it, if that's alright.

7/15/2010 4:18:45 PM

Bowdon, GA

I don't know if this counts for viabilty, but the cull had full size brown seeds with embryos. It was younger than 26 days. I cut it for one growing faster. Which brings up an interesting point. Maybe I should save some seeds from it. It was hand pollinated 191 Holloway X 259 Kent. The one I went with was open pollinated, but with better vine position and growing much faster. Go for the goal Chris! Maybe we can just transplant it into my patch. You got to be getting tired of those 240-260 pounders anyway. LOL

7/16/2010 12:10:17 AM

sevierville, Tn

Jake, I may try to save some & dry them if i cut it off.
I still have a few days to decide. So far the new one is 5 days old & at the same pace as the 85 lb one at the same age. The next few days will tell the story ! I figue about day 9 or 10 will be the verdict.

7/16/2010 2:42:28 PM

Bowdon, GA

I saved some from the cull. Had a pretty good seed count. I also cut the one up that came from the 243 that I lost it was even younger and had embryo's. Oh yeah you were right about cutting that one off the 191, the new one is doing much better.

7/18/2010 11:24:55 PM

sevierville, Tn

Ok, todays the day...tonight i will decide. So far the new one is bigger then any others i have grown at the same age. If it proves itself today & the big one has not picked up, i'll cut the big one ( 100 lbs+) & go with the new one.

7/22/2010 2:25:18 PM

Bowdon, GA

Go for it Chris, Someone else did that last year and scored big.

7/22/2010 3:06:28 PM

sevierville, Tn

Ok, dirty deeds done dirt cheap ! No gut no glory ! LOL
I cut the big one.
Ott was 110 lbs at 33 days old. I'll weigh it tomorrow & see how the real weight matches.
I'll know in 3 weeks if i made the right choice.
The new one has added 5.5 & 5.8 lbs the last 2 days so i know it can grow fast enough. The question is will it. I wonder if i should try to stop the stem from dripping where i cut the melon off ????

7/22/2010 9:48:57 PM

South East

We flipped a coin to decide on which one to cull...Had no choice neither one we wanted to get rid of.... Best of luck with the one you kept... :)

7/22/2010 10:36:52 PM

Deep South, USA

+5 lbs. a day? Wow, that's incredible. I hope it's okay if I ask here. When removing a melon, is it better to cut the stem instead of twisting it off?

@the cooks: I was looking over your diary for this year, and I couldn't help but notice the scale in the Mar 20 picture is the same one I got last year to get an idea of what my watermelons weighed. That's quite a coincidence.

7/23/2010 12:25:49 AM

sevierville, Tn

Final OTT was 110 lbs, on the scale was 109. have not cut it yet, so we will see what it looks like inside. I hope no hollow area .

7/26/2010 2:40:23 PM