Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 34 Entries. Friday, January 24 View Page This was my hydroponic pumpermelon (CC grafted to AG) experiment back in 2011. It did fail. I was not able to keep the temperatures down in my root chamber. 85 degrees will do you in. It was a lot of fun however.   Friday, January 24 View Page The nutrient solution was buried in this 15 gallon container. It was lifted to the root chamber by an air lift pump. This pump was one of the downfalls of the system. As it turned out, using 85-90 degree air to pump water makes the water just as warm and it is quite efficient at doing it. This pump ran continuously and even though the reservoir was buried the water never had a chance to cool down.   Friday, January 24 View Page The nutrient solution entered the top of the insulated box, flowed down a layer of felt, drained out the back, and flowed back to the reservoir. I had a float valve in the reservoir that would fill the tank with water as needed.   Friday, January 24 View Page The plan was to have it crawl down the ramp and go from there. It made it almost down when I decided to put it out of its misery. The growth had really slowed and the roots no longer looked white. Upkeep was real easy just check the pH once a day, change solutions once a week, and sit back. As for the food that the plant was receiving I could rest assured that it was all there...and that's the key. Manage temperatures, possibly pick a better rooting medium and a person would be in like Flynn.   Thursday, March 6 View Page Started to use peracetic acid to disinfect seeds for grafting. Soak times were 15 and 30 minutes. Peracetic acid concentrations were 0, 5600, 15000, 30000 and 50000 ppm. The goal of the first test is to see how high concentrations can go without affecting germination. The two lowest concentrations are proven to be 100% effective at complete disinfection without harm. I now am sure that the all the seeds that I will be using are clean, perfectly clean. The more I find out about this product, the more I like it. For example, you can reduce it to 1500 ppm and use it to disinfect soil...yes, like garden soil. Within 15 minutes there is no detectable product left and it is so remarkably effective at killing bacteria, fungus, and viruses. There is very little testing of the product on open field soil but it is very commonly used to sterilize soil mixes before the inoculation of beneficials. Not something you would want to pay to do to 1000 acres but 1000 square feet, now that is a different story. It could ease the pressures of not rotating crops.   Friday, March 7 View Page The peracetic acid treated seeds were placed on some paper towels and covered with plastic wrap. The top row is 5600 ppm followed by 16000, 30000, 50000 and the control is on the bottom. The thermostat was set at 93 degrees.   Friday, March 7 View Page The best germination was with the control followed by the 5600 and 16000. Interesting, the control seeds all had small little root tips sticking out, while the PA treated were much longer. A bit annoyed with the germination fall off with the treated seeds, I was not expecting it. May have to do with the exceedingly high concentration of peroxide that is mixed in the stock solution along with the PA. This test did show me that at 16000 ppm you may have some that don't make it but the ones that do look strong. I only had one germinate at 30000, and none at 50000. Time now to disinfect another batch, along with some Shintosa and go from there. A big thanks to my seed supplier. I have a sack of some of the best genetics out there! WR quality for sure.   Monday, April 7 View Page Started up some C.ficifolia the other day along with a couple of Lagenaria and Shintosa. Looks like it is time to get serious. I have been a bit caught up in experimentation, so many avenues that entertain me to explore. More fun for me to tinker with off the wall ideas than to actually do the "work". Rest assured that operations are underway and timing deadlines should be met. The testing with my new favorite chemical is showing promise but I will not know until a little later this month how effective the treatments were. If I dont feel good about shintosa I should have back ups of the other rootstocks that have shown better tolerance.   Wednesday, April 9 View Page Shipping options this year will be overnight for about $50 or priority express 2 day for $20-$25. Anymore I am liking the 2 day option. I think they would do fine...I hope. You can pick what option you prefer. While I am not taking new orders, I will be sure to start up a few dozen extra just in case someone's dream for the season dies in the healing chamber.   Wednesday, April 9 View Page ...that bigger roots = bigger plants = bigger melons.   Friday, April 11 View Page The reason I chose to continue the pursuit of big melons is that a few years back I gave some growers some of my plants and they failed miserably. I feel that I owe it to them and to the concept that I support to make it right and find out what went wrong. Since that fateful season I have worked with others in the industry and in academia to formulate a hypothesis and a plan to test it. The idea that the carolina cross seed line is infected with at least one pathogen that degrades its performance (even if it is latent) may seem way out there to some, but it wasn't long ago that I thought that new roots would grow a WR. My goal this season was to use peracetic acid and a data sheet from academia to 100% disinfect the watermelon seeds. If this could be done and if it is GSB in the seed that destroyed the 2012 season, then this should take care of it and successful grafting to Shintosa would result. While I can perform the disinfection procedure there is no definitive verification outside of the path lab. On the other hand, it is very easy for me to see the signs of GSB at a very early age. As of yet all the grafts are clean and even a single indication of GSB would signal to me a complete failure of the process and I would go back to the drawing board.   