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Deep South, USA

I've started to see females between 1.5 cm and 2 cm long on my oldest plants. I'd say their mains are about 8 ft long, maybe more, with the next longest vines close behind. Is the plant big enough to start growing proper fruit?

Last year, I remember a point where once a fruit set, it would seem to grow half again to double in size nearly every day for several days. Does that only happen if the plant is big enough to actually support fruit, or do the plants sometimes get too ambitious?

7/3/2011 11:51:47 PM

Sevierville,tn

I got a melon 8ft out....but thats just me(shrug)

7/4/2011 12:04:31 AM

formerly RGG

Yoshi, it does not take a large plant to grow a giant melon. Too much plant can actually be a problem. Besides, think how much the plant can grow in the 2 weeks before the melon starts really starts growing fast and drawing heavily from the vine. My only set right now is on a very small plant and that melon seems to be growing very well.

7/4/2011 6:50:44 AM

Muddy Waters

Yoshi,Bill & Marv figure about 37 feet of Total vine on plant or dont do it they will grow 40 lbs & stop.I just started mine with 50 feet of vine,I pinched a earlier one off!

7/4/2011 10:45:25 AM

formerly RGG

I have nowhere close to 37' of vine for my one set melon.It's my 194 Brinkley. I took out a larger 264 Kent to give it room. I wish I had known. It looks like a 40 pounder for me.This is getting depressing.

7/4/2011 11:03:29 PM

Owensboro, Ky.

37' of total vine??? does that mean adding up the lengths of awl yer vines? and if over 37' it's good to go? Peace, Wayne

7/5/2011 1:52:43 AM

formerly RGG

To be real, I just don't believe that 37' or more of vine is required to grow a big melon. So a grower can grow a giant melon if he has 47' of total vine length? I think as long as the vine is healthy and growing larger the melon can keep growing larger also. Most of us know how big a difference a couple of weeks can make in vine size when the weather is good and it usually takes a couple of weeks for a newly set melon to begin making those 5 pounds or so of gain in daily weight.So I am to believe a healthy melon on a healthy vine will grow up to 40 pounds and then just quit? I think a healthy young melon on a healthy young vine will always continue to grow unless there is a problem other than small vine size.

7/5/2011 6:46:16 AM

Muddy Waters

TD these are results of trying, not guessing,If you grow a big one on a tiny plant!Please document it,this is why we keep records.Under 37 feet seems pretty small even the kin growers dont set on small plants.I love a rebel prove it wrong!!lol

7/5/2011 7:48:34 AM

Muddy Waters

Even Chris told me watch plant size before setting fruit TD!!
Yeah PW add all vine footage up total should be no less than 37 feet!May not be fact just the opinion of 2 growers with about 33 years of growing these puppys under there belt!!How many feet was there TD???on 194??

7/5/2011 8:00:28 AM

Lexington,IN

My 232 was set six feet from the stump, and not on the main. At the time of pollination the plant may of had 15 feet of total vines, if that. Not a huge melon by today's standards, but alot has changed since 2000...

7/5/2011 10:50:52 AM

sevierville, Tn

I'm not saying you can't grow a big melon from a small plant or starting on a small plant. I'm saying you need a good sized & growing plant to get the maxium sized melon from a plant.
example= using Marks stats(which i don't, i'm not that precise) say the plant has 20 feet of vine. Set a melon & end up at 225. Nice !

Now take a plant at 40 feet of vine, set a melon & end at 250. Better !

7/5/2011 3:09:53 PM

sevierville, Tn

Now there is alot of other thing to consider such as location, dates of weighoffs your going to, plant health & growth rates, growing area, weather, etc. So its not a "this size or else" Just like with pumpkins.
IMHO (i'm still learning too)

7/5/2011 3:13:10 PM

formerly RGG

Mark this statement is what I was reacting to :"Yoshi,Bill & Marv figure about 37 feet of Total vine on plant or don't do it they will grow 40 lbs & stop". I would be very happy with the possibilities Chris presented from small plants. I am just saying there is no expectation that it will get to only 40 pounds. I think 200 pounds plus is a possibility on this first set on my 194 Brinkley. It is now 9 days post pollination and it is a very fat melon. The vine is healthy and growing well and it grew an inch in length from yesterday. What is there about it starting from a small vine that will keep it from growing into a big melon? Even if I am wrong and if it keeps growing and only gets to 100 pounds then even that is 2.5 times the size you told me it might attain. I wish it had started on a larger vine but it's my best hope for a semi-early melon and there is absolutely no reason in my opinion why it can't grow fairly large.It is a late set on a small vine in a shady part of my garden. But this melon is surprising me so far and I think it will surprise you too when it exceeds 40 pounds in a few days.

7/5/2011 4:16:30 PM

Bowdon, GA

Including secondaries?

