Jim’s Favorite Watermelon Seeds
Watermelon Fruit Blotch Disease
the risks of watermelon cultivation. We will sell you
watermelon seed only if you are willing to take the total risk
and full responsibility for any damages caused by Watermelon
Fruit Blotch Disease.
The causal organism of Bacterial Fruit Blotch is Acidovorax Avenae Subs Citrulli. This bacteria may be seed borne, but infection may also occur from many types of secondary sources before or after planting. The most pronounced spread of Bacterial Fruit Blotch occurs in greenhouses, where optimal conditions for the spread of the disease occur.
In young seedlings, the disease can cause water soaked lesions to appear on the leaves of the plant, and in some cases on the stem as well. They will change, turn nektonic with yellow halos around the necrosis, possibly appearing on the leaves during any stage of plant growth. However, the real damage from this disease occurs after fruit set, when these lesions appear on the fruit. The fruit will begin to decay and make it unmarketable.
While Bacterial Fruit Blotch can be a devastating disease, early detection can help minimize losses. Research has shown that the early detection of the disease, followed with timely applications of copper based fungicides, can greatly reduce the spread and subsequent damage caused by the disease.
Too date, their is no way to prove if this disease is present in seeds, and their are many other possible sources for
contamination.
Our seeds are from growers who have tested for this disease by growing isolation lots from seeds and inspecting for the disease, which is the only known way to test seeds for the disease at this time.
We have talked to many watermelon seed producers and it appears that this disease is almost always found from transplants grown in warm, humid greenhouses. If you can direct seed into the garden, rather than starting seedlings in the greenhouse, you should.
By purchasing our watermelon seed, you hereby release us from
any and all liability for Watermelon Fruit Blotch Disease ,
under any and all legal theories. If giving
us this release is unacceptable to you, then you must not
purchase watermelon seeds from us. We will not accept fax or
mail in orders for watermelon seeds.
JM182 Carolina Cross #183
One of our favorite melons since we started growing it a few years ago. You can grow delicious championship size melons in your garden! Enormous fruits are sweet and extra juicy. Dark and light green-striped rinds are bruise resistant and easy to handle. Open pollinated. 90 days.
TWT237 Dixie Queen
The Dixie Queen Watermelon is a fast growing, very popular, large watermelon that is perfect for taking to summer picnics! This variety is an old-time variety that has been a garden staple since 1935. This watermelon flesh is bright red in color and is very solid and juicy. The Dixie Queen’s smooth skin is a greenish ivory color with dark green stripes.
A round to oblong variety, Dixie Queen is an excellent choice for an early season watermelon. The plant produces good yields of 40 lb watermelons. It has exceptionally sweet crisp red flesh. Want an early harvest, then you have to try this variety. An excellent choice for home gardens and Farmer’s Markets. 75 days.
TWT262 Georgia Rattlesnake
This heirloom melon gets the name from the pale green “snakeskin” stripes of the skin.
The large, oval fruits average 25-45 lbs. and some can grow as large as 75 lbs. The fruits are as beautiful inside as they are on the outside. They have a sweet, firm, bright rose flesh and beautifully patterned light and dark green rattlesnake markings on their skins. The skins are thick, so they hold up well for shipping, storage or taking to a picnic The rind is thin but very tough, which made it a favorite of market gardeners. 90 days.
JM197 California Sweet Bush Hybrid
2019 AAS Edible-Vegetable Winner.
From ancient wild watermelons in the African desert to today’s new selections, watermelons have come a long way! Cal Sweet Bush is another example of how ongoing breeding efforts result in a new and better product. This is a true short internode (the sections between the stem joints) watermelon. These watermelons have compact, bushy vines that grow only 14-18″ long and still provide enough foliage cover to protect the fruits. Each plant yields 2-3 fruits weighing 10 -12 pounds. Like all AAS Winners, this newbie delivers exceptional taste and texture. Cal Sweet Bush is a great watermelon choice for gardeners with limited space or those wanting a container melon. Cal Sweet Bush will produce at least one fruit per vine if grown in a container. 90 days.
1A249 Congo
1950 All-America Selections Winner! 95 days. Citrullus lanatus.
Plant produces good yields of 35 lb watermelons. It has very
tough rind that will resist bruising. This variety has very
delicious sweet red flesh. Suitable for home garden and market
growers. Disease Resistant. 95 days.
3732 Mini Love Hybrid
2017 AAS Edible – Vegetable Winner.
This personal-sized Asian watermelon is perfect for smaller families and smaller gardens. Shorter vines (3-4 feet) still produce up to six fruits per plant and can be grown in smaller spaces. Several judges commented on the crack and split resistant rinds, important for reducing crop loss.
