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"Preserving the future,
one seed at a time." ™

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Watermelons
Citrullus
lanatus
[ Cantaloupe / Muskmelon ] [
Watermelon
]
Click Here for information about growing
watermelons.
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Black
Diamond
90 days
—
This old standard
variety generally reaches the thirty to fifty
pound range.
The fruit is slightly oblong with prominent creases,
and dark skin. The flesh is dark red with large
grayish seeds.
This one was harvested
on the
23rd of September and boy was it good!
Approximately 7 to 8 seeds per gram. |
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Charleston Gray No. 133
90 days
— The rinds are tough, grayish green with darker veining, oblong
shaped with rounded ends, dark red flesh and reaching twenty to
forty
pounds in weight. 'Charleston Gray' was released in 1954.
No. 133 has better disease resistance.
About 10 seeds per gram. |
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Congo
100 days
—
The rind is tough, medium green with darker
stripes, cylindrical in shape with blunt ends. Can reach
twelve
inches by twenty five inches and up to fifty pounds. Does extremely well
in Southeastern U.S. and has a medium red colored flesh with very
high sugar content and white seeds. Bred by the USDA. An "All-American Selection®"
winner in 1950. Approximately 12 to 13 seeds per gram. |
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Crimson Sweet
88 days
—
The
fruits are light-green with dark-green stripes and average
about 25 pounds. The flesh is dark red and very sweet. An "All-American Selection®"
winner in 1964. About 20 seeds per gram. |
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Desert
King, Yellow
90 days
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Bred to be extremely drought tolerant and resistant to
sunburn. The fruits are round to slightly oblong in
shape with a rind that is a light pea green color.
Although the rind is relatively thin, it will hold up in
transport well. The flesh is a deep-yellow color, sweet
and very tender. The fruits will reportedly hold up well
on the vine for about a month after they first reach the ripe
stage. Note: A small percentage of red-fleshed melons
may occur. Approximately 8 to 9 seeds per
gram. |
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Dixie
Queen
90 days
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The fruits are generally round but can be oblong and reach
forty pounds. The flesh is pink, crisp and sweet. The skin has dark
green stripes over light green rind. The rind is thin but tough.
Released by Johnson & Stokes Seed Company of Philadelphia in about 1890.
About 10 seeds per gram. |
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Fairfax
90 days
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The fruits average about thirty five pounds, are oblong, striped light
and dark green with bright red flesh that is fine quality and
very sweet. Anthracnose and fusarium wilt resistant and well
adapted for the Southeastern United States. Bred by the
USDA, Southeastern Vegetable Breeding Laboratory, Charleston,
South Carolina and released in 1952. About 12 seeds per
gram. |
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Florida
Giant
90 days
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The fruits are nearly round. fifteen or more inches in
diameter, and can reach sixty pounds. The skin is smooth, thick and tough
and a dark green color. The flesh is bright red, firm and sweet.
About 8 seeds per gram. |
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Greybelle
80 days
—
Greybelle was bred and released by the
USDA's Vegetable Breeding Laboratory at Charleston, South Carolina
in 1963. It features resistance to Anthracnose race 1 and
sunburn. The fruits are nearly round and reach about fifteen
pounds. The rinds are a light grayish-green in color with
darker veins and flesh that is dark pink. About 20
to 22 seeds per gram.
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Kleckley's
Sweet (a.k.a Monte Cristo)
85 days
—
The skin is too thin for shipping so you
will not likely find this variety in your local supermarket.
Excellent for home gardens. The fruit is oblong, dark green
in color, and up to forty pounds in weight. Very sweet, dark
red flesh with a stringless heart and large, white seeds.Bred by Alabama watermelon
grower W. A. Kleckley. It is reportedly a cross between
'Boss' and 'Arkansas Traveler'. It was introduced
commercially by
W.
