Watermelons...Yum

[deanfitz]

We have 45 acres of these beauty's. 1st picking came last week with another Thursday. Heres a pic how they looked like in May.
Watermelons 2010 pictures by deanfitz - Photobucket

 

[Bedlam]

Mouthwatering. Up here in this part of the Northeast we cant get them with seeds anymore. So In my opinion they taste allot different. Not sure why they have gone to all no seeds here. I didn't care about the mess the kids and I would make as we spit the seeds. But from what people have told me the reason they buy the seedless is its cleaner LOL
So in my opinion I Miss out on the flavor... thanks for posting the pics.

 

[czechsonofagun]

I too am firm believer water melon loses the taste and sweetness with seeds.

 

[Bedlam]

So I guess my question is why is it that there aren't many with seeds around anymore?Wonder if its something to do with what I saw about the seed companies taking over the seed base?Like I saw here. One store actually told be it was demographics. One year we were able to get them seeded at the next few towns over, Where the income was . ...well far less...

 

[deanfitz]

Can't really answer that about the seeds. I know ours are Hybrid Jubilee watermelons and we're growing them in Washington Parish,La.

 

[rmully]

Petite Perfection is one of the sweetest melons and not too big

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

Seedless watermelons are triploid chromosomes, which results from breeding diploid and tetraploid watermelons together, resulting in sterility, a lack of formation of the seeds.

Excellent flavor can be found in many varieties of seedless watermelons whether they are "crimson" type or jubilee type. TriX 313 is the market leader for taste, flavor and production.
Studies show the taste and sugar content are about the same or can be greater or less depending upon conditions. But blindfold, few people can detect a difference. Texture, however can be different, but that is usually tied to maturity level.

The primary influences in flavor are weather (drier years result in sweeter melons and more concentrated flavor), harvest time (some people harvest seedless watermelons earlier to capture the peak market prices), and soil types.

The US watermelon market is now 80-90% seedless. Seeded water melon and other non marketable melon types are planted to pollinate the seedless watermelons so they will produce fruit. The pollinator's have much different color and growth style and only 1 pollinator is required for 5 or 6 plants for peak production. A few of these are harvested to satisfy the market demand which is quite low and a the remaining ones are plowed under. The prices for seeded watermelon barely hover around the 6-7 cent/lb sustainable range in GA this time of year. Seedless is usually twice that or more.

I used to grow 75-100 acres every year when I managed a farm here in GA. Seeded watermelons were hard to get rid of. Living near the watermelon "capital" of the world, Crisp county, our area provides the majority of the July 4th watermelon market. Like the Vidalia onion, S. GA grown watermelons are usually preferred as sweeter and more flavorful. Although other areas of the country can provide good competition, buyers say that our area does exceed for flavor and demand.

 

[Bird]

Living near the watermelon "capital" of the world

:laughing::laughing:Let's see . . . that's a title claimed by Cordele, Crisp County, Georgia, Rush Springs, Oklahoma, Hope, Arkansas, Dilley, Texas, Lulling, Texas, Beardstown, Illinois, Lincoln, Illinois, Green River, Utah, and I wonder how many others.:laughing: As a teenager, I lived for awhile in Marlow, OK, a few miles south of Rush Springs and loved attending the annual Watermelon Festival, but it's now been 55 years since I was there. Watermelons were such a big crop in that area that I can remember a guy with a mule and rubber tired wagon going up and down residential streets selling watermelons two for a quarter. And one day I noticed a 101 pound watermelon in front of a grocery store for $3.50. My first that was that no one would pay that kind of price for a watermelon, but then I learned they really would . . . for the seeds.

The last watermelon I bought was a "product of Texas" seedless melon from Walmart and was an excellent flavor. In addition to the right kind of soil and right amount of moisture, I think a great deal depends on how ripe a melon is when it's picked.

 

[charlz]

I wish I could get them to grow well here.

 

[ray66v]

I grow Crimson Sweet's every year, and every year it is a battle to keep the fungus from killing the vines, before the melon's ripen.

Dean, can you give me any secrets on how you handle fungus issues.

I have had the most success with copper dragon dust.