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What are Personal Watermelons?
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon
Personal watermelons are smaller versions of the classic summer fruit, usually topping out at no more than 5 pounds (2.2 kilograms). The specially bred watermelons are sweeter than other varieties and also have a thinner rind, making more of the overall weight edible. Seeds to grow them are available from many seed supply companies, and many grocery stores carry them in addition to other melons, for those who simply want to eat them.
Like other watermelons, personal watermelons are formally known as Cirtrullus lanatus. Most varieties have red flesh and are designed to be seedless, although they may contain small, edible seeds that are softer than the typical black seeds. On occasion, of course, the fruit will contain inedible seeds, so people should take care when eating them. The advantage to this type over other varieties is their small size, making them easy to store in most refrigerators.
When selecting a watermelon in the store, shoppers should look for richly striped, dark green specimens that are heavier than they look and make a dull thud when tapped gently. Consumers should handle the fruit with care so that it does not bruise, refrigerating it for no more than one week before eating them. Although a personal watermelon can be eaten in one sitting by a determined melon lover or a medium sized household, leftovers can also be wrapped in plastic or stored in a large, sealed container in the refrigerator.
Gardeners who live in hardiness zones 7 and warmer can grow these little watermelons in their garden, as long as they have a sunny space with good air circulation that is out of the wind. The soil should be built up with compost, and it should have a neutral to alkaline pH before seedlings are planted. Seedlings can be purchased in garden stores, or gardeners can buy seeds and start them in a greenhouse. They should be planted at least two weeks after the last frost, and compost and bone meal should be in with the soil to nourish the plants while they grow. Gardeners should mulch to keep in moisture and keep the personal watermelons well watered, but not soggy. The fruit should be ready for harvest by mid-summer.
Mary McMahon
Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a DelightedCooking researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.
Learn more...
Mary McMahon
Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a DelightedCooking researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.
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![A yellow personal watermelon.]()
By: Picture PartnersA yellow personal watermelon. -
![Most personal watermelons are designed to be seedless, although that's not always the case.]()
By: volgariverMost personal watermelons are designed to be seedless, although that's not always the case. -
![Like other watermelons, personal watermelons are formally known as Cirtrullus lanatus.]()
By: bokanLike other watermelons, personal watermelons are formally known as Cirtrullus lanatus.
Discussion Comments
I'm currently trying to grow some personal watermelons, but it's not working out for some reason and nothing is growing. I've followed all the appropriate steps, but nothing is happening. Please help! I really need these personal watermelons in time for our upcoming festival of fruits!
I have tried several personal watermelons and I am not sure when they are bad because they seem to all taste different. The taste I am talking about has a sour kind of taste, not real sweet. Should I not eat it when it tastes this way? Instead of being real red, it has a whitish color throughout. Someone please help!
Growing personal watermelons is actually pretty easy. I picked up a packet of seeds at my local grocery store, surprised to seem them on the rack. Normally there is just a bland selection of things like carrots and peas.
I prepared my garden with some rich soil and planted them. I added some plastic mulch as I was told that watermelons prefer a warmer soil and this increases the temperature about 12 degrees Fahrenheit. This is great especially in areas that are a bit cooler.
After following the care directions on the packet, and keeping them well watered I had seedlings after a week. I kept at them with lots of attention and had lovely personal watermelons by the end of summer.
I recently found an article that was talking about using personal watermelons as a good diet staple. Aptly named The Watermelon Diet it focuses on consuming large amounts of watermelon to get all of the health benefits from this delicious fruit.
Watermelon is mostly water so it gives you very little calories while making you feel you have eaten a lot. This replacement of other, calorie-heavy foods with watermelon can really help the pounds drop off. Plus, watermelons are so rich in nutrients that they have been called a multivitamin all on their own.
I am thinking that in the summer I am going to have to give this a try. I already love watermelon, so stocking up on the personal variety should be tasty.
@Frances2 - Thank you for going to the trouble to hunt down some of the best-sounding mini watermelon types and posting about them here! I've been looking to plant some small seedless watermelons, preferably these cute little personal watermelons, in my garden next year, and I'm scoping out which seem like the best bet.
My garden is unfortunately pretty small, so I only have space to plant one type of melon. Two, if I only planted a couple of plants for each melon type, I suppose. I think I'll give the Mini Angurias and Petite Treat mini watermelons a try and see if those work out.
If they're not great, I suppose there's always next year to try another batch, but based on your descriptions, they sound like just what I'm looking for. Thanks again for your helpful post!
@idr3 - The article keeps using terms like "specially bred" and "designed", which gets me to wondering, are personal watermelons genetically modified organisms?
It's a pain in the butt that the United States isn't required to say which crops are genetically engineered; if personal watermelons are indeed genetically modified organisms, that explains why you can't seem to get hold of any seeds for them.
You see, one of the biggest complaints people have any genetically modified organisms is that, with new "designs" of fruits and vegetables and even animals being created, companies are patenting the right to grow them and distribute their seeds.
This means that personal watermelons may be trademarked to some grower who wants to sell them exclusively, and so they might not sell any seeds to let consumers grow their own. That takes away from the company's own business of selling the watermelons to the consumers themselves, after all.
@ldr3 – I’m going to expand on what m3g4n said and tell you how each melon tastes. I recently did this research because I was looking to grow melons in my backyard. I went with the Snack Pack hybrid, since I’ve eaten it before.
The Snack Pack is really sweet, juicy and crisp. The rind is pretty thin, so there isn’t much to throw away. Petite Treat melons have strawberry colored flesh and are really firm with a nice taste and aroma. Mini Angurias supposedly have all the best characteristics of a traditional watermelon. They’re sweet, juicy, and their flesh is pulp free for a smooth eating experience.
It looks like Black Beauty melons taste like a regular watermelon.
That’s what I found people saying online about the melons. I hope that helps you out.
@ldr3 – There are several mini watermelon seeds available online for new hybrid watermelons. There are the seedless Snack Pack hybrid seeds that anon171675 mentioned (each melon weighs 3 to 4 pounds). Yet another website is offering seedless Petite Treat watermelon seeds (3 to 6 pounds per melon). You can also get seeds for the super small Mini Anguria, from Italy (2 to 3 pounds per melon). Mini Angurias come in seeded and seedless varieties. Those three are sphere shaped melons.
You can also get seeds for a Black Beauty mini hybrid. It’s an oval shaped melon that weighs 4 to 5.5 pounds.
You can find the seeds for any of these melons by searching for the melon names in a search engine. I hope that helps!
Burpee has the Snack Pack hybrid seeds; it's a 3-4 pound melon.
Does anyone know how/where to get personal watermelon seeds? I can only find sugar baby and those are larger.
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