For culinary purposes, this deep red fleshed watermelon has a thin but strong rind that can be carved into attractive shapes for fruit salad presentations. Mini Love has a high sugar content resulting in sweet and crisp, juicy flesh that will be a true summer delight for watermelon lovers.
Matures in 70 days.
LET459 Lemon Krush F1
Lemon Krush is a great tasting hybrid watermelon producing 16-20 pound melons. This fantastic watermelon features a dark Crimson Sweet rind pattern and firm yellow flesh with a high brix. Tolerant to Fusarium Wilt, Anthracnoce and Powdery Mildew. 85 days.
JM190 Sweet Siberian ( Russian Heirloom Watermelon )
Another very old watermelon that originates from Russia. The medium sized dark green fruit average 9-10 lbs and are oblong in shape. The flesh is a beautiful yellow color and is extremely sweet and juicy.
The 1937 McFayden Seed catalogue wrote “Largest of the Early Strains. A very early yellow fleshed variety extensively grown by Russians. It is supposed to have come from Siberia.
The melons are oblong, dark green, borne abundantly on vigorous vines. The flesh is a golden yellow, sweet and delicious. Grown extensively by Hutterite Colonies, who find ready sale for them in many districts of Manitoba. (80 days).
JM172 Yellow Doll
Probably the earliest of all watermelons, only 68 days to maturity. Can be grown on a trellis where space is limited. Yellow Doll produces small, oval, striped melons with thin rinds and few seeds borne on semi-compact vines. The flesh from Yellow Doll watermelon seeds is bright lemon-yellow, very sweet, with a pleasing, dense, crisp texture. Fruits average 5-7 lbs.
F1, really early, icebox type with sweet yellow flesh, 3-5 lb, round, green striped, compact plant, 68 days.
JM199 Florida Giant
Don’t let the name fool you – the Florida Giant Watermelon will grow outside of the sunshine state! An abundant producer of generally round watermelons in the 50-pound range. Sweet and juicy red flesh make this watermelon an excellent choice for your garden. Introduced by famed Florida watermelon pioneer Melville Dillon in the 1940’s. 90 days.
TWT251 All Sweet
This watermelon was developed from a sister line of Crimson Sweet. All Sweet is an excellent open-pollinated fresh market variety. The elongated watermelons are about 18″ long x 7″ wide and average about 30 pounds. The flesh is bright red with relatively few seeds. Resistant to FW, AN1, and AN3, and is a good shipper. It matures in 95 days.
All Sweet, a high quality heirloom, is descended from Crimson Sweet. Because of its many excellent qualities, this variety of watermelon seed for sale has been used in the breeding of many other hybrid types of watermelon.
TWT252 Yellow Crimson
Similar to Crimson Sweet in appearance, Yellow Crimson has great tasting yellow flesh. This early watermelon produces good yields in just 80 days! These are a smaller watermelon and weigh in at about 10 pounds.
The heirloom watermelon Yellow Crimson is nearly identical to the red-fleshed Crimson Sweet. Rather than being the result of hybrids, yellow and white varieties of watermelon are actually more ancient than their pink and red counterparts. Historians believe that the yellow versions grew wild in South Africa originally.
TWT253 Tendersweet Orange
Its name doesn’t lie. Tendersweet Orange Watermelons produce lovely oblong fruit with stunningly beautiful and incredibly delicious orange flesh. But, Tendersweet Orange is more than a novelty; in our opinion we feel it can hold its own in a taste test with any more conventional watermelon.
These oblong watermelons are both lovely and delicious. The strong rinds and sweet orange flesh with high sugar content make these a favorite for many. They grow about 18″ long and weigh about 35 pounds when they reach maturity after 95 days of growing. These seeds are so popular that they are often sold out!
Tendersweet Orange, an extremely sweet watermelon of the orange fleshed type, is distinguished from other orange varieties because of its unusually strong rind; this makes it a good shipping melon. Rather than being the result of hybrids, yellow and orange varieties of watermelon are actually more ancient than their pink and red counterparts.
TWT254 Cal Sweet Supreme
This oblong open-pollinated watermelon usually grows to 30 pounds, and the dark red flesh and brown seeds make it a universal favorite. The vine of this variety has unique leaves that protect the melon from getting sunburned. It takes about 90 days to grow this watermelon.
Cal Sweet Supreme is the most popular open-pollinated variety of watermelon in California, one of the leading states in the commercial production of watermelons. Cal Sweet Supreme fulfills every expectation of what a watermelon should be, with sweet dark red flesh, brown seeds, and contrasting green stripes.
TWT255 Charleston Gray
The Charleston Grey (Or Charleston Gray) is a classic heirloom watermelon that dates back to the 1950’s. The flesh is pink, firm, and sweet, it is absolutely delicious! An excellent choice for the home gardener or market grower.
