[DIGITALHIPPY]

seams like some of my mellons stop growing....like football size and bigger... just starts turning black at the end....
any other tips?
ill post a pic tomorrow.

[MrFista]

Are you in midsummer? Is it wet?

What regime (nutrients, supplements) have they had so far?

Is it the leaders blacking off, or the melons themselves?

If it is a mold get 1 part whole milk 9 parts water and spray em down at dusk. This doesn't stop mold but it kills the existing stuff.

The only real tip I know for watermelons is LOTS of water - of course you want good soil tilth to hold the water without drowning the roots.

[MrFista]

Actually, use a tablespoon of epsom salts and water it into each plant's root system. This should fix blossom end rot.

"Watermelon fruit is affected by blossom end rot just as tomato fruit. This condition occurs on watermelon fruit if the plant loses excessive moisture through an unusually dry period. The inability of the plant’s roots to keep up with water loss by the plant results in desiccation and blackening
of the blossom end of the fruit. Prevent blossom end rot by maintaining adequate moisture, especially as the fruit matures."

Hope that helps.

oblong melons with a black end are hallmarks of poor pollination. try pollinating by hand.

a poorly pollinated melon rarely matures enough to be considered food.

edit:

melons have male and female flowers. the females are the flowers that have a "mini melon" at their base. pluck a male flower, remove the petals, and touch it to all the female flowers you can find. give melons a fairly hot dose of N when the vines start to run.

blossom end rot is not all that common in melons, at least not on my farm. i only loose a few (10 out of 1000+) to blossom end rot every year. i lose about 100 to poor pollination...

[MrFista]

Nice pollination tip thanks.

[DIGITALHIPPY]

thanks for tips, im supplimenting with AN B-52 and sensi-cal. the ends were only dieing from an aphid infestation i apperantly had... i used some safers/neep on them.. my melons had some black ends but thats because my stupid roomies kicked this wood i had protecting them into the melons( drunk fucking stupid idiots) needless, i have somthing more heavyduty-and steaked to the ground. there is a big population of ladybugs and a few othr little bugs eating the aphids. so i sprayed the tops and bad infestation parts.

did u know aphids even attack CORN? lol.

i did that polination technique. its funny the plants mae one or 2 female melons next to eachother and then like 10 males flowers...lol so i use 2-3 males per female i find.
although i dont need to, i usualy have to wait for the bees to get done 'feeding' i got quite a hive nearby, they must love my place, 50-100 at a time, they like the green-beans, tomatos, and the watermellon/cantalope.

Ya, aphids are little sucubai. You get that breaker up to par and some plants in that stadium yet?

[Mr. Stinky]

did the epsom salts fix the problem? probably too late by then i suppose...

since ive worked extra lime in my garden, i havent had the trouble anymore. calcium defiency can cause it too...