Worldwide, there are over 1200 kinds of watermelons! In North and South America, about 300 of these are generally grown. With so many watermelon varieties to select from, you is perhaps asking your self the place to start.
Effectively, it is perhaps useful to contemplate that inside these kinds of watermelon, there are just a few subcategories, akin to seeded varieties and seedless varieties, picnic varieties, open-pollinated varieties, and extra! Seeded watermelons are ample and straightforward to develop, whereas seedless watermelons usually have to be pollinated by a seeded mother or father plant as a way to produce fruit.
Seedless varieties, nevertheless, provide the good thing about not needing to spit out seeds as you eat! Picnic watermelons are usually bigger and sufficient to feed, nicely, a picnic full of individuals. Icebox watermelons are smaller single-serving melons that may match simply into your fridge. Sizes can vary from handheld (mini watermelons) to gigantic (rising as much as 50 kilos every).
The best method to separate all of those watermelon varieties into classes, nevertheless, is by the colour of their flesh. Sure, there are extra kinds of watermelon than the everyday seeded watermelon with pink flesh. There are additionally pink, yellow, orange, and even white fleshed watermelons.
The pink watermelons include lycopene, whereas the yellow and orange watermelons include beta-carotene. Flipping by the pages of seed catalogs will reveal the numerous watermelon choices that exist.
If you wish to develop watermelons in your backyard, then you’ll not be disillusioned. Producing melons in your personal yard will yield fruits which can be further candy and like nothing you’ve ever tasted from the grocery retailer.
Many love watermelon for the juicy, candy taste and crisp texture that may be a welcome deal with to beat the summer season warmth. Tons of of watermelon cultivars have been developed through the years and range in style, texture, and coloration. Learn on to search out the right selection for you!
Crimson Flesh
Crimson-fleshed watermelon varieties are what you would possibly image in your thoughts’s eye if you think about a watermelon with a inexperienced exterior, deep pink flesh, and dotted with black seeds (although a few of them are seedless watermelons).
Charleston Grey
This melon originated in Charleston, South Carolina, round 1954. A Charleston Grey melon has brilliant pink flesh, a candy, crisp inside, an rectangular form, and a green-gray outer rind. The thick rind of this melon is usually used to make pickled watermelon rind (don’t knock it till you strive it!)
Crimson Candy
These Crimson Candy melons can develop as much as 25 kilos! They’re well-known for his or her excessive sugar content material (round 12%).
Crimson Candy was developed at Kansas State College in 1963. This selection is proof against anthracnose and fusarium wilt. The Crimson Candy rind sample has basic inexperienced pores and skin with mild inexperienced stripes.
Sugar Child
The Sugar Child melon selection was launched in 1969 and is understood for its compact dimension weighing in at 8-10 kilos per fruit. It’s the excellent personal-sized watermelon.
In actual fact, these small watermelons are generally referred to as icebox watermelons as a result of they’ll simply match into the fridge and are about the identical dimension as a small ball. It has a stable inexperienced, darkish inexperienced rind, and dense pink flesh.
Blacktail Mountain
Bred by Glenn Drowns within the Nineteen Seventies in Northern Idaho, this watermelon is ideal for short-season growers in cooler climates, though it may well nonetheless deal with warmth and humidity.
It’s also perfect for first-time gardeners as it’s simple to develop, small, quick maturing, and extremely productive. It has a darkish inexperienced rind and crimson flesh.
Chris Cross
This household heirloom originated from Montrose, Iowa, and is a cross between Hawksbury and Dixie Queen made by Chris Christensen in 1950.
It produces spherical, 15-20 pound pale inexperienced fruits with jagged dark-green strips and accommodates pink flesh. Reasonably candy.
Oh So Candy
As its title would recommend, this selection is understood for its scrumptious candy taste! Productive crops bear many medium-round, striped fruits with excessive sugar content material.
Small Shining Gentle
This conventional Russian watermelon was launched to American gardeners by Seed Savers Trade in 1991. It produces spherical 10-12 inch fruits with a really darkish inexperienced rind and candy, deep pink flesh.
An early-maturing selection that’s well-suited for northern gardens and excessive altitudes. Nice little icebox watermelon.