Watermelons grow best in warm weather and sandy soils. Make sure their trailing vines have plenty of space and let your melons enjoy the warm summer sun for delicious, sweet harvests!
IP285 Shiny Boy Hybrid
2010 AAS Winner! Shiny Boy beat out the taste test competition in AAS trials, favored for the sweet, tropical flavor and crisp texture of its deep red flesh. Globe-shaped melons are ready to harvest just 90 days after sowing, having an average weight of 20 pounds or more. Dark green rinds have wide stripes. Vines up to 12 feet long can be grown vertically if space is limited. Grow successfully in any region with warm growing conditions. Plants exhibit good health, weather tolerance and generous yields. 75 days.
JM191 Gold in Gold Hybrid
2017 AAS Winner! Excellent tasting, bright yellow fruits have gold stripes and a lovely golden-orange flesh that is crisp with a high sugar content. Melons, 11 to 16 lbs., have a strong rind that resists cracking or bursting. The oblong shape makes it a perfect “icebox” watermelon. Early, high yielding with improved disease resistance.70 days.
JM156 Jubilee
Well rounded melons to 40 pounds. Good shipper with tough skin, high yielder.
95 days.
JM198 Black Diamond
Plant produces good yields of large 40 to 75 lb watermelons. It has very flavorful bright red flesh. Tough black-green rind helps fruit from bruising. Plant has large leaves which help prevent sunburning of watermelons. This is the Blue Ribbon Winner strain! An excellent mid-season variety for home gardeners and market growers. Good shipper variety! 85 days.
JM196 Faerie Hybrid
2012 AAS Edible Vegetable Winner. Faerie is a non-traditional watermelon in that it has a creamy yellow rind with thin stripes yet still yields sweet pink-red flesh with a high sugar content and crisp texture. Home gardeners will like growing something unique in their garden and the fact that the vines are vigorous yet spread only to 11 feet means it takes up less space in the garden. Each 7-8 inches fruit weighs only four to six pounds making it a perfect family size melon. Professional growers will appreciate the disease and insect tolerance as well as the prolific fruit set that starts early and continues throughout the season. 72 days.
JM133 Crimson Sweet
An attractive light green melon with dark green stripes. About
25 lbs. Firm, deep red flesh.
SF078 Klondike Blue Ribbon
Since 1908 this prize-winning heirloom is often included in debates for the best tasting heirloom watermelon. Hard to find, produces oblong striped fruit. Averages 9 to 11 lbs, can reach 25 lbs. Perfect for home or gourmet market gardening. 85 days.
TCB090 Sugar Baby
80 days. The standard of the icebox melons, Sugar Baby has been a staple at picnics for years. Vines grow to 6 feet and set 4-6 melons roughly 10 inches across. Has that unmistakable crisp, mouthwatering, sweet rich flavor. Terrific for home gardens.
BM17 Mountain Sweet Yellow
Seeds from SSE. Long, 20-35 pound fruits. Dark yellow flesh and
black seeds. Quite productive when grown at Heritage Farm. Very
high sugar content. This is the yellow fleshed strain of
Mountain Sweet which was so popular in the 1840s in markets
throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York. 95-100
days.
JM171 Moons and Stars Red
Dark green oval heirloom, sweet pink-red flesh, bright yellow spots on rind, 7-8″ dia., 10-15 lbs, 89 days.
Seedless Watermelons
This article is excerpted from “Seedless Watermelon Production” by Jerry Parsons, Larry Stein, Tom Longbrake, Sam Cotner, and Jerral Johnson, published by the Texas Agricultural Extension Service.
The seedless watermelon is now a reality. Seedless watermelons–sweet inside but without the numerous seeds found in conventional watermelons–are the ultimate in convenience foods.
Seed Production. The obvious question asked about growing seedless watermelons is: “How does one obtain seed of a seedless watermelon?” Obviously, you cannot save seed from a seedless watermelon. So, where do the seeds come from? Simply stated, the number of chromosomes (the threadlike bodies within cells that contain the inheritance units called genes) in a normal watermelon plant is doubled by the use of the chemical colchicine. Doubling a normal (diploid) watermelon results in a tetraploid plant (one having four sets of chromosomes).
When the tetraploid plant is bred back, or pollinated, by a diploid or normal plant, the resulting seed produces a triploid plant that is basically a “mule” of the plant kingdom, and it produces seedless watermelons. Seed of seedless varieties are available from most major seed companies.
General Climatic Requirements. Seedless watermelons are a warm-season crop, preferring relatively high temperatures for optimum growth. Daytime temperatures of 80 to 95 degrees F. and night temperatures of 60 to 70 degrees F. are best. When temperatures are lower, plant growth is slowed considerably. With favorable weather, seeded fields can produce ripe fruit in 85 to 100 days.
