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wertach2

Moon and stars watermelon never bloomed?

I planted Moon and Stars melons, direct seeding. I have long beautiful vines, I never saw a single bloom on them. And no melons of course, They are still healthy and pretty much bug free.

I should have been eating them in mid July.

I planted 4 scraggly looking, almost dead seedless watermelon plants, that someone gave me, in the same row. Every one of them have at least 4 melons on them. I have ate 2 so far and the rest are almost ripe. They were planted late.

Any ideas on why?

Comments (10)

  • Prachi
    9 years ago

    I am following this thread as well... I have the same situation... I think in my situation is because we didn't get a lot of sustained sun/heat... its been a weird summer... very comfortable for me but not as hot as it needs to be for some of my plants.

  • 2ajsmama
    9 years ago

    My Little Gem watermelon seeded Mem Day never germinated so in mid-June I seeded more knowing it was a long shot. They finally started growing and just recently started flowering but no fruit at all - not even pea-sized. I think it was just too cool this summer. (Edit - I did find a marble-sized watermelon today)

    My cantaloupe seeded Mem Day now has 2 melons on it, 1 almost ripe and the other seeded mid-June has a small green melon on it that I hope will have time to ripen before frost.

    It's been a bad summer for everything - I had some decent zucchini but (edit) NOT nearly as many as I should have, didn't keep up with SVB and now it's getting PM so time to pull them. I started a 2nd planting a month ago and hope to harvest off those into Oct since they're in a tunnel (and I just ordered plastic today). Cukes have to be pulled too, though the melons to the west of them look good, no PM or wilt.

    This post was edited by ajsmama on Tue, Aug 26, 14 at 20:45

  • fruitnut Z7 4500ft SW TX
    9 years ago

    If all you had were seedless and Moon and Stars, the later must have bloomed because seedless can't set alone, it needs cross pollination.

  • rayrose
    9 years ago

    Fruit is right, they must have bloomed or else the other really wasn't seedless. As to why they weren't pollinated is another question. Are you sure you planted a watermelon and not something else.

  • wertach zone 7-B SC
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    They are defiantly seedless, yellow meat, watermelons. And the moon and stars have the splotches on the leaves, so I'm sure they are correct also.

    I may have missed seeing some blooms that could have been hidden under the Hercules peas that they grew under for the next 2 rows over. Hercules peas grow on top, so there is no need to check under the leaves.

    The peas did so well that I couldn't see the ground around them. I might find a small melon under there, I haven't bumped one with my feet. The peas are almost done now so I can pull them back and check under them.

    The weather has been fine for growing here ajsmama and prachi. Plenty of heat.

  • wertach zone 7-B SC
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Much to my surprise, I found a few Moon & Stars under the peas when I pulled them back!

    They are small but tasty.

  • NewTXGardener (8a Dallas)
    9 years ago

    I planted 2 Moon & Stars, one died, one was still a seedling for 2 months (planted in mid-May), now it's crawling and having side vines and it's everywhere. I got flowers but no fruits. I doubt I'm going to see any fruit this year.

  • 2ajsmama
    9 years ago

    My Little Gem is doing the same thing - 3 months after planting, NOW I get vines sprawling all over and marble-sized fruit! But I did pick my first cantaloupe on Sunday morning, another one looks like it's going to be ripe before frost. I may even get 3 of them (off 2 vines)!

  • little_minnie
    9 years ago

    I grew Moon and Stars yellow because I was worried the red wouldn't be ready in time and the yellow is less DTM. They were actually about the first watermelon ripe. So I have no clue why you got none.
    {{gwi:101167}}

  • NewTXGardener (8a Dallas)
    9 years ago

    I have 2 new female buds that have not opened yet, but my leaves are tiny compared to yours. And they're being attacked by aphids and squash bugs. I killed like 15 or so squash bugs this morning. I've got a few ladybugs there eating away the aphids and a couple of them made love on one of my leaves this morning and there was another one laying eggs, so I think the aphid problem will be under control. Hate those squash bugs! If those 2 little female flower buds do pollinate, is it too late now for them to go to maturity? I think our first frost is expected to be like the first or second week of November.

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