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Deep South, USA

I was wonder how other growers kep records during the season.

I also thought I'd share my method of record keeping. I'm not saying it's the best method, or even a good one, but I thought I'd share it anyway.

Once fruiting starts, I usually try to take photos of the females at least once every few days with a digital camera, and write up a journal on their progress.

I number the pictures sequentially starting with 1, and identify individual females by giving them the year grown, followed by the picture they first appear in, and the number of days since pollination if known. This makes it possible to go back and find the first few pictures of each female. I also try to mention the parent heritage, if I can figure out which one it is.

I try to keep up with which ones die or are culled.

For example, say I have a melon growing, and my first picture of it is the 20th taken of all my plants this year. That melon would be 2011-P20 (today, or [number] days)for the rest of the growing season. Sometimes I include nicknames.

I don't reuse nicknames during the same season, and if I were to reuse them in a different season, I would try to remember to include the year grown to clarify.

That's basically it.

7/6/2011 3:35:19 PM

Garner, NC

Yoshi, I record daily ott's, and girth on some in a ledger, that's about it. As far as nickmames, mine are melon 1, melon 2 and so on. As far as keeping records it's neat to compare differently aged melons by days after pollination, thats how I will tell if I ever get a good one going.

7/6/2011 9:43:03 PM

Muddy Waters

I just keep a Garden Journal(Diary) not highly detailed but enough to look back & compare results & rainfall & temps!

7/6/2011 10:00:17 PM

Bowdon, GA

I stick a flag next to each melon when it is polinated. Write the cross and date, and asign it a number. Then write down ott and length at set days after pollination.

7/6/2011 10:43:36 PM

Www.extremepumpkinstore.com

I use the digital excel file that I posted on our website, its really the updated pumpkin growing chart that calculates the ott as you put the ss, fb, and circ numbers in. I've included a few charts, and a page to write everything that you do.
I usually type in everthing that I do, ferts, fungicides, insecticides,pollinations etc.

7/6/2011 11:12:01 PM

Muddy Waters

great idea jake

7/7/2011 7:01:12 AM

Rochester, Minnesota

I would add that I also make tick marks on the garden marker that I place next to each pollinated female that represent the length of the fruit at pollination time.

Example: 7/7 x 193 White ' '

7/7/2011 12:49:57 PM

sevierville, Tn

Where is the file Tom ?

i use excel to make sheets on the growth rates.

7/7/2011 3:11:14 PM

Deep South, USA

I started taking measurements last year when the plants became serious about growing fruit. It doesn't seem practical to try to OTT tender infant melons, so I usually go with a rough straight line measurement (stem to blossom end through the middle) for the first few days. Does that make sense?

7/7/2011 3:19:38 PM

sevierville, Tn

I don't start OTT till day 10 , so yes.

7/7/2011 10:25:29 PM

Deep South, USA

What should I look for in the first 10 days of growth on each day? Is there any certain amount that a melon should grow each day, or is it not very regular when it is that young?

7/8/2011 12:30:52 AM

sevierville, Tn

Yoshi, they should increase each day and a faster rate till they hit peak of 5+ lbs a day.

7/8/2011 2:59:36 PM

Deep South, USA

What would a properly growing melon look like at 5 days, as far as straight length goes? I'm trying to learn what my records indicate about early melon growth on my plants. I started measuring yesterday, and plan to take again this afternoon.

7/8/2011 3:31:59 PM

formerly RGG

A nicely growing healthy melon at 5 days would be about 4" to 5" long and gaining about an inch a day.

7/8/2011 5:46:47 PM

Deep South, USA

Looks like I might have a couple that fit the bill. I've got a couple of four day olds over 3" inches, one nearing 4". If they grow some more overnight, at least one should be 4"+ by tomorrow.

I think one of the plants, at least, has finally gotten serious. Now we need some rain. I'm not sure if it helps the melons directly, but I think with a good rain the plants will run wild.

7/8/2011 8:59:29 PM

Garner, NC

From what I have found this year 95% of all my growth happens from late afternoon till the morning. Its really amazing how much the pack on in a night.

7/8/2011 9:15:26 PM

Deep South, USA

It's really something that you can often see the difference, especially when they're small and the change is a larger percentage of the melon. There have been times when I would check the plants twice in the same day, I would think "Wow, this one's grown since earlier in the day."

Ice, how old was the 30 lb cull in the July 6 entry of your diary?

7/8/2011 9:39:03 PM

Deep South, USA

"small" as in "young"

7/8/2011 9:39:35 PM

Www.extremepumpkinstore.com

Chris, you can find it by going to our Garden Resource Center loacted here: http://www.gardenresource.info/
You should see a link for the growth chart, if not email me and I will give you the direct link.
Thanks.
Tom

7/8/2011 11:04:32 PM

sevierville, Tn

Got it, thanks Tom

7/8/2011 11:53:24 PM

Garner, NC

Yoshi, 30lb cull was around day 11 or 12 and was off the 291 Kent

7/9/2011 8:40:17 PM

Deep South, USA

So that would be from about 4 to 5" long at day 5 to 30+ lbs about a week later.

In order for a melon to grow that fast, does it's growth
speed up through that week?

Wow, that would be uncharted territory for me. In the past, I've had melons on the vine for more than 10 days, but they've never grown like that.

Most of the time they seem to average maybe 15 lbs @ 14 days, and even that may be too generous. All of them showed symptoms of BER between 10-20 days. I can't help but wonder if calcium problems were damaging the melons long before it becomes obvious externally (as BER).

As for this year, my best melon is 4 3/4" today @ 5 days.

7/9/2011 9:22:45 PM

Garner, NC

Hey yoshi, my numbers are by no means a guideline to go by, but here is 11 day numbers....day4 4.5long day5 6.5long day6 lazy day7 11 long day8 33.5 cc day9 79.5ott day10 89ott and day 11 98ott or 28.3lbs. Sorry for weird number, but certain days I only do certain measurements. Then at day 10 I start full ott numbers.

7/9/2011 9:40:31 PM

Deep South, USA

Is it correct that a melon should be in the 30-40 lb range @ 14 days? If I have serous problems again this year, I'm hoping to find out where my growth is stopping.

None of the melons I've had ever even come close to that, unless the one that made it through the 2009 season at 42.6 actually stopped right about there at 14 days. (It was hidden so well, it was at least 20-30 lbs before I found it.)

7/10/2011 4:42:29 PM

Bowdon, GA

Yoshi, just take the one growing fastest on that plant. Even if it isn't in the 30-40lb range at day 14 take the best the plant gives you.

7/10/2011 5:27:00 PM

Muddy Waters

Yoshi,some of the biggest at 14 days fizzle out at 220 230,it really doesnt matter were going for long term growth,some catch up & pass the others,but I would go with your fastest grower!!

7/10/2011 9:58:11 PM

Deep South, USA

Growth isn't my only concern, it's not even my primary concern in the first 2 1/2 weeks. I was wondering if slow fruit growth could be an indicator of a systemic problem in the plant.

When I say I'd be happy to have a 100 lb melon at the end of the year, it's more about with whether a melon makes it past 12-15 days without a serious problem.

7/10/2011 11:11:16 PM

Muddy Waters

It could be water(amount)soil , PH.sunlight A lot of things factor in

7/11/2011 6:07:05 AM