Planting: Poor seed germination is the main problem with growing seedless watermelons. When direct seeding, the soil temperature should be minimum of 70 degrees F. at a depth of 4 inches. Soil temperatures below 70 degree F. will reduce germination and emergence. When growing transplants, use 12- to 2-inch seedling cells or peat pellets. Soak the planting medium thoroughly, and let drain 4 to 6 hours before sowing. Plant 1 or 2 seeds per cell or pellet. The greenhouse temperature should be 75 to 85 degrees F. during the germination period. Do not allow the growing medium to become dry, but do not over water during initial germination. Begin watering, as needed, after 10 to 15 percent of the seedlings have emerged. Plants should be ready for transplanting in 3 to 4 weeks. Transplants should have not more than 3 true leaves when set in the field. Use of older, larger transplants can cause slow, stunted growth and poor yields. In-row and between-row spacing is generally 48 X 80 inches.
Pollination. The male and female flowers are born separately on the watermelon plant. Female flowers must be pollinated for fruit to set. Also, cross pollination must occur between a seedless and a regular type watermelon for seedless fruit to be produced. This is best accomplished by planting a standard watermelon variety in the garden. Approximately one-third of the plants in the garden should be of the standard or ‘pollinator’ variety. Honey bees are the principal insects that pollinate watermelons. Pollination is a must, and poor or partial pollination may result in misshapen fruit and no seedless melons.
Harvesting. The lower side or ‘ground spot’ of the fruit should be cream-colored or yellowish. Thump fruit to check for ripeness. The result will vary. Generally, a solid sound indicates ripeness, while a sharp echoing sound indicates a greener fruit. The tendril or ‘tail’ which occurs in the axils of leaves (where the leaf attaches to the vine) along the stem can be used as an indicator of ripeness. Experienced harvesters say that if the 2 tendrils nearest the fruit are dry, the seedless watermelon is ripe. It is important to note that the first few mature melons in the garden may frequently contain small seeds. This condition is most prevalent under stressed conditions, such as low soil moisture, insufficient fertilizer, temperature extremes, or disease pressure, which affect normal plant development.
Each planting of seedless watermelons actually produces 3 different types of watermelons — the regular seeded watermelons (from pollinator plants), the true seedless melons, and a light-green tetraploid melon that produces a very limited number of seeds, from which next year’s planting can be made.
Jim’s Plant Growth Stimulator
Please note that this is not a plant food or fertilize, this is a combination of natural ingredients intended to improve plant growth. Many greenhouse growers and commercial farms use a combination of these ingredients in their growing process. We have been using this formula in our gardens, fields and greenhouses since 1992, and we use it on everything we grow. We would not make this available to our customers if we did not firmly believe that it does enhance the growth and health of plants that it is applied to.
To see the results for yourself, we advise using it on some plants and not on others and see the difference.
Note: We only ship this product to addresses inside the USA.
The following ingredients are used in making Jim’s Plant Growth Stimulator:
Gibberellic Acid
Gibberellic Acid is a member of a type of plant hormone called Gibberellins, which regulate the growth rate of plants. It was first discovered in Japan, in 1935 as a result of the study of a condition
common in rice plants called “foolish seedling” disease, which caused the plants to grow much taller than normal. The effects of gibberellins weren’t widely understood until years later.
Gibberellic Acid is EPA approved, and is commercially used to grow most fruits and vegetables we eat.
B1 Vitamins and Plant Hormones
We add a blend of plant vitamins and hormones to stimulate plant growth and allow the plant to absorb food
from the soil quicker and also assimilate micronutrients that they may not normally be able to absorb due to various soil conditions.
Micronutrients
All plants benefit from micronutrients, so we’ve added a humic acid base with Boron (B), Copper (Cu), Iron (Fe), Manganese (Mn), Molybdenum (Mo), Sulfur (S) and Zinc (Zn) in our solution.
Other ingredients
We also add a natural detergent additive that causes the sprayed on solution to “stick” to the plant leaves until the solution is absorbed by the plant, this detergent also discourages insects from feeding on the leaves for a short time after the solution is applied.
Each 8 ounce bottle of JPG01 Plant Growth Stimulator makes 16 gallons spray-on solution, you can also use a drench and pour it around the base of the plant if you prefer. The bottle comes with a 1/2 ounce measuring spoon, simply mix a half ounce of plant growth stimulator with a gallon of water and spray onto the plants, or drench the soil around the plant. :
Spray plants weekly, best to apply in early morning/late evening. Start spraying when plants are young. Can be sprayed onto vegetable plants upto harvest. Mix 1/2 ounce stimulator with one gallon of water.
JPG01 Plant Growth Stimulator
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