Crimson Ruby Hybrid
This seedless selection produces tremendous candy, completely crisp, ruby-red flesh. It’s value noting that seedless watermelons want a pollinator (seeded watermelon) to make fruit. Most seedless watermelon seed packs additionally embody pollinator seeds as nicely.
Piccolo Hybrid
One other hybrid seedless watermelon that weighs about 4 kilos every. This watermelon has a refreshing taste and is the right dimension for a fast snack. Vigorous crops produce about six fruits per plant.
Massive Tasty Hybrid
A style take a look at winner! The best small icebox dimension with fruits reaching 6-8 kilos every. A lightweight inexperienced rind with a deep pink flesh. That is one other seedless watermelon.
Little Darling
This selection produces small, compact, handheld-sized fruits with a darkish green-black outer rind and brilliant pink flesh. The small oval fruits are irresistibly candy and juicy.
Their candy taste is available in at a ranking of 12 on the brix sugar scale, which is used to measure the quantity of sucrose per 100 mL of water.
Black Diamond
The Black Diamond watermelon is a basic rectangular selection with a easy darkish greenish-black outer rind and brilliant pink flesh with a wonderful texture.
It’s stated to have been developed in Arkansas and is drought-resistant and excessive yielding. These fruits are massive and may develop as much as 50 kilos!
Cal Candy Bush
This selection produces watermelons that weigh round 10-15 kilos. They’re completely spherical, with a green-striped outer rind and deliciously candy pink flesh. It’s recognized for its bushy progress slightly than most watermelons’ typical vining progress behavior. This makes it a fantastic choice for small area gardeners and even patio or container growers.
Candy Magnificence
As its title would recommend, these watermelons are well-known for his or her candy taste. The crops produce 6-7 pound rectangular fruit with inexperienced pores and skin and light-weight inexperienced stripes with reddish-pink flesh. It’s the right icebox watermelon and serves two folks.
Mini Love
A private-sized mini watermelon with pink flesh and some small black seeds. Mini love watermelons weigh about 3-6 kilos and are the right single serving.
Yellow Flesh
Commonplace pink flesh watermelons will be the poster youngster of the watermelon world, however these with yellow flesh are simply as, if no more, scrumptious and enjoyable to develop! They add a pleasant pop of coloration to fruit salads and provide a singular various to the usual pink varieties.
Mountain Candy Yellow
Massive, colourful, very sweet-flavored yellow fruit. Every Mountain Candy Yellow fruit can weigh between 20-35 kilos.
The additional agency flesh makes them excellent for slicing or added to fruit salads as they are going to maintain their form.
Borries Yellow
This selection was acquired by Joseph Borries round 1970, and his household has grown this heirloom selection in Illinois ever since.
These crops produce rectangular fruit averaging 15-20 kilos every. The rinds are inexperienced with darkish inexperienced stripes and produce yellow, candy flesh.
Moon and Stars (Yellow Fleshed)
This selection was launched by Southern Publicity Seed Trade in 1987. The Moon and Stars watermelon foliage and fruits are noticed with yellow, similar to the unique Van Doren pressure, however the flesh is yellow and speckled with white seeds.
Gold In Gold Hybrid
This hybrid selection produces melons which can be gold striped on the surface and sunshine-yellow on the within for an actual summer season deal with.
Oval fruits are crisp and scrumptious, and every fruit weighs 5-8 kilos. A really candy watermelon.
Yellow Child Doll
This watermelon is a hybrid with a skinny rind and candy yellow flesh. Its rind sample is much like basic watermelons with lighter inexperienced pores and skin and far darker inexperienced stripes.
The tender fruit is scrumptious in salsa with jalapeños and tomatillos.
Yellow Doll
This selection is a hybrid that may be very related in style and texture to Yellow Child. The primary distinction is that this selection is seedless!
Tiger Child
This watermelon is in the identical style because the above-mentioned Sugar Child being a small icebox watermelon.
Sugar Infants are candy with darkish inexperienced rinds and pink flesh, whereas Tiger Infants are golden as soon as matured. Due to their smaller dimension, they’re additionally quicker to mature and able to harvest in about 75 days.
Orange Flesh
Orange-fleshed watermelons usually are not as frequent as their yellow counterparts, however they’re simply as scrumptious and simply as stunning to slice into. Like consuming a slice of summer season sunshine!