Atlee Burpee in 1897.1 About 9 to 11 seeds per gram. |
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Klondike
Blue Ribbon Stripe
85 days
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A very sweet, scarlet colored flesh with
no strings. The fruit has a thin, but tough rind and can weigh up
to thirty pounds. Released about 1900. About
18 to 19 seeds per gram. |
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Moon
and Stars

95 days
—
The
dark green skin of the fruit is wonderfully speckled with bright
yellow ranging in size from tiny to silver dollar and sometimes
larger, hence the name. The leaves of the plant are light
green with similar yellow speckles. The flesh is pink and
very sweet. Average about ten pounds in weight.The
January 1, 1940 edition of
Henry
Field's "Seed Sense" stated, "A Novelty
Worth Planting . . . Quite a curiosity . . . The Quality is good .
. ." About 9 to 10 seeds per
gram.
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Mountain
Hoosier
85 days
—
Grown in the Mid-Eastern states since before the Civil War,
Mountain Hoosier is a very old and productive variety. The seeds are white
with a bit of black at the tips. The fruit is slightly oblong in shape
with a dark-green rind that is medium thick making it a good shipper. The flesh
is very sweet, crisp and deep-red in color. Fruits can mature to seventy
five to eighty
pounds under optimum growing conditions. About 10 seeds per gram. |
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Orange
Flesh Tendersweet
90 days
—
The
fruit of this melon are oblong in shape, roughly twelve inches in
diameter by eighteen inches in length weighing between thirty five and
forty pounds.
The rinds are medium thick, light green with flesh that is
orange and high in sugar content. About 13 to 14
seeds per gram. |
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Sugar Baby
84 days
—
The best and most popular small or icebox melon around.
One of the sweetest and earliest melons with very small seeds. Fairly tough,
thin rind which keeps for a long time.The
watermelon in the picture was the result of a hot summer of hand
watering. The reward was this fourteen pound fruit with perfect,
extremely sweet flesh. About 22 to 24
seeds per gram. |
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Tom
Watson
95 days
—
This is a variety that was very
popular with home gardeners as well as market growers. The
fruit is large, up to forty pounds, with sweet, crisp dark-red
flesh. The tough rind makes it a good shipping melon. About
9 to 11 seeds per gram. |
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Will's
Sugar
90 days
—
Fruits are nearly round in shape, reach up to twelve inches in
diameter and average
ten
to twelve pounds in weight. The juicy, sweet flesh is
pink to red with almost black seeds when fully ripe.
About 18 to 20 seeds per gram.
Introduced by the Oscar Will Seed Company of South Dakota in
1888. Very well adapted for the northern Great Plains
region and does well in areas with shorter seasons.
Grown out by
David Pendergrass from
NSL 28142.
Click here for a catalog picture. |
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Watermelon Culture
Watermelons
are a warm-season crop that thrive in air temperatures between 70
and 85ºF. Plant seeds direct in the garden in the spring
after the last chance of frost for your area. Seeds will not
germinate in cold soil so wait until soil temperatures at a four inch
depth have reached about 65ºF. To get a jump on harvests,
seeds can be started indoors and carefully
transplanted.
Watermelons
require full sun and a lot of room. Plants should be five to
six feet apart in rows that are spaced six to eight feet from each
other. Watermelon varieties will readily cross with each
other as well as Citron so if you are intent on saving seed, grow
only one variety and make sure your neighbors are growing the
same. Isolation distance required is about one half mile.
Hand-pollination is usually the preferred method for maintaining
pure strains.
Watermelons
will benefit from rich, healthy, well-drained soils. Work in
plenty of well composted organic matter in early spring in
preparation of planting a melon patch. Since watermelons are
ninety two percent water, they require a lot of it. If you are using
overhead sprinklers, water in the early morning so that the plants
have a chance to dry before evening. This will help reduce
opportunities for diseases to become established.
Hand watering or drip irrigation is preferred. Water so that
the soil is moistened to a depth of at least six inches - especially
during fruit set and development.
Knowing
when to harvest is a little tricky. When you have a field of
watermelons, the best method it to sacrifice a fruit and taste the
heart. If you have a home garden, this "brute
force" method is not an option. First, compare your
fruit with the description for the variety. Are the fruits
the approximate size? Second, have enough days passed?
Finally, look at the tendril closest to the fruit. If it has
turned brown, the watermelon is usually ready to eat.
Watermelon Sale Conditions - Please Read Before Purchasing
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