Click on a thumbnail picture below to see the full size version. 114 Entries. Friday, April 17 View Page 229 Leonard. Planted 4/12.   Friday, April 17 View Page 296.5 Barber. Planted 4/12.   Friday, April 17 View Page Last but not least! The 316 Leonard. A big thanks to Mr. Leonard and Mrs. Barber for giving me and my youngest son Andrew these seeds. Andrew says that he is going to grow a 400 lb melon on the 316 plant! We will see!! Also, a big thanks to Mr. Mudd as well!   Saturday, April 18 View Page Correction from earlier post. This is a 229 Edwards not Leonard. Sorry Bill but many thanks for your generosity.   Saturday, April 18 View Page Correction from earlier post. This is a 316 Edwards not Leonard. Sorry again Bill but thank you for your generosity with your seeds.   Saturday, April 18 View Page Correction from previous post. This is the 316 Edwards not Leonard's. Sorry Bill but thanks for your generosity!   Saturday, April 18 View Page 256 Mudd! Thanks Frank!   Saturday, April 18 View Page 253 Mudd! Thanks again Frank!   Saturday, April 18 View Page All plants were planted in a 15ft x 15ft area. I amended a 10 foot circle around each plant with mycorrhizae, earthworm castings, bat guano, and Epsom salt. Tilled this mixture in very good then built a 2 foot wide mound that is about 6" high and planted the plant in the middle of the mound. I had previously tilled gypsum and alfalfa meal into the whole patch about a month ago. Hoping the alfalfa meal and bat guano will provide sufficient amounts of nitrogen while increasing soil activity as well.   Wednesday, April 22 View Page 229 Edwards! Fed all plants with Iguana juice grow and voodoo juice today. Maybe they take off soon!   Wednesday, April 22 View Page 296.5 Barber. 8 days after planting.   Wednesday, April 22 View Page 316 Edwards. 8 days after planting.   Wednesday, April 22 View Page 256 Mudd   Wednesday, April 22 View Page 253 Mudd. This area of our patch stays wet with all of the rain we have had.   Wednesday, April 29 View Page 296 Barber. Weather is going to finally get warm starting this weekend. Maybe growth picks up.   Wednesday, April 29 View Page 229 Edwards. Best plant so far but other plants are nipping at its heels. Sprayed all plants with GA today.   Wednesday, April 29 View Page 316 Edwards. Warm weather should really help this plant.   Wednesday, April 29 View Page 256 Mudd. The 2 Mudd plants are really growing fast.   Wednesday, April 29 View Page 253 Mudd. This plant is in a wet part of patch. It will either grow really good or really bad.   Thursday, April 30 View Page Last but hopefully not least, 212 Mudd. Rain finally stopped long enough to get our last one planted. Maybe the warm dry weather we are about to get helps all of our plants.   Thursday, April 30 View Page This is our rare tomato that we are growing this year. This is an Omar's Lebanese tomato. Took forever to get seeds to sprout. Hopefully it grows. These are suppose to be HUGE tomatoes!!   Tuesday, May 5 View Page 256 Mudd. This plant is growing like crazy! Vining just starting to grow.   Tuesday, May 5 View Page 253 Mudd. Right on brothers heels!! Vine starting to grow.   Tuesday, May 5 View Page 212 Mudd. Baby of the patch!   Tuesday, May 5 View Page 316 Edwards! Vine starting also. I might have to train this vine to grow in the right direction.   Tuesday, May 5 View Page 296.5 Barber. Vine staring on this one too!   Tuesday, May 5 View Page 229 Edwards. Still the best!!   Saturday, May 9 View Page Andrew watering HIS watermelons! There only his if there big.   Saturday, May 9 View Page Watermelon rack to go underneath melons to keep them off the ground!   Saturday, May 9 View Page Andrew watering the melon patch. 3 of our 6 melons starting to vine now.   Saturday, May 9 View Page This is our watermelon rack that we built. This is what our melons will sit on to keep them off the ground.   