2019 Melon Variety Trial Results Takeaways As in previous years, Christmas watermelon yielded well and had superior field holding, though it wasn’t ranked as high in taste tests. Of the muskmelons, Eel River stood out for its fine flavor, texture and good yields. Dry-farmed melons were rated as sweeter than irrigated melons by taste test, and BlaCktail Mountain was voted favorite melon by field day attendees. Site description Melons were grown at the OSU Vegetable ResearCh Farm, where the soil type is a Chehalis silt loam. Water meters showed that the soil in the top four feet of the site was depleted of moisture by the end of the season, but Considering how prolifiC the yield of melons were at this site, we suspeCt that there was additional moisture below this depth. Soil Preparation A mixed Cover Crop of rye (10#/aCre) and Crimson Clover (5#/aCre) was sown the previous winter. In late April, the Cover Crop was mowed, and in early May the plots were disCed and power harrowed. Melon transplants were seeded on May 5th. On May 22nd, melons were transplanted 6 feet apart in row with 5 feet between rows. Plants were cultivated by hand using a wheel and hand hoe. Varieties Trialed Avg. Yield per plant Code Variety Description (lbs) Source Watermelons BlaCktail BM Mountain Early, Cold-hardy watermelon with dark green skin and red flesh 44 Seed Savers Exchange Mid-season watermelon with pale green skin and red flesh; good XM Christmas for storage 84 Seed Revolution Now Cream of CS Saskatchewan Early watermelon with striped skin and Cream flesh; thin skin 50 Seed Savers Exchange Early watermelon with pink flesh and skin that blushes yellow GM Golden Midget when ripe 57 Seed Savers Exchange Heirloom watermelon with dark green skin/yellow blotChes and MS Moon & Stars red flesh 92 Seed Savers Exchange SS Sweet Siberian Mid-season oblong watermelon with striped skin and orange flesh 57 Seed Savers Exchange Melons Heirloom muskmelon with spotted skin, a teardrop shape, and ER Eel River creamy orange flesh. 36 Seed Revolution Now GN Green Nutmeg Heirloom muskmelon with netted skin and green flesh 36 Seed Savers Exchange Minnesota MM Midget Extra early, small muskmelon with orange flesh 16 Seed Savers Exchange TI Tigger Early melon with orange striped skin and mildly sweet, Cream flesh 30 Seed Savers Exchange Qualitative Observations Watermelons Blacktail Mountain was the earliest produCer though its yields were not impressive. Fruit were in a size range that is easily marketable. Christmas watermelon was prolifiC, held in the field better, and was Consistent in flavor and texture. Size was larger but still marketable. Cream of Saskatchewan was not a heavy produCer though it was on the early side. The flavor was amazing when picked dead ripe--really a revelation. Golden Midget is a watermelon variety whose skin turns yellow when it is ripe. These plants were early and produced many small fruits, which would be easily marketable. However, the flesh was stringy, soft, and had poor flavor. Moon and Stars produced enormous fruits with decent texture and sweetness later in the season. It might be difficult to market such large fruits. Sweet Siberian had moderate yields and ripened in the middle of the season. Its fruit was medium in size and had decent flavor, niCe texture, and vibrant orange flesh when ripe. Muskmelons Eel River had large fruit for a muskmelon with a refined flavor and perfume. It was later and did not hold well in the field. We had a significant number of fruits that were not ripe one week but overripe by the next. Despite these faults, the flavor was outstanding. Green Nutmeg was a good yielder and held in the field better than the other melon varieties tested. Flavor was not outstanding. Minnesota Midget was our one of our earliest melon varieties and because its skin Color does not Change until it is overripe, we initially assumed that it was prone to a melon fruit disease. However, we were just picking the fruits too late. The flavor was classiC cantaloupe. The fruits were quite small--almost single servings. Tigger was early and prolifiC, but the fruits were small and had an insipid flavor. Not a strong market melon. Sensory Evaluations In a sensory evaluation at the Oak Creek field day, the percentage of respondents (22/32) who rated dry-farmed Blacktail Mountain melons as very sweet was 25% higher than those respondents (28/51) who rated irrigated Controls as very sweet. The percentage of respondents (15/23) who rated dry-farmed Cream of Saskatchewan watermelons as very sweet was 2.5 times higher than those respondents (5/20) who rated irrigated controls as very sweet. At the VRF field day, BlaCktail Mountain was ranked the favorite melon, garnering 11 of 29 votes with Sweet Siberian second (9/29) and Moon and Stars third most popular (6/29). Melon Yields .