7/5/2011 10:06:53 PM

Muddy Waters

Theres exceptions to every rule!I thought we were all shooting for a 292!!!LOL Ideal Conditions & locations.I hope you grow a WR on that small plant TD!!Good Luck!!

7/5/2011 10:16:13 PM

formerly RGG

I am just hoping for something competitive Mark. I am not thinking about even winning much of anything at all with this melon and if the other plants don't kick in soon with some swelling melons it will be my best hope. A 40 pound limit to it's potential is just silliness though.

7/5/2011 10:28:46 PM

formerly RGG

I'm not sure what your question is Jake. If you mean does the 40' total of vine length that was talked about include secondaries, the answer is yes.

7/5/2011 10:31:04 PM

Lexington,IN

Oh, I wasn't arguing any ones comments. Just saying what happened on that melon. I might add that the plant did finish out as a monster, triangle shaped, 30 feet + on all 3 sides. One of these years I will have a few bits of good luck and beat that 232, though I have yet to thus far, and I haven't got much of a chance this year. Damn storms! But I will get a cross I want because that's the only 2 plants I have...

7/5/2011 10:35:43 PM

Deep South, USA

I'm not overly picky myself. My track record so far has not been very good. While I would of course be ecstatic with a 200+ result, I could hardly complain about 90-120 lbs all things considered.

My two oldest plants have between them seven females that are all open pollinated, some yesterday, some today. One or two look particularly promising. At some point most of them will have to come off, but I'd like to see if the plant puts any effort into them first. I doubt the plant(s) have the 37 ft each, but it's so late in the game for setting "show" melons that it seems like it's worth a shot, even though the results might not be optimal.

My remaining plants are all really young, and won't do much for awhile. I'm thinking about using them for seed melon.

7/6/2011 1:36:34 AM

Muddy Waters

I think whats important is that we keep accurate records!So we can learn from our mistakes & success! Bill & Marv havent had any luck with setting on small plants!Then again were shooting for the sky & some are happy with a little guy!I grew a 130 on some Weeks seeds I bought at store 15 years ago,I was happy then,but this addiction keeps demanding a bigger thrill,so I wont stop till my Melon is as big as a Dill!!!lol

7/6/2011 6:26:22 AM

Muddy Waters

yeah secondarys included,40 feet of M.V would be a 1000 sg foot plant!!

7/6/2011 6:35:47 AM

formerly RGG

Thanks for the support Dewight. I used to be an advocate of huge plants to grow huge melons. But these days I think it has a lot more to do with a healthy root system that isn't overcome by too much vine.But I certainly prefer a plant that covers 100' square or so before setting a melon. I have heard stories of plants that were maintained at only 150' square or so producing melons well over 200 pounds. And in one case this the stump even rotted and since the vines were rooted the melon grew on anyway.

7/6/2011 6:36:52 AM

Deep South, USA

If I had a bunch of plants that were close to ready to fruit, I might have just set early on one, and waited on the others. Things didn't work out that way though.

As it stands, I doubt that any of the females I mentioned will remain on the vine till the end of the season, I suspect most of them won't even set. I can probably forget showing at the Watermelon Carnival, so I don't suppose I should be in much of a hurry.

In any event, I sure hope God blesses us with some rain today, the plants sure need it. If it doesn't rain soon, plants size probably won't matter much anyway.

I try to keep records, though I doubt they would be much use since I've never tracked one clean through the season.

7/6/2011 3:20:15 PM

formerly RGG

Yoshi, in a drought situation small plants will do better than large plants. The larger the plant the more water it needs.

7/6/2011 9:46:32 PM

Bowdon, GA

If you have an irrigation system, dry weather is not bad. More sun=heavier bigger melons. If you keep close records you will notice fruits gain less on cloudy days. Also less diesease problems.

7/6/2011 10:47:53 PM

Muddy Waters

How much water do you put down a day with drip tape on clay based soil,it gets mid 90s in greenhouse,I have 12 inch emmmitters spaced every 2 feet!

7/7/2011 7:04:13 AM

sevierville, Tn

A good reason to set them all is if you get a plant that won't give another female after the 1st one, you will have something to grow. I broke the 1st female on my 264, & have been waiting for another. Finally got a good one this morning, it better take or the plant gets pulled !

7/7/2011 3:15:48 PM

Deep South, USA

As I mentioned in another thread, I culled a couple of melons from the vines that didn't look like they would progress rapidly, and have a couple more that may go.

When a plant first starts growing the melons rapidly, I like to say that the plant has become "serious". It's difficult for me to tell if it's reached that point. I think it's close.

According to my records, I'm about 2 weeks or so from when the plants started getting serious last year, but those plants were all in the same hill, transplanted a week or so later, and were the common 183 genetics. They also were competing with quite a bit of grass and a bunch of perennials.

I've got a nice three day old that I might try to measure later this afternoon. Shape isn't prefect, but at this point I don't think it's bad enough to cull just because of that.

7/7/2011 5:08:04 PM