Saturday, April 19 View Page The first batch of grafts made it easily through production without any disease issues. I have been using the peracetic acid treatments and results have been very positive. The warm up test batch went off without a hitch. I have subsequently started one of the finest collections of CC that a person could imagine and a mess load of shintosa. Two years ago I had ultimate faith in shintosa and it blew up for no good reason at the time, last year lagenaria was hit and miss and miss... This year things are new and improved and once again I am taking shintosa dancing. I am all in. It is not as much about what others want this year. I am more into going all in and doing what I want to see grow out. With that, I hope to present the best plants possible with the hopes of something great.   Monday, April 28 View Page With the help of a really good friend I was able to negotiate the unexpected turns that life can throw at you and save my grafting season. Together we were able to graft 40 plants, all of which took. They were grafted to Shintosa, C. Ficifolia, and a disinfected giant pear gourd (lagenaria). A few of those plants were discarded later due to fungal infections on some of the plants that had twisted or cots with dead spots in them. Not to be confused with GSB thankfully. What I can say is that this was the easiest season for grafting C.C. yet and it wasn't because my skills got better or that I tried harder during the procedure. Anymore I struggle to care half the time with this pursuit. I do believe that the disinfection process has had a positive affect. It is very hard to prove at this point or to say that everything will end the way I hope but I am more confident than last season. Last year at this stage I had plants at all different stages of healing, some had crashed and burned, and some healed only to show GSB later on. Very few were perfect from the start. This season, excluding the plants with the damaged cots, all the plants are showing remarkable uniformity in healing time and appearance. As a group they have another day until they are officially out of the woods and ready for delivery but things are moving along quite predictably for once with these melons. Without a doubt these have the highest potential ever for a competition melon plant. The main word there is potential, we will all see. Thanks to those who are eager to try them out, it is the fuel behind the process.   Wednesday, April 30 View Page This is what you will see when you receive your plants. I would recommend transplanting into a pot for a week so that the plant can get established and be careful not to expose it to harsh elements for a few days.   Wednesday, April 30 View Page A steelhead from the Grand River in Harpersfield, Ohio caught last week. Hard to get a good selfie with a fish in one hand and a cell phone in the other.   Friday, May 2 View Page Some tips on the plants that should be arriving today. First you will need a razor knife to disassemble the packaging. I would open the box top and then run the razor down the corners to flatten it out. There are many pins that are holding the plant (and cubes) to the bottom of the box. The shintosa grafts that are in the rockwool cubes will need to have the outer wrapping removed and then any roots on the surface of the cube will need to be cut and removed. Rest assured that there is a bushy formation of roots in the cube. What we want to avoid is a root "knot" or girdling roots just beneath the crown. Remove all roots from all sides of the cube and all new growth will radiate out in all directions. If your plant came with soil do not cut these roots in transplant. The C. fic and lagenaria do not like to have their roots messed with too much. By now you will have to loosen the roots a bit and transplant. Shintosa is a different type of plant, it has a greater than normal ability to find nutrition and make it available. The people who know it well warn against too much nitrogen. Considering the amount of nitrogen that will be released by the average competitive plot, you will need to be cautious. When the soil is still cold I would add some liquid nitrogen but when it starts to run, I would hold off. Too much nitrogen can distract the plant and slow the appearance of females. I would only give a nitro boost if signs of deficiency are noticed (yellowing, low vigor). After melon set, you can increase to close to normal levels but still use caution. Let the plant do its thing, keep up on the fungicides, add nitrogen sparingly or only when the plant is not performing correctly.   Friday, May 2 View Page Cut roots like these on all sides of the block.   Friday, May 2 View Page I processed the seeds this year with a disinfection treatment using 8000 ppm (or .8%) peracetic acid solution. The seeds were first packaged in labeled coffee filters.   