North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Michael Richardson <loneroc@mwt.net>]

We've had lots of melon discussion on the sand topic--The Wolf River apple,
huge and crappy as it is, is supposed to produce quite a nicely edible apple
on sandy soil otherwise, don't bother.

loneroc

-----Original Message-----
From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org]On Behalf Of Donna &/or Kieran
Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2008 11:22 AM
To: growyourown@earthlink.net; North American Fruit Explorers
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Unsweet melons silicon


I find this all very interesting.  Since watermelons are basically a bag of
water, and silica strengthens cell walls, you can see that having plenty of
silica available is going to give stronger cell walls.  I personally think
that the lack of silica in our clay soil is why we have gotten mushy melons
the few times we've succeeded in getting a melon or two.  It might be
worthwhile to go through stacks of old SSE yearbooks looking for anyone
saying that they have or had a watermelon recommended for clay soils.   What
if watermelon roots are simply designed for the loose, well aerated sandy
soils they prefer?  If their roots don't work right in clay, or can't
penetrate it properly, the part of the plant we can see isn't going to
perform properly.  In that case, loosening clay with organic matter may do
more good than adding sand.  And raised beds, though I don't like them
myself, they may help with melons.
    It's hard for me to imagine that the silica in sand is the complete
reason for melon flavor, or the lack of it when they are grown in clay.  As
some of you have pointed out, heat units are a factor, also the same
limiting factor as in fruit trees, of enough leaf surface to properly feed a
certain number of fruits.  Sandy soils are not exactly known for their big
supply of trace minerals, so I don't think that trace minerals are that
important, though it may be that what minerals sandy soils CAN hold or DO
have are in different proportions than those in clay soils.  Maybe we have
too much of something in clay to make for good watermelon flavor.
Cantalopes ARE different as someone pointed out, and we have grown some,
they tasted good.  I think Pike is the one developed for clay soils
specifically.     Donna

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