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Princeton Kentucky

Saw a deeply damaged Melon approved yesterday at the Anamosa weigh-off, unfortunately I was persuaded (lol), by a couple other growers to bring the issue up to the site director. He said he never really took a very close look at it...through his hands up, obviously upset & put out by my questioning it, so at the award ceremony he stated that they knew the melon was deeply damaged and that it was not into the cavity. Wow, A lot of melons are nearly solid, so my question is, Here you have a melon that is rotting brown clearly into the fruit(Pink), if there is no cavity found, at what extent should a melon be allowed as good condition? Sorry ahead of time for raising a stink about it. Do you all think I was way out of line for bringing it up? I had a soft 48" tape on me and the spot measured 5 1/4" across at the furthest point and was never cleaned with a spoon like it should have been per GPC rules. I realize this is taboo, I may have been way out of line. Thanks

10/4/2015 5:29:11 AM

formerly RGG

From your description it sounds like the melon clearly should not have been allowed for anything more than exhibition. Many melons have little to no cavity at all.Once rot gets into the pink it is into the interior of the melon in my opinion.

10/4/2015 6:49:13 AM

Bethlehem CT

To me the cavity on the melon is the pink. If the wound is just in the rind and it is healed over, to me that would be O.K. I don't know the GPC rules.

10/4/2015 7:51:19 AM

Anamosa, IA BPIowegian@aol.com

Perhaps the GPC should look into refining the watermelon rules like they did for long gourds this year. The current rule is the same as for pumpkins. Soft spots have to be over 3" diameter AND over 3" deep to be DQ'd. I learned the hard way that damage doesn't have to go very deep on watermelons to have them rot. Jacob and I lost 2 to rabbit bites that barely got through the outer skin and rotted in just 3 days. I didn't know about this until the awards. I wasn't paying attention to the watermelons because we were way out of competition.

10/4/2015 9:34:45 AM

Gays Mills, Wisconsin

When inspected the watermelon being discussed did not have any rot, no leaking, no soft spots, no cracks,...a rabbit chewed on rind the day before weigh-off, no chewing reached past the rind layer.....this is the absolute truth! John Barlow

10/4/2015 9:50:32 AM

Eastern Shore of VA

Interesting.
I was disqualified from the Va state fair because my melon was not "intact".
A hole in the rind the size of a half dollar.
The hole was still somewhat green, as the critter hardly got through the rind.
I realize the Va state fair is not a GPC event, but I could have placed with that melon.
So a 5 inch hole is ok?

10/4/2015 2:32:48 PM

formerly RGG

Perhaps we shouldn't judge what we haven't actually witnessed. I am sure the judge in question was trying to be fair to a grower who had worked very hard to grow his or her giant only to see all that effort almost slip away. That said, the rules should be and probably are very clear about what is qualified and what is not and the judges need to do their very best to make sure no lines are crossed and they are judging in exactly the same manner as all other GPC judges. In other words we should be able to expect that all growers entering GPC events will be treated equally throughout the realm of GPC events.

10/4/2015 6:04:40 PM

Eastern Shore of VA

You're right Dennis.
And I should not have been so quick to judge.

10/4/2015 8:42:50 PM

formerly RGG

I hope I didn't offend you Ben. I wasn't commenting on your post. The fair should have whatever rules they want as long as they are even handed and treat everyone equally. And so should the GPC. I am just saying that since they are not a GPC sponsored contest, their rules may be very different from the GPC. My point is everyone should be consistent within their organization. This is much more difficult for a multi faceted and indeed worldwide organization like the GPC. I don't believe they will ever be able to be 100% fair in their judging due to having so many different judges in so many different places. But I know they want to be as close as possible to completely fair to every contestant.I am sure they encourage their judges to adhere to the rules as closely as possible.There should be very little room for compassion or maverick interpretations of the rules.

10/4/2015 9:04:22 PM

Eastern Shore of VA

No offense taken Dennis.
I just agree with your post.

10/5/2015 9:42:12 AM

Anamosa, IA BPIowegian@aol.com

I know Greg always tries to run a fair competition and isn't afraid to DQ an entry. My son had one ruled DMG when it split just a little on the 3 mile ride in and started leaking juice. Same thing happened to Don Young once too. I am sure they were confident that the damage wasn't very deep. And I don't think he was upset by your questioning. The only thing that I saw that bothered him was the kid blowing the horn during the awards ceremony. But I do think that the GPC should look at refining the watermelon rule. A 3" x 3" soft spot is minor for a 1500# pumpkin but major for a 150# watermelon.

10/5/2015 10:18:45 AM