Friday, May 2 View Page As you can see it is really an easy procedure. Add the solution and seed packages to, in this case, a wide mouth Gatorade bottle. Shaking often for 30 minutes followed by a rinse and they are ready to germinate. I understand why some think I am on a wild goose chase, I really do. Maybe there will be no noticeable in a disinfected seed line but what I always come back to is the fact that the professionals in the seed industry do these same types of procedures to ensure crop success. This process does not hurt the seed but it does allows the grower to have confidence in the seed. I am hoping source a fresh, high quality melon this fall and treat the seeds. Not only disinfection but possibly a thiram powder coating. Anyone loose plants this year to damping off? If I am able to work with a quality melon I will most likely donate the treated seeds to a club for distribution. To some, the idea of being able to purchase (for a very small fee) professionally processed Carolina Cross seeds may be good option. Cheers to all and grow 'm big.   Friday, May 2 View Page Growers of the grafted plants should be aware of meristem regrowth, or the sprouting of the rootstock from one of its two growth buds located at the graft location. I did try to eliminate these buds but some where nonexistent at the time of grafting. If you see meristem regrowth do not freak out and go in there with a magnifying glass and a razor blade. It is fine to wait until the bud forms out a bit and it is easier to eliminate. I have been over anxious in the past and cut a bit too much and lost a good plant. You only have the possibility of two on each plant.   Friday, May 2 View Page Wow, almost forgot to mention the help I received from a good friend this year when I was really backed into a bad situation. I was at a major impasse in life for me, go with my family and take care of critical business out of state or...let them go by themselves and take care of the melon plants. This choice really unraveled me but I stayed. Things up north got worse and it was obvious that I was needed...but the plants? I had two options at that time turn the lights off on the season and jump a plane or dial up a Hail Mary kind of plan. So I made the call...Hello, I am screwed but I have this plan that involves you and I just want to know if you can help. So, the very next morning I transported all of the melons, rootstocks, the healing chamber, scalpels, and everything else up and together we proceeded to process 40 grafted plants in record time. I gave a crash coarse in the healing process and I knew the plants were in better hands than my own. I was able to jump the next flight out, take care of my family, and when I got home everything was beautiful. Thank you Rookiesmom. If any of you have success feel free to slap her on the back too. Without her I would of let everything die, my family needed me more than anything else.   Thursday, July 3 View Page Want to tell Brother Dave thanks for sharing his growing experiences with all of us. While your year end numbers may not be at the top, you are one of the best advancers of competitive growing. Great job on the hydro melons. Hope you can find out why they hit the wall. Good job on the hydromater also. Throw in your greenie and chestnut passions and you are over the top. Thanks. Sparmcat if you are out there, hope you keep that kin rolling. That could give the state record a run for it's money. Finally, I have great hopes for a mystery heavy hitter/mad scientist grower. He/she is working on something new. Never been done. Who knows...we'll just have to see. Cheers y'all and grow em big. I can't wait for the weigh ins!   Wednesday, July 16 View Page Even the cannibal Halloween pumpkin from 2010 is over LeBron leaving Cleveland. He says he's good with it now.   Wednesday, August 27 View Page Sorry to hear of the stumps failing, both grafted and non-grafted. GSB is a very difficult disease to manage and Carolina Cross has a higher than normal susceptibility to crown rot. Going forward, contact fungicides sprayed on the stump is recommended every week. Daconil is recommended along with others. Another grower noted that pumpkin growers paint the concentrated daconil product onto the stump with no issues. I cannot condone improper usage but it may be effective. As for next season look for seeds from northern melons. They will have less chance of being problematic in the future. This still is not ideal. GSB is something that will need to be dealt with continuously and it affects this hobby every year with catastrophic failures. It is recommended for growers to use farming practices that reduce the incidence of GSB. The best practices can be found online. One of which is selection of seed that has been produced in the arid southwest or one that has been disinfected and treated with a fungicide. This is not yet an option for Carolina Cross (but it is very possible). While the grafts that I produced failed due to GSB, I was told that most likely they were successfully disinfected but re-infected with GSB later in the growing season. This concurs with the fact that I saw no signs of the disease during the grafting procedure. Where and how they were re-infected I am not sure. Contact and systemic fungicides would of offered a bit more protection early. The growing of Carolina Cross as a whole would improve with seed disinfection and