Well, yesterday this melon started a small split, about 2 inches across. I've taped it up with duct tape but don't know what else to do. Any suggestions ? The watering schedule for it is very regular.

you need water 6 gallons per plant per day

I'd just write that split melon off, cut it off and be done with it. That way you can concentrate on the other melon that is left on the vine, and it's size potential will increase anyway. If it split at that size, maybe your watering schedule needs adjustment. Inconsistent watering can make melons split. I have a big Carolina cross growing in out high-clay-soil area so it can be done. I just dug a big hole and mixed well composted horse manure, some topsoil/humus from the woods, and some of our crappy clay, with the pH adjusted with hickory ash. It's not record size, but it's pretty big. I'm guessing it'll approach 90-100 pounds when finished.

Thanks for the followups. Actually, I'm not trying to grow a prize-winner, just a good-sized watermelon. I have two vines planted together in the same 3 foot x 3 foot x 3 foot hole and have a total of 2 melons, which are each about 25 - 30 pounds now. The plants have stopped setting more fruit -- is this normal ?

So, I'd like to save that melon and see it through to maturity if possible. I've taped up the two splits with duct tape to keep bugs out and just keep adjusting the tape every day or two as the melon grows.

Well, even if you just want normal fruits, you likely would have gotten better results from a single vine in that scenario. At this point in plant development, I wouldn't be expecting more fruit to set either. I guess you just chalk it up to a lesson learned. I'd still chuck the split fruit though. I suppose you could nurse it through, but it might invite problems that could lead to your losing the only good melon too.

One of the biggest gardening errors I see people make are trying to be frugal and overly optimistic, and it rarely works out well. One vine per hill is ALWAYS best, no matter what the package might say. Also, if size isn't a big concern, there are better varieties of melon to grow. Good luck though.

I've got limited gardening space, so I suppose I worry about just having one vine. But I keep getting small but tasty watermelons. Maybe next year I'll bite the bullet and just plant one per hill, regardless of the variety. I generally only plant one hill per variety though, due to our limited space. Thanks

Not sure if you were meaning that you might try thinning to one vine per hill, but that will actualy increase your chance of success. If you want to be extra cautious thin toi two vines per hill, then once you have about 2 feet of growth, just pick the 'healthiest' looking one and simply cut the other off and toss it.(Transplanting is generally a bad idea with most cukerbits at this point.)

With limited space, you could try trellising too. And yep, you can do it with watermelons, even big ones, if you stay on top of it during the critical fruit setting period. There are a few options there. A good one is to take some hog or cattle fencing and cut it into 8-10 foot sections.

The make some "half cylinders" kinda like little bridges out of them. Train the vine up into this "trellis". The important thing is to begin carefully training the vines with decent fruit sets back to the ground beneath the trelllis. What this does is it allows the foliage of the melon plant itself to shade the fruits very nicely beneath the trellis. You don't need a fram for the wire trellis in this situation, as this cattle of hog fence has enough 'body" to support the foliage anyway. YOu can also go to a "full trellising" situation if you build a strong trellis and use slings. I once had a pumpkin trellised to almost 12 feet in the air, with 20-40 pound pumpkins hanging in slings. It was quite a conversation starter, heheh.

Anyway, the first 'system' mentioned works very well, and will allow you to pretty much grow 3 vines in the space you would normally only be able to get 2, and even get better results with bigger fruits if executed correctly.

Studpossum: that's right, for next year I'm planning to thin down to one vine per hill, actually for all of my watermelons, in an attempt to get some larger ones. All of mine seem to be about a third of their "potential size" at ripeness. There could also be a number of other factors influencing this.

In any event, my two Carolina Cross watermelons are almost ready for harvest. Both have the dried tendrils and are about 2 feet across. They're pretty impressive; I'm estimating that they're in the 60 to 70 pound range, but who knows? I'll weigh them later this week at harvesttime. Thanks again for all of your advice.

Wouldn't you know it, I harvested one of these guys, and stood on my digital scale with it, and the scale broke. It's gone totally blank. Great. So I'm going to bring it in to work tomorrow and weigh it on the postal scale.

It was heavy but didn't seem as heavy as I'd predicted. A friend hefted it and thinks that it's 45 pounds. Hard to say; I'll know tomorrow.

Wayne,
That sounds like quite a melon!
I think the largest I ever grew was an Orangeglo, and it was 15 lbs. I thought that was big. It will be interesting to see what the scale says.

Douglas

Well, I harvested the other misshapen melon on Friday. Since my scale broke I took them both to work and weighed them on the postal scale there. Surprisingly, they weighed less than I expected (or maybe I'm getting weaker in my old age).

The "small" one was 37 pounds and the big one was 47 pounds. We're going to slice up the big (misshapen) one tomorrow and my wife is going to take the smaller, pretty one to her Rotary Club lunch meeting on Wednesday and slice it up there.

At this point Douglas, I can't even fathom a 262 pounder. It's 5 times the big melon I harvested, which is just incredible. I think that those babies must be over 3 feet long. By the way, I can send some pictures if you want. I'm unable to post pictures currently, but probably will in the next month or so (got a website setup).

Wayne,
Those are some heavy watermelons.
I remember when working in a potato warehouse, and the 50 Lb. bags we stacked. It's amazing you grew one almost that heavy.
I also remember the 100 lb. bags of potatoes we stacked. And to think the WR is ober 2 1/2 times that heavy!!!!
Congratulations on your two big watermelons!

Douglas

Hi Douglas: thanks for the congrats, and I reciprocate for your giant pumpkin. I've got a picture of my son trying to lift the smaller melon -- it's kind of funny because he's about 21 months old in the picture and he weighs about 10 pounds less than the watermelon!

The success here, without really trying to grow a big melon, is spurring me on for next year. I'm going to be shooting for a 100-pounder, and if I get a misshapen one, I'll cull it early and hope for more fruit to set. I'm also going to go for broke and only have one plant per hill, instead of two plants competing for the same nutrients as happened this year.

Since you seem to be into growing big fruits, may I suggest a Carolina Cross for next year for you too ? My wife reported that her Rotary Club members actually found the melon to be quite sweet and really enjoyed it. I had turned off the water to the plant when the tendril started drying and waited a full week to harvest it. It also kept quite well. I was really impressed with these watermelons.

I agree with you on the WR melon -- it must really be something to behold. I think that with those, it's just like the pumpkins, ie, the genetics really matter. I just might buy some seeds from a contest winner. If you like, since I'll only be growing one plant, I can send you some of the extra seeds, if I do this. Let me know, and take care!

Hi Wayne,
I should have mentioned that at the pumpkin weighoff I went to, they had giant watermelons as well. I think the winner was 140 or 150 lbs. 3 or 4 were over 100 lbs.
I'll think it over, regarding growing a giant watermelon.
This year was quite cool, and my watermelons didn't do too well, so I'm hesitant. I think they are more heat sensitive than pumpkins. Thanks for the offer. I'll let you know if I do decide to give it a try.

Douglas

Hi Douglas: Watermelons are definitely more heat sensitive than pumpkins, but it's worth a try anyway, if you have the space. I'll keep that seed offer open (I still have some spare Carolina Cross seeds, but I may try to buy some "premium" ones). I'll keep you posted on this. take care.

where would you get premium carolina cross seeds from? do you mean seeds from a very large melon ?

thanks david e