Backyard Aquaponics
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I threw a few 4 or 5 Miniature Watermelon "Mexican Mini" seeds in the wicking bed too see if I could get a result, not knowing anything at all about hybrid watermelons I didn't hold too much hope of any great success.

In the last few weeks they appear too be kicking along nicely and they are growing well in the colder weather, something I didn't expect at all.

Now I have the problem of knowing when they're ripe and ready to harvest, I've researched as much as I can but because the are a hybrid there's not a lot of information.

I know about the curling dried brown tendril, vines dying back, the knocking sound and the bottom being yellow where it sits on the soil, that one is a bit hard because most of then are hanging and not touching any soil. I think knocking on the melon is also harder than a normal melon because of being small and a different type of skin, some photos I've seen are of very small melons and wouldn't have a sound anything like a normal size watermelon.

The one thing I do know is that they don't ripen after being picked so I might have sacrifice one to get an idea, the problem is they are not all growing at the same rate and there's a lot more still coming on.

I'll wait another week or two before I harvest any and see if there's any changes in growth or signs of any of them being ripe.

A few more photos.

Totally different than what I'd call a Mexican mini watermelon here (aka mouse melons, there are several other names), which is actually a gherkin

http://www.localharvest.org/blog/48630/entry/mexican_miniature_watermelon_rare_heirloom

To me they look like a rock melon in which case it will change colour when it is ripe.Also it should have a nice smell about it which you will smell as soon as you go anywhere near it.The stem usually pulls out when it is ripe so you may need something under it to catch it so it doesn't splatter.

I had problems getting melons to ripen late in the season last year. This late in the year I'd be cutting any new flowers/fruit off, to give the existing fruit the best chance of achieving a good size. Protecting them from cold temperatures may help too.
I agree with Don, they do look more like rockmelons, not watermelons, and to help get the smell maybe give it a slight scrape with your fingernails and sniff.
I'd leave them on until the vine is a bit more withered, but if you have plenty, it wont hurt to sacrifice one to see how it looks on the inside.

+1

They remind me of Charentais melons - https://www.google.com/search?q=charentais+melon&sa=X&biw=1906&bih=949&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&ei=r7pFVanxEImpoQTizIG4Dw&ved=0CCgQsAQ

These were prolific and taste pretty good even with the cool summers here.

Rockmelon and watermelon side by side in my system:
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=16345&hilit=rockmelon&start=405#p442529

Thanks for the response Guys you are all on the money, this is what I bought and this is what I got.

I decided to sacrifice one of the smaller melons rather than a larger one and it certainly looks like a Rock Melon (Cantalope).

I've always tried too grow the odd more exotic vegetables rather than the run of the mill, anyone can grow a lettuce and it's more of a challenge to grow something a little bit different but it looks like eBay has struck again on this one.

I'll know exactly what I'll be planting with the remaining seeds.

Thanks Guys

Here is another one of my exotic missions, I don't know why I bothered with these seeds they take many years to grow, I'll be long gone before they get anywhere near 1/2 a metre high.

If they do start too show any great rate of growth I might be able too include them in my will.

Because of their very slow growth they are quite expensive to buy at any decent size.

"GROWTH RATE + DORMANCY
Grass trees are extremely slow growing. Did you know that in poor bush soil the trunk will grow approx 9mm per year? They take up to
10 years to start forming a trunk, and a tree with a 1 metre long trunk could be 100 years old! In better soils, growth is slightly faster and
trees are more likely to grow multiple heads.
Grass trees may spend the first few years after planting settling in and deciding whether they like the spot they have been planted.
It is normal for grass trees to remain dormant after flowering with no new leaves appearing for months at a time.

http://plantsandlandscapes.com.au/prov_ ... _trees.pdf

http://plantsandlandscapes.com.au/prov_ ... e_list.pdf

I'd like to see you try this.

Very funny clip EB, I like the look of these guys, they make packaging so much easier.

If you want your Xanthorrhoea to grow faster, I'd suggest putting lots of limestone on the ground around it. Around these parts, and most other places I have seen them growing in the wild, they grow in and around limestone outcrops.
There's some huge ones 4 or 5m high about 60km south of me in the Upper Hunter Valley near some limestone caves.

Thanks Gordon, those 4m or 5m high guys would be worth an absolute fortune in a plant nursery.

Is the pic of the small one with green innards the one you sacrificed? How large are these?

Did u taste the small melon. It also looks like a cucumber?

Good luck with the grass tree. They are very slow growing but think of it as an investment. You will get great joy if in 30 or 50 years it develops a trunk and you can look back and say I planted that from seed. [WINKING FACE]


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