treatment. The only way to manage GSB is with known clean seed, clean soil, and an exact fungicide schedule. This is true for both grafted and non-grafted growers. Good luck   Friday, September 5 View Page Part of trying to figure out a good way forward is to figure out what exactly is happening. While Jake and Todd have experienced clear liquids coming from their crowns at times it is hard to understand why. There is a good chance that the additional root structure of the graft does increase pressure on the vine. I am hoping that this intended benefit is not the cause of the failures. This picture is looking at a cross section of the rootstock. The hole is the result of the watermelon being inserted. Not ideal in my opinion. The single cotyledon method of grafting would eliminate this and most likely have better vascular allignment.   Friday, September 5 View Page Here is the graft union. The hole insertion method is one of the easiest ways to graft it may not be the best. There is good attachment on one side and not so good on the other. Still a viable attachment but...   Friday, September 5 View Page OK, theory time. Here is your standard grafted watermelon crown. While there are only two plant here, there are 3 different sections. The rootstock hypocotyl, the watermelon hypocotyl, and the watermelon meristem. When I get to see a crown failure I examine what section is failing or what section failed first. Never has the rootstock failed first, also I have never seen the watermelon meristem produce cankers. The section that I see failing is the watermelon hypocotyl. Hypocotyls are different than the regular vines (meristem) of the plant. In addition, there is a specific location on the watermelon hypocotyl that showes failure first. That location is indicated by the pen in this picture. Oozing typically originates at the location where the watermelon hypocotyl and the watermelon meristem join...or exactly where the watermelons cotyledon once were. The pen is pointing to that location and you can see a faint ring. So, what's going on there that makes it the typical spot where the ooze starts?   Friday, September 5 View Page This is the area that I was referencing. The watermelon meristem is on top and the hypocotyl on the bottom. The location where the cotyledon once were are in the middle. So, that faint ring that is seen in the previous picture is now seen in this open section. As you can see there is definately something there that is not typical north south vascular tissue. It almost appears to be some sort of ray, but different than rays that appear in the vine. Not really sure what it is but what I do understand is that this area and the location of first ooze are one in the same.   Friday, September 5 View Page The crown in the previous post did leak reddish fluid for a few days and then stopped. This crown did not leak and the pen is pointing to the area where the cotyledon once were. In this section the vascular anomoly is not nearly as pronounced. While this plant showed GSB on its leaves it never leaked. So I have been leaning towards a conclusion that this area, which can vary from plant to plant, goes bad due to GSB and gums up that part of the plant. It acts as a cork and the crown below that point starts to go degrade.   Friday, September 5 View Page A bit hard to see clearly in the picture but here is another shot of the vascular tissue inside of the cotyledon area. The vascular tissue above and below all run north and south. In that area they swirl abit and run perpendicular.   Friday, September 5 View Page This is a good shot of a crown leaking at the point where the cotyledon once were on the watermelon. Here you can see the dried up cotyledon and right next to it is the ooze.   Friday, September 5 View Page This crown is a mess but you can see the graft union below and the point of failure is just below all of the watermelon vines but above the graft union. So what does it all mean? Right now, you got me but I am understanding much more what is going on.   Friday, September 5 View Page A note about seed disinfection using peracetic acid per the University of Florida study. There is a chance that it does not 100% rid the seed of GSB in all cases. We shall see over time. What it will do from experience is get you off to a clean start. I did experience no sign of disease this year in the healing chamber and shortly there after. This was a first in three years. PA treatment should be a part of the best practices for growing watermelons going forward for both grafted and non-grafted. Used as a part of an over practice that minimizes probability of disease.   Wednesday, November 19 View Page We were successful in selling our house in the NC mountains recently and have moved back to Northeast Ohio. It is what we felt we needed to do to provide the best for our daughter. She is now surrounded by friends and family and is really enjoying herself. I have not yet been able to secure a garden spot for the next season so that is all up in the air. It may turn into a strictly research season growing in a field with little competitive effort. I do have some new exciting avenues with Carolina Cross that I would like to explore. With the almost continuous WR's set by other fruit we can see that watermelon is lagging behind their gains. Hoping to help someone or myself go all kinds of Beni Meier on the watermelon record. May also be time for me to join a club or two. Cheers!