Another Weed Not Watermelon

[Dave2000]

The following mystery vine took off this summer. Best I can guess based on where the seeds are, is that it might have ended up there passing though the digestive tract of a canadian goose as they frequently fly over towards a pond in the back 40. I mainly state that because I haven't seen any of this *weed* growing anywhere else.

The gourd or melon or whatever it should be called in the third picture is currently about the diameter of a tennis ball and potentially still growing, has more than doubled in size in the last week.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Hmm toughie. Tennis Ball size lets out wild or star cucumber. Flowers are the wrong color for manroot (pus manroot fruits are usually spiny). Flower and leaves seem the wrong shape for Buffalo Gourd (plus a buffalo gourd that big should have stripes by now). European squirting cucumber, maybe? (though how that would get there I have no idea) To be honest, it almost looks like what you have is more of a feral cucurbit than a wild one i.e. a domestic squash or melon seed that somehow made it through the goose's digestive system undestroyed.

 

[Dave2000]

I've never grown anything like this but after thinking about it, we used to buy honeydew melons and cantaloupes every now and then. Pieces destined for the compost pile might end up where one wouldn't expect them to... but to my inexperienced eye this doesn't look round enough and too smooth to be one of those, or could it be?

 

[TheSeedObsesser]

Almost looks like some sort of casaba melon to me, very interesting!

 

[Hal]

It is a melon I have no doubt about it.

 

[journey11]

With the small, yellow flowers, I would bet canteloupe or honeydew-type melon. Gourds usually have white flowers and bloom at night. It looks healthy, whatever it is. Gettin' close to frost...hope you'll get to find out.

 

[dewdropsinwv]

looks a lot like a pumpkin vine of some sort.

 

[Hal]

With the small, yellow flowers, I would bet canteloupe or honeydew-type melon. Gourds usually have white flowers and bloom at night. It looks healthy, whatever it is. Gettin' close to frost...hope you'll get to find out.

Your on the money. Small yellow flowers are a good way to rule out Squash or Gourds and with non dissected leaves means it is in the genus Cucumis not Citrullus that watermelons belong to, in this case the fruit and leaves tell us it is not Cucumis sativus the species cucumber belongs to but Cucumis melo that melons and cucumber melons belong to.
The one thing I am unsure of is will this fruit have netting or not, I guess time will tell.

 

[Dave2000]

Turned out to be cantaloupe, though they are not very tasty due to the late start, cold weather ending the season too soon. At least they're edible.

Oddly the 3 that made it to full size didn't have as much netting as normal, while the ones that only made it to the size of a softball had a normal amount compared to typical grocery store cantaloupe.

 

[digitS']

Good job @Hal !

I had an Alvaro Charentais melon, this morning.

Three were picked about 2 weeks ago. My frost mitigation had not worked real good with the melons or I could have had another 3.

Didn't matter. The first to ripen after a few days was pretty good. The one this morning amounted to nothing. Way beyond melon season.

Steve