Orangeglo
This selection was first supplied by Willhite Seed Firm within the early Sixties. The fiery orange flesh is sugary, scrumptious, and crisp. Massive, rectangular fruit averages 25 kilos. A dependable producer.
Candy Siberian
A Russian selection that was first supplied by Peter Henderson & Co. in 1898. It produces rectangular fruits weighing 10 kilos. The flesh may be very candy, juicy, and apricot-colored.
Pink Flesh
Watermelons with pink flesh are simply as stunning and candy as their red-fleshed equivalents.
Golden Midget
Weighing in at 3 kilos per fruit, this snack-sized watermelon has a golden yellow rind and salmon-pink flesh. Developed in 1959, it’s a cross between New Hampshire Midget and Pumpkin Rind.
It has a built-in ripeness indicator, as fruits solely flip yellow when prepared. It’s also a really early selection, ripening in simply 70 days.
Moon and Stars (Cherokee)
A moon and star-studded pressure of the basic Moon and Stars watermelon. These fruits develop to about 2 toes lengthy and weigh round 15 kilos every. Brilliant pink, candy flesh with black seeds.
Picnic
A mid-season selection bred by Asgrow Seed Firm and launched in 1972, the Picnic watermelon has a mildly candy pink flesh and arduous rind.
It’s proof against fusarium wilt. Some of these watermelon are also known as picnic watermelons due to their means to feed a big gathering of individuals at a picnic.
Georgia Rattlesnake
This heirloom selection has a snakeskin striped rind with brilliant pink tender flesh. It is likely one of the oldest heirloom watermelon varieties in existence. It’s recognized for its inexperienced and white striped rind that resembles the sample of a rattlesnake.
This selection was developed in Georgia across the 1830s. They will develop as much as 2 toes lengthy and weigh as much as 35 kilos!
Jubilee
This melon was developed on the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station in Leesburg in 1963. Jubilee produces lengthy rectangular fruits related in look to Georgia Rattlesnake however a lot bigger.
These fruits can develop to weigh as much as 40 kilos! This places them squarely within the class of big watermelons. This selection additionally has illness resistance to fusarium wilt.
White Flesh
White fleshed watermelons are even rarer than orange varieties. This makes them much more distinctive and thrilling to develop!
Citron Crimson Seeded
Regardless of its title, the flesh of this watermelon just isn’t pink however white. The title refers back to the pink seeds inside.
This selection may be very previous and really uncommon and has been grown for hundreds of years. It might have originated in Africa and been cultivated within the Nile Valley as early because the 2nd millennium BCE.
Later the watermelon was introduced first to India and China after which to Europe. European colonists and African slaves ultimately introduced it to North America.
The white flesh is difficult, like the feel of the rind, all over to the middle, and for that reason, it’s not grown for recent consuming however slightly to make preserves and pickles.
Cream of Saskatchewan
A small spherical white watermelon weighing about 5-10 kilos every. It has a skinny, brittle rind with darkish inexperienced stripes and candy white flesh with distinctive taste. This uncommon cultivar is claimed to have been dropped at North America by Russian immigrants who settled within the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.
Regularly Requested Questions
Q: What’s the hottest watermelon selection?
A: This all is determined by your private desire! Charleston Grey is a well-liked alternative amongst these on the lookout for a long-standing well-performing heirloom selection.
Q: What’s the sweetest watermelon selection?
A: Little Darling is likely one of the sweetest varieties coming in at a ranking of 12 on the brix sugar scale.
Q: Are there 1200 kinds of watermelon?
A: Sure there are! About 200-300 of those varieties are grown all through america and Mexico.
Q: What coloration watermelon is the sweetest?
A: Yellow and orange watermelons are usually sweeter than pink and pink varieties. Seedless melons are inclined to have crisper, agency flesh.
Q: What’s the healthiest watermelon?
A: That relies upon! Some varieties may be excessive in sugar, which could not make them “wholesome” per se, however pink varieties do include lycopene, and yellow/orange varieties include beta-carotene.
Q: What month is watermelon the sweetest?
A: Peak watermelon is between Might and September, relying on the local weather in your space and the times to maturity of the range that you just’ve chosen to develop.
Q: Do greater watermelons style higher?
A: Not essentially. Small icebox-sized watermelons may be simply as juicy and candy!
