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Golden Midget Watermelon

6Reviews
SKU: 1107
$3.95 to $15.75

Item Details

An outstanding little watermelon, with golden-yellow rind and salmon pink flesh. Pleasantly sweet, about 3 pounds in weight. Bred by Elwyn Meader and Albert Yaeger at UNH in 1959; a cross between New Hampshire Midget and Pumpkin Rind. Has a built-in ripeness indicator: fruits turn yellow when ready. Very early variety, ripening in just 70 days.


  • Ripens in 70 days
  • Conventional
  • This variety will grow well in most regions of the United States.
  • Fruits grow to 3 pounds
  • Salmon-pink flesh, golden yellow rind
  • Fruits turn yellow when ready to harvest
  • Good for short seasons

This variety works for:

  • Fresh eating


Nothing compares to the experience of eating fresh watermelon slices on a warm summer day. Watermelon flesh can also be used for cold soups with citrus or in salads with arugula and feta cheese.


To make a refreshing watermelon granita, or frozen ice, blend 4 cups of watermelon flesh that has been cubed and seeded with 1/4 cup of sugar and juice from half of a lime. Pour the mixture into a shallow dish and freeze for 1-3 hours. You can then scrape the ice with a fork and serve with mint or basil.


Some people pickle the rinds of watermelons with cider vinegar and pickling spices or with a combination of sugar, cinnamon, and ginger. These pickles are a great addition to appetizer trays at parties.

Growing Instructions

Instructions - Sow seeds outdoors in 12" diameter hills after danger of frost has passed and soil has warmed. Space hills 8' apart in all directions. Seeds will germinate in 4-10 days. Can also be started indoors 4 weeks before transplanting out. Watermelons love heat and prefer sandy or light-textured soils.

  • Direct Seed: 1/2" Deep
  • Seeds to Hill: 6-8 Seeds
  • Thin: To 3-4 Plants
  • Light: Full Sun

Will try again next year

by

I wanted a smaller watermelon, so there wouldn't be large amounts going to waste. This seemed perfect. The plant made one melon and then died. I kept waiting for the melon to get larger. It looked perfect: Yellow skin and pink flesh. But it only weighed about 4 ounces, and while moist and crisp, had nearly no taste. Took just about 75 days to mature in hot summer. I guess I'll have to try again next year.

They are small and tasty.

by

These are not easy to grow. Summer of 21 will be my second round grow. I hope to have better results second time around. Warning growing outdoors you need good protection. Animals love them. I had a difficult time keeping pest away, no matter what I did. They are sweet and tasty. Not really sure how to tell when they're ready to be picked. I just waited until they pulled easily off the vine. That was hit or miss. If you decide to grow these you may have better luck than I did. I would definitely buy these again once I know a little more about growing them.

Colorful and enjoyable garden to table - will grow again

by

Overall: I loved growing these. The colors are half the delight in the garden--cutting into it is like cutting sunlight. I will be growing them again this year. I also gave these seeds to new gardeners. They really enjoyed the color change but were comforted by the familiar pink of the interior, which is a perfect segue to heirloom melons.
Productivity: Quick but low. It was fun to watch the spherical young melons turn into oval mature fruits. Each vine only produced 2 melons. Mature size ranged from a baseball (stunted reason unknown) to a volleyball.
Ripeness: First the melon, then the vine arm, then the stem will turn from green to golden. When stem attached to the melon is gold, it is ready.
Consumption experience: The texture is excellent-firm, crisp, full of liquid, refreshing. Taste is subtly sweet. I wouldn't say it has a strong watermelon flavor, but it is easy to go through an entire bowl of cut cubes in one sitting. Excellent snacking watermelon.

Lots Of Sun and Very Rich Soil will produce good crop

by

The Yellow Midget Watermelons require very rich soil, abundant water and a lot of sunlight.
Each spring, I dig a foot deep into the soil and fill 8 inches with kitchen scrap in the sunny spot. At the same time, I started the seeds indoor.
After a month, I plan the seedlings outdoor.
Then wait for my 3 pounds rewards.

Hit or miss. Not the sweetest.

by

We have grown these 2 years in a row in Zone 10. First year only got 1 edible fruit. Second year we changed locations and it grew incredibly well. Over 15 fruits. They honestly didn’t stay small. Most grew over 6 pounds and many were over 8. Even though they turn yellow it still doesn’t mean they are ripe. We picked fruits and they were hit and miss. Really pretty on the inside with yellow veins that look cool. The best tasting ones were equivalent to decent grocery store watermelons nothing special. We were hoping for that old school side of the road farm stand sweet melon. Not impressed, going to try a different variety next year.

Disappointed

by

not easy to grow. Only attempted one season. Poor germination and none of the plants made it. Also as a child with dwarfism super disappointed in the name.