Golden Midget Watermelon

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.