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formerly RGG

Chris Kent, Frank Mudd,Gabriele Bartoli, Jeremy Terry & Todd Dawson. First of all, congratulations to you fellows for being the top five growers in the GPC weigh-offs and the world this year. I am pretty sure Gabriele Bartoli's melons are all always grafted. But I am curious about the rest of the melons grown by this group of elite growers. Please let us poor want to be (the best) growers know if you best melon this year was grown on grafted roots or on it's own roots.Thanks for all your contributions to our hobby guys.

10/16/2016 6:53:17 PM

East Tennessee

Thank you for the kind words Dennis. Mine was a graft.

10/16/2016 9:19:48 PM

Garner, NC

Hey Dennis,,all mine were old school tradition this year,,seems I have some homework to do this winter.

10/17/2016 9:50:14 PM

Home of happy lil plants

me too..... and so the Atlantic watermelon variety was invented...

10/17/2016 11:01:03 PM

sevierville, Tn

my 266 was traditional, the others were grafted.

10/18/2016 6:31:39 AM

The 256 and the 305 were both grafted the rest were traditional

10/18/2016 7:22:40 AM

formerly RGG

Thanks for the information guys. I am just trying to help point other growers in the right direction.But new growers please note that grafted Carolina Cross plants can be problematic with disease problems sometimes showing up at the union site. If you can get past disease issues then the vigor of a grafted rootstock will increase the potential size of your fruit and give you a better chance of a winning weight.

10/18/2016 4:24:51 PM

formerly RGG

By the way, the only fairly nice melon I have grown (228.5) was grown on grafted rootstock. And I think it would have grown considerably larger had I realized at that time the plant was infected with spider mites and had taken appropriate action to get rid of the darn things.

10/18/2016 4:35:39 PM

Eastern Shore of VA

I tried a graft this winter.
Grew quite well for about a month,but threw it out because it was 30 degrees outside.
I don't have a lot of room,so I can't really afford to have a plant go down on me mid season.
That's my only concern.

10/18/2016 10:19:56 PM

formerly RGG

My personal growing philosophy is the bigger the risk the larger the potential reward.

10/19/2016 9:00:21 PM

Home of happy lil plants

2009 wallace pumpkin grafted to/with the likely last remaining 239 leonard sounds about as risky and 400lbs I've ever heard of.

10/20/2016 12:00:44 AM

sevierville, Tn

i have 3 239 leonards if you have 3 2009 wallace seeds Spence ! ??

10/20/2016 6:30:29 AM

formerly RGG

lol

10/20/2016 7:50:04 AM

Eastern Shore of VA

So how do you prevent stump failure at the graft union?

10/20/2016 10:13:38 PM

sevierville, Tn

thats the 100,000 question. Ben

10/20/2016 10:31:47 PM

Grant, AL

Chris, do you primarily use the hole insertion method when grafting watermelon or a different method?

10/20/2016 10:40:34 PM

Eastern Shore of VA

Where is Nathan when we need him !?
Lol.
Chris,what are the tell-tale signs the graft is failing?
About what age is common ?

10/21/2016 6:22:35 AM

sevierville, Tn

i use 1 cot cause i can't do hole insertion. I don't know if one method is better.

sign = its usually the best plant. LoL ... no really

age=there are several ranges, Dap 10-20, dap 50-55, after dap 75+

in past years it was the dap 10-20 that got me. this year it seemed to be dap 75+

10/21/2016 6:29:33 AM

formerly RGG

Spence, probably you were just kidding about Carolina Cross on Atlantic Giant roots. If you weren't I can tell you this graft has been done before. It is not easy to do and I haven't heard of any good results (heavy melons) coming from it. Different types of vigorous squash and gourds with extra soil disease resistance have yielded the best results. As far as vigorous roots I don't think anyone could do better than giant pumpkin roots. However the disease resistance, which is what the grower is really going after, is just not there.

10/21/2016 8:09:30 AM

Grant, AL

Next year I want to try a couple of grafts and limit the plant size to maybe the vine the melon is on and maybe 2 other vines coming from stump and see what happens. I'm going to try one plant where I remove secondaries from the vine the melon is on and another plant where I keep secondaries from melon vine and remove them from all other vines. I just don't believe plant size has much to do with final melon size!

10/21/2016 9:21:37 AM

East Tennessee

Charles, I used the hole insertion method because I had trouble with the single cot (although I did get the single cot down just as time was running out). I had a couple plants that went down at the graft union and the stump on the plant that grew the 290 had a small leak the from the time of pollination on. Like Chris said it was two of the best plants that didn't make it. I did notice the grafs seemed to stay healtier for a longer time.

10/21/2016 10:46:08 AM

Vermont

Congrats on a great season everyone! What rootstocks were these giant melons grown with?

10/21/2016 1:27:17 PM

formerly RGG

Charles, I have for a long time believed that a VERY vigorous root system and a controlled sized top of a plant will grow the largest fruit. Some top size is desirable but I think a grower does not want a unlimited sized plant at the expense of your plant doing a better job of swelling up a competitive fruit.

10/21/2016 2:47:01 PM

Grant, AL

I completely agree Dennis! I think if you can find the right balance between very vigorous rootstock and plant size then you can grow a very large, competitive melon on a controlled sized plant.

10/21/2016 3:03:34 PM

Bowdon, GA

Do you guys run the same plant size with your grafts?

10/21/2016 4:49:32 PM

Home of happy lil plants

i have about 100 2009wallaceXselfs that should be risky enough

10/21/2016 6:28:53 PM

Eastern Shore of VA

Single Cot graft ?
Not familiar with that one.

10/21/2016 8:59:53 PM

sevierville, Tn

send me 10 wallaces Spencer.

10/21/2016 10:32:35 PM

Wixom MI.

what do you guys like to use for root stock ? bushel gourd, long gourd, or something else ???

10/22/2016 2:11:22 PM

Eastern Shore of VA

I've grown one on a fig leaf gourd.

10/22/2016 7:55:05 PM

formerly RGG

The fig leaf gourd or squash is a "wild" variety known for extreme disease resistance and may be one of a growers best root stock genetics. Shintosa Camelforce is a hybrid variety developed specifically for grafting and may also be a rootstock that is capable of producing amazingly fat melons.

10/23/2016 7:13:40 AM

Wixom MI.

where can you buy the fig leaf gourd ? what seed catalog may have it ?

10/23/2016 9:28:24 AM

Eastern Shore of VA

Johnny seeds had some.
Not sure if they still do.
curbita ficafolia(sp?) I believe it's called.

10/23/2016 1:25:47 PM

formerly RGG

Cucurbita ficifolia is the proper spelling. Here is a link to some information and seed sales by Trade Winds Fruit:

http://www.tradewindsfruit.com/content/malabar-gourd.htm

Shintosa Camelforce seeds may be a little more difficult to come by. I purchased 1000 a few years ago but I have used, sold or given most of them away.

10/23/2016 4:49:20 PM

Eastern Shore of VA

Thanks Dennis !
I wasn't able to look that up.

10/23/2016 5:01:30 PM

Wixom MI.

thanks everyone, i may try growing them again.

10/23/2016 10:27:44 PM

Bethlehem CT

Wixom If you want some C. ficifolia seeds I have plenty to share. They are the most prolific squash I have ever seen. They are incredible. The fruit keep for over two years if stored indoors.

10/24/2016 10:07:51 AM

Wixom MI.

sure thanks big moon that sounds great ! would you like any tomato seeds from my 6 lbs tomatoes as a trade ? my email is ckon56@sbcglobal.net

10/24/2016 4:06:09 PM