Saturday, May 9 View Page 253 Mudd starting to run. Run baby Run!!   Saturday, May 9 View Page 316 Edwards. Vine starting thanks to 90 degree temps.   Saturday, May 16 View Page 316 Edwards is the leader in the patch now   Saturday, May 16 View Page 212 Mudd. This is the baby in the patch but is catching up to its siblings fast   Saturday, May 16 View Page 253 Mudd. The main broke on this plant 2" from end. Still growing good though.   Saturday, May 16 View Page 256 Mudd. This plant is growing good and actually had a male flower on it this morning   Saturday, May 16 View Page 229 Edwards. This was the best plant 2 weeks ago. I don't think it has slowed down just not keeping up with the 316!   Saturday, May 16 View Page This plant gets part shade and I think that is hurting its performance. Main is about 6" long. Maybe it picks up growth soon!   Saturday, May 23 View Page 229 Edwards   Saturday, May 23 View Page 296.5 Barber   Saturday, May 23 View Page 316 Edwards. Averaging about 6 inches per day in growth.   Saturday, May 23 View Page 212 Mudd   Saturday, May 23 View Page 253 Mudd   Saturday, May 23 View Page 256 Mudd   Saturday, May 23 View Page This is a couple of leaves on the 316. Several plants have some 10-11 inch long leaves.   Saturday, May 30 View Page 229 Edwards   Saturday, May 30 View Page 296 Barber   Saturday, May 30 View Page 316 Edwards   Saturday, May 30 View Page 212 Mudd   Saturday, May 30 View Page 253 Mudd   Saturday, May 30 View Page 256 Mudd   Saturday, June 6 View Page 256 Mudd. Plant is right at 50 sq ft. Main is 12 ft long. I have one that was pollinated right at 10 feet on Friday 6/5. 2.6 cm long at pollination.   Saturday, June 6 View Page 256 Mudd baby melon. 1 Dap. 10 feet out on main vine.   Saturday, June 6 View Page 316 Edwards. Just waiting to set one on this plant.   Saturday, June 6 View Page 296.5 Barber. Still small plant but really picked up growth lately.   Saturday, June 6 View Page 229 Edwards. Starting to fill in pretty good   Saturday, June 6 View Page 253 Mudd   Saturday, June 6 View Page 212 Mudd. Baby of the patch.   Sunday, June 7 View Page This is on a secondary vine on our 316 Edwards. Pollinated it this morning with male from 256 Mudd. Right at an inch long now. This secondary is about 8-9 feet long. Have one that popped up on main vine this morning about 10 feet out. Should be able to pollinate it in the next 2 days   Tuesday, June 9 View Page Just pollinated a female on the 316 Edwards with male from 256 Mudd. I pollinated one on this plant Sunday morning on a secondary vine and it is growing great. The female I pollinated this morning is on the main vine about 10-11 feet out. It is also a 316 Edwards x 256 Mudd cross. Also pollinated a female this morning on 229 Edwards plant. That cross is 229 Edwards x 212 Mudd and it is also on the main vine at about 10 feet.   Tuesday, June 9 View Page This is the melon on the 316 Edwards. 1 Dap.   Tuesday, June 9 View Page Miscalculated when this female would be ready for pollination. It opened the day before I thought it would. I guess open pollinated is better than not pollinated. This is on the 253 Mudd plant. Plant is only about 50 sq ft but I'm going to let it grow for now cause this is the longest melon @ pollination I've ever seen. Right at 1.2 inches long.   Wednesday, June 10 View Page I found this this morning on 253 Mudd plant. This is open pollinated also like the one on this plant from the other day. Decided to keep this one because it is 7 feet out on secondary vine.   Wednesday, June 10 View Page This is the melon on the 229 Edwards that I pollinated yesterday. Pollinated with 212 Mudd. 1 DAP.   Wednesday, June 10 View Page This is the one on the main vine of the 316 Edwards. Pollinated with the 256 Mudd yesterday. 