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| I planted 3 types of melon seeds. Coban orange flesh, Fairfax watermelons & lastly seeds from store bought European honeydew I got from my mom. It appears that my vine does not match Coban or Fairfax. Assuming the store bought melon is a hybrid (don't know variety to confirm), what are the chances that my fruits will be edible? There are 6 growing on my vine. Thanks! |
Here is a link that might be useful: My Mystery Melon
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Your vine looks good and melon is growing nicely. That melon should be eatable. It could even be wonderful if it's a decent variety. |
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- Posted by goodground z6 NJ (My Page) on Tue, Aug 12, 14 at 14:43
| Thanks for the quick reply fruitnut. I needed to hear that! :-) I read that fruit would only be good for pigs. Only time will tell for sure... |
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| I'm growing 8 melon cultivars and actually hoping for crosses. All look cool, never grew them before. Only one ripe so far. It was pretty good! Green flesh but tasted like a mix of orange cantaloupe and honeydew. I'm not sure what it was? I have them tagged, but the bed is so overgrown i couldn't find it. |
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- Posted by ken_adrian MI z5 (My Page) on Tue, Aug 12, 14 at 15:03
| a melon is a melon.. i dont see how it wouldnt be 'edible' ... i would presume they didnt cross it with poisonous veritals ... the real question is whether it is 'palatable' ... what will it taste like.. or whether there will be eatable flesh inside ... once you start backtracking on the hybrid.. you can not predict how the fruit will denigrate ... e.g. some of the prior crossing might have been for rind.. say, for shipping purposes... so you might get some 90% throwback weirdo ... dont you think?? and dont call me a pig... lol ... looks like drew basically said the same thing ... ken |
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- Posted by goodground z6 NJ (My Page) on Thu, Aug 28, 14 at 18:29
| They have been growing nicely and have started to blush yellow. When is it best to pick them? |
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| Drew - did you plant a Galia type? That's what yours sounds like. As a general rule, a sudden change in the color of a melon indicates ripeness. Depending on variety, it will or won't develop a melon odor at this time. |
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| Some melons will separate from the vine easily when ripe. Others you can tell when you push on the blossom end if it feels a little spongy. Smoothed skinned ones will lose their shine and become dull feel squeaky not waxy when you rub them. If you have room and don't care about true varieties save seeds and plant them next year in bulk. weed out any slow germinating and week growing seedlings. Save the seed from the best tasting and most disease resistant melons. Do this year after year and before you know it you will have the "goodground" melon variety your own personal melon suited to your growing conditions :). That's what I have started doing survival of the fittest at my house! Why pay big dollars for a little packet of 10 or 25 seeds when you can produce thousands of your own? Me and the kids ate a tiny baseball size melon mutt today and we were blown away by the flavour, one of the best tasting melons I have ever eaten. hopefully some of it's offspring next year will carry the flavour traits.....If not oh well ! that's what I like about growing a mix of hybrids its always an adventure! Glenn |
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- Posted by goodground z6 NJ (My Page) on Sat, Sep 6, 14 at 20:45
| Here is a pic of the underside. It is showing a lot more yellow so probably near ready to go. Now I'm wondering if it's a Heirloom because I saw the exact same melon in a store near my moms house where she shops. I will know if it came true when I sink my teeth into it. Seeds were from a super sweet white flesh honeydew. |
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- Posted by goodground z6 NJ (My Page) on Sat, Sep 6, 14 at 21:36
| Just did a search and found the variety. Piel de Sapo! (aka Christmas Melon) Mine are VERY heavy for their size :-) "Piel de Sapos are one of the most widely grown melon cultivars in Spain. Their name translates as "Toad Skin", which is quite fitting nomenclature upon first glance: football shaped, Piel de Sapos have slightly ridged skin with a bright green-to-yellow gradient "undercoat" and darker green speckles on top. They certainly stand out visually among our cream-colored melons, and their super sweet flavor and absolutely unique texture are on par with their notable visual appearance. Cut into a Piel de Sapo, and you are in for a refreshing treat. Intensely sweet and juicy, their white flesh has an amazing texture that is rich but with an element of crispness to it. The result is a smooth sweetness finishing with a light - but satisfying - crunch. This is by far our sweetest melon - scientifically speaking, it is 14% sugar - but I personally think its' this almost indescribable texture that makes them an all-around favorite. Piel de Sapos - or "frogs" as we have lovingly nicknamed them - are also unique in that they are the only of our melons that gives off little to no scent - even when ripe. This phenomena is due to their thick outer skin and rind, which also lends to their long shelf-life and makes them excellent traveling companions on bumpy road trips or backpacking excursions. Choose hard melons based on their weight and color. The heavier they are, for their size, the more sweet juice they contain, and more yellow shining through the green also indicates ripeness. This can be hard to gauge, so I often tell customers to look at a few melons and squint - the one that "pops" the most when blurred will have the most yellow in its undercoat." |
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