One of my sugar babies is getting bigger and bigger, and I don't know if
it's ready to pick or if I should let it grow. It is the biggest sugar baby
I have ever seen - larger than many regular melons. No idea what I did right
with this one, I have other melons in the same garden that just died out.

The stem where it attaches to the vine has not shriveled at all, and the
sound when I knock on it is "pank". I don't want to pick it before it's
ripe, but I'm afraid of waiting too long. We have another month of
frost-free time left here.

Please advise if you can!

Thanks....

a suggar baby is one of the most difficult watermelons to tell if they are
ripe. Most times a dead curl (tendril attached to vinewher the watermelon
connects is a dead givaway) but not on a true sugarbaby. On the other hand a
Sugar Baby doen't get over 15 lbs so I suspect that you have something else.
They will normally be ripe about six weeks after they set on the vine and the
gloss will will turn to a dull finish. There should be a yellowing of the
underbelly where it lays on the ground. It will quit growing several weeks
before it is ripe.

Well the seed came from a package labelled "sugar baby". It hasn't quit
growing but there is a yellow spot on the bottom, the color is dull and the
vine tendril has not dried. So I guess I ought to pick it now.

Thank you!


"FarmerDill" wrote in message
...
a suggar baby is one of the most difficult watermelons to tell if they are
ripe. Most times a dead curl (tendril attached to vinewher the watermelon
connects is a dead givaway) but not on a true sugarbaby. On the other
hand a
Sugar Baby doen't get over 15 lbs so I suspect that you have something
else.
They will normally be ripe about six weeks after they set on the vine and
the
gloss will will turn to a dull finish. There should be a yellowing of the
underbelly where it lays on the ground. It will quit growing several weeks
before it is ripe.

I would wait until the tendril has dried, but in any case, let us know how
it came out.

Dwayne

"Pat" wrote in message
...
Well the seed came from a package labelled "sugar baby". It hasn't quit
growing but there is a yellow spot on the bottom, the color is dull and
the
vine tendril has not dried. So I guess I ought to pick it now.

Thank you!


"FarmerDill" wrote in message
...
a suggar baby is one of the most difficult watermelons to tell if they
are
ripe. Most times a dead curl (tendril attached to vinewher the
watermelon
connects is a dead givaway) but not on a true sugarbaby. On the other
hand a
Sugar Baby doen't get over 15 lbs so I suspect that you have something
else.
They will normally be ripe about six weeks after they set on the vine
and
the
gloss will will turn to a dull finish. There should be a yellowing of
the
underbelly where it lays on the ground. It will quit growing several
weeks
before it is ripe.

i've grown this variety and had the melons get nearly twice the size as they
are reported to. sadly, the individual melons that got larger never got ripe
before the first frost.

"brickled" wrote in message
k.net...
i've grown this variety and had the melons get nearly twice the size as
they
are reported to. sadly, the individual melons that got larger never got
ripe
before the first frost.


I've never seen anything like this, the vine started indoors in early May,
set out in soil in late May, had flowers by late June and started getting
fruit in early July. The melon in question first appeared about 7 weeks ago.
There are others on the same vine that have been growing longer but haven't
gotten nearly as big.

"brickled" wrote in message
k.net...
i've grown this variety and had the melons get nearly twice the size as
they
are reported to. sadly, the individual melons that got larger never got
ripe
before the first frost.


I've never seen anything like this, the vine started indoors in early May,
set out in soil in late May, had flowers by late June and started getting
fruit in early July. The melon in question first appeared about 7 weeks ago.
There are others on the same vine that have been growing longer but haven't
gotten nearly as big.