1 DAP.   Friday, June 12 View Page This is the one on the 316 main. 3 Dap   Friday, June 12 View Page This is the one on the 253 Mudd that was pollinated 2 days ago. Funky shape! That's ok think I have one to replace it with.   Friday, June 12 View Page This is the 229 Edwards melon that was pollinated 3 days ago. If it doesn't take I might have a backup for it too.   Friday, June 12 View Page The melon on the 256 that was pollinated a week ago didn't take but this one looks like a good replacement.   Saturday, June 13 View Page This is on 253 Mudd plant. Pollinated this morning.   Saturday, June 13 View Page This is on the 256 Mudd plant. Pollinated this morning.   Saturday, June 13 View Page This one is on a side vine on 316 Edwards plant. Pollinated yesterday.   Saturday, June 13 View Page This one is on a separate secondary vine on the 316 Edwards. Pollinated this morning.   Saturday, June 13 View Page This is on a secondary vine on the 229 Edwards. Should be able to pollinate tomorrow.   Saturday, June 13 View Page Ugh is is on a secondary vine on the 256 Mudd plant. Pollinated today.   Saturday, June 13 View Page Yet another good looking one on secondary vine on 316 Edwards plant. All 3 look so good I'm going to keep all of them for about a week then cull the worst growing one then eventually keep just the best one.   Saturday, June 13 View Page I definitely have a good problem on the 316. Forgot about pollinating this one this morning. Pollinated with 253 Mudd.   Sunday, June 14 View Page Out in the patch today trying to arrange vines and keep plants from growing into each other as long as possible and I got a pleasant surprise. I have a lot of rooting at leaf nodes on almost every plant. The good thing is I haven't even tried to get them to root, they have done all of this on their own. Well this afternoon I started trying to help them out with the rooting. More roots now could be more pounds later.   Thursday, June 18 View Page This is the melon on the 253 Mudd. 5 Dap and it measures 39" on OTT.   Thursday, June 18 View Page This melon is on a secondary vine on the 256 Mudd. 5 Dap and it measures 32" on OTT.   Thursday, June 18 View Page This melon is on the main vine on the 256 Mudd. 5 Dap and measures 37" on OTT. Melon is a little misshaped but growing good.   Thursday, June 18 View Page This melon is on a secondary vine on the 316 Edwards. 5 Dap and measures 40" on OTT. Fruit is a little misshaped but it is growing really fast.   Thursday, June 18 View Page This melon is one what I believe is considered the back main vine on the 316 Edwards. 5 Dap and measures 42" on OTT. Fruit is a little misshaped but growing very good. Maybe it will match this growth over next 5 days.   Friday, June 19 View Page This one is on a strong secondary vine on the 229 Edwards. Still haven't got one to take on this plant.   Friday, June 19 View Page This one is on the main vine of the 229 Edwards. Really hope this one takes cause plant is big and this is about 15 feet out on vine. Good long shape too.   Saturday, June 20 View Page This is my "melon tepee" we are using this year to protect melons. We have melons sitting on a very thick layer of pine straw to prevent rot.   Tuesday, June 23 View Page Well it is finally day 10. This is the smaller one on the 316 Edwards plant. 10 Dap. 80.5 OTT.   Tuesday, June 23 View Page This is the biggest one on the 316 Edwards plant. 10 Dap. 86 OTT.   Tuesday, June 23 View Page This one is on our 256 Mudd plant on main vine. 10 Dap. 81.5 OTT   Tuesday, June 23 View Page This one is on our 253 Mudd plant. 10 Dap. 72 OTT.   Friday, July 3 View Page 253 Mudd. 20 Dap. 101 OTT.   Friday, July 3 View Page 256 Mudd. 2nd biggest in patch. 20 Dap. 125.5 OTT.   Friday, July 3 View Page This is a new one on our 212 Mudd. 91 OTT   Friday, July 3 View Page This is the big dog so far. 316 Edwards. 