Melon or Gourd or ????

[DoubleRidge]

Thats interesting...never seen a Old Time Tennessee Muskmelon...Thanks for sharing.

 

[Shag]

Sorry, I am near positive it is an under-nourished honeydew.

Muskmelon are in same family but notice the previously posted pics of the MM fruit. Deep lines.......then look at honeydew

Look close at stem meeting fruit. Leaves. Flowers.

Need
1. Heat
2. Plenty of water
3. Nourishment.

You letting them lay on the ground? Pinching off fruit beyond 2 per vine?

I put down a piece of feed sack under this one and another of the bigger fruits to try to keep them off the ground and maybe knock the weeds back a little.

Here's the same one today…

And another one on a different plant…

 

[Shag]

Some smaller ones on yet another plant.

 

[Huntaholic]

Only time will tell what we have! Im going to use straw under the ones I have once they get a little bigger. Ive got a few fruits about the size of the smallest ones you posted. That feed sack may cause them to hold moisture and rot from the bottom is my line of thinking.

 

[Shag]

Only time will tell what we have! Im going to use straw under the ones I have once they get a little bigger. Ive got a few fruits about the size of the smallest ones you posted. That feed sack may cause them to hold moisture and rot from the bottom is my line of thinking.

That's possible. But these goat feed sacks are pretty heavy duty. Not like a corn sack. I also put some under some of trailing vines to try to keep the weeds at bay. I might be wrong in doing so though.

 

[Huntaholic]

Those trailing vines also have roots that establish. I noticed that when I tried to move some of mine back where I wanted them.

 

[Shag]

Only time will tell what we have! Im going to use straw under the ones I have once they get a little bigger. Ive got a few fruits about the size of the smallest ones you posted. That feed sack may cause them to hold moisture and rot from the bottom is my line of thinking.

Well, plastic feed sacks aren't gonna pan out. Wind got most of them (along with two of my tomato plants). Water had pooled under the melons on the plastic. Slid it back out and put them on a piece of wood instead.

 

[Huntaholic]

Well, plastic feed sacks aren't gonna pan out. Wind got most of them (along with two of my tomato plants). Water had pooled under the melons on the plastic. Slid it back out and put them on a piece of wood instead.

Sounds like it got BAD over there! It blew the walnut tree by the well down at the Baxter house and the power is out there!

 

[Shag]

Sounds like it got BAD over there! It blew the walnut tree by the well down at the Baxter house and the power is out there!

Dang! We skinned a BUNCH of deer on that tree back in day. Didn't get a whole lot of rain here. But the wind was crazy…and from the wrong direction!

 

[Shag]

One is starting to get some webbing on the skin that looks like a cantaloupe.

 

[DaveB]

The best way to avoid ground rot is to elevate the fruit&vine. What works really well are those plastic milk crates. If you have friends in grocery store they TOSS the damaged ones. Grab all you can get....sometimes you need two to make one.

And of course, they go open end on the ground.

 

[Huntaholic]

Thanks for the idea Dave! I lost one of mine yesterday to rot.

 

[Chapman]

If you have some old bricks they can work also to set them on. I use old bricks in my container pots to help shade the soil and set the water nozzle to not splash the soil on the leaves.

 

[DaveB]

I have quite a few watermelon up to 50 pounds and (so far) about 6 pumpkins from 30 to 200 pounds growing like mad.

I think most economical for me, right now, is concrete blocks. I also have slightly damaged fence pieces and parts that I may saw and slice into some kind of platform.

Thought just hit me. I will chainsaw a tree on the Fayette property. Then cut manageable pieces into platforms. Maybe place boards across two of them to get larger platform.

 

[Shag]

I have quite a few watermelon up to 50 pounds and (so far) about 6 pumpkins from 30 to 200 pounds growing like mad.

I think most economical for me, right now, is concrete blocks. I also have slightly damaged fence pieces and parts that I may saw and slice into some kind of platform.

Thought just hit me. I will chainsaw a tree on the Fayette property. Then cut manageable pieces into platforms. Maybe place boards across two of them to get larger platform.

These mystery melons are growing tenfold better than my watermelons. No issues at all with bottom rot on the mystery melons (lost a watermelon this week to rot). The very first one I took pictures of started turning black on top so I gave up on it and cut it loose. Split it and salvaged the seeds. Now, I've got another one with an issue on the top side…not black like first one, but almost like something has been pecking at it. I'm gonna let it ride it out and see what happens.

 

[Shag]

The one with black spots that I gave up on. Honestly, I should have left it. I dug around after the fact and it was just skin deep. Live and learn.