20 Dap. 134.5 OTT.   Friday, July 3 View Page Another pic of the 316. Heavy rain past 3-4 days has slowed it down a little.   Friday, July 3 View Page This is our beauty on our 296 Barber plant. Like to have never set one on this plant. We are going to call her Sue after her "Melon Mama".LOL. 84 OTT anywhere from 10-12 Dap.   Friday, July 3 View Page This is the baby of the patch for now but I bet it won't be for long. This one is on our 229 Edwards plant. Big plant should push this one up fast.   Saturday, July 4 View Page Today we changed our rack under the 256 Mudd and 316 Edwards melons. This is the 256 Mudd. 11 Dap. 128 OTT.   Saturday, July 4 View Page This is our 316 with its new rack. Big thanks to Sue, Spence, and Cecil for the suggestion on the rack.   Sunday, July 5 View Page Correction on one of yesterdays posts. The 256 Mudd melon was 21 Sap on July 4.   Monday, July 13 View Page Day 30 on the 316 Edwards. Hope the next 30 days are the same as the first 30. 158.25 OTT. Charts at right at 118 lbs.   Monday, July 13 View Page Day 30 on the 256 Mudd. 147 OTT.   Friday, July 17 View Page 316 Edwards. Day 34. Here you go Spence!   Friday, July 17 View Page 316 again. Overhead shot shows how wide it is. Rack is 20" wide.   Friday, July 17 View Page Here's your girth measurement I promised you Spence! Day 34.   Sunday, July 19 View Page I don't think is a big deal but I would feel better if Mrs. Sue said it is not a big deal.   Thursday, July 23 View Page 256 Mudd melon. Day 40. 163.5 OTT. Stem is ugly, leaking, but still growing   Thursday, July 23 View Page 316 Edwards melon. Andrew says this is his melon! It's turning into a Beast just like him. It was chugging along nicely at 3-3.7 lbs a day but something has changed. It might be the cucumber plants I took up that were 15 feet away from the stump. I don't know but this thing has shifted gears the last two days and we only hope it continues. 10.1 lbs growth by OTT chart last 2 days! Day 40. 176.25 OTT. 40.3 lbs last 10 days by chart! Fingers crossed it keeps going!   Sunday, August 2 View Page Today is Day 50 on the 316. Chart weight is 193.2 lbs. 35.1 lbs the past 10 days. Bad news is it hasn't just pumped the brakes the past few days it has pretty much slammed them on. Stem split not helping matters any. We have shifted from possible state record mode to all hands on deck survival mode. Still almost 4 weeks till weighoff.   Wednesday, August 12 View Page Day 60 on the 256 Mudd and 316 Edwards. Hopefully our stem issues on both plants will hold where they are and we can finish both of these melons. Both still growing decent for their age. Just got to keep going. 316 melon gained 18.1 lbs last 10 days by OTT chart. Charts at 211.3 lbs now. 17 days to go though.   Saturday, August 22 View Page Today is Day 70 on our 316 Edwards melon. Only one more week to go till FarmYall Festival weigh off in Cullman. We've been taking things 10 days at a time this year. Past 10 days melon has gained 10.7 lbs by chart. As wide and tall as this melon is it should go very heavy to chart. Big thanks to Bill Edwards for kindly providing us with the great seeds and thanks to Mama Sue Barber for the great seeds and all of your help and advice this season.   Thursday, August 27 View Page End view of 316 melon. Only 2 days till Cullman and we can see what she weighs.   Saturday, August 29 View Page This is the final pic of our 316 melon, which is now the 228 Bentley. We had a great time in Cullman today talking to a lot of the great guys that were there. Super excited about finally getting to meet Chris Kent and get some advice from "the man". Can't thank Bill Edwards, Susan Barber, and Spencer Glasgow for all of their help and advice throughout this season. No state record but